L2/01-021
CEN/TC304 N960
Subject: Proposal for the Taxonomy of CEN/TC304 - ICT-
European Localization Requirements
Source: Keld Simonsen
Date 24 November, 2000 (submitted 11 October
2000)
Note: Comments on this document are invited before 15th January 2001 (to the editor: keld@dkuug.dk with a copy to the TC304 secretary thorgeir@stri.is ). These comments will be used to facilitate a revision and a decision to be taken on making this document a standing TC304 document as proposed in its last paragraph number 5 at the next TC304 plenary, currently planned 23rd February 2001.
Source: Keld Simonsen
Date: 2000-10-11
In order to approach standardization in a systematic way, a common approach is to develop a way to classify the subject area, or a taxonomy. This helps in two ways:
-a taxonomy helps to identify all aspects of the domain in question which might be subject to standardization;
-a taxonomy helps to provide a logical structure for the standardization activity.
A taxonomy has been developed of relevant concepts in the domain of European localization requirements, based on user requirements for functionality, as discussed in Clause 4 of Part I of the CEN/TC304/PT01 report on User requirements on IT.
By way of an application, all known current standards and standardization
activities have been grouped according to this taxonomy, thus forming another
type of taxonomy, that of the standards themselves.
The present classification of the concepts was made through the identification of commonalties, such as characters, sets, fonts and rules relating to presentation. The analysis was based on a much wider view of "multi-cultural support", which attempts to map some of its concepts. Areas relevant to this taxonomy were chosen and developed into the full taxonomy, shown in clause 3.2. This latter choice comprises the technology which relates to methods for specifying, and rules governing, the creation of unique properties and codes which facilitate the presentation, storage and transmission of individual characters.
The taxonomy in clause 3.2 was based on references ISO/IEC TR 10000-1, ISO
TR 12382 and IEC 824 and the activities of appropriate standardization bodies,
but most notably the work of CEN/TC304 and ISO/IEC JTC 1.
User requirements may be summed up in the single phrase "multi-cultural support", being the need to accommodate all the requirements of different types of users, whether they are racial, national, typographical, occupational or individual. The primary choice was for text based topics, in line with the capability of computer technology to code, store and process individual characters.
The taxonomy in clause 3.2 takes the classic form of a tree structure, where two major classes are recognized; Locales and Characters. The former deals with the cultural environment of the user, the latter with the smallest divisible parts that make up the messages which are being electronically processed.
A taxonomy of whatever phenomena can be constructed in several ways, depending on its purpose and the aspects applied. (For instance, a number of persons may be grouped firstly according to age, then according to gender, then according to place of living -- or precisely the other way around, according to need.) A taxonomy for standardization purposes naturally has to take into account the most practical ways to group existing standards and standardization projects as well as the logical connections between them and any conceptual "holes" which may need to be filled in order to cover the full need for standardization.
The following taxonomy is thus intended to provide a map for almost all of the user requirements. Therefore the level of subordination in some cases go very deep -- this does not mean that the actual standardization projects need a taxonomy of the same complexity. When a sub-level is empty of existing or future standards, the entries in that sub-level are simply collapsed and only the level above remains.
What follows is a specification of the taxonomy, and for informatioon, an application
of this to standardization and research projects currently going on. The
purpose is to illustrate one use of the taxonomy as well as to provide a map of
where the respective work is being carried out. To the taxonomy there is an
additional layer of where the specifications apply, such as world-wide, Europe
or a specific country.
Code |
||
Title |
Current standardization or research activity |
|
/ (no id) |
TAXONOMY |
CEN/TC304 |
L/ |
LOCALES |
ISO/IEC JTC1/SC22/WG20 |
L/1 |
Specifications |
ISO/IEC JTC1/SC22/WG20 |
L/11 |
Languages |
- |
L/111 |
Natural languages |
- |
L/1111 |
Vocabulary |
ISO/TC 37, ISO/IEC JTC1 |
L/11111 |
Standard terminology |
ISO/IEC JTC1/SC22/WG20 |
L/11112 |
Thesauri |
- |
L/11113 |
Standard phrases |
- |
L/11114 |
Translation |
LRE |
L/1112 |
Grammar |
ISO/IEC JTC1/SC22/WG20 |
L/1113 |
Orthography |
ISO/IEC JTC1/SC22/WG20 |
L/11131 |
Alphabet |
ISO/IEC JTC1/SC22/WG20 |
L/11132 |
Spelling |
ISO/IEC JTC1/SC22/WG20 |
L/11133 |
Use of special characters |
ISO/IEC JTC1/SC22/WG20 |
L/11134 |
Capitalization |
ISO/IEC JTC1/SC22/WG20 |
L/11135 |
Hyphenation |
ISO/IEC JTC1/SC22/WG20 |
L/11136 |
Punctuation |
ISO/IEC JTC1/SC22/WG20 |
L/11137 |
Transcription |
ISO/IEC JTC1/SC22/WG20 |
L/11138 |
Ordering |
ISO/IEC JTC1/SC22/WG20, ISO/TC46, ISO/TC37, CEN/TC304 |
L/11139 |
Personal names and titles |
ISO/IEC JTC1/SC22/WG20 |
L/1114 |
Speech |
LRE |
L/12 |
Cultural conventions |
ISO/IEC JTC1/SC22/WG20, TOG, CEN/TC304 |
L/121 |
Cultural elements |
ISO/IEC JTC1/SC22/WG20 |
L/1211 |
Orthography |
ISO/IEC JTC1/SC22/WG20 |
L/12111 |
Date and time format |
ISO/IEC JTC1/SC22/WG20 |
L/12112 |
Numeric separators |
ISO/IEC JTC1/SC22/WG20 |
L/12113 |
Monetary format |
ISO/IEC JTC1/SC22/WG20 |
L/12114 |
Telephone number format |
PTTs, CEPT, ISO/IEC JTC1/SC22/WG20 |
L/12115 |
Payment number format |
ISO/IEC JTC1/SC22/WG20 |
L/12116 |
Mail address format |
CEN/PC8, ISO/IEC JTC1/SC22/WG20 |
L/12117 |
National places |
ISO/IEC JTC1/SC22/WG20 |
L/1212 |
Measurement system |
ISO/IEC JTC1/SC22/WG20 |
L/1213 |
Layout styles |
- |
L/1214 |
Paper sizes |
ISO/TC6, CEN/TC172, ISO/IEC JTC1/SC22/WG20 |
L/13 |
Operating system dependency |
ISO/IEC JTC1/SC22/WG15, IEEE, TOG |
L/131 |
POSIX |
ISO/IEC JTC1/SC22/WG15, IEEE, TOG |
L/132 |
Other TOG |
TOG |
L/2 |
Registration |
ISO/IEC JTC1/SC22/WG20 |
L/21 |
Procedures |
ISO/IEC JTC1/SC22/WG20 |
L/211 |
Europe |
CEN/TC304 |
L/2111 |
National |
NBs |
L/212 |
World-wide |
ISO/IEC JTC1/SC22/WG20 |
L/3 |
Implementation |
- |
L/31 |
Fallback |
ISO/IEC JTC1/SC22/WG20, IETF |
C/ |
CHARACTERS |
ISO/IEC JTC1/SC2 |
C/1 |
Character information |
ISO/IEC JTC1/SC2, SC22 |
C/11 |
Identification |
ISO/IEC JTC1/SC2/WG2 |
C/111 |
Characters |
ISO/IEC JTC1/SC2 |
C/1111 |
Identifiers |
ISO/IEC JTC1/SC2/WG2, SC22/WG20 |
C/1112 |
Attributes |
ISO/IEC JTC1/SC22/WG20, Unicode |
C/112 |
Repertoires |
ISO/IEC JTC1/SC2, SC22 |
C/1121 |
Graphic characters |
ISO/IEC JTC1/SC2 |
C/11211 |
Natural language alphabets |
ISO/IEC JTC1/SC22/WG20 |
C/112111 |
Europe |
CEN/TC304 |
C/1121111 |
General |
CEN/TC304 |
C/1121112 |
Elderly/disabled |
ISO/TC173 |
C/112112 |
World-wide |
ISO/IEC JTC1/SC22/WG20 |
C/11212 |
Programming language alphabets |
ISO/IEC JTC1/SC22/WG20 |
C/11213 |
Non-alphabetic symbols |
ISO/IEC JTC1/SC22/WG20 |
C/112131 |
General |
ISO/IEC JTC1/SC22/WG20 |
C/112132 |
Disabled/elderly |
TIDE |
C/1122 |
Control functions |
ISO/IEC JTC1/SC2/WG3 |
C/1123 |
Registration |
ISO/IEC JTC1/SC2/WG3 |
C/113 |
Glyphs |
ISO/IEC JTC1/SC34 |
C/1131 |
Registration |
UNICODE |
C/1132 |
Character correspondence |
UNICODE |
C/114 |
Glyph repertoires |
UNICODE |
C/1141 |
Registration |
UNICODE |
C/1142 |
Repertoire correspondence |
UNICODE |
C/12 |
Manipulation |
ISO/IEC JTC1/SC22/WG20 |
C/121 |
Transformation |
CEN/TC304, ISO/IEC JTC1/SC22/WG20 |
C/1211 |
Case conversion |
ISO/IEC JTC1/SC22/WG15, WG20 |
C/1212 |
Transliteration |
ISO TC46 (bibliographic) |
C/1213 |
Fallback representation |
CEN/TC304 , ISO/IEC JTC1/SC22/WG20, IETF |
C/2 |
Input/output |
ISO/IEC JTC1/SC22, SC35 |
C/21 |
Input |
ISO/IEC JTC1/SC35 |
C/211 |
Keyboard |
ISO/IEC JTC1/SC35, CEN/TC304 |
C/212 |
Other means |
ISO/IEC JTC1/SC35 |
C/22 |
Output |
ISO/IEC JTC1/SC22, SC35 |
C/221 |
Character repertoires |
ISO/IEC JTC1/SC2, CEN/TC304 |
C/222 |
Character attributes |
ISO/IEC JTC1/SC22/WG20, Unicode |
C/3 |
Electronic processing |
ISO/IEC JTC1/SC22/WG20 |
C/31 |
Processing of coding schemes |
ISO/IEC JTC1/SC2, SC22; CEN/TC304 |
C/311 |
Encoding of graphic characters |
ISO/IEC JTC1/SC34 (text layout) |
C/312 |
Encoding of control functions |
ISO/IEC JTC1/SC2 |
C/313 |
Code transformations |
CEN/TC304, ISO/IEC JTC1/SC22/WG20 |
C/3131 |
UCS--UCS |
ISO/IEC JTC1/SC2/WG2 |
C/3132 |
UCS--other coding schemes |
ISO/IEC JTC1/SC22/WG20, TOG |
C/32 |
Interchange/communication |
IETF |
C/321 |
7-bit method |
IETF |
C/322 |
8-bit method |
IETF |
C/323 |
Multiple-octet method |
IETF |
C/33 |
Internationalization support |
ISO/IEC JTC1/SC22/WG15 and WG20 |
C/331 |
Programming languages |
ISO/IEC JTC1/SC22 |
C/3311 |
Language-dependent |
ISO/IEC JTC1/SC22 |
C/3312 |
Language-independent |
ISO/IEC JTC1/SC22/WG20 |
C/332 |
Operating systems |
ISO/IEC JTC1/SC22/WG15 |
C/333 |
Communications |
IETF, W3C |
C/3331 |
Directory services |
CEN/ISSS WS-DIR |
C/3332 |
Telematics |
IETF |
The following is the list of groups referenced above, and possible a web
reference.
CEN |
||
European Committee for Standardization |
||
CEN/ISSS |
Information Society Standardization System |
|
|
|
|
CEN/ISSS WS-DIR |
Directory workshop |
|
CEN/TC304 |
Information and Communication technologies - European Localization Requirements |
|
CEN/PC8 |
Postal Services |
|
ISO |
International Organization for Standardization |
|
IEC |
International Electrotechnical Commission |
|
ISO/IEC JTC 1 |
ISO/IEC Joint Technical Committee 1 - Information Technology |
|
ISO/IEC JTC 1/SC2 |
Coded Character Sets |
|
ISO/IEC JTC 1/SC22 |
Programming languages, their environments and system software interfaces |
|
ISO/IEC JTC 1/SC22/WG15 |
POSIX |
|
ISO/IEC JTC 1/SC22/WG20 |
Internationalization |
|
ISO/IEC JTC 1/SC34 |
Document Description and Processing Languages |
|
ISO/IEC JTC 1/SC35 |
User Interfaces |
|
ISO/TC6 |
Paper, board and pulps |
|
ISO/TC37 |
Terminology |
|
ISO/TC46 |
Information and documentation |
|
ISO/TC173 |
Technical systems and aids for disabled or handicapped persons |
|
IEEE |
Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (PASC) |
|
IETF |
Internet Engineering Task Force |
|
W3C |
World Wide Web Consortium |
|
UNICODE |
Unicode Inc. |
|
TOG |
The Open Group (TOG) |
|
CEPT |
European Conference of Postal and Telecommunications Administrations |
|
LRE |
Language Research Engineering |
|
TIDE |
Telematics for disabled and elderly people |
To allow widespread use of, and comment on, this taxonomy it is proposed
that it should be published as a CEN/TC304 standing document and given adequate
publicity as a freely accesible page on the CEN/TC304 web pages. It is
recommended that the upkeep, development and maintenance of the taxonomy should
be the responsibility of CEN/TC304.
CEN/TC304/PT01 User
requirements on Information Technology.