IEEE Standards AssociationIEEE Standards Interpretation for IEEE Std 1003.1™-1990 IEEE Standard for Information Technology--Portable Operating System Interfaces (POSIX®)
Copyright © 2001 by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc. 3 Park Avenue New York, New York 10016-5997 USA All Rights Reserved.
Interpretations are issued to explain and clarify the intent of a standard and do not constitute an alteration to the original standard. In addition, interpretations are not intended to supply consulting information. Permission is hereby granted to download and print one copy of this document. Individuals seeking permission to reproduce and/or distribute this document in its entirety or portions of this document must contact the IEEE Standards Department for the appropriate license. Use of the information contained in this document is at your own risk.
IEEE Standards Department Copyrights and Permissions 445 Hoes Lane, Piscataway, New Jersey 08855-1331, USA
Interpretation Request #18
Topic: system documentation
Relevant Sections: 1.3.1.2
(1.3.1.2, p. 3, lines 85-88)
Do the words "unless the system documentation is
explicitly mentioned" mean that documentation about a
feature shall not be included in the PCD if it's
required to be present in the system documentation?
My reading is that this negates "shall appear in the
conformance document", but does not negate the
alternative, "may appear in the conformance document".
Specific example: p. 44, lines 113-116. The system's
interpretation of ARG_MAX must be specified in the
system documentation. Does this mean that this
interpretation shall not also be specified in the PCD?
Related issue (may require a change to 1003.1): Where
1003.1 requires that information be provided in the
system documentation, it should also require that a
pointer to this information be provided in the PCD.
Without such a requirement, assertions related to the
system documentation are untestable. Testing them
would require an exhaustive audit to find the
information and verify that it's not contradicted
elsewhere in the documentation.
Interpretation Response
a) Lines 85 to 88 mean that all instances of "shall document"
in the standard place a requirement on an implementor of a POSIX
conforming system to include in the POSIX Conformance Document a
description of the referenced feature, unless this standard specifically
requires it to appear in the system documentation.
Information required to be in system documentation may also be in the PCD, either as a reference to the system documentation or as a copy of the text. Whether in PCD or not, it must still be in system documentation.
The related issue is not addressed by the current standard.
Rationale for Interpretation
The POSIX Conformance Document need not be a component
of or packaged with the System Documentation,
so including a reference or section in the PCD alone is not sufficient.
Editorial note for future revision of standard (not part of the interpretation)
The related note should be considered in a future revision.