[Federal Register Volume 61, Number 75 (Wednesday, April 17, 1996)]
[Notices]
[Pages 16754-16759]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 96-9444]



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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
[Docket No. 950314074-6027-02]
RIN 0693-AB39


Approval of Federal Information Processing Standards Publication 
128-2, Computer Graphics Metafile (CGM)

AGENCY: National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), 
Commerce.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The purpose of this notice is to announce that the Secretary 
of Commerce has approved a revision of Federal Information Processing 
Standard (FIPS) 128-1, Computer Graphics Metafile (CGM) which will be 
published as FIPS Publication 128-2. This revision adopts voluntary 
industry specification American National Standards Institute/
International Organization for Standardization (ANSI/ISO) Computer 
Graphics Metafile (CGM), ANSI/ISO 8632.1-4:1992 [1994], ISO 8632:1992/
Amd. 1:1994, ISO 8632:1992/Amd. 2:1995 and three CGM profiles. This 
revised standard supersedes FIPS 128-1 in its entirety
    On April 3, 1995, notice was published in the Federal Register (60 
FR 16850-16854) that a Federal Information Processing Standard (FIPS) 
128-2, Computer Graphics Metafile (CGM) was being proposed for Federal 
use.
    The written comments submitted by interested parties and other 
material available to the Department relevant to this standard were 
reviewed by NIST. On the basis of this review, NIST recommended that 
the Secretary approve the revised standard as Federal Information 
Processing Standards Publication (FIPS PUB) 128-2, and prepared a 
detailed justification document for the Secretary's review in support 
of that recommendation.
    The detailed justification document which was presented to the 
Secretary, and which includes an analysis of the written comments 
received, is part of the public record and is available for inspection 
and copying in the Department's Central Reference and Records 
Inspection Facility, Room 6020, Herbert C. Hoover Building, 14th Street 
between Pennsylvania and Constitution Avenues, NW., Washington, DC 
20230.
    This FIPS contains two sections: (1) An announcement section, which 
provides information concerning the applicability, implementation, and 
maintenance of the standard; and (2) a specifications section, which 
deals with the technical requirements of the standard. Only the 
announcement section of the standard is provided in this notice.

EFFECTIVE DATE: This standard becomes effective November 1, 1996.

ADDRESSES: Interested parties may purchase copies of this standard, 
including the technical specifications section, from the National 
Technical Information Service (NTIS). Specific ordering information 
from NTIS for this standard is set out in the Where to Obtain Copies 
Section of the announcement section of the standard.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ms. Lynne Rosenthal, telephone (301) 
975-3353, National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, 
MD 20899.

    Dated: April 11, 1996.
Samuel Kramer,
Associate Director.

Federal Information Processing Standards Publication 128-2

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 5131 of 
the information Technology Management Reform Act of 1996 and the 
Computer Security Act of 1987, Public Law 104-106.
    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 in 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, and CGM Amendment 2: Application structuring 
extensions, ISO 8632:1992/Amd. 2:1995;
    (2) Requiring the use of conforming profiles. Conformance of 
metafiles (i.e., data 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, ISO 8632:1992/Amd. 2:1995, and 
the following profiles:

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    (1) Model Profile as contained in CGM Amendment 1;
    (2) Air Transport Association (ATA) Specification 2100, Graphics 
Exchange Specification (GREXCHANGE) for CGM;
    (3) Continuous Acquisition and Life-Cycle Support (CALS), MIL-D-
28003A.

CGM is a graphics data interchange standard which defines a neutral 
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.
    CGM Amendment 2 defines the mechanism for application-related 
structuring of metafiles.
    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. International Organization for Standardization (ISO) Computer 
Graphics Metafile (CGM), ISO 8632:1992/Amd. 2:1995.
    d. Air Transport Association Specification 2100, Digital Data 
Standards for Aircraft Support, GREXCHANGE v2.1, March 1995.
    e. 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, 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 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 representations, 
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 graphical 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., computer-aided 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 version 3 
functionality level. For FIPS CGM, if no profile is specified, the 
Model Profile will be assumed by default.
--ATA Specification 2100 GREXCHANGE: 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. 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

[[Page 16756]]

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 
x-axis represents the level of functionality by CGM version; the y-axis 
represents the complexity of problems that can be solved.

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    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). IOS 
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 IOS 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 November 1, 
1996. A transition period of six (6) 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 six (6) 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, Building 820, Room 562, 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, 
Conformance Testing Group, CGM Test Service Building 820, Room 562, 
Gaithersburg, MD 20899, (301) 975-3283, e-mail: [email protected]
    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, Building 820, Room 509; 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, by 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

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may be made by check, money order, or NTIS deposit account.

[FR Doc. 96-9444 Filed 4-16-96; 8:45 am]
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