16850 Federal Register / Vol. 60, No. 63 / Monday, April 3, 1995 / Notices

National Institute of Standards and

Technology

[Docket No. 950314074–5074–01]

RIN 0693–AB39

Proposed Revision of Federal

Information Proceeding Standard

(FIPS) 128–1, Computer Graphics

Metafile (CGM)

AGENCY: National Institute of Standards

and Technology (NIST), Commerce.

ACTION: Notice; request for comments.

SUMMARY: NIST is proposing a revision

of FIPS PUB 128–1, CGM, to adopt

voluntary industry specification

American National Standards Institute/

International Organization for

Standardization (ANSI/ISO) Computer

Graphics Metafile (CGM), ANSI/ISO

8632.1–4:1992[1994], and ISO

8632:1992/Amd. 1:1995, and to adopt

three CGM profiles.

Prior to the submission of this

proposed revision to FIPS 128–1 to the

Secretary of Commerce for review and

approval, it is essential to assure that

consideration is given to the needs and

views of manufacturers, the public, and

State and local governments. The

purpose of this notice is to solicit such

views,

This proposed revision contains two

sections: (1) An announcement section,

which provides information concerning

the applicability, implementation, and

maintenance of the standards; and (2) a

specification section. Only the

announcement section of the standard is

provided in this notice. Interested

parties may obtain copies of the

specifications ANSI/ISO 8632.1–

4:1992[1994] and CGM Amendment 1:

Rules of Profiles, ISO 8632:1992/Amd.

1:1994 from the American National

Standards Institute (ANSI), 11 West

42nd Street, 13th Floor, New York, NY

10036, (212) 642–4900. To obtain copies

of the three proposed CGM profiles

(ATA Specification 2100, Model Profile,

and MIL–D–28003A), contact the

Standards Processing Coordinator,

National Institute of Standards and

Technology, Technology Building,

Room B–64, Gaithersburg, MD 20899,

telephone (301) 975–2816.

DATES: Comments on this proposed

revision must be received on or before

July 3, 1995.

ADDRESSES: Written comments

concerning the adoption of this

proposed revision should be sent to:

Director, Computer Systems Laboratory,

ATTN: Proposed Revision of FIPS 128–

1, CGM, Technology Building, Room

B154, national Institute of Standards

and Technology, Gaithersburg, MD

20899.

Written comments received in

response to this notice will be made part

of the public record and will be made

available for inspection and copying in

the Central Reference and Records

Inspection Facility, Room 6020, Herbert

C. Hoover Building, 14th Street between

Pennsylvania and Constitution Avenues

NW., Washington, DC 20230.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Ms. Lynne Rosenthal, National Institute

of Standards and Technology,

Gaithersburg, MD 20899, telephone

(301) 975–3353.

Executive Order 12866: This FIPS

notice has been determined to be ‘‘not

significant’’ for purposes of E.O. 12866.

Dated: March 28, 1995.

Samuel Kramer,

Associate Director.

Proposed Federal Information

Processing Standards Publication 128–

2

Date

Announcing the Standard for Computer

Graphics Metafile (CGM)

Federal Information Processing

Standards Publications (FIPS PUBS) are

issued by the National Institute of

Standards and Technology (NIST) after

approval by the Secretary of Commerce

pursuant to Section 111(d) of the

Federal Property and Administration

Service Act of 1949 as amended by the

Computer Security Act of 1987, Public

Law 100–235.

1. Name of Standard. Computer

Graphics Metafile (CGM) (FIPS PUB

128–2).

2. Category of Standard. Software

Standard, Graphics.

3. Explanation. This publication is a

revision of FIPS PUB 128–

1. This revision supersedes FIPS PUB

128–1 is its entirety and modifies the

standard by:

(1) Adopting the Computer Graphics

Metafile standard designated, ANSI/ISO

8632.1–4: 1992[1994], and CGM

Amendment 1: Rules for Profiles, ISO

8632:1992.Amd. 1:1994;

(2) Requiring the use of conforming

profiles. Conformance of metafiles (i.e.,

date files) and implementations (i.e.,

generators and interpreters) is defined

in terms of conformance to profiles; and

(3) Adopting several profiles, one of

which is required for implementation of

this FIPS PUB.

FIPS PUB 128–2 adopts the American

National Standards Institute/

International Organization for

Standardization (ANSI/ISO) 8632.1–

4:1992[1994], ISO 8632:1992/Amd.

1:1994, and the following profiles:

(1) Model Profile as contained in CGM

Amendment 1;

(2) Air Transport Association (ATA)

Specification 2100, Graphics Exchange

for CGM;

(3) Continuous Acquisition and LifeCycle Support (CALS), MIL–D–28003A.

CGM is a graphics data interchange

standard which defines a neutual

computer-interpretable representation of

2D graphical (pictorial) information in a

manner that is independent from any

particular application or system. The

purpose of the standard is to facilitate

the storage and retrieval of graphical

information between applications,

software systems, and/or devices. A

CGM can contain:

—Vector graphics (e.g., polylines,

ellipses, NURBS);

—Raster graphics (e.g., tile array); and

—Text,

The CGM standard defines three

upward compatible versions. Each

version provides additional

functionality.

CGM Amendment 1 provides the

rules for defining profiles of CGM and

conformance requirements for profiles,

metafiles, and implementations. Since a

proliferation of CGM profiles is not

desirable, only those profiles needed for

Federal agency use have been added to

the FIPS CGM. The exact specification

is in Section 10 of this standard.

4. Approving Authority. Secretary of

Commerce.

5. Maintenance Agency. Department

of Commerce, National Institute of

Standards and Technology (NIST),

Computer Systems Laboratory (CSL).

6. Cross index.

a. American National Standard/

International Organization for

Standardization (ANSI/ISO) Computer

Graphics Metafile (CGM), ANSI/ISO

8632.1–4:1992 [1994] (Part 1: Functional

Specifications; Part 2: Character

Encoding; Part 3: Binary Encoding; Part

4: Clear Text Encoding).

b. International Organization for

Standardization (ISO) Computer

Graphics Metafile (CGM), ISO

8632:1992/Amd. 1:1994.

c. Air Transport Association

Specification 2100, Digital Data

Standards for Aircraft Support, Graphics

Exchange v2.1, October 1994.

d. Military Specification, Digital

Representation of Illustration Data: CGM

Application Profile (AP), MIL–D–

28003A, November 15, 1991.

7. Related Documents. Related ISO

documents are listed in the reference

section of the CGM standard, ANSI/ISO

8632.1–4:1992 [1994].

a. Federal Information Processing

Standards Publication (FIPS PUB) 29–3,
Federal Register / Vol. 60, No. 63 / Monday, April 3, 1995 / Notices 16851

Interpretation Procedures for FIPS

Software.

b. Federal Information Processing

Standards Publication (FIPS PUB) 120–

1, Graphical Kernel System (GKS).

c. Federal Information Resources

Management Regulations 201–20.303,

Standards, and subpart 201–39.1002,

Federal Standards.

d. NISTIR 5475, Validated Products

List, J. Kailey and P. Himes, editors,

republished quarterly.

e. NISTIR 5372, CGM: Procedures for

NIST CGM Validation Test Service, L.

Rosenthal and J. Schneider, February

1994.

f. ISO 10641–1992, Conformance

Testing of Implementations of Graphics

Standards.

8. Objectives. The primary objectives

of this standard are:

—To reduce the overall life-cycle cost

for digital systems by establishing a

common exchange format for storing,

transferring, and archiving graphical

data across organizational boundaries

and independent from any particular

system.

—To promote the exchange of graphical

information enabling applications to

share data and reduce time spent

recomputing in efforts to regenerate

pictorial information.

—To specify application profiles which

provide functional subsets of the CGM

standard and maximize the

probability of interchange between

systems implementing the profile.

—To promote the use and development

of conforming profiles and the

harmonization of conformance testing

efforts for metafiles, generators, and

interpreters.

9. Applicability.

9.1 Applications acquired for

government use which purport to create

or read graphical pictures shall contain

a conforming CGM generator or CGM

interpreter. FIPS CGM enables the

representation, transfer, and storage of

graphical information between different

software systems, graphics devices, and/

or applications (e.g., word processing,

publishing, drawing, spreadsheet,

computer-aided design).

9.2 FIPS CGM shall be used when

one or more of the following situations

exist:

—Graphical information (e.g.

illustrations, clip art) will be acquired

for government use and incorporated

into computer applications or

documents.

—Computer applications, programs,

systems, or devices will be acquired

and used to create, modify, display, or

render grapical information.

—Graphical information created by an

application will be reviewed,

modified, or incorporated into

another application on the same or

different computer systems.

—Graphical information will be used

and maintained by other than the

original designer.

—Graphical information will be used by

multiple people, groups, or

organizations within the Government

or private sector.

9.3 The use of a profile is required for

all metafiles and implementations of

CGM. A profile defines the options,

elements, and parameters of ANSI/ISO

8632 necessary to accomplish a

particular function and to maximize the

probability of interchange between

systems implementing the profile. A

profile addresses metafile requirements

as well as implementation requirements.

The profiles added by this FIPS CGM

are required for industry specific and

Federal government applications.

—Model Profile: The Model Profile is

appropriate for basic scientific and

technical graphics (e.g., computeraided design, mapping, earth

sciences, cartography) and

presentation, visualization, and

publishing applications (graphics arts,

high end desk top publishing). This is

a general purpose profile which

supports all three CGM encodings at

the CGM version 3 functionality level.

For FIPS CGM, if no profile is

specified, the Model Profile will be

assumed by default.

—ATA Specification 2100: The ATA

profile is appropriate for presentation,

visualization, and publishing

applications (e.g., graphical arts,

imaging, electronic review of

documents, hypermedia, and

multimedia documents). Although

similar to the Model Profile, the ATA

profile allows for symbol libraries and

the use of intelligent graphics (i.e.,

graphics which contain applicationspecific information along with the

information necessary to render a

picture). This profile, developed by

the Air Transport Association,

supports the binary and clear text

encodings at the CGM version 3

functionality level. Except for

metafiles containing symbols or raster

images, the ATA profile limits the

number of pictures per metafiles to

one.

—MIL–D–28003A: The CALS profile is

appropriate for basic scientific and

technical graphics, presentation and

publishing applications (e.g., business

presentation graphics, desktop

publishing). In addition, this profile is

appropriate for a basic level of

general-purpose graphical

interchange. This profile, developed

by CALS, supports only the binary

encoding and is limited (by this FIPS

CGM) to the CGM version 1

functionality level.

The diagram illustrates the

relationship between the profiles. The xaxis represents the level of functionality

by CGM version; the y-axis represents

the complexity of problems that can be

solved.

BILLING CODE 3510–CN–M
16852 Federal Register / Vol. 60, No. 63 / Monday, April 3, 1995 / Notices

BILLING CODE 3510–CN–C
Federal Register / Vol. 60, No. 63 / Monday, April 3, 1995 / Notices 16853

10. Specifications. ANSI/ISO 8632.1–

4:1992[1994], Computer Graphics

Metafile, defines the scope of the

specifications, the syntax, and

semantics of the CGM elements. The

ANSI/ISO 8632 consists of four parts:

(Part 1: Functional Specifications; Part

2: Character and Coding; Part 3: Binding

and Coding; Part 4: Clear Text

Encoding). ISO 8632:1994/Amd. 1

defines the rules for profiles,

conformance, and the Model profile, an

instance of a CGM profile. In addition,

one of the following profiles shall be

used when implementing FIPS CGM:

the Model Profile as specified in ISO

8632:1992/Amd. 1:1994, the ATA

Specification 2100 Graphics Exchange

for CGM, or the Military Specification

MIL–D–28003A.

All implementations claiming

conformance to this FIPS CGM must

adhere to the specific requirements

defined in the ‘‘Conformance’’ clause of

ISO 8632:1992/Amd. 1:1994 and the

application profile.

11. Implementation. The

implementation of this standard

involves four areas of consideration:

effective date, acquisition,

interpretation, and validation.

11.1 Effective Date. This publication

is effective six (6) months after date of

publication upon final announcement in

the Federal Register. A transition period

of twelve (12) months, beginning on the

effective date, allows industry to

produce CGM implementations and

CGM files conforming to this standard.

Agencies are encouraged to use this

standard for solicitation proposals

during the transition period. This

standard is mandatory for use in all

solicitation proposals for CGM files and

implementations (i.e., products or

software containing CGM generators

and/or interpreters) acquired twelve (12)

months after the effective date.

11.2 Acquisition of CGM Files and

Implementations. The use of one of the

profiles specified in Section 9.3 is

required for conformance to CGM.

Agencies should specify a profile in all

acquisitions.

Conformance to this standard shall be

considered whether CGM files or

implementations are developed

internally, acquired as part of a system

procurement, acquired by separate

procurement, used under a leasing

agreement, or specified for use in

contracts for programming services.

Recommended terminology for

procurement of FIPS CGM is contained

in the U.S. General Services

Administration publication Federal

ADP and Telecommunications

Standards Index, Chapter 5, Part 1.

11.3 Interpretation of FIPS CGM.

Resolution of questions regarding this

standard will be provided by NIST.

Procedures for interpretations are

specified in FIPS PUB 29–3. Questions

concerning the content and

specifications should be addressed to:

Director, Computer Systems Laboratory,

Attn: CGM Interpretation, National

Institute of Standards and Technology,

Gaithersburg, MD 20899.

11.4 Validation of CGM Files and

Implementations. CGM files and

implementations of FIPS CGM shall be

validated in accordance with the NIST

Computer Systems Laboratory (CSL)

validation procedures for FIPS CGM,

NISTIR 5372, Procedures for the NIST

CGM Validation Test Service.

Recommended procurement

terminology for validation of FIPS CGM

is contained in the U.S. General

Services Administration publication

Federal ADP and Telecommunications

Standards Index, Chapter 5, Part 2. This

GSA publication provides terminology

for three validation options: Delayed

Validation, Prior Validation Testing,

and Prior Validation. The agency shall

select the appropriate validation option

and shall specify appropriate time

frames for validation and correction of

nonconformities. The agency is advised

to refer to the NIST publication

Validated Products List for information

about the validation status of CGM

products. This information may be used

to specify validation time frames that

are not unduly restrictive of

competition.

Metafiles and implementations shall

be evaluated in terms of conformance to

a particular profile of CGM, using the

NIST CGM Test Service. If no profile is

specified, the Model Profile will be

used. The goal of the NIST CGM Test

Service, is to assist users and vendors in

determining compliance to FIPS PUB

128–2. The results of validation testing

by the NIST CGM Validation Test

Service are published on a quarterly

basis in the Validated Products List,

available from the National Technical

Information Service (NTIS).

Current information about the NIST

CGM Validation Test Service and

validation procedures for FIPS CGM is

available from: National Institute of

Standards and Technology, Computer

Systems Laboratory, Graphics Software

Group, CGM Test Service, Building 225,

Room A266, Gaithersburg, MD 20899,

(301) 975–3265.

12. Waivers.

Under certain exceptional

circumstances, the heads of Federal

departments and agencies may approve

waivers to Federal Information

Processing Standards (FIPS). The head

of such agency may redelegate such

authority only to a senior official

designated pursuant to section 3506(b)

of title 44, U.S. Code. Waivers shall be

granted only when:

a. Compliance with a standard would

adversely affect the accomplishment of

the mission of an operator of a Federal

computer system, or

b. Cause a major adverse financial

impact on the operator which is not

offset by Governmentwide savings.

Agency heads may act upon a written

waiver request containing the

information detailed above. Agency

heads may also act without a written

waiver request when they determine

that conditions for meeting the standard

cannot be met. Agency heads may

approve waivers only by a written

decision which explains the basis on

which the agency head made the

required finding(s). A copy of each such

decision, with procurement sensitive or

classified portions clearly identified,

shall be sent to: National Institute of

Standards and Technology; ATTN: FIPS

Waiver Decisions, Technology Building,

Room B–154; Gaithersburg, MD 20899.

In addition, notice of each waiver

granted and each delegation of authority

to approve waivers shall be sent

promptly to the Committee on

Government Operations of the House of

Representatives and the Committee on

Governmental Affairs of the Senate and

shall be published promptly in the

Federal Register.

When the determination on a waiver

applies to the procurement of

equipment and/or services, a notice of

the waiver determination must be

published in the Commerce Business

Daily as a part of the notice of

solicitation for offers of an acquisition

or, if the waiver determination is made

after that notice is published, but

amendment to such notice.

A copy of the waiver, any supporting

documents, the document approving the

waiver and any supporting and

accompanying documents, with such

deletions as the agency is authorized

and decides to make under 5 U.S.C. Sec.

552(b), shall be part of the procurement

documentation and retained by the

agency.

13. Where to Obtain Copies. Copies of

this publication are for sale by the

National Technical Information Service,

U.S. Department of Commerce,

Springfield, VA 22161. (Sale of the

included specifications document is by

arrangement with the American

National Standards Institute.) When

ordering, refer to Federal Information

Processing Standards Publication 128–2

(FIPSPUB128–2), and title. Payment
16854 Federal Register / Vol. 60, No. 63 / Monday, April 3, 1995 / Notices

may be made by check, money order, or

NTIS deposit account.

[FR Doc. 95–8069 Filed 3–31–95; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 3510–CN–M

[Docket No. 950314073–5073–01]

RIN 0693–AB41

Proposed Revision of Federal

Information Processing Standard

(FIPS) 161–1, Electronic Data

Interchange (EDI)

AGENCY: National Institute of Standards

and Technology (NIST), Commerce.

ACTION: Notice; request for comments.

SUMMARY: A revision of Federal

Information Processing Standard (FIPS)

161–1, Electronic Data Interchange, is

being proposed. The revision reflects

changes in the development of

voluntary industry standards for

Electronic Data Interchange (EDI),

including the planned alignment of the

X12 and UN/EDIFACT families of

standards, and provides updated

guidance to Federal agencies in the

selection of EDI standards. The revision

also establishes a Federal EDI Standards

Management Committee to harmonize

the development of EDI transaction set

and message standards among Federal

agencies, and the setting of governmentwide implementation conventions for

EDI applications used by Federal

agencies.

The purpose of this notice is to solicit

views from the public, manufacturers,

and Federal, state, local government,

and private users prior to submission of

this proposed revision to the Secretary

of Commerce for review and approval.

The proposed revision consists of the

following announcement, which

provides information concerning the

applicability, implementation, and

maintenance of the standard. Interested

parties may obtain copies of documents

defining the EDI standards from Data

Interchange Standards Association, Inc.

(DISA), 1800 Diagonal Road, Suite 200,

Alexandria, VA 22314–2852, telephone

(703) 548–7005.

DATES: Comments on this proposed

revision must be received on or before

July 3, 1995.

ADDRESSES: Written comments

concerning the proposed revision

should be sent to: Director, Computer

Systems Laboratory, ATTN: Proposed

Revision of FIPS 161–1, Technology

Building, Room B–154, National

Institute of Standards and Technology,

Gaithersburg, MD 20899.

Written comments received in

response to this notice will be made part

of the public record and will be made

available for inspection and copying in

the Central Reference and Records

Inspection Facility, Room 6020, Herbert

C. Hoover Building, 14th Street between

Pennsylvania and Constitution

Avenues, NW, Washington, DC 20230.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Mr. Roy Saltman, Computer Systems

Laboratory, National Institute of

Standards and Technology,

Gaithersburg, MD 20899, telephone

(301) 975–3376.

EXECUTIVE ORDER 12866: This FIPS notice

has been determined to be ‘‘not

significant’’ for purposes of E.O. 12866.

Dated: March 28, 1995.

Samuel Kramer,

Associate Director.

Proposed Federal Information

Processing Standards Publication 161–

2; Draft 1995 February 16; Draft

Announcing the Standard for Electronic

Data Interchange (EDI)

Federal Information Processing

Standards Publications (FIPS PUBS) are

issued by the National Institute of

Standards and Technology (NIST) after

approval by the Secretary of Commerce

pursuant to section 111(d) of the Federal

Property and Administrative Services

Act of 1949 as amended by the

Computer Security Act of 1987, Pub. L.

100–235.

1. Name of Standard. Electronic Data

Interchange (EDI) (FIPS PUB 161–2).

2. Category of Standard. Software

Standard, Electronic Data Interchange.

3. Explanation. EDI is the computerto-computer transmission of strictly

formatted messages that represent

documents; EDI is an essential

component of electronic commerce (EC).

EC is the use of documents in electronic

form, rather than paper, for carrying out

functions of business or government

that require interchanges between

organizations of information,

obligations, or monetary value.

This publication adopts, as a Federal

Information Processing Standard,

recognized national and international

standards for EDI. In EDI, data that

would be traditionally conveyed on

paper documents are transmitted or

communicated electronically according

to established rules and formats. The

data that are associated with each type

of functional document, such as a

purchase order or invoice, are

transmitted together as an electronic

message. The formatted data may be

transmitted from originator to recipient

via telecommunications or physically

transported on electronic storage media.

EDI typically implies a sequence of

messages between two parties, for

example, buyer and seller, either of

whom may serve as originator or

recipient. Messages from buyer to seller

could include, for example, the data

necessary for request for quotation

(RFQ), purchase order, receiving advice,

and payment advice; messages from

seller to buyer could include similarly

the data for response to RFQ, purchase

order acknowledgment, shipping notice,

and invoice. EDI is being used also for

an increasingly diverse set of concerns,

for example, for interchanges between

healthcare providers and insurers, and

for governmental regulatory, tax, and

statistical reporting.

Implementation of EDI requires the

use of a family of interrelated standards.

The family must include standards for

types of messages (also called

‘‘transaction sets’’), and for transmission

envelopes, data elements, and short

sequences of data elements called data

segments. A message or transaction set

standard defines the sequence of data

segments that constitute that message or

transaction set. The data segment

directory lists all data segments, and

defines the identifier and sequence of

data elements constituting each. The

data element directory (also called a

‘‘dictionary’’) provides specifications of

all data elements. Transmission

envelopes provide control information

about the included messages to the

carrying and receiving systems.

The standardization of message

formats, and of data segments and

elements within the messages, makes

possible the assembling, disassembling,

and processing of the messages by

computer.

This FIPS PUB adopts, with specific

conditions, the families of standards

known as X12 and UN/EDIFACT. This

FIPS PUB does not mandate the

implementation of EDI systems within

the Federal Government; rather it

requires the use of X12 or UN/EDIFACT,

subject to the conditions specified

below, when Federal departments or

agencies implement EDI systems. The

X12 and UN/EDIFACT standards were

originally developed respectively by

Accredited Standards Committee X12

on Electronic Data Interchange (ASC

X12), accredited by the American

National Standards Institute (ANSI), and

by the United Nations (UN) Economic

Commission for Europe—Working Party

(Four) on Facilitation of International

Trade Procedures (UN/ECE/WP.4).

Technical input from the United States

in the development of UN/EDIFACT at

the UN is through the Pan American

EDIFACT Board (PAEB). The PAEB is

separate from ASC X12, and it serves as

the coordinating body for national