ISO/IEC 14957:2010
(Main)Information technology — Representation of data element values — Notation of the format
Information technology — Representation of data element values — Notation of the format
ISO/IEC 14957:2010 specifies the notation to be used for stating the format, i.e. the character classes, used in the representation of data elements and the length of these representations. It also specifies additional notations relative to the representation of numerical figures. For example, this formatting technique might be used as part of the metadata for data elements. The scope of ISO/IEC 14957:2010 is limited to graphic characters, such as digits, letters and special characters. The scope is limited to the basic datatypes of characters, character strings, integers, reals, and pointers.
Technologies de l'information — Représentation des valeurs des éléments de données — Notation du format
General Information
Relations
Standards Content (Sample)
INTERNATIONAL ISO/IEC
STANDARD 14957
Second edition
2010-12-15
Information technology — Representation
of data element values — Notation of the
format
Technologies de l'information — Représentation des valeurs des
éléments de données — Notation du format
Reference number
ISO/IEC 14957:2010(E)
©
ISO/IEC 2010
---------------------- Page: 1 ----------------------
ISO/IEC 14957:2010(E)
PDF disclaimer
This PDF file may contain embedded typefaces. In accordance with Adobe's licensing policy, this file may be printed or viewed but
shall not be edited unless the typefaces which are embedded are licensed to and installed on the computer performing the editing. In
downloading this file, parties accept therein the responsibility of not infringing Adobe's licensing policy. The ISO Central Secretariat
accepts no liability in this area.
Adobe is a trademark of Adobe Systems Incorporated.
Details of the software products used to create this PDF file can be found in the General Info relative to the file; the PDF-creation
parameters were optimized for printing. Every care has been taken to ensure that the file is suitable for use by ISO member bodies. In
the unlikely event that a problem relating to it is found, please inform the Central Secretariat at the address given below.
COPYRIGHT PROTECTED DOCUMENT
© ISO/IEC 2010
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 copyright@iso.org
Web www.iso.org
Published in Switzerland
ii © ISO/IEC 2010 – All rights reserved
---------------------- Page: 2 ----------------------
ISO/IEC 14957:2010(E)
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 14957 was prepared by Joint Technical Committee ISO/IEC JTC 1, Information technology,
Subcommittee SC 32, Data management and interchange.
This second edition cancels and replaces the first edition (ISO/IEC 14957:1996), which has been technically
revised.
© ISO/IEC 2010 – All rights reserved iii
---------------------- Page: 3 ----------------------
ISO/IEC 14957:2010(E)
Introduction
Data interchange is experiencing rapid expansion in the commercial, technical and public sectors. It gives rise
to interworking between different communities which have often independently developed information
processing applications and telecommunication networks to meet specific needs. Hence, the overall situation
suffers from a lack of homogeneity.
In order to remedy this situation, an urgent standardization effort focused in particular on the representation of
data elements is necessary.
The representation of a data element supposes in the first place that the format, i.e. the types of character
used in the representation and the length of the representation, is specified. In order that these specifications
have the same significance for everyone involved, it is necessary to express them in accordance with
standardized conventions.
Such rules are likely to eliminate any and all risk of ambiguity, lack of understanding and error; they also
facilitate the comparison of data element dictionaries, the design and creation of information systems, and
electronic data interchange (EDI).
These notations have been partially and variously expressed in different International Standards according to
the specific contexts in which they have been defined, e.g. EDIFACT (ISO 9735), banking standards (such as
ISO 7982-1), character sets (ISO/IEC 8859), information processing (ISO 6093), and programming languages
(ISO/IEC 9899).
The objective of this International Standard is to provide a unique source of reference on this subject for all
standards utilizing these type of notations independently of their environments.
iv © ISO/IEC 2010 – All rights reserved
---------------------- Page: 4 ----------------------
INTERNATIONAL STANDARD ISO/IEC 14957:2010(E)
Information technology — Representation of data element
values — Notation of the format
1 Scope
This International Standard specifies the notation to be used for stating the format, i.e. the character classes,
used in the representation of data elements and the length of these representations. It also specifies
additional notations relative to the representation of numerical figures. For example, this formatting technique
might be used as part of the metadata for data elements.
The scope of this International Standard is limited to graphic characters, such as digits, letters and special
characters. The scope is limited to the basic datatypes of characters, character strings, integers, reals, and
pointers.
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/IEC 10646:2003, 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
data element
unit of data that is considered, in context, to be indivisible
[ISO/IEC 2382-4:1999, 04.07.01]
3.2
character set
finite set of characters that is complete for a given purpose
[ISO/IEC 2382-4:1999, 04.01.02]
3.3
character type
set of characters of the same kind or having the same use
EXAMPLE Letters, figures, special characters, etc.
3.4
length
length of representation
number of characters used to represent a data element
© ISO/IEC 2010 – All rights reserved 1
---------------------- Page: 5 ----------------------
ISO/IEC 14957:2010(E)
4 Notation relative to character types and length of representation of a data element
The format shall be a characterstring sequence. The format is composed of zero or more directives: one or
more space characters as defined in ISO/IEC 10646:2003, Clause 20, an ordinary character (neither % nor a
space character), or a conversion specification. Each conversion specification is introduced by the character %.
NOTE This specification of formats is based upon the "fscanf()" function in the C programming language
(ISO/IEC 9899:1999).
Conceptually, the format string implies a syntax processor that consumes syntactic units, as described by the
format directives. Because there is no service interface specified by this International Standard, there is no
prescribed error handling for strings that do not match the formatting directives.
After the %, the following appear in sequence:
⎯ an optional assignment-suppressing character *;
⎯ an optional nonzero decimal integer that specifies the maximum field width (in characters);
⎯ an optional length modifier that specifies the size of the receiving object;
⎯ a conversion specifier character that specifies the type of conversion to be applied.
Each directive of the format is processed in turn.
A directive composed of space character(s) is executed by reading input up to the first non-space character
(which remains unread), or until no more characters can be read.
A directive that is an ordinary character is executed by read
...
Questions, Comments and Discussion
Ask us and Technical Secretary will try to provide an answer. You can facilitate discussion about the standard in here.