ISO/IEC 15897:2011

Information technology - User interfaces - Procedures for the registration of cultural elements

lSO/IEC 15897:2011 specifies the information that can appear in a Cultural Specification and defines the procedures for registering such specifications. The Cultural Specifications can include freeform Narrative Cultural Specifications and Repertoiremaps as described in lSO/IEC 15897:2011, POSIX Locales and Charmaps conforming to ISO/IEC/IEEE 9945, and other machine-parsable specifications such as FDCC-sets, Repertoiremaps and Charmaps following the recommendations of ISO/IEC TR 14652, and Cultural Specifications formatted using SGML or XML. The registry is in printed and electronic form. lSO/IEC 15897:2011 sets out the procedures for registering cultural elements, both as narrative text and in a more formal manner, using the techniques of ISO/IEC/IEEE 9945, and other machine-processable formats such as those specified in ISO/IEC TR 14652. lSO/IEC 15897:2011 registers amongst other items Narrative Cultural Specifications and Repertoiremaps, POSIX Locales and POSIX Charmaps as defined in ISO/IEC/IEEE 9945, and other machine-parsable Cultural Specifications such as ISO/IEC TR 14652 FDCC-sets, Charmaps and Repertoiremaps, and Cultural Specifications in SGML or XML.

Technologies de l'information — Interfaces utilisateur — Procédures pour l'enregistrement des éléments culturels

General Information

• Status: Published
• Publication Date: 12-Sep-2011
• ICS: 35.060 - Languages used in information technology
• ICS: 35.240.99 - IT applications in other fields
• Technical Committee: ISO/IEC JTC 1/SC 35 - User interfaces
• Drafting Committee: ISO/IEC JTC 1/SC 35/WG 5 - Cultural and linguistic adaptability
• Current Stage: 9093 - International Standard confirmed
• Start Date: 18-Dec-2024
• Completion Date: 30-Oct-2025

Relations

• Revises: ISO/IEC 15897:1999 - Information technology - Procedures for registration of cultural elements
• Effective Date: 15-Apr-2008

Overview

ISO/IEC 15897:2011 - "Information technology - User interfaces - Procedures for the registration of cultural elements" defines a formal registry and the procedures for recording cultural conventions used in information technology. The standard covers both free-form Narrative Cultural Specifications and machine-parsable specifications (for example, POSIX Locales, POSIX Charmaps, Repertoiremaps, and FDCC-sets) and supports formats such as SGML and XML. Registered entries receive unique numeric and token identifiers and the International Register is published in electronic (Internet) and optionally printed form.

Key Topics and Requirements

• Scope of registration
  • Narrative Cultural Specifications, Repertoiremaps, POSIX Locales and Charmaps, FDCC-sets, and other machine-processable formats following ISO/IEC TR 14652 recommendations.
• Registry content and format
  • The International Register (ISO-IR-15897) holds registrations and indices; available electronically and may be free-of-charge on the Internet.
• Identification
  • Each cultural specification is assigned a numeric identifier and a token identifier for unique identification and use in software.
• Governance and procedures
  • Roles and responsibilities defined for the ISO/IEC supervisory body, Registration Authority, Sponsoring Authority, and Joint Advisory Committee.
  • Procedures for initial registration, processing approved applications, appeals, revisions, additions, and withdrawal of registrations.
• Formats and rules
  • Formats for Narrative Cultural Specifications and Repertoiremaps; rules for token identifiers and registration metadata.
• Interoperability considerations
  • Intended use with POSIX Locale handling, programming languages, database handling, and communication protocols.

Practical Applications

• Localization and internationalization teams use ISO/IEC 15897:2011 to find or register standardized cultural conventions (date/time, numeric formats, collation, character repertoires).
• Software developers and OS vendors (especially POSIX-conformant systems) can adopt registered POSIX Locales and Charmaps directly for runtime locale behavior.
• System integrators, procurement officers, and standards bodies use the registry as a reference to ensure consistent cultural behavior across products and services.
• Database and communication protocol designers use token and numeric identifiers for unambiguous identification of locale-related resources.

Related Standards

• ISO/IEC/IEEE 9945 (POSIX Base Specifications)
• ISO/IEC TR 14652 (FDCC-sets, Charmaps, Repertoiremaps)
• ISO 639 (language codes), ISO 3166 (country codes), ISO 8601 (date/time), ISO/IEC 10646 (UCS)
• ISO/IEC 8824/8825 (ASN.1)

ISO/IEC 15897:2011 is a practical reference for anyone implementing or standardizing locale, character mapping, and other cultural conventions across international IT systems.

Standards Content (Sample)

INTERNATIONAL ISO/IEC
STANDARD 15897
Second edition
2011-10-01
Information technology — User
interfaces — Procedures for the
registration of cultural elements
Technologies de l'information — Interfaces utilisateur — Procédures
pour l'enregistrement des éléments culturels

Reference number
©
ISO/IEC 2011
©  ISO/IEC 2011
All rights reserved. Unless otherwise specified, no part of this publication may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means,
electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and microfilm, without permission in writing from either ISO at the address below or
ISO's member body in the country of the requester.
ISO copyright office
Case postale 56  CH-1211 Geneva 20
Tel. + 41 22 749 01 11
Fax + 41 22 749 09 47
E-mail [e-mail]
Web www.iso.org
Published in Switzerland
ii © ISO/IEC 2011 – All rights reserved

Contents Page
Foreword . v
Introduction . vi
1  Scope . 1
2  Normative references . 1
3  Terms and definitions . 2
4  International Register . 3
4.1  Content . 3
4.2  Format. 3
4.3  Indices to the registrations . 3
4.4  Identification of an approved registration . 4
4.5  No modification nor deletion of registrations . 4
5  ISO/IEC supervisory body . 4
6  Registration Authority . 4
6.1  Appointment . 4
6.2  Responsibilities . 5
6.3  Identity . 5
7  Sponsoring Authority . 6
7.1  Identity . 6
7.2  Responsibilities . 6
8  Source of Information . 7
8.1  Identity . 7
8.2  Responsibilities . 7
9  The Registration Authority's Joint Advisory Committee . 7
9.1  Membership . 7
9.2  Appointment . 7
9.3  Responsibilities . 7
10  Types and relationships of Cultural Specifications . 8
10.1  Types of Cultural Specifications . 8
10.2  Relations between registration types . 8
11  Format of a Narrative Cultural Specification . 9
12  Contents of a Narrative Cultural Specification (informative) . 11
12.1  Mandatory clauses . 11
12.2  Optional clauses . 12
13  Format of a Repertoiremap . 15
14  Rules for Cultural Specifications . 15
15  Specification of the token identifier . 17
16  Initial registration procedures . 18
17  Processing of an approved application . 19
18  Appeal procedures . 20
18.1  Appeals against rejection . 20
18.2  Appeals against registration . 20
18.3  Invalid reasons for an appeal . 20
18.4  Procedure for filing an appeal . 20
© ISO/IEC 2011 – All rights reserved iii

18.5  Resolution of an appeal .20
19  Revisions .21
20  Additions of token identifiers to an existing registration .21
21  Withdrawal .21
21.1  Withdrawal of an application for registration .21
21.2  Withdrawal of an entire existing registration .21
21.3  Procedures for parts .22
Annex A (normative) Application form for a Cultural Specification .23
Annex B (informative) Sample application for a Cultural Specification .24
Annex C (normative) External references to Cultural Specifications .25
Annex D (informative) Example of a Narrative Cultural Specification .26
Annex E (normative) "reorder-after" construct in LC_COLLATE .35
Annex F (informative) Information on "reorder-after" construct in LC-COLLATE .37
Annex G (informative) Sample POSIX Locale specification for Danish .39
Annex H (informative) Differences from ISO/IEC 15897:1999 and CEN ENV 12005:1996 .42
Bibliography .44

iv © ISO/IEC 2011 – All rights reserved

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 15897 was prepared by Joint Technical Committee ISO/IEC JTC 1, Information technology,
Subcommittee SC 35, User interfaces.
This second edition cancels and replaces the first edition (ISO/IEC 15897:1999), which has been technically
revised. ISO/IEC 15897:1999 was the result of a “fast-track” adoption of ENV 12005:1996.
This second edition adds support for registering specifications meant for machine processing, such as
ISO/IEC TR 14652 specifications, SGML and XML. It enlarges the group of organizations that may be
Sponsoring Authorities, and an effort has been made to align it with the registration procedures of
ISO/IEC 2375. The changes to the first edition are outlined in Annex H.
© ISO/IEC 2011 – All rights reserved v

Introduction
Cultural differences throughout the world make it necessary to adapt IT equipment to each local culture.
Standard methods being developed by ISO/IEC JTC 1/SC 35 make such adaptation easier. Registering the
local conventions in a globally available registry makes it still easier. CEN/TC 304 was the first committee to
start work on such a registry and the European prestandard ENV 12005:1996 was the result.
ISO/IEC 15897:1999 was the result of the “fast-track” adoption of DS/ENV 12005, a Danish Standards
Association standard publication equivalent to ENV 12005.
This International Standard registers amongst other items Narrative Cultural Specifications and
Repertoiremaps, POSIX Locales and POSIX Charmaps as defined in ISO/IEC/IEEE 9945, and other machine-
parsable Cultural Specifications such as ISO/IEC TR 14652 FDCC-sets, Charmaps and Repertoiremaps, and
Cultural Specifications in SGML or XML.
The registration will be free-of-charge and the registered cultural elements will also be freely available on the
Internet (see 6.3). This will make information on cultural conventions freely and easily available to producers
in the IT market. Some of these specifications may even be applied without any change by downloading the
formatted specifications and processing them, for example by POSIX-compliant software.
vi © ISO/IEC 2011 – All rights reserved

INTERNATIONAL STANDARD ISO/IEC 15897:2011(E)

Information technology — User interfaces — Procedures for the
registration of cultural elements
1 Scope
This International Standard specifies the information that can appear in a Cultural Specification and defines
the procedures for registering such specifications. The Cultural Specifications can include freeform Narrative
Cultural Specifications and Repertoiremaps as described in this International Standard, POSIX Locales and
Charmaps conforming to ISO/IEC/IEEE 9945, and other machine-parsable specifications such as FDCC-sets,
Repertoiremaps and Charmaps following the recommendations of ISO/IEC TR 14652, and Cultural
Specifications formatted using SGML or XML. The registry is in printed and electronic form.
Each cultural convention registration has unique identifiers in a particular standard format defined in this
International Standard. A numeric identifier and a token identifier are assigned to each registered cultural
convention specification, POSIX Locale, POSIX Charmap and Repertoiremap, FDCC-set and
ISO/IEC TR 14652 Charmap, and other machine-processable descriptions of cultural conventions. These
identifiers are for unique identification of the Cultural Specification, and are intended to be used with POSIX
Locale handling mechanisms and possibly other Locale and Charmap usage, such as in programming
languages, database handling and communication protocols and for identification and specification by human
operators.
The field of application of this International Standard is to provide reference for implementers, procurers,
users, and standardization organizations to determine cultural requirements in a given cultural environment.
Registered items using certain POSIX formal specification methods can also be used by POSIX-conformant
operating systems and other software capable of using such specifications.
NOTE The title of this International Standard contains the term “cultural elements”. The preferred term in this
International Standard is “cultural conventions”, but the term “cultural elements” is retained in the title for consistency with
earlier versions of this International Standard.
2 Normative references
The following referenced documents are indispensable for the application of this document. For dated
references, only the edition cited applies. For undated references, the latest edition of the referenced
document (including any amendments) applies.
ISO 639-1, Codes for the representation of names of languages — Part 1: Alpha-2 code
ISO 639-2, Codes for the representation of names of languages — Part 2: Alpha-3 code
ISO/IEC 646, Information technology — ISO 7-bit coded character set for information interchange
ISO 3166 (all parts), Codes for the representation of names of countries and their subdivisions
ISO 4217, Codes for the representation of currencies and funds
ISO 8601, Data elements and interchange formats — Information interchange — Representation of dates and
times
© ISO/IEC 2011 – All rights reserved 1

ISO/IEC 8824 (all parts), Information technology — Abstract Syntax Notation One (ASN.1)
ISO/IEC 8825 (all parts), Information technology — ASN.1 encoding rules ®
ISO/IEC/IEEE 9945, Information technology — Portable Operating System Interface (POSIX ) Base
Specifications, Issue 7
ISO/IEC 10646, Information technology — Universal Multiple-Octet Coded Character Set (UCS)
3 Terms and definitions
For the purposes of this document, the following terms and definitions apply.
3.1
Locale
definition of the subset of a user's environment that depends on language and cultural conventions
NOTE See Clause 7 of ISO/IEC 9945-1:2003 for a specification of the Locale file format.
3.2
FDCC-set
set of Formal Definitions of Cultural Conventions
definition of the subset of a user's information technology environment that depends on language, territory, or
other cultural customs
NOTE See Clause 4 of ISO/IEC TR 14652:2004 for a specification of the FDCC-set format.
3.3
Charmap
text file describing a coded character set
NOTE See 6.4 of ISO/IEC 9945-1:2003 for a description of the POSIX Charmap file format.
3.4
text file
human-readable file that contains characters organized into one or more lines
3.5
cultural convention
cultural element
data item for computer use that may vary depending on language, territory, or other cultural circumstances
3.6
Cultural Specification
Narrative Cultural Specification, POSIX Locale, FDCC-set, POSIX Charmap, Repertoiremap, or other
machine-processable description of cultural conventions such as ISO/IEC TR 14652 FDCC-sets, Charmaps or
Repertoiremaps, or Cultural Specifications in SGML or XML
3.7
Narrative Cultural Specification
narrative description of culturally dependent information pertaining to information technology
NOTE Such information may be useful when designing computer systems and software. See Clauses 10, 11 and 12.
2 © ISO/IEC 2011 – All rights reserved

3.8
Repertoiremap
definition of a mapping between character names and characters for the repertoire of characters used in a
Locale
NOTE This is further described in Clause 13.
3.9
profile
of a standard set of specifications of values of parameters in the standard, selections of optional items of the
standard, or the recommendations concerning implementation-related matters of the standard
3.10
token identifier
string uniquely identifying the Cultural Specification, constructed from various key attributes of the
specification
NOTE This is further described in Clause 15.
4 International Register
4.1 Content
The International Register of Cultural Specifications (ISO-IR-15897) shall consist of two parts: a set of
registrations of Cultural Specifications, and indices to the registrations.
4.2 Format
The International Register (IR) shall be available in electronic format through the Internet, and optionally on
other electronic media. It may also be made available on paper.
Directions for access to the International Register on the Internet are given in 6.3.
4.3 Indices to the registrations
The International Register shall contain indices to the registrations by:
 the registration number;
 the token identifiers;
 the type of Cultural Specification(s) in a registration;
 the culture to which a registration applies;
 the sponsoring authority of a registration;
 other indices as deemed appropriate by the Registration Authority, or as requested by the subcommittee
with administrative responsibility for this International Standard (see Clause 5, ISO/IEC Supervisory
Body).
© ISO/IEC 2011 – All rights reserved 3

4.4 Identification of an approved registration
Each approved registration must have a unique registration number and one or more unique token identifiers.
4.4.1 Structure of the identifiers
The structure of a registration number is one or more digits, without leading zeroes. The structure of a token
identifier is given in Clause 15.
4.4.2 Reference to an approved registration
A reference to an approved registration should be made by using one of its unique token identifiers, a part of
its token identifier with for example part or all of the version number excluded as described in Clause 15, or
the prefix ISO-IR-15897 followed by a HYPHEN and the registration number, or one of the mechanisms listed
in Annex C. Examples of token identifiers are listed in Clause 14. An example of using the ISO-IR-15897
prefix with the registration number 37 is ISO-IR-15897-37.
4.5 No modification nor deletion of registrations
The contents of an individual registration shall never be changed or deleted once the application for
registration has been approved (except for name additions). Even the correction of editorial errors will make a
new registration necessary. This is contrasted with a standard which must be reviewed and/or revised
periodically. If an existing entry in the registry is based on a standard that subsequently is revised, the existing
registry entry is not changed. If a Sponsoring Authority desires recognition of such a revision, a new
registration shall be made by following the normal procedures. Withdrawal of part of an existing registration is
prohibited by 21.3.1.
A registration has a version number as part of its token identifier, defined in Clause 15. By registering a
Cultural Specification with a higher version number, a specification may be updated, and applications referring
to the registration without the precise version will get the latest update, while applications referring the precise
version, or the registration number, will get the older specification. The rules for the versioning mechanism are
specified in Clause 15.
5 ISO/IEC supervisory body
The ISO/IEC JTC1 subcommittee concerned with internationalization has administrative responsibility for this
International Standard and the content of the register.
NOTE At the time of publication, subcommittee ISO/IEC JTC1/SC35, User interfaces, has this responsibility.
6 Registration Authority
6.1 Appointment
6.1.1 The Registration Authority (RA) shall be an organization nominated by the ISO/IEC supervisory body
for this International Standard and appointed by the ISO and IEC councils to act as the Registration Authority
for this International Standard.
6.1.2 The Registration Authority shall be an organization actively participating in the work of the ISO/IEC
supervisory body for this International Standard.
4 © ISO/IEC 2011 – All rights reserved

6.2 Responsibilities
6.2.1 The Registration Authority shall maintain the International Register of Cultural Specifications and
assign their numeric and token identifiers.
6.2.2 The Registration Authority shall manage the execution of the registration procedure, including
processing of:
 applications for registration (as specified in Clauses 16 and 17);
 appeals (as specified in Clause 18);
 corrections and revisions to existing registrations (as specified in Clauses 19 and 20);
 withdrawal of existing registrations (as specified in Clause 21).
The exact responsibilities of the Registration Authority are described in detail in Clauses 16 and 17.
6.2.3 The contents of this register shall be available to ISO/IEC JTC 1 members and to the general public,
both in printed and electronic form. In particular, the contents of the register shall be made available over the
Internet.
6.2.4 One or more technical representatives of the Registration Authority may attend the meetings of the
subcommittee with administrative responsibility for this International Standard and of appropriate working
group(s) reporting to this subcommittee if required.
6.3 Identity
The identity of the designated Registration Authority and where the Registration Authority has published the
ISO/IEC 15897 Register on the Internet is available at:
http://www.iso.org/mara (In English)
http://www.iso.org/mara-fr (In French)
NOTE The initial Registration Authority was designated to be:
The Danish UNIX-systems User Group (DKUUG)
Fruebjergvej 3
DK-2100 København Ø
Danmark
email: [e-mail]
The data of the cultural register was initially available at:
http://www.dkuug.dk/cultreg/
© ISO/IEC 2011 – All rights reserved 5

7 Sponsoring Authority
7.1 Identity
A Sponsoring Authority is an organization that may submit applications for registration of Cultural
Specifications to the Registration Authority. Applications for registration of Cultural Specifications may be
made by the following bodies:
a) any Member Body of ISO/IEC JTC1, for applications limited to the territory or territories for which they
have authority;
b) any National Member, Associate, or Affiliate of CEN, for applications limited to the territory or territories
for which they have authority;
c) ISO/IEC JTC 1 and its Subcommittees and Working Groups, for any applications;
d) any other organisation, for any applications.
7.2 Responsibilities
The responsibilities of a Sponsoring Authority shall be:
a) to receive applications concerning Cultural Specifications from a Source of Information (see Clause 8)
operating in the area over which the Sponsoring Authority has jurisdiction;
b) to prepare applications for the registration of the Cultural Specifications according to the procedures and
specifications in Clause 15;
c) to assure that free distribution of the Cultural Specification is permitted without charge;
d) if any material in an application is under copyright, to obtain copyright clearance for the copyrighted
material from the copyright holder, including permission to redistribute the copyrighted material as part of
the Cultural Specification without restriction and without charge by the copyright holder;
e) Sponsoring Authorities may submit any applications for registration of the types Charmaps,
Repertoiremaps, and Machine-parsable character set descriptions to support their other Cultural
Specifications;
f) to effect such rationalization or coordination of all applications under consideration as the Sponsoring
Authority may desire;
g) to submit applications for the registration of Cultural Specifications to the Registration Authority;
h) to announce the result of the registration procedure within its respective country, region, or organizations.
6 © ISO/IEC 2011 – All rights reserved

8 Source of Information
8.1 Identity
The Source of Information is the organization or individual responsible for the Cultural Specification.
8.2 Responsibilities
The responsibilities of a Source of Information shall be:
a) to prepare a Cultural Specification;
b) if any material in a Cultural Specification is under copyright, to assure that free distribution of the Cultural
Specification is permitted;
c) to submit the Cultural Specification to an appropriate Sponsoring Authority.
9 The Registration Authority's Joint Advisory Committee
9.1 Membership
The Joint Advisory Committee (RA-JAC) shall consist of a representative of the Registration Authority and four
other members who shall be representatives from the national member bodies on the subcommittee
concerned with the maintenance of this International Standard or representatives from organizations with a
liaison membership to this subcommittee.
The chair of the RA-JAC shall be the representative of the Registration Authority.
9.2 Appointment
The subcommittee responsible for maintaining this International Standard shall appoint the members of the
RA-JAC, except for the RA representative, which is appointed by the RA.
The subcommittee responsible for maintaining this International Standard shall appoint or confirm the
members of the RA-JAC at its plenary meetings, except for the representative of the RA.
9.3 Responsibilities
The responsibilities of the RA-JAC shall be as follows:
a) to determine whether an application for registration meets the technical requirements of Clause 14;
b) to provide expert technical advice on comments if requested by the Registration Authority;
c) to consider and vote on appeals received by the Registration Authority;
d) to act as a mediator between the Registration Authority and the appealing party, or parties.
e) In addition, the RA-JAC may add comments to a registration.
© ISO/IEC 2011 – All rights reserved 7

10 Types and relationships of Cultural Specifications
10.1 Types of Cultural Specifications
A number of types of Cultural Specifications can be registered according to this International Standard:
1) Narrative Cultural Specification
2) POSIX Locale
3) POSIX Charmap
4) Repertoiremap
5) Machine-parsable Cultural Specification
6) Machine-parsable coded character set specification
Type 1 is for Narrative Cultural Specifications, further specified in Clause 11 and 12.
Types 2 and 3 are for POSIX specification of cultural conventions defined in ISO/IEC/IEEE 9945.
Type 4 is for Repertoiremaps. Clause 13 defines the format of a Repertoiremap included in an application for
cultural registration.
NOTE As far as Repertoiremaps according to ISO/IEC TR 14652 are also in accordance with Clause 13, these can
also be registered as Type 4.
Types 5 and 6 are for specification of cultural conventions in a machine-parsable format, such as specified in
ISO/IEC TR 14652, XML or SGML table formats. Any format is allowed as long as it is machine parsable and
adheres to the following rules: It is a ISO/IEC TR 14652 FDCC-set, a ISO/IEC TR 14652 Charmap, or the first
line of the file identifies the file format.
10.2 Relations between registration types
Registration types are related as follows:
10.2.1 The Narrative Cultural Specification
The Narrative Cultural Specification specifies cultural conventions in narrative form in any of the official
ISO/IEC JTC 1 languages English, French and/or Russian, and it may give equivalent specifications in other
languages. It may thus address issues which have not yet been codified by formal methods for specifications
of cultural conventions. If parts of a Narrative Cultural Specification have been specified also in POSIX Locale
or Charmap format, this Locale or Charmap should be referenced in the specification.
10.2.2 POSIX Locale
The POSIX Locale shall specify appropriate aspects of a Narrative Cultural Specification in formal POSIX
syntax. The POSIX Locale shall refer to either one or more POSIX Charmaps it can use, or to a
Repertoiremap.
When a POSIX Locale is submitted, it should be accompanied by a corresponding Narrative Cultural
Specification. The Narrative Cultural Specification and the POSIX Locale shall not be in contradiction.
10.2.3 POSIX Charmap
The POSIX Charmap shall specify aspects of a Narrative Cultural Specification or a POSIX Locale that relate
to coded character sets. A POSIX Charmap may refer to POSIX Locales, Narrative Cultural Specifications, or
Repertoiremaps that it uses, but such references are not required.
8 © ISO/IEC 2011 – All rights reserved

10.2.4 Repertoiremap
A Repertoiremap is used as a tool to enable a POSIX Locale or a Narrative Cultural Specification to be
independent of coded character sets, and to remove the requirement for POSIX Charmaps when registering a
POSIX Locale. It need not refer to other Cultural Specifications.
10.2.5 Other machine-parsable Cultural Specifications
Some aspects of a Narrative Cultural Specification may be specified in formal syntax as an ISO/IEC TR 14652
FDCC-set, or other machine-parsable Cultural Specification, which may refer to the corresponding Narrative
Cultural Specification. A ISO/IEC TR 14652 FDCC-set may refer to the Repertoiremap being used, and should
also list one or more Charmaps that can be used.
10.2.6 Other machine parsable character set specifications
In the case of a ISO/IEC TR 14652 Charmap, or other machine-parsable character set descriptions it shall
specify aspects of a Narrative Cultural Specification or an FDCC-set that relate to coded character sets. A
Charmap may refer to the Repertoiremap being used, and may refer to the FDCC-set or the Narrative Cultural
Specifications using the Charmap.
NOTE It is the intention to allow more formal specification methods in future revisions of this International Standard
when they become standardized methods; for the time being these specifications can be registered as type 1, 5 or 6.
11 Format of a Narrative Cultural Specification
The format of a Narrative Cultural Specification shall contain clauses describing the following cultural
conventions, which may also be described in a POSIX Locale, or an FDCC-set, or other machine-parsable
Cultural Specification:
1) Alphanumeric deterministic ordering
2) Classification of characters
3) Numeric formatting
4) Monetary formatting
5) Date and time conventions
6) Affirmative and negative answers
The Narrative Cultural Specification may also include other culturally dependent information, limited to the
following list:
7) National or cultural Information Technology terminology
8) National or cultural profiles of standards
9) Character set considerations
10) Sorting and searching rules
11) Transformation of characters
12) Character properties
13) Use of special characters
© ISO/IEC 2011 – All rights reserved 9

14) Character rendition
15) Character inputting
16) Personal names rules
17) Inflection
18) Hyphenation
19) Spelling
20) Numbering, ordinals and measuring systems
21) Monetary amounts
22) Date and time
23) Coding of national entities
24) Telephone numbers
25) Mail addresses
26) Identification of persons and organizations
27) Electronic mail addresses
28) Payment account numbers
29) Keyboard layout
30) Man-machine dialogue
31) Paper formats
32) Typographical conventions
The list of clauses may be expanded in future revisions of this International Standard.
Clauses 10, 12, 20, 21, 22 and 30 are for description of cultural aspects in excess of what can be described in
the corresponding POSIX Clauses 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6. In Clause 9 it is possible to give further information on
characters classified in Clause 2.
NOTE Further information about the categories, along with specific examples illustrating their use may be found in
Clause 11, in Annex D and in the Nordic Cultural Requirements on Information Technology (Summary Report).
Each clause shall begin on a new line after at least one blank line, and each clause shall be introduced by the
string "Clause", followed by the decimal clause number for the issue as listed above, then a colon and a
space, and then the title of the clause, using the titles above (examples are given in Annex D).
The body of the clause shall follow on the succeeding lines. A reference to a clause within the specification
shall consist of the string "=> Clause " followed by the clause number. A reference to another specification
shall consist of the string "=> Spec. " followed by the registration number of the specification and, optionally,
the string " Clause " and a clause number.
10 © ISO/IEC 2011 – All rights reserved

12 Contents of a Narrative Cultural Specification (informative)
The contents of a Narrative Cultural Specification are described in some detail in this clause. The specification
builds on information from the POSIX International Standard (ISO/IEC/IEEE 9945) and the Nordic Cultural
Requirements on Information Technology (Summary Report). Clauses 1 to 6 are related to POSIX. Clause 7
to 32 are to provide information, which is not presently expressible in POSIX notation. An example of a
Narrative Cultural Specification is given in Annex D.
NOTE The numbering of the clauses are somewhat arbitrary, and if a Sponsoring Authority deems that some
information in a subsequent clause is helpful for the understanding of a clause, then the clause with the additional
information may be referenced via a ”see => Clause xx” specification.
12.1 Mandatory clauses
The format of a Narrative Cultural Specification shall contain the clauses (numbered 1-6) specified below.
These clauses are POSIX categories. The Narrative Cultural Specification should be accompanied by a
corresponding POSIX Locale specification. The information given in these clauses of the Narrative Cultural
Specification may also be described in an FDCC-set, or other machine parsable Cultural Specification:
Clause 1: Alphanumeric deterministic ordering
In this clause the specification of a national standard for ordering should be listed. If there are more standards,
or options for a standard, there should be one POSIX specification for each of the standards or options. An
international standard such as ISO/IEC 14651 or a European Multilingual Ordering standard such as
CEN CR 14400, could be referenced, and possible deviations, if any, could be described. Issues to cover may
include whether there are letters that sort differently from common use in other languages, whether capital
letters sort before small letters, or whether there is a specific ordering of diacritics. Further, this section may
describe the ordering of scripts, and sorting levels -- that is, if there are cases when characters sort equally at
first, but then may sort differently at other levels. Does the language require reordering of some characters
before collation weighting (for example Thai)? Does the language sort on a syllabic basis, rather than merely
letter-by-letter (for example Burmese)? Does the language make use of ideographs, and if so, how are they
handled with respect to other characters? If aspects of the ordering for the language extend beyond what a
POSIX specification can handle, then details can be described in Clause 10.
The specification is aimed at deterministic sorting, that is that if two strings of characters are compared, the
result will always be the same, regardless for example of the encoding used for comparison, and the
sequence of the two strings.
The clause is also intended for description of ordering of non-alphabetic scripts, such as ideographic scripts or
syllable-oriented scripts, and for ordering of multiple scripts.
This is a POSIX category.
Clause 2: Classification of characters
The POSIX International Standard allows descriptions of what are alphabetic characters, capital and small
letters, digits, hexadecimal digits, punctuation characters, spaces, graphical characters and control
characters. Classification of characters that cannot be handled in standard POSIX may be specified in
Clause 12. This is a POSIX category.
Clause 3: Numeric formatting
This clause describes how numbers are formatted (for input and output), including the format of the decimal
point and the thousands separator. Special considerations for how numbers should be formatted in narrative
text and other numeric formatting that cannot be handled by the POSIX International Standard may be
specified in Clause 20. This is a POSIX category.
© ISO/IEC 2011 – All rights reserved 11

Clause 4: Monetary formatting
This clause describes formatting rules for monetary amounts, as well as local and international currency
symbols according to ISO 4217, as well as the relation between the amount, a sign and the currency symbol.
Monetary formatting that cannot be handled by the POSIX International Standard may be specified in
Clause 21. This is a POSIX category.
Clause 5: Date and time conventions
Various names for days and months are given, together with formats for writing date and time. Things to
consider are: do day and month names start with a capital letter or a small letter? Are there well recognized
abbreviations for the day and month names? Is ISO 8601 formatting widespread? As the date formats are for
use in POSIX, for example when listing files, consideration should be given to possible POSIX conventions in
the culture, and the abbreviated date formats should be of constant length for them to be used in lists. The
long formats should be usable in narrative text such as letters. Handling of date formatting that cannot be
handled by the POSIX International Standard may be specified in Clause 22. This is a POSIX category.
Clause 6: Affirmative and negative answers
In this clause the short notation for "yes" and "no" answers in the language can be specified. If the culture has
strong relations to several languages, for example in a multilingual country, it should be permitted to answer in
any of the languages. As English is widely used in many cultures, allowing responses in the English language
should be considered. This is a POSIX category.
12.2 Optional clauses
The Narrative Cultural Specification may also include other culturally dependent information, specified in
Clauses 7-32. These clauses are not directly related to POSIX Locales:
Clause 7: National or cultural Information Technology terminology
In this clause terminology for a language or culture can be listed, for example a translation of ISO terminology
for Information Technologies.
Clause 8: National or cultural profiles of standards
In this clause profiles of standards can be listed, for example, OSI national profiles, or profiles of the POSIX
International Standards. See ISO/IEC 9945-2:1993, Annex G for an example.
Clause 9: Character set considerations
This clause describes how characters are used in the culture, for example:
 which letters constitutes the alphabet, that is the necessary set of characters to write a particular language,
 which characters are used to give further precision in the language, for example allowed in the orthography
of the language, like accented letters to denote stress,
 which characters are usually used in newspapers and books for writing of names and places, for example of
foreign origin,
 which characters are used for historic writing of the language,
 and which characters are used for other purposes, such as characters ordinarily used in school for scientific
or foreign language education.
This clause may also be used to specify which coded character sets are common in the culture, what coded
character sets are recommended, and how multiple coded character sets are utilized, possibly using
ISO/IEC 2022. Also further descriptions of coded character sets may be described; it is also possible to
document these in the form of a POSIX Charmap registration.
12 © ISO/IEC 2011 – All rights reserved

Clause 10: Sorting and searching rules
This clause is for specifying sorting and searching rules that cannot be specified with POSIX specifications,
such as ISO/IEC 14651 specifications, non-deterministic ordering, pre-handling and post-handling of records,
such as how to split a record into sorting fields, and rules for common words like a, the which may be ignored
when comparing or searching. Also sound based matching rules may be described here. What can be
accomplished deterministically with POSIX should be described in Clause 1.
Clause 11: Transformation of characters
This clause describes transliterations and transformations of characters, for example transliteration rules
between Latin, Greek and Cyrillic, or fallback notation for some frequent letters. Also this is the place to writ
...