[Federal Register Volume 60, Number 48 (Monday, March 13, 1995)]
[Notices]
[Pages 13404-13407]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 95-6099]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
[Docket No. 950120022-5022-01]
RIN 0693-AB25
Federal Information Processing Standards Publication 119-1, Ada
AGENCY: National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST),
Commerce.
ACTION: The purpose of this notice is to announce that the Secretary of
Commerce has approved a revised standard, which will be published as
FIPS Publication 119-1, Ada. This revised standard adopts the American
National Standard and the International Organization for
Standardization Reference Manual for the Ada Programming Language,
ANSI/ISO/IEC 8652:1995, which specifies the form and meaning of
programs written in Ada.
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SUMMARY: On July 11, 1994 (59 FR 35315-35317), notice was published in
the Federal Register that a revision to Federal Information Processing
Standard 119, Ada was being proposed for Federal use.
The written comments submitted by interested parties and other
material available to the Department relevant to the revised standard
was reviewed by NIST. On the basis of this review, NIST recommended
that the Secretary approve the revised standard as a Federal
Information Processing Standards Publication, 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 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.
The 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 revised standard becomes effective July 10, 1995.
ADDRESSES: Interested parties may purchase copies of this revised
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: Dr. William H. Dashiell, telephone
(301) 975-2490, National Institute of Standards and Technology,
Gaithersburg, MD 20899.
EXECUTIVE ORDER 12866: This FIPS notice has been determined to be ``not
significant'' for purposes of E.O. 12866.
[[Page 13405]] Dated: March 7, 1995.
Samuel Kramer,
Associate Director.
Federal Information Processing Standards Publication 119-1
(date)
Announcing the Standard for Ada
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, Public Law 100-235.
1. Name of Standard. Ada (FIPS PUB 119-1).
2. Category of Standard. Software Standard, Programming Language.
3. Explanation. This publication is a revision of FIPS PUB 119 and
supersedes that document in its entirety.
This publication announces the adoption of American National
Standard and the International Organization for Standardization
Reference Manual for the Ada Programming Language, ANSI/ISO/IEC
8652:1995, as a Federal Information Processing Standard (FIPS).
American National Standard and the International Organization for
Standardization Reference Manual for the Ada Programming Language,
ANSI/ISO/IEC 8652:1995, specifies the form and meaning of programs
written in Ada. The purpose of the standard is to promote portability
of Ada programs for use on a variety of data processing systems. The
standard is for use by implementors as the reference authority in
developing compilers, interpreters, or other forms of high level
language processors; and by other computer professionals who need to
know the precise syntactic and semantic rules of the standard.
4. Approving Authority. Secretary of Commerce.
5. Maintenance Agency. U.S. Department of Commerce, National
Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), Computer Systems
Laboratory (CSL).
6. Cross Index. American National Standard and the International
Organization for Standardization Reference Manual for the Ada
Programming Language, ANSI/ISO/IEC 8652:1995.
7. Related Documents.
a. Federal ADP and Telecommunications Standards Index, U.S. General
Services Administration, Information Resources Management Service,
April 1994 (updated periodically).
b. Federal Information Resources Management Regulations (FIRMR)
subpart 201.20.303, Standards, and subpart 201.39.1002, Federal
Standards.
c. FIPS PUB 29-3, Interpretation Procedures for FIPS Software, 29
October 1992.
d. NBS Special Publication 500-117, Selection and Use of General-
Purpose Programming Languages.
e. NIST, Validated Products List, (republished quarterly).
Available by subscription from the National Technical Information
Service (NTIS).
f. ISO 6429: 1992(E)--Information Technology--Control Functions for
Coded Character Sets.
g. ISO 646 Information Processing--7-bit Single-Byte Coded
Character Set.
h. ISO 8859-1:1987(E)--Information Processing--8 bit Single-Byte
Coded Character Sets--Part 1: Latin Alphabet No. 1.
i. ISO 10646-1:1993 Information Technology--Universal Multiple-
Octet Coded Character Set (UCS)--Part 1: Architecture and Balic
Multilingual Plane.
8. Objectives. Federal standards for high level programming
languages permit Federal departments and agencies to exercise more
effective control over the production, management, and use of the
Government's information resources. The primary objectives of Federal
programming language standards are:
--to encourage more effective utilization and management of programmers
by insuring that programming skills acquired on one job are
transportable to other jobs, thereby reducing the cost of programmer
re-training;
--to reduce the cost of program development by achieving the increased
programmer productivity that is inherent in the use of high level
programming languages;
--to reduce the overall software costs by making it easier and less
expensive to maintain programs and to transfer programs among different
computer systems, including replacement systems;
--to protect the existing software assets of the Federal Government by
insuring to the maximal feasible extent that Federal programming
language standards are technically sound and that subsequent revisions
are compatible with the installed base.
Governmentwide attainment of the above objectives depends upon the
widespread availability and use of comprehensive and precise standard
language specifications.
9. Applicability.
a. Federal standards for high level programming languages should be
used for computer applications that are either developed or acquired
for government use. FIPS Ada is one of the high level programming
language standards provided for use by all Federal departments and
agencies. FIPS Ada is suitable for use in programming and any
applications for which there is no specific language available
specifically targeted to that application.
b. The use of FIPS Ada is recommended for the following
applications and situations:
--those involving control of real-time or parallel processes.
--very large systems.
--systems with requirements for very high reliability.
--systems which are to be developed with reusable software packages.
--when it is anticipated that the life of an application will be longer
than the life of the presently utilized equipment.
--the application or program is under constant review for updating of
the specifications, and changes may result frequently.
--the application is being designed and programmed centrally for a
decentralized system that employs computers of different makes, models
and configurations.
--the program will or might be run on equipment other than that for
which the program is initially written.
--the program is to be understood and maintained by programmers other
than the original ones.
--the advantages of improved program design, debugging, documentation
and intelligibility can be obtained through the use of this high level
language.
--the program is or is likely to be used by organizations outside the
Federal Government (i.e., State and local governments, and others).
10. Specifications. FIPS Ada specifications are the language
specifications contained in American National Standard and the
International Organization for Standardization Reference Manual for the
Ada Programming Language, ANSI/ISO/IEC 8652:1995 standard.
The American National Standard and the International Organization
for Standardization Reference Manual for the Ada Programming Language,
ANSI/ISO/IEC 8652:1995 standard document specifies the form of a
program written in Ada, the effect of translating and
[[Page 13406]] executing a program, predefined library entities that
must be supplied, and detection of compilation and/or link errors.
The standard does not specify limits on the size or complexity of
programs, the results when the rules of the standard fail to establish
an interpretation, the means of supervisory control of programs, or the
means of transforming programs for processing.
11. Implementation. The implementation of FIPS Ada involves four
areas of consideration: the effective date, acquisition of Ada
processors, interpretation of FIPS Ada, and validation of processors.
11.1 Effective Date. This revised standard becomes effective July
10, 1995. Ada Processors acquired for Federal use after this date
should conform to FIPS PUB 119-1.
A transition period provides time for industry to produce Ada
language processors conforming to the standard. The transition period
begins on the effective date and ends March 1, 1997. The provisions of
FIPS PUB 119-1 apply to orders placed after the effective date of this
publication. If, during the transition period, a processor conforming
to FIPS PUB 119-1 is not available, a processor conforming to FIPS PUB
119 may be acquired for interim use during the transition period.
This transition period is intended to give implementations that
conform to FIPS PUB 119 time to make the enhancements necessary to
enable conformance to FIPS PUB 119-1. No further transitional period is
necessary.
11.2 Acquisition of Ada Processors. Conformance to FIPS Ada should
be considered whether Ada processors are developed internally, acquired
as part of an ADP system procurement, acquired by separate procurement,
used under an ADP leasing arrangement, or specified for use in
contracts for programming services. Recommended terminology for
procurement of FIPS Ada is contained in the U.S. General Services
Administration publication Federal ADP & Telecommunications Standards
Index, Chapter 4 Part 1.
11.3 Interpretation of FIPS Ada. The National Institute of
Standards and Technology provides for the resolution of questions (see
FIPS PUB 29-3, Interpretation Procedures for FIPS Software, 29 October
1992) regarding the specifications and requirements, and issues
official interpretations as needed. All questions about the
interpretation of this standard should be addressed to: Director,
Computer Systems Laboratory, Attn: FIPS Ada Interpretation, National
Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, MD 20899, Voice:
301-975-2490, FAX: 301-948-6213, e-mail: dashiell@alpha.ncsl.nist.gov.
11.4 Validation of Ada Processors. Implementations of FIPS Ada
shall be validated in accordance with the NIST Computer Systems
laboratory (CSL) validation procedures for FIPS Ada. Recommended
procurement terminology for validation of FIPS Ada is contained in the
U.S. General Services Administration (GSA) publication Federal ADP &
Telecommunications Standards Index, Chapter 4 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
whether a Validation Summary Report or Certificate of Validation is
required. The agency 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 Ada products. This information may be
used to specify validation time frames that are not unduly restrictive
of competition.
The agency shall specify the criteria used to determine whether a
Validation Summary Report (VSR) or Certificate is applicable to the
hardware/software environment of the Ada implementation offered. The
criteria for applicability of a VSR or Certificate should be
appropriate to the size and timing of the procurement. A large
procurement may require that the offered version/release of the Ada
implementation shall be validated in a specified hardware/software
environment and that the validation shall be conducted with specified
hardware/software features or parameter settings; e.g. the same
parameter settings to be used in a performance benchmark. An agency
with a single/license procurement may review the Validated Products
List to determine the applicability of existing VSRs or Certificates
tot he agency's hardware/software environment.
Ada implementations shall be evaluated using a NIST approved test
suite.
For further information contact: Director, Computer Systems
Laboratory, Attn: FIPS Ada Validation, National Institute of Standards
and Technology, Gaithersburg, MD 20899, Voice: 301-975-2490, FAX: 301-
948-6213, e-mail: dashiell@alpha.ncsl.nist.gov.
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
re-delegate 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 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 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. Section 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, telephone (703) 487-4650. (Sale of the
included specifications document is by arrangement with the American
National Standards Institute.) When ordering, refer to Federal
Information Processing Standards Publication 119-1 (FIPSPUB119-1), and
title. Payment [[Page 13407]] may be made by check, money order, or
deposit account.
[FR Doc. 95-6099 Filed 3-10-95; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-CN-M
