[comp.software-eng] Standard for Standards

neff@sierra.Stanford.EDU (Randall B. Neff) (06/30/89)

------		The Cynic's Guide to Software Engineering		------
------ an invitation to dialogue, starting with the personal view of	------
------		    Randall Neff @ anna.stanford.edu			------
------	        	June 29, 1989  part 8			------
------------------------------------------------------------------------------

		A Standard for Standards Distribution

I recently received the Summer 1989 IEEE Standards Catalog in the mail.
On page 5, there is a sidebar titled:  "IEEE Standards Launches Hypertext
Series".   Quoting:  "Very soon, the IEEE Standards Department will begin
to release selected standards in a new electronic form--hypertext."

Sounds good to me.  Reading on, however, I discover that the hypertext
being used is HyperTRANS(tm) Software from Texas Instruments, for only
MS-DOS (IBM PC compatibles).   So while at Stanford where I am using SUN 
workstations, DEC workstations, Vaxen, Sequent Symmetry, etc, I would have
to go home to my IBM PC to read the Standards.  

The difficulty is that there is a real need for a public domain hypertext 
file Standard.  Apple blew the lead in hypertext by making their file format 
top secret and destroying the portability of HyperCard(tm) by requiring external
functions and external commands written specifically for Motorola 680x0s. 

Since the IEEE is a Standards setting organization, it would seem that
they could define a machine readable ASCII file format for hypertext, and
publish their Standards in that standard format.   Putting the Standards
on-line on ARPANET would greatly ease the distribution through ftp and
would widely and quickly spread the Standards.   Note that the X window
and the GNU software documentation is distributed this way; and the Ada LRM 
is available through ftp.

Once the file format is defined, independent groups can write their own
hypertext readers, in a similar fashion to the different USENET news readers
available and the different X window managers being used and developed.

The first level file format requires:
	labels for the pages and page breaks.
	define text buttons and targets (page, line, column).
	editor for the format (GNU EMACS macros?).

The second level file format requires:
	color graphics (X window primatives?).
	graphic buttons.
	font names and exact formatting (LaTeX?).
	graphic / page layout editor.

The third level file format requires:
	embedded `programming language'.
	editor / debugger for language.

I strongly disagree with using a proprietary format with a trademarked name
for the Standards; and I strongly disagree with putting the Standards on a 
`toy' computer such as the IBM PC compatibles.  An acceptable option would
be the publication of the HyperTrans file format and releasing it to the
public domain.  


Randall Neff@anna.stanford.edu

wolfms@athena.mit.edu (Wolf Schaarschmidt) (07/13/89)

                                           Date: 7/12/89


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