ISO/IEC TR 14369:2014
(Main)Information technology — Programming languages, their environments and system software interfaces — Guidelines for the preparation of Language-Independent Service Specifications (LISS)
Information technology — Programming languages, their environments and system software interfaces — Guidelines for the preparation of Language-Independent Service Specifications (LISS)
ISO/IEC TR 14369:2014 provides guidelines to those concerned with developing specifications of information technology services and their interfaces intended for use by clients of the services, in particular by external applications that do not necessarily all share the environment and assumptions of one particular programming language. The guidelines do not directly or fully cover all aspects of service or interface specifications, but they do cover those aspects required to achieve language independence, i.e. required to make a specification neutral with respect to the language environment from which the service is invoked. The guidelines are primarily concerned with the interface between the service and the external applications making use of the service, including the special case where the service itself is already specified in a language-dependent way but needs to be invoked from environments of other languages. Language bindings, already addressed by another Technical Report, ISO/IEC/TR 10182, are dealt with by providing advice on how to use the two Technical Reports together. ISO/IEC TR 14369:2014 provides technical guidelines, rather than organizational or administrative guidelines for the management of the development process, though in some cases the technical guidelines may have organizational or administrative implications.
Technologies de l'information — Langages de programmation, leurs environnements et interfaces du logiciel d'exploitation — Lignes directrices pour l'élaboration de spécifications de service indépendantes du langage (LISS)
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TECHNICAL ISO/IEC TR
REPORT 14369
First edition
2014-12-01
Information technology —
Programming languages, their
environments and system software
interfaces — Guidelines for the
preparation of Language-Independent
Service Specifications (LISS)
Technologies de l’information — Langages de programmation,
leurs environnements et interfaces du logiciel d’exploitation —
Lignes directrices pour l’élaboration de spécifications de service
indépendantes du langage (LISS)
Reference number
ISO/IEC TR 14369:2014(E)
©
ISO/IEC 2014
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ISO/IEC TR 14369:2014(E)
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ISO/IEC TR 14369:2014(E)
Contents Page
Foreword .v
Introduction .vi
1 Scope . 1
2 References . 1
3 Terms, definitions and abbreviations . 2
3.1 Definitions . 2
3.2 Abbreviations . 4
4 Overview . 4
4.1 Services, interfaces, service providers and service users . 4
4.2 Information technology services . 5
4.3 Services and language independence . 6
4.4 Language-independent specifications . 7
4.5 Problems of language dependence and inbuilt assumptions . 7
5 Guidelines on strategy . 8
5.1 General guidelines. 8
5.2 What to do if starting from scratch. 9
5.3 What to do if starting from an existing language-dependent specification .11
6 Guidelines on document organization.15
6.1 Guideline: The general framework .15
6.2 Guideline: Production and publication .16
6.3 Guideline: Document organization when starting from a language-specific specification 17
7 Guidelines on terminology .17
7.1 Guideline: The need for rigour .17
7.2 Guideline: The need for consistency .17
7.3 Guideline: Use of undefined terms .17
7.4 Guideline: Use of ISO 2382 .18
7.5 Guideline: Use of definition by reference .18
7.6 Guideline: Terminology used in bindings .18
8 Guidelines on use of formal specification languages .18
8.1 Guideline: Use of a formal specification language .18
8.2 Checklist of formal specification languages .18
8.3 Guideline: Using formal specifications from the outset .20
8.4 Guideline: Use of operational semantics .20
8.5 Guidelines on interoperability .21
8.6 Guidelines on interoperability with other instantiations of the same service .22
8.7 Guidelines on interoperability with other services .23
9 Guidelines on concurrency issues .24
9.1 Guidelines on concurrency within the service specification .24
9.2 Guidelines on concurrency of interaction with service users .24
9.3 Guidelines on concurrency requirements on bindings .25
10 Guidelines on the selection and specification of datatypes.26
10.1 Guideline: Use of ISO/IEC 11404:2007 General-Purpose Datatypes (GPD) .26
10.2 Guideline: Specification of datatype parameter values .26
10.3 Guideline: Treatment of values outside the set defined for the datatype .27
10.4 Guideline: Specification of operations on data values .27
10.5 Guideline: Recommended basic set of datatypes .27
10.6 Guideline: Specification of arithmetic datatypes.27
10.7 Guideline: Approach to language bindings of datatypes .28
10.8 Guideline: Avoidance of representational definitions .28
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ISO/IEC TR 14369:2014(E)
11 Guidelines on specification of procedure calls .28
11.1 Guideline: Avoidance of unnecessary operational assumptions or detail .29
11.2 Guideline: Use of ISO/IEC 13886:1996 (LIPC) procedure calling model .29
11.3 Guidelines on the use of ISO/IEC 13886:1996 (LIPC) .29
11.4 Interfacing via remote procedure calling (RPC).31
11.5 Guideline: Guidance concerning procedure calling to those defining language
bindings to the language-independent service specification .32
12 Guidelines on specification of fault handling .33
12.1 Guideline: Fault detection requirements .34
12.2 Checklist of potential faults .34
12.3 Guideline: Recovery from non-fatal faults .35
13 Guidelines on options and implementation dependence .35
13.1 Guidelines on service options .36
13.2 Guidelines on interface options .37
13.3 Guidelines on binding options .37
13.4 Guidelines on implementation dependence .38
14 Guidelines on conformity requirements .40
14.1 Guidelines for specifying conformity of implementations of the service .41
14.2 Guidelines for specifying conformity of implementations of the interface .41
14.3 Guidelines for specifying conformity of bindings .41
15 Guidelines on specifying a language binding to a language-independent
interface specification .42
15.1 Guideline: Use of bindings to LID and LIPC .42
15.2 Guideline: Adherence to defined semantics .42
15.3 Guideline: Binding document organization .43
15.4 Guideline: “Reference card” binding documents .43
16 Guidelines on revisions .43
16.1 Kinds of change that a revision can introduce .44
16.2 General guidelines applicable to revisions .45
16.3 Guidelines on revision of the service specification .45
16.4 Guidelines on revision of the service interface .46
16.5 Guidelines on revision of language bindings following revision of the service interface .46
16.6 Guidelines on revision of a language binding following revision of the language .46
Annex A (informative) Brief guide to language-independent standards .48
Annex B (informative) Glossary of language-independent terms .51
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ISO/IEC TR 14369:2014(E)
Foreword
ISO (the International Organization for Standardization) is a worldwide federation of national standards
bodies (ISO member bodies). The work of preparing International Standards is normally carried out
through ISO technical committees. Each member body interested in a subject for which a technical
committee has been established has the right to be represented on that committee. International
organizations, governmental and non-governmental, in liaison with ISO, also take part in the work.
ISO collaborates closely with the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) on all matters of
electrotechnical standardization.
The procedures used to develop this document and those intended for its further maintenance are
described in the ISO/IEC Directives, Part 1. In particular the different approval criteria needed for the
different types of ISO documents should be noted. This document was drafted in accordance with the
editorial rules of the ISO/IEC Directives, Part 2. www.iso.org/directives
Attention is drawn to the possibility that some of the elements of this document may be the subject of
patent rights. ISO shall not be held responsible for identifying any or all such patent rights. Details of any
patent rights identified during the development of the document will be in the Introduction and/or on
the ISO list of patent declarations received. www.iso.org/patents
Any trade name used in this document is information given for the convenience of users and does not
constitute an endorsement.
For an explanation on the meaning of ISO specific terms and expressions related to conformity
assessment, as well as information about ISO’s adherence to the WTO principles in the Technical Barriers
to Trade (TBT), see the following URL: Foreword - Supplementary information
The committee responsible for this document is ISO/IEC JTC 1, Information technology, subcommittee
SC 22, Programming languages, their environments and system software interfaces.
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ISO/IEC TR 14369:2014(E)
Introduction
This Technical Report is dedicated to Brian L. Meek in grateful recognition of his leadership and vision in
the development of the concepts on programming language independent specifications, and his efforts
in producing a set of standards documents in this area. Without his commitment this Technical Report
never would have been published.
0.1 Background
This Technical Report provides guidance to those writing specifications of services, and of interfaces to
services, in a language-independent way, in particular as standards. It can be regarded as complementary
to ISO/IEC/TR 10182, which provides guidance to those performing language bindings for such services
and their interfaces.
NOTE 1 Here and throughout, “language”, on its own or in compounds like “language-independent”, means
“programming language”, not “specification language” nor “natural (human) language”, unless explicitly stated.
NOTE 2 A “language-independent” service or interface specification may be expressed using either or both of a
natural language like English or a formal specification language like VDM-SL or Z; in a sense, a specification might
be regarded as “dependent” on (say) VDM-SL. The term “language-independent” does not imply otherwise, since
it refers only to the situation where programming language(s) might otherwise be used in defining the service or
interface.
The development of this Technical Report was prompted by the existence of an earlier draft IEEE Technical
Report (IEEE TCOS-SCC Technical Report on Programming Language Independent Specification Methods,
draft 4, May 1991). The TCOS draft was concerned with specifications of services in a POSIX systems
environment, and as such contained much detailed POSIX-specific guidance; nevertheless it was clear
that many of the principles, if not the detail, were applicable much more generally. This Technical Report
was conceived as a means of providing such more general guidance. Because of the very different formats,
and the POSIX-related detail in the TCOS draft, there is almost no direct correspondence between the
two documents, except in the discussion of the benefits of a language-independent principles below.
However, the spirit and principles of the TCOS draft were of great value in developing this Technical
Report, and reappear herein, albeit in much altered and more general form.
NOTE 3 The TCOS draft has not in fact been published, as the result of an IEEE decision to concentrate activities
in other POSIX areas.
0.2 Principles
Service or interface specifications that are independent of any particular language, particularly
when embodied in recognized standards, are increasingly seen as an important factor in promoting
interoperation and substitution of system components, and reducing dependence on and consequent
limitations due to particular language platforms.
NOTE It is of course possible for a specification to be “independent” of a particular language in a formal sense,
but still be dependent on it through inbuilt assumptions derived from that language which do not necessarily hold
for other languages. The term “language-independent” here is meant in a much stronger sense than that, though
complete independence from all inbuilt assumptions may be difficult if not impossible to achieve.
Potential benefits from language-independent service or interface specifications include:
— A language-independent interface specification specifies those requirements that are common to all
language bindings to that interface, and hence provides a specification to which language bindings
may conform.
— A language-independent interface specification is a re-usable component for constructing language
bindings.
— A language-independent interface specification aids the construction of language bindings by
providing a common reference to which all bindings can relate. Through this common reference
it is possible to make use of pre-existing language bindings to language-independent standards
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ISO/IEC TR 14369:2014(E)
for common features such as datatypes and procedure calls, and to other language-independent
specifications with related concepts.
— A language-independent service or interface specification provides an abstract specification of a
service in isolation from language-dependent extensions or restrictions, and hence facilitates more
rigorous modelling of services and interfaces.
— Language-independent service specifications facilitate the specification of relationships between
one service and another, by making it easier to relate common concepts than is generally possible
when the specifications are dependent on different languages.
— A language-independent interface specification facilitates the definition of relationships between
different language bindings to a common service (such as requirements for interoperability between
applications based on different languages that are sharing a common service implementation), by
providing a common reference specification to which all the languages can relate.
— A language-independent interface specification facilitates the definition of relations between
bindings to multiple services, including the requirements on management of multiple name spaces.
— fort and resources needed to ensure compatibility and consistency of behaviour between
implementations of the same service in different languages or between applications based on
different languages using the same interface.
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TECHNICAL REPORT ISO/IEC TR 14369:2014(E)
Information technology — Programming languages,
their environments and system software interfaces —
Guidelines for the preparation of Language-Independent
Service Specifications (LISS)
1 Scope
This Technical Report provides guidelines to those concerned with developing specifications of
information technology services and their interfaces intended for use by clients of the services, in
particular by external applications that do not necessarily all share the environment and assumptions of
one particular programming language. The guidelines do not directly or fully cover all aspects of service
or interface specifications, but they do cover those aspects required to achieve language independence,
i.e. required to make a specification neutral with respect to the language environment from which the
service is invoked. The guidelines are primarily concerned with the interface between the service and
the external applications making use of the service, including the special case where the service itself
is already specified in a language-dependent way but needs to be invoked from environments of other
languages. Language bindings, already addressed by another Technical Report, ISO/IEC/TR 10182, are
dealt with by providing advice on how to use the two Technical Reports together.
This Technical Report provides technical guidelines, rather than organizational or administrative
guidelines for the management of the development process, though in some cases the technical guidelines
may have organizational or administrative implications.
2 References
The following documents, in whole or in part, are normatively referenced in this document and are
indispensable for its application. For dated references, only the edition cited applies. For undated
references, the latest edition of the referenced document (including any amendments) applies.
ISO 8807:1989, Information processing systems — Open Systems Interconnection — LOTOS — A formal
description technique based on the temporal ordering of observational behaviour
1)
ISO/IEC 9074:1997 , Information technology — Open Systems Interconnection — Estelle: A formal
description technique based on an extended state transition model Amendment 1)
ISO/IEC/TR 10034:1990, Guidelines for the preparation of conformity clauses in programming language
standards
ISO/IEC/TR 10176:2003, Information technology — Guidelines for the preparation of programming
language standards
ISO/IEC/TR 10182:—, Information technology — Programming languages, their environments and system
software interfaces — Guidelines for language bindings
ISO/IEC 10967-1:2012, Information technology — Language independent arithmetic — Part 1: Integer and
floating point arithmetic
ISO/IEC 11404:2007, Information technology — Programming languages, their environments and system
software interfaces — Language-independent datatypes
ISO/IEC 11578:1996, Information technology — Open Systems Interconnection — Remote Procedure Call
(RPC)
1) Withdrawn.
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ISO/IEC TR 14369:2014(E)
ISO/IEC 13719:1998, Information technology — Portable Common Tools Environment (PCTE)
ISO/IEC 13817-1:1996, Information technology — Programming languages, their environments and system
software interfaces — Vienna Development Method — Specification Language – Part 1: Base language
ISO/IEC 13886:1996, Information technology — Language-Independent Procedure Calling (LIPC)
ISO/IEC 14977:1996, Information technology — Syntactic metalanguage — Extended BNF
3 Terms, definitions and abbreviations
For the purposes of this document, the following terms and definitions apply.
3.1 Definitions
3.1.1
client
see service user
3.1.2
datatype
set of values, usually accompanied by a set of operations on those values
3.1.3
formal language
formal specification language
see specification language
3.1.4
interface
mechanism by which a service user invokes and makes use of a service
3.1.5
language
unless otherwise qualified, “language” means “programming language”, not “specification language” or
“natural (human) language”
3.1.6
language binding
specification of the standard interface to a service, or set of services, for applications written in a
particular programming language
3.1.7
language-dependent
making use of the concepts, features or assumptions of a particular programming language
3.1.8
language-independent
not making use of the concepts, features or assumptions of any particular programming language or
style of language
3.1.9
language processor
entire computing system which enables a programming language user to translate and execute programs
written in the language, in general consisting both of hardware and of the relevant associated software
Note 1 to entry: This definition comes from ISO/IEC/TR 10176, Guidelines for the preparation of programming
language standards.
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ISO/IEC TR 14369:2014(E)
3.1.10.1
mapping
(noun) defined association between elements (such as concepts, features or facilities) of one entity (such
as a programming language, or a specification, or a standard) with corresponding elements of another
entity
Note 1 to entry: Mappings are usually defined as being from one entity into another. A language binding of a
language L into a standard S usually incorporates both a mapping from L into S and a mapping from S into L.
3.1.10.2
mapping
(verb) process of determining or utilizing a mapping
Note 1 to entry: Depending upon what is being mapped, a mapping is not necessarily one-to-one. This means that
mapping an element E from system A into an element E’ of system B, followed by mapping E’ back into system A,
may not necessarily get back to the original E. In such situations, if a two-way correspondence is to be preserved,
execution of the mappings must include recording the place of origin and returning to it.
3.1.11
marshalling
process of collecting the actual parameters used in a procedure call, converting them if necessary, and
assembling them for transfer to the called procedure
Note 1 to entry: This process is also carried out by the called procedure when preparing to return the results of
the call to the caller
Note 2 to entry: Marshalling can be regarded as being performed by a service user when preparing input values
for a service provider, and by a service provider when preparing results for a service user, the service concerned
being regarded as the procedure being called.
3.1.12
procedure
subprogram which may or may not return a value (the former variant is sometimes called a subroutine,
the latter is sometimes called a function)
Note 1 to entry: Some programming languages use different terminology.
3.1.13
server
see service provider
3.1.14
service
facility or set of facilities made available to service users through an interface
3.1.15
service provider
com
...
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