ISO/IEC 20944-1:2013

Information technology — Metadata Registries Interoperability and Bindings (MDR-IB) — Part 1: Framework, common vocabulary, and common provisions for conformance

The ISO/IEC 20944 series of International Standards provides the bindings and their interoperability for metadata registries, such as those specified in the ISO/IEC 11179 series of International Standards. ISO/IEC 20944-1:2013 contains an overview, framework, common vocabulary, and common provisions for conformance for the ISO/IEC 20944 series of International Standards.

Technologies de l'information — Interopérabilité et liaisons des registres de métadonnées (MDR-IB) — Partie 1: Cadre d'applications, vocabulaire commun et dispositions communes de conformité

General Information

• Status: Published
• Publication Date: 07-Jan-2013
• ICS: 35.040 - Information coding
• ICS: 35.040.50 - Automatic identification and data capture techniques
• Technical Committee: ISO/IEC JTC 1/SC 32 - Data management and interchange
• Drafting Committee: ISO/IEC JTC 1/SC 32/WG 2 - MetaData
• Current Stage: 9020 - International Standard under periodical review
• Start Date: 15-Jul-2024
• Completion Date: 15-Jul-2024

Standards Content (Sample)

INTERNATIONAL ISO/IEC
STANDARD 20944-1
First edition
2013-01-15
Information technology — Metadata
Registries Interoperability and Bindings
(MDR-IB) —
Part 1:
Framework, common vocabulary, and
common provisions for conformance
Technologies de l'information — Interopérabilité et liaisons des registres
de métadonnées (MDR-IB) —
Partie 1: Cadre d'applications, vocabulaire commun et dispositions
communes de conformité
Reference number
©
ISO/IEC 2013
©  ISO/IEC 2013
All rights reserved. Unless otherwise specified, no part of this publication may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means,
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ii © ISO/IEC 2013 – All rights reserved

Contents Page
Foreword . iv
Introduction . v
1  Scope . 1
1.1  General . 1
1.2  Overview of concepts . 2
2  Normative references . 3
3  Terms and definitions . 4
3.1  Terms and definitions from ISO/IEC Guide 2 . 4
3.2  Terms and definitions from ISO/IEC Directives, Part 2 . 8
3.3  Terms and definitions from ISO/IEC JTC 1 Directives . 9
3.4  Terms and definitions from ISO 704 . 9
3.5  Terms and definitions from ISO 1087-1 . 9
3.6  Terms and definitions from ISO/IEC 2382-1, fundamental terms . 10
3.7  Terms and definitions from ISO/IEC 2382-4, organization of data . 15
3.8  Terms and definitions from ISO/IEC 2382-5, representation of data . 21
3.9  Terms and definitions from ISO/IEC 2382-6, preparation and handling of data . 21
3.10  Terms and definitions from ISO/IEC 2382-7, computer programming . 24
3.11  Terms and definitions from ISO/IEC 2382-8, security . 26
3.12  Terms and definitions from ISO/IEC 2382-9, data communications . 33
3.13  Terms and definitions from ISO/IEC 2382-15, programming languages . 37
3.14  Terms and definitions from ISO/IEC 2382-17, databases . 38
3.15  Terms and definitions from ISO/IEC 2382-18, distributed data processing . 44
3.16  Terms and definitions from ISO/IEC TR 10000-1 . 44
3.17  Terms and definitions from ISO/IEC 11404 . 45
3.18  Terms and definitions from ISO/IEC 11179 . 46
3.19  Terms and definitions from ISO/IEC 13886 . 47
3.20  Terms and definitions from ISO/IEC 19501 . 49
3.21  Terms and definitions particular to this document . 49
3.22  Acronyms, initialisms, and abbreviations . 71
4  Conformance . 72
4.1  Conformance level . 73
4.2  Profiles, derived standards, subset standards, superset standards, and extensions . 73
4.3  Strictly conforming implementations . 73
4.4  Conforming implementations . 73
4.5  Conformance labels . 74
5  Derived normative documents, profiles, extensions . 74
5.1  Derived normative document (derived standard) . 74
5.2  General principles of a profile . 74
5.3  Extensions . 75
Annex A (informative) Using ISO/IEC 20944 as building blocks for metadata and data interchange . 77
Annex B (informative) Rationale . 80
Annex C (normative) Conformance labels . 84
Index of definitions . 85

© ISO/IEC 2013 – All rights reserved iii

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 20944-1 was prepared by Joint Technical Committee ISO/IEC JTC 1, Information technology,
Subcommittee SC 32, Data management and interchange.
ISO/IEC 20944 consists of the following parts, under the general title Information technology — Metadata
Registries Interoperability and Bindings (MDR-IB):
 Part 1: Framework, common vocabulary, and common provisions for conformance
 Part 2: Coding bindings
 Part 3: API bindings
 Part 4: Protocol bindings
 Part 5: Profiles
iv © ISO/IEC 2013 – All rights reserved

Introduction
ISO/IEC 20944 provides the bindings and their interoperability for metadata registries, such as those specified
in ISO/IEC 11179.
This part of ISO/IEC 20944 contains an overview, framework, common vocabulary, and common provisions
for conformance for ISO/IEC 20944. In the context of increasing metadata and data interoperability
harmonization, four methodologies have been employed to simplify the tasks and to reduce risk.
The first methodology employed is the treating of data (and metadata) interoperability as a series of layered
technical specifications (e.g., standards), from application-independent layers to application-specific layer(s).
The second methodology employed is the simplification of interoperability specializations, also known as
bindings. Rather than independently developing each separate method of representation and access [codings,
application programming interfaces (APIs), protocols], a common, harmonized approach is taken where each
binding is derived in a consistent two-step process:
 Step #1 is choosing from the categories of coding, API, protocol (or combination), which themselves are
derived from a common data model and navigation method.
 Step #2 is to derive the specific binding from its general binding, e.g., the XML coding binding
(ISO/IEC 20944-2:2012, Clause 12) and other (specific) coding bindings are derived from the generic
coding binding (ISO/IEC 20944-2:2012, Clauses 1-10); the C API binding (ISO/IEC 20944-3:2012,
Clause 11), the Java API binding (ISO/IEC 20944-3:2012, Clause 12), and the other API bindings are
derived from the generic API binding (ISO/IEC 20944-3:2012, Clauses 1-10). Because these bindings
have a well-defined derivation, the bindings are harmonized, i.e., there is commonality in meaning and
interpretation across the bindings. Thus, the complexity of adding and harmonizing a new (coding, API,
protocol) binding is greatly simplified.
The third methodology employed is the use of rule-based bindings to simplify the normative wording of the
standards. A rule-based binding is a binding that is specified by a general set of rules (in contrast to
application-specific normative wording). For example, the XML coding binding is based upon a set of
transformation rules (in contrast to specifying a specific DTD or XML schema).
The fourth methodology involves the harmonization of bindings within a category. For example, the XML
coding binding is intended to be harmonized with the ASN.1 coding binding; the C API binding is intended to
be harmonized with the Java API binding, etc.

© ISO/IEC 2013 – All rights reserved v

INTERNATIONAL STANDARD ISO/IEC 20944-1:2013(E)

Information technology — Metadata Registries Interoperability
and Bindings (MDR-IB) —
Part 1:
Framework, common vocabulary, and common provisions for
conformance
1 Scope
1.1 General
ISO/IEC 20944 is a series of International Standards that describe codings, APIs, and protocols for interacting
with an ISO/IEC 11179 metadata registry (MDR).
This part of ISO/IEC 20944 provides the overview, framework, common vocabulary, and common provisions
for conformance for ISO/IEC 20944. It addresses the following data interoperability features :
 a common framework for variety control: harmonized concepts for conforming implementations and strictly
conforming implementations;
2 3
 harmonized provisions, such as mandatory requirements and optional requirements , and their
consistent application across all bindings of ISO/IEC 20944;
 harmonized and consistent treatment of data elements with varying data obligation attributes (e.g.,
mandatory, conditional, optional, extended) and varying data longevity attributes (e.g., in-use, obsolete,
reserved, etc.).
This part of ISO/IEC 20944 also includes a rationale that guided its development. The rationale also discusses
the harmonized use of profiles (e.g., subsets, supersets, changes, etc.) of the data structure and data
elements.
The concept of data interoperability applies to metadata when metadata is treated as data, e.g., metadata item
attributes (as specified by ISO/IEC 11179-3) that are transferred or exchanged. The concept of data interoperability is
different from metadata interoperability (agreement upon the meaning of descriptive data), which is outside the scope of
ISO/IEC 20944.
In the context of this part of ISO/IEC 20944, the term mandatory requirement is defined as in ISO/IEC Guide 2:2004,
subclause 7.5.1: a requirement of a normative document that must necessarily be fulfilled in order to comply with that
document. There is no implication that the aforementioned requirement is compulsory by law or regulation. This kind
of mandatory requirement is also known as an exclusive requirement.
ISO/IEC Guide 2:2004, subclause 7.5.2 defines the term optional requirement, which includes the following note: An
optional requirement may be either: a) one of two or more alternative requirements; or b) an additional requirement that
must be fulfilled only if applicable and that may otherwise be disregarded.
© ISO/IEC 2013 – All rights reserved 1

1.2 Overview of concepts
1.2.1 Metadata vs. data
Metadata is descriptive data about objects . The essential characteristics of metadata include: it is descriptive
data, and that it is descriptive about something. For example, if P is data and PQ represents the desc
...