rex@aussie.UUCP (Rex Jaeschke) (02/03/90)
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The following text will apear in Volume 1, number 4, March 1990, of
The Journal of C Language Translation. Although it was written by Rex
Jaeschke, it will apear as part of Jim Brodie's Standards Column.
It is reproduced here for your convenience as a service by the
Journal and for those of you who are are not Journal subscribers.
Please note this extract is Copyright 1990, Rex Jaeschke and all
rights are reserved.
This information is believed to be accurate as at February 2nd, 1990.
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The American National Standard for C has finally been approved.
The period for appeals before enactment of the standard has now
passed and actual publication of the standard should occur shortly.
(ANSI anticipates copies being available by late March.) The
Standard's official designation is ANSI X3.159-1989. To obtain a
copy, contact:
American National Standards Institute
Sales Department
1430 Broadway
New York, NY 10018
(212) 642-4900
fax (212) 302-1286
At press time, the price of the standard had not yet been determined.
{Interpretations Phase}
If you would like to formally submit a request for interpretation, do
so to:
X3 Secretariat
CBEMA
311 First Street N.W.
Suite 500
Washington, DC 20001-2178
Attn: Manager of Standards Processing
{The U.S. Government FIPS}
There is not yet a Federal Information Processing Standard (FIPS)
for C. Referencing a FIPS significantly simplifies the process of
using a language in a U.S. defense project. Now that the ANSI standard
for C has been approved the C FIPS should follow soon. Sometime in
February 1990 the FIPS proposal will be issued for a 90 day public
comment period. Assuming there are no objections, the FIPS is
presented to the U.S. Secretary of Commerce for signing. It is
expected this whole process will be completed during the Fall of
1990. This is then followed by a six month acceptance period after
which the FIPS becomes final. Note, however, that since the ANSI
Standard exists right now, a U.S. Government agency can require
conformance to that standard in RFPs right now! They do not need to
wait until a FIPS is produced.
{The Formal Validation Process}
On the U.S. front, activity in that direction has also begun in
earnest. According to the National Institute of Standards and
Technology (NIST) they issued a Request For Proposal (RFP) in late
January asking for submissions of C language validation test suites.
To get a copy of the solicitation for C language validation suite RFP
(Solicitation Number 52SBNB0C6O42) contact:
National Institute of Standards and Technology
Contracts Department
Gaithersburg, MD 20899
Note that the process of selecting or developing a validation suite is
not related to the FIPS. That is, the suite may be finalized
before or after a FIPS is produced.
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Rex
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Rex Jaeschke | Journal of C Language Translation | C Users Journal
(703) 860-0091 | 2051 Swans Neck Way | DEC PROFESSIONAL
uunet!aussie!rex | Reston, Virginia 22091, USA | Programmers Journal
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Convener of the Numerical C Extensions Group (NCEG)
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