DR 09-0211: WML: Custom XML and Smart Tags

[Rex Jaeschke]

A number of Ecma standards (some which were Fast Tracked to JTC 1) have used
"Guidance", "Rationale", and "Note" to distinguish different kinds of
informative text.

"Guidance" is used to make suggestions to implementers.

"Rationale" provides information about why certain decisions were made (or
not made).

The idea of providing rationale to decisions made by standards committees
was pioneered by SC 22/WG14 (C language), which has a whole separate
rational document.

I see no reason to submit a DR about these things. If/when we do a revision
of 29500, we'll need to comply with the ISO formatting rules. And if we want
to get those rules changes or augmented, we can request that too. The rules
as they currently exist haven't been substantially revised in a good while
and don't necessarily reflect the best approach for certain kinds of large
documents, especially with the way they define notes and examples.

Rex


> -----Original Message-----
> From: Shawn Villaron [mailto:shawnv at microsoft.com]
> Sent: Friday, May 29, 2009 8:37 PM
> To: MURATA Makoto (FAMILY Given); SC 34 WG4
> Subject: RE: DR 09-0211: WML: Custom XML and Smart Tags
> 
> I'd defer to Rex on this one.  He understands this vastly more than I
> do.  Rex?
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: MURATA Makoto (FAMILY Given) [mailto:eb2m-mrt at asahi-net.or.jp]
> Sent: Friday, May 29, 2009 4:43 PM
> To: SC 34 WG4
> Subject: Re: DR 09-0211: WML: Custom XML and Smart Tags
> 
> I like the idea of making this sentence non-normative.  However, why
> "Guidance"?  I prefer "Note".
> 
> I did some research and find some facts:
> 
> 1) 29500 now uses "Guidance", "Note", and "Rationale".
> 
> 2) "Guidance" and "Rationale" do not appear in ISO/IEC Directives, Part
> 2,
>    "Rules for the structure and drafting of International Standards".
> 
> What is the intended difference among "Guidance", "Rationale", and
> "Note"? Do we really need "Guidance" and "Rationale"?  It might be a
> good idea to submit another DR for this.
> 
> BTW, Directives Part 2 is a must for us.  It is available at:
> 
> http://isotc.iso.org/livelink/livelink?func=ll&objId=4230456&objAction=
> browse&sort=subtype
> 
> 
> Cheers,
> Makoto