Overview
ISO/IEC 10179:1996/Amd 2:2005 is an international standard amendment focused on enhancing the Document Style Semantics and Specification Language (DSSSL) used in information technology for processing languages. This amendment introduces extensions to multilingual and complex document styles, improving the capabilities of DSSSL for handling diverse and sophisticated document processing needs. Issued by ISO and IEC, this update builds upon the original 1996 standard, reflecting advancements in document styling semantics with a focus on multilingual content and intricate formatting requirements.
Key Topics
This amendment extends DSSSL with several important features and characteristics designed to support multilingual and complicated document layouts:
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Language Code Updates: Incorporates updated language representation standards with ISO 639-1:2002 and ISO 639-2:1998 for alpha-2 and alpha-3 codes, ensuring accurate multilingual document handling.
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Line Number Styling: New style objects such as ext-line-number, ext-line-number-start, and ext-line-number-position allow precise control over line numbering styles, positions, intervals, and side display, essential for complex page layouts and print formatting.
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Keep Management: Enhancements like keep-with-next-line-count, keep-line-count, and keep-priority improve control over content flow and pagination by specifying how paragraphs, rows, and lines should be kept together to avoid awkward page breaks.
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Text and Typography Control:
- Characteristics including
basic-spacing?, line-adjustment?, and space-addition? provide advanced control over spacing, kerning, and justification, crucial for creating professional, readable text.
- Font-specific properties such as
font-height, font-width, and font-family-name allow customization of font metrics for different languages and scripts.
- The standard supports inline character rotation (
character-rotation) and baseline shifts (base-line-shift), accommodating varied writing modes and typographic nuances across languages.
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Pagination Features: Additions to flow object classes, such as page-number-format, page-number-restart, and initial-page-number, enable refined control of page numbering styles and sequences relevant to multilingual documents.
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Bullet and Drop Cap Support: Includes enhancements for list bullet customization (string-bullet-list) and drop cap formatting (drop-character-number, dropcap-height, dropcap-width) for sophisticated document styling.
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Quadding and Justification: Introduces inhibit-justify-space which manages space inhibition around justified lines and paragraphs to improve visual alignment and aesthetics.
Applications
ISO/IEC 10179:1996/Amd 2:2005 is vital for developers and organizations that require:
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Advanced Document Style Processing: Enables the creation of complex, styled documents that include multiple languages and scripts, essential in global publishing, legal documentation, and academic publishing.
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Multilingual Document Handling: Offers precise language-based styling suitable for internationalization (i18n) projects, including governmental, educational, and business communications in multilingual contexts.
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Professional Printing and Desktop Publishing: Its line numbering, spacing adjustments, and pagination controls support high-quality, print-ready documents.
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Software Development for Document Processing: Useful for tool developers working on DSSSL processors, printers, and digital typesetting software that require adherence to international standards for document styling.
Related Standards
- ISO 639-1:2002 & ISO 639-2:1998: Standards for language codes forming the basis of multilingual support within DSSSL.
- ISO/IEC 10179:1996: The base standard defining DSSSL initially, to which this amendment adds enhanced features.
- ISO/IEC JTC 1 SC 34: The subcommittee responsible for document description and processing languages collaborating on related standards and amendments.
- Other document processing and style language standards that complement DSSSL, such as XML and XSL standards, may be relevant for integrated workflows.
This amendment solidifies DSSSL's role in managing complex document styles with multilingual support, helping ensure consistent presentation and processing across diverse environments. It is a critical reference for information technology professionals working on document processing standards worldwide.
Open preview (PDF)Information technology — Processing languages — Document Style Semantics and Specification Language (DSSSL) — Amendment 2: Extensions to multilingual and complicated document styles
