ISO/IEC 9973:2006

INTERNATIONAL ISO/IEC
STANDARD 9973
Second edition
2006-11-15

Information technology — Computer
graphics, image processing and
environmental data representation —
Procedures for registration of items
Technologies de l'information — Infographie, traitement de l'image et
représentation des données environnementales — Procédures pour
l'enregistrement des articles




Reference number
ISO/IEC 9973:2006(E)
©
ISO/IEC 2006

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ISO/IEC 9973:2006(E)
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ISO/IEC 9973:2006(E)
Contents Page
Foreword. iv
Introduction . v
1 Scope . 1
2 Normative references . 1
3 Terms and definitions. 1
4 The registration authority . 2
4.1 Appointment of a registration authority. 2
4.2 Responsibilities of registration authority. 2
5 Register of items. 3
5.1 Availability of registers . 3
5.2 Initial assignments and additions. 3
5.3 Deprecations . 5
5.4 Modifications. 5
5.5 Future standards. 5
5.6 Recipients of register activity notices. 6
5.7 Addition of classes. 6
6 Sponsoring authorities. 8
6.1 Definition of sponsoring authority. 8
6.2 Responsibilities of sponsoring authorities. 8
6.3 Registration form. 8
Annex A (normative) Information needed to submit proposals. 9
Annex B (informative) Example forms for proposals and registered items. 10
Annex C (informative) Language binding guidelines . 28
Annex D (informative) Encoding guidelines. 30
Bibliography . 33

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ISO/IEC 9973:2006(E)
Foreword
ISO (the International Organization for Standardization) and IEC (the International Electrotechnical
Commission) form the specialized system for worldwide standardization. National bodies that are members of
ISO or IEC participate in the development of International Standards through technical committees
established by the respective organization to deal with particular fields of technical activity. ISO and IEC
technical committees collaborate in fields of mutual interest. Other international organizations, governmental
and non-governmental, in liaison with ISO and IEC, also take part in the work. In the field of information
technology, ISO and IEC have established a joint technical committee, ISO/IEC JTC 1.
International Standards are drafted in accordance with the rules given in the ISO/IEC Directives, Part 2.
The main task of the joint technical committee is to prepare International Standards. Draft International
Standards adopted by the joint technical committee are circulated to national bodies for voting. Publication as
an International Standard requires approval by at least 75 % of the national bodies casting a vote.
Attention is drawn to the possibility that some of the elements of this document may be the subject of patent
rights. ISO and IEC shall not be held responsible for identifying any or all such patent rights.
ISO/IEC 9973 was prepared by Joint Technical Committee ISO/IEC JTC 1, Information technology,
Subcommittee SC 24, Computer graphics, image processing and environmental data representation.
This second edition cancels and replaces the first edition (ISO/IEC 9973:1994), which has been technically
revised.
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ISO/IEC 9973:2006(E)
Introduction
This International Standard provides a set of procedures for the registration of items. In this context, items
refers to all registered items defined within the standards developed by ISO/IEC JTC 1/SC 24. ISO/IEC
JTC 1/SC 24 is responsible for preparing standards for interchange of information involving computer
graphics, image processing and environmental data representation.
All proposed and anticipated standards in this area share certain classes of items that are allowed to vary
across implementations of the standard. Nevertheless, there is a strong incentive for implementations using
the same registered items to reference them in the same way. Each standard developed by ISO/IEC
JTC 1/SC 24, therefore, has the potential to provide for registration of certain items. Standards shall expressly
identify items to be registered. When a standard is published, those categories of items identified for
registration are automatically included in the registry.
This International Standard specifies procedures to be followed in preparing and maintaining the ISO/IEC
International Register of Items, containing the identifiers and associated information assigned to particular
items. The purpose of the register is to inform all concerned of items already registered and of the specific
identifiers assigned to them. The register includes current classes of registered items for relevant International
Standards developed by ISO/IEC JTC 1/SC 24. The classes of registered items are listed with the registry and
therefore maintained separately from this International Standard. This International Standard will be updated
as necessary for future standards developed by ISO/IEC JTC 1/SC 24.
Publication of the register promotes international information exchange and avoids duplication of effort in
development of application-oriented items. Registration provides identification for an item but should not be
regarded as a standardization procedure. However, as a matter apart from registration, the registered items
may, but need not, be the subject of an international, national, or other standard. In these cases, the register
shall reference the applicable standard. When such a standard is amended subsequent to registration of an
item(s), it would be appropriate for the registered identifier of the item(s) to be indicated in that standard.
Annex A identifies the information needed for registration proposals. Annex B contains example proposal and
register forms. Annex C contains language binding guidelines for registry submission. Annex D contains
encoding guidelines for registry submission.

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INTERNATIONAL STANDARD ISO/IEC 9973:2006(E)

Information technology — Computer graphics, image
processing and environmental data representation —
Procedures for registration of items
1 Scope
This International Standard specifies procedures to be followed in preparing, maintaining and publishing a
register of identifiers and meanings for standards under the direction of ISO/IEC JTC 1/SC 24.
NOTE These procedures may be used to extend any standard developed by ISO/IEC JTC 1/SC 24. Some
registration items are graphical in nature; other registration items define data structures used by the ISO/IEC JTC 1/SC 24
standards. All registered items are intended for reuse within other adjunct standards.
Registration procedures do not assign values of identifiers that are defined as being workstation-dependent by
specific graphics standards. The register of font appearance in the ISO/IEC JTC 1/SC 24 register for graphical
items is not intended to address the broader issues of general-purpose font registration. The procedures apply
to registration of individual items within classes as reserved for registration in the International Standards
developed by ISO/IEC JTC 1/SC 24.
2 Normative references
This standard requires no normative references.
3 Terms and definitions
For the purposes of this document, the following terms and definitions apply.
3.1
clarification
non-substantive change to a registered item
NOTE A non-substantive change does not change the semantics or technical meaning of the item. Clarification does
not result in a change to the registration status of the registered item.
3.2
class
set of items with common properties or that are common in application to a relevant International Standard
EXAMPLE This International Standard has classes of registered items that are applicable to computer
graphics, environmental data representation and/or implementation profiles of International Standards.
NOTE Class is used in this context to refer to a set of instances, not the concept abstracted from that set of instances
[adapted from ISO 19135].
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ISO/IEC 9973:2006(E)
3.3
deprecated item
registered items which have been found obsolete or to which an objection or desire to cause the removal of has
been raised
NOTE Deprecated items will be retained in the register, but marked as “deprecated” to note the recommendation of
avoiding the use of this registered item.
3.4
Generalized Drawing Primitive
GDP
primitive required for graphical item registration
3.5
notification recipients
all member bodies, Category A, B and C liaisons, including sponsoring authorities
3.6
register
set of files containing identifiers assigned to items with descriptions of the associated items as defined by the
relevant International Standard
[ISO 19135]
3.7
registration
assignment of a permanent, unique and unambiguous identifier to an item with its related descriptive
information
3.8
registration authority
organization to which management of a register has been designated by ISO Technical Management Board
at the proposal of the technical committee concerned
3.9
registry
information system on which a register is maintained
[adapted from ISO/IEC 11179-3]
4 The registration authority
4.1 Appointment of a registration authority
A qualified and internationally acceptable body concerned with computer elements developed under the scope
of ISO/IEC JTC 1/SC 24 is recommended by ISO/IEC JTC 1/SC 24 to ISO/IEC for acceptance by Council to
act as the registration authority for the purposes of this International Standard. The registration authority for
ISO/IEC 9973 is established in agreement with ISO and is approved by the ISO Technical Management Board
as part of a ten-year agreement to maintain the registry. Contact information for Registration Authorities of
International Standards including this one are maintained and available at
www.iso.org/iso/en/prods-services/catalogue/maralist.html
4.2 Responsibilities of registration authority
The Registration Authority shall maintain a register of identifiers and meanings assigned to items in the
register. Upon request, the registration authority shall distribute an information pack containing a description of
the register and how to submit proposals. The responsibilities of the registration authority are more completely
described in Clause 5 and Figures 1 and 2.
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ISO/IEC 9973:2006(E)
5 Register of items
5.1 Availability of registers
The contents of any registers established under the procedures of this International Standard shall be
available to the public under the terms and conditions set by the registration authority. Portions of the register
may be obtained by standards developers at no charge under the terms and conditions set by the registration
authority.
5.2 Initial assignments and additions
The establishment of a register under the procedures of this International Standard allows for multiple
categories of items including:
• identifiers and meanings assigned to graphical items;
• profiles of International Standards, and
• environmental data representation items.
With regard to initial assignment of identifiers and meanings to registered items and subsequent additions to
the register, the responsibilities of the registration authority are specified below and depicted in Figure 1:
a) to receive proposals from sponsoring authorities (see Clause 6);
b) to ascertain, by referring proposals to the Secretariat of ISO/IEC JTC 1/SC 24 or by a vote within the
subcommittee, whether each proposal should be accepted, accepted subject to amendment, or rejected
according to stated criteria. Criteria for rejecting a proposal include:
1) incomplete or incomprehensible definition of item(s);
2) incorrect or incomplete language binding or data encoding (reference Annex D Language binding
guidelines);
3) existence of an identical item in the register;
4) item class not in register;
5) not-applicable to any of the International Standards developed by ISO/IEC JTC 1/SC 24;
6) inadequate justification for inclusion in the register.
Voting discrepancies shall be resolved following attempts to meet objections raised by negative votes.
c) to assign a proposal identifier to each proposal,
d) to assign a register identifier to each accepted item. The register identifier shall consist of a section name
followed by a unique registration number within the section, which is:
1) the value of identifier of the item, if this is a number or,
2) some appropriate number assigned by the registration authority, if the value of identifier of item is not
a number;
e) to announce to all notification recipients of the items accepted for registration. This is accomplished by
sending the table of contents and a cross-reference list matching the proposal identifier with the
registered item;
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ISO/IEC 9973:2006(E)
f) to inform the appropriate sponsoring authority of the results when processing of a proposal has been
completed;
g) to add new classes of items to the current list of classes;
h) to provide copies of the register and associated documents to members of the public on request;
i) to distribute the current list of classes of items upon request.
Step 6
Step 7
Results of processing ( 4.3e )
Copies requested ( 4.3 h-i )
Sponsoring Registration
Public
Authority Authority
Step 1
Proposal ( 4.3a )
Step 2
Refer for Member Body vote ( 4.3 b ) Step 6 Results of processing ( 4.3 c )
Step 4
Voting results
Member Bodies,
(accept/reject)
SC24
Liaison Organization,
Secretariat
ISO/IEC JTC1/SC24
Step 3  Voting as necessary ( 4.3 b )
Step 5 Enter or delete accepted
proposals in Register ( 4.3 c-d )
Register

Figure 1 — Explanation of registration steps
Step 1 a sponsoring authority submits a proposal for item(s) to be registered to the registration authority
after insuring it is complete
Step 2 - the registration authority forwards this proposal to the ISO/IEC JTC 1/SC 24 secretariat for member
body vote
Step 3 - ISO/IEC JTC 1/SC 24 conducts a letter ballot vote
Step 4 - ISO/IEC JTC 1/SC 24 processes the results of the letter ballot and decides if the proposal is
accepted or rejected
Step 5 - the register is updated to reflect the results of the letter ballot
Step 6 - the registration authority distributes the results of the votes to the member body, sponsoring authority,
and the Liaison Organizations of ISO/IEC JTC 1/SC 24
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ISO/IEC 9973:2006(E)
Step 7 - copies of the register are available to the public according to the terms and conditions defined by the
registration authority
5.3 Deprecations
No items shall be deleted from a register but shall be retained and marked as deprecated. A separate table of
deprecated items shall be maintained for each class, which may be accessed by register users. Any
comments that a sponsoring authority may desire to make concerning a proposed deprecation shall be
directed to the Secretariat of ISO/IEC JTC 1/SC 24 for consideration. With regard to deprecations, the
responsibilities of the registration authority shall be as follows:
a) to receive proposals from the sponsoring authorities (see Clause 6);
b) to inform the sponsoring authority that originally submitted the item for registration of the proposed
deprecation, both in items identified for automatic registration as identified from a new standard and for
those items submitted post-publication to the registration authority;
c) to ascertain whether each proposal should be accepted or rejected by referring proposals to the
Secretariat of ISO/IEC JTC 1/SC 24 for a Member Body vote within the subcommittee;
d) to continue to include the item in the register, identify its status as deprecated and the date of deprecation,
and identify the item that replaces it, if any;
e) to announce items marked as deprecated from the register to notification recipients;
f) to inform the sponsoring authority identified in b) of the results when processing of a proposal has been
completed.
5.4 Modifications
5.4.1 Amendment of registered items
Once a proposal for registration of a particular item has been accepted and distributed, no proposals for
modification of that item shall be considered. However, proposals for additional language bindings and
encodings may be submitted for inclusion. These proposals are handled the same way as new proposals.
Additional features of language binding or encoding shall be added to the existing registered items without
change to the existing information.
5.4.2 Clarification of registered items
Sponsoring authorities may submit requests for clarifications on registered items. A clarification shall not
cause any substantive change to a registered item. Otherwise it shall be treated as a new item. Approved
clarifications shall be promulgated by the registration authority, and shall be treated as additional information
attached to a registered item as a note. The registration authority at their discretion shall handle editorial
clarifications.
5.5 Future standards
Standards shall expressly identify items to be registered. Upon approval of the new International Standard, the
Secretary shall receive a list of the new classes that need to be identified for the register from the Standard
Editor. The Secretary shall then provide to the registration authority this list of new classes as a mode of
automating the incorporation of these classes. When a standard is published, those classes of items identified
for registration shall be automatically included in the registry. The registration authority shall update the
register to include relationships to additional standards or parts of standards developed by ISO/IEC
JTC 1/SC 24.
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ISO/IEC 9973:2006(E)
5.6 Recipients of register activity notices
All Member Bodies, Liaisons bodies and ISO/IEC JTC 1/SC 24 are notification recipients and shall be
provided notification of register activity in the forms of initiation, addition, and deprecation of registered items
and identification of new classes.
5.7 Addition of classes
5.7.1 Automatic addition of classes
Standards shall define registry requirements and new classes of registered items within the International
Standard text. From these descriptions, the Secretary shall notify the registration authority of class and
registry requirements. The registration authority, upon receipt of notification is authorized to expand the list of
classes. Such notification to the Secretary and the registration authority shall be made at the time of
publication of the International Standard.
5.7.2 Manual addition of classes
The current set of classes is available for reference on the ISO/IEC 9973 registry server and is maintained by
the registration authority. Additional classes may be manually added to the register according to Figure 2
below.
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ISO/IEC 9973:2006(E)
Functional
Rapporteur Group
Standards
and/or
for Registration
Developer
Step 1 Decide on New Class Distribute to WGs and Request Comments
Functional
Working Group
Standards
and/or
on Registration
Working Group
Step 2 Process Comments Submit New Class Proposal
SC24
Letter Ballot
Functional
Registration Group
and
Standards
for Registration
Step 3 Process Comments
SC24
Registration
Authority
Step 5 Update
Registration
Public
Information Pack

Figure 2 — Steps to Add as New Class
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ISO/IEC 9973:2006(E)
Step 1 The Registration Rapporteur Group, in consultation with the functional standards Working Group
identifies the need for a new class of registered item. The group produces a document that describes the new
class that it wishes to sponsor and circulates it to the Working Groups of ISO/IEC JTC 1/SC 24 for comment.
Step 2 The sponsoring Working Group, in collaboration with the Registration Rapporteur Group, processes
the comments received and forwards the revised proposal to the Secretariat of ISO/IEC JTC 1/SC 24 for an
SC 24 letter ballot.
Step 3 The Registration Rapporteur Group, in consultation with the sponsoring Working Group, resolves any
comments submitted with votes.
Step 4 The Secretariat of ISO/IEC JTC 1/SC 24 forwards the final proposal to the registration authority.
Step 5 The registration authority updates the register, the information pack, and distributes the results to the
public upon request
6 Sponsoring authorities
6.1 Definition of sponsoring authority
Proposals for changing the content of the register may be made by the following organizations, which for
purposes of this International Standard are sponsoring authorities:
a) any ISO or IEC Technical Committee or Subcommittee;
b) any P-member or O-member of ISO/IEC JTC 1 or ISO/IEC JTC 1/SC 24;
c) any international organization having Category A, B, or C liaison status with ISO/IEC JTC 1 or ISO/IEC
JTC 1/SC 24.
6.2 Responsibilities of sponsoring authorities
The responsibilities of sponsoring authorities shall be as follows:
a) to receive register item proposals from within their respective countries or organizations;
b) to explain proposals and to coordinate multiple proposals if desired;
c) to ensure that all proposals are completed; if a language binding and/or encoding is required, at least one
language binding and/or data encoding for at least one standard developed by ISO/IEC JTC 1/SC 24
shall be included;
d) to ascertain, by referring proposals to their members for a vote, whether each proposal should be
accepted, accepted subject to amendment, or rejected. Criteria for rejection of a proposal are listed at 5.2
b);
e) to forward to the registration authority those proposals that have support of the sponsoring authority; and
f) to make known within their respective countries or organizations the decisions taken on proposals as
transmitted to them by the registration authority.
6.3 Registration form
Annex A specifies general information necessary to submit a proposal to the registration authority. Detailed
information for a particular class may be obtained from the registration authority.
Annex B contains example class and registry item proposals formatted in forms with supporting text.
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ISO/IEC 9973:2006(E)
Annex A
(normative)

Information needed to submit proposals
Items that can be registered under the procedures of this standard may vary greatly, but are based on
standards developed in ISO/IEC JTC 1/SC 24 or standards that are linked by application. In similar ways, the
information that is collected and provided for a register may vary based on the needs of users. A minimum
standard set of information is required to identify a register and support management.
a) The following information shall be submitted for any register proposal:
1) presentation date of proposal;
2) sponsoring authority;
3) class;
4) name (if appropriate);
5) description;
6) picture or graphic depiction (if appropriate);
7) justification for inclusion;
8) at least one language binding or encoding (if appropriate);
9) additional supporting comments may be included.
b) Unique information is necessary for the following classes:
Markertype: Alignment Point
Prompt & Echo: Input Class
Data Record Information
GDP: GDP Identifier
Escape: Specific Escape Function Identifier (or Escape Identifier)
Error: Message
Echo Type: Input Class
Data Record Information
Measure Format Identifier: Data Record Information:
Interpolated Interior Style: Reference Geometry Scalars
c) Additional information may be needed. Proposers should contact the registration authority. Contact
information for this International Standard is maintained and available at
www.iso.org/iso/en/prods-services/catalogue/maralist.html.
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ISO/IEC 9973:2006(E)
Annex B
(informative)

Example forms for proposals and registered items
The following pages contain example proposal and register forms for:
a) the proposal of classes, the examples are LINETYPE and ESCAPE;
b) the establishment of specific items under a class, examples are LINETYPE dash-dotted-dotted and
ESCAPE Set Dash;
c) the description of mappings and language bindings to extend existing standards.
These examples, in these cases for graphical items, are hypothetical and are included to illustrate the
expectations for documentation which can be included with items registered according to the procedures of
this standard. The “Relationship to particular standards” section shall be extended as standards are
developed that apply to a registered item; this extension shall be done by the registration authority under the
direction of ISO/IEC JTC 1/SC 24.
The particular forms that follow pro
...