NPIC COMMENTS REGARDING NBS MEMORANDUM, 24 NOVEMBER 1975; REVISED IMPLEMENTATION INSTRUCTIONS FOR ASCII

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP83T00573R000600200031-3
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 11
• Document Creation Date: December 12, 2016
• Document Release Date: April 24, 2002
• Sequence Number: 31
• Publication Date: January 21, 1976
• Content Type: MF

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-"ACS
PSG/AID-033/76
21 January 1976
MEMORANDUM FOR: Executive Officer, OJCS
SUBJECT . NPIC Comments Regarding NBS Memorandum, 24 November 1975;
Revised Implementation Instructions for ASCII
1. NPIC is ready to comply with the provisions set forth in the pro-
posed Federal Processing Standard Publication (FIPS PUB 1-1).
2. As a COINS host computer, utilizing the U-494 computer, the
Automated Information Division (AID) has been converting NPIC data for many
years to ASCII format for network transmission and use. Our internal code
is primarily fieldata (FD, 6 bits) and we do not anticipate FY-76-77 change
relative the COINS support involving this computer system. My understanding
of the revised instructions for ASCII clearly indicates that a waiver is not
required and that we are in compliance with the intent of the new policy and
standard. Nevertheless, we considered this standardization possibility in
our plans for a new computer system several years ago. With the acquisition
of the U-1110 in 1974, AID fully adopted ASCII to eliminate future conversion
problems and to ensure compliance with proposed and existing federal stan-
dards for internal processing as well as electrical data communications
functions.
3. I endorse Agency adoption of this standard as the future direction
of internal computing, data exchange and telecommunication activities.
Occasional waivers will be necessary, but they should be the exception and
easily justified.
Chief, A murmdLlan Division"
PSG/NPIC
STAT
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QS0ENT OF CO
UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
-:~ National Bureau of Standards
e
"a Washington, D.C. 20234
SrgrES of Institute for Computer
Sciences and Technology
1975 November 24
From: Harry S. White, Jr., s ociate D' ecctor,
for-ADP Standards >
Subject: Revised Implementation IrI tructions for ASCII
Enclosed is a proposed Federal Information Processing Standard Publication
(FIPS PUB 1-1) that provides revised implementation instructions for the
use of ASCII (American Standard Code for Information Interchange) as a
Federal standard. This revision, when approved by the Secretary of Commerce,
will supersede existing FIPS PUBS 1 and 7. (See Explanation and Approving
Authority Sections of enclosure for additional details.)
This proposed revision is provided for the consideration of each Federal
department and agency and will also be published in the Federal Register
to obtain the comments of the industry, state and local governments and
the public. In particular, we would like to have information concerning
the potential cost impact on the interchange of data and programs as pro-
posed in sections (h) and (i) of the Implementation paragraph. Could
these costs be reduced if the implementation period were extended to twenty-
four or thirty months?
Responses and recommendations from your agency are requested and should
be furnished within 90 days of the date of this letter to the Associate
Director for ADP Standards, Institute for Computer Sciences and Technology,
National Bureau of Standards, Washington, D.C. 20234. Your concurrence
will be assumed if a response is not received within the 90 day period.
cc: State Information Systems Coordinators
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FIPS PUB 1-1
Supersedes
FIPS PUB 1
November 1, 1968 and
FIPS PUB 7
March 7, 1969
Federal Information
Processing Standards Publication 1-1
(date)
Announcing the Standard for
CHARACTER CODES AND COLLATING SEQUENCE (FIPS 1-1)
Federal Information Processing Standards are issued by the National Bureau of
Standards to provide for the more economic and efficient purchase, lease, main-
tenance, operation and utilization of automatic data processing equipment and
services by Federal departments and agencies. These standards are issued pursuant
to the Federal Property and Administrative Services Act of 1949 as amended, Public
Law 89-306 (79 Stat. 1127), as implemented by Executive Order 11717 (38 FR 12315,
dated hay 11, 1973), and Part 6 of Title 15 CFR (Code of Federal Regulations).
Name of Standard. Character Codes and Collating Sequence (FIPS 1-1).
Category of Standard. Hardware Standard, Interchange Codes and Media.
Explanation. This standard provides a coded character set and collating sequence
to be used in Federal information processing systems, telecommunications systems
and associated equipments and software. This standard was developed to achieve
greater compatibility among computer and telecommunications systems applications
thereby affording users the capability of making more effective utilization of
their data, software and equipment resources. It is intended to serve as the basic
standard for representing, in a binary coded form, the graphic characters and
controls that are commonly used in the collection, processing, interchange and
storage of information. In this sense, this standard is as basic for computer and
telecor:iriunications applications as an alphabet is to effective human written communi-
cations. This standard, in addition to being approved and endorsed for Federal
government use, has been approved and endorsed as a national and international
voluntary standard. It serves as the international standard for data transmission
and has been widely implemented by many electronic computing and communications
equipment manufacturers in the design of their hardware and software products.
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This FIPS PUB reaffirms the continued use of the American Standard Code for Informa-
tion Interchange (ASCII) as a Federal standard and provides further implementation
instructions for its effective use by Federal departments and agencies. The imple-
menting instructions provided herein supersede those contained in FIPS PUB 7 dated
March 7, 1969. This FIPS PUB also supersedes FIPS PUB 1, dated November 1, 1968.
These revised instructions for implementation are based upon recommendations
resulting from a study conducted by NBS on the significance and impact of ASCII as
a Federal standard which was accomplished with the cooperative efforts of Federal
departments and agencies, the computer industry and non-government users.
Approving Authority. On March 11, 1968, the President of the United States approved
ASCII as a Federal standard. On March 7, 1969, the Secretary of Commerce provided
implementing instructions for the use of ASCII as a Federal standard. This earlier
approval and implementing instructions were promulgated by NBS through FIPS PUBs 1
and.7. ,Executive Order 11717 of May 9, 1973 transferred to the Secretary of Commerce
the function of approving standards on behalf of the President. This revised
standard and implementing instructions are approved by the Secretary of Commerce
pursuant to section III (f) (2) of the Federal Property and Administrative Services
Act of 1949, as amended.
Maintenance Agency. Department of Commerce, National Bureau of Standards (Institute
for Computer Sciences and Technology).
Cross Index.
a. American National Standard X3.4-1968, Standard Code for Information Inter-
change.
b. ISO Standard 646-1973, 7-Bit Coded Character Set for Information Processing
Interchange. .
c. CCITT Recommendation V3, Vol. VIII, Green Book, 1972, International Alphabet #5.
d. Arierican National Standard X3.41-1974, Code Extension Techniques for Use with
the 7-Bit Coded Character Set. of American National Standard Code for Information
Interchange (FIPS PUB 35).
e. ISO Standard 2022-1973, Code Extension Techniques for Use with the ISO 7-Bit
Coded Character Set.
Applicability. This standard is applicable to the representation of character
coded information used in information processing and telecommunications applica-
tions and among related equipments and software.
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Implementation.
a. Effective Date: Effective upon the publication date of this FIPS PUB, all
Federal departments and agencies will implement this standard as specified herein.
b. Agency Monitoring Official: Each department and agency head will designate
an official who is responsible for monitoring the implementation of this standard
within the computer and telecommunications systems of their department or agency.
The name and address of this official will be reported to the National Bureau of
standards within thirty days of the date of this FIPS PUB.
c. Agency Implementing Directives: Each department and agency will issue imple-
menting directives for the use of this standard within their organization. Two
copies of these implementing directives will be provided to the National Bureau of
Standards within 120 days of the publication date of this FIPS PUB.
d. Acquisition of New Systems: All computer and telecommunications system
hardware, software and services acquired for Federal use on or after the date of
this FIPS PUB must have the capability to accept, generate and process character
coded data and programs recorded in accordance with the code and collating sequence
provided by this standard unless a waiver has been obtained in accordance with the
waiver procedures provided herein.
e. Procurement Regulations: The General Services Administration will provide
regulations concerning the use of this standard in Federal acquisitions of appli-
cable equipment, software and services.
f. Compliance Testing: All computer and telecommunications systems and appli-
cable components acquired after the date of this FIPS PUB will be tested before
acceptance to assure that these are capable of accepting, processing and generating
data and programs that are represented in accordance with this standard.
g. Benchmarking: When computer or telecommunications systems and/or appropriate
components are tested (benchmarked) as a basis for evaluating vendors' proposals,
these tests (benchmarks) will be performed using the character codes and collating
sequence prescribed by this standard. This provision applies only to character
coded data. Binary, packed decimal and floating point numeric data need not be
converted to character codes for such tests.
h. Interchange of Data: Within eighteen months of the date of this FIPS PUB,
all departments and agencies which are authorized to provide or collect character
X coded data from other Federal agencies or the public will provide the capability
of generating or accepting their character coded data recorded in accordance with
the provisions of this standard. Where there is a charge for such services, the
charge for data recorded in accordance with this standard will be made available
at a cost no greater than data recorded in a non-standard form.
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i. Interchange of Programs and Software: Within eighteen months of the date of
this FIPS PUB, all computer programs and associated software that are subject to
interchange will be designed to function and will be recorded in accordance with
the provisions of this standard. (It is essential in computer program design to
assure that all comparisons are performed based upon the collating sequence provided
by this standard. Otherwise, incorrect results can be obtained or invalid operations
can occur.)
j. Use in Telecomr,munications Systems Networks: This standard has been adopted
as a standard character code for use in Federal telecommunications systems networks.
In these network applications, unless otherwise specified and arranged for, all
character data submitted to or received from these networks will be represented in
accordance with the provisions of this standard. This implementation does not
preclude the transmission of numeric data in a binary, packed decimal or floating
point form when these forms of numeric representation of data are more effective;
nor does,it preclude the use of bit-oriented control procedures and formats for
transmission control purposes.
k. Use of Non-standard Codes and Collating Sequences: Where interchange of
data and/or programs is not involved, existing equipment and files need not be
converted to conform to this standard until such time as replacement systems are
specified. However, the continued use of non-standard character codes and collating
sequences will not be cited as a requirement when replacement systems are acquired.
After new or replacement systems are installed that comply with this standard, the
standard character code and collating sequence for representing operational data
files, programs and software will be used in order to avoid unwarranted conversions
and reduced operational performance and to facilitate the authorized exchange of
data, programs and software.
1. Other Applicable. Standards: This standard is equally applicable to other
standards that cite its use 7n recording data on media or in other data processing
or communications applications. Appendix A provides a list of those standards that
have also been approved and are applicable to the use of this standard. Additional
standards and revisions, as these are developed and approved, will be provided by
NBS in the FIPS publications series.
Specifications. This standard adopts, in whole, the current version of American
National Standard X3.4, Standard Code for Information Interchange.
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Qualifications. The collating sequence of characters as provided by this standard
is defined by their binary values and is the standard sequence. However, this does
not preclude the ordering of files in other sequences to meet special requirements
(e.g. files that are sequenced based on proper names or in other instances where
the case distinction of the alphabetic characters is to be ignored).
Representation of this standard code in eight-bit environments shall
be in accordance with FIPS PUB 35, Code Extension Techniques in 7 or 8 Bits, The
standard collating sequence applies only to the 128 characters defined by the seven-
bit code as defined by American National Standard X3.4-1968.
Waiver Procedures.
a. Heads of Federal departments and agencies or their duly authorized designees
may waive the implementation of this standard when it has been determined that its
use would seriously affect the capability of the department or agency to effectively
perform its mission responsibilities. Waivers submitted for approval will contain
complete justification based upon economic, operational and technical reasons there-
for. Life cycle cost and performance will be addressed in addition to the initial
acquisition considerations. Approved waivers and justifications not involving
procurements will be submitted to the Office of the Federal Register, National
Archives and Records Service within seven days after approval for subsequent publi-
cation as a notice in the Federal Register. Where the approved waiver pertains to
a procurement action, the submission for notice in the Federal Register will be
within seven days after the formal release of the solicitation document.
b. Waivers are not required in the following instances:
1. For equipment installed or on order prior to the date of this FIPS PUB.
2. Where procurement actions are into the solicitation phase (i.e. Request
for Proposals or Invitation for Bids have been issued) on the date of this FIPS
PUB.
3. When augmenting existing computer installations with additional peripheral
or related equipment that must continue to process files recorded in non-standard
codes.
c. The National Bureau of Standards will provide technical assistance to agencies
relative to their waiver requirements when requested.
Special Information. The National Bureau of Standards is developing techniques
to. assist Federal departments and agencies in making conversions from non-standard
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codes. Also, NBS has under development tests for determining the extent that
products are in compliance with this standard. When available, these will be
announced by FIBS for general use.
Where to Obtain CopiE of the Specifications of the Standard.
a. Federal Government activities should obtain copies from established sources
within each agency. When there is no established source, purchase orders should
be submitted to the Office of ADP Standards Management, National Bureau of Standards,
Washington, D.C. 20234. A catalog of standards with current prices is available
from this NBS office.
b. Others may obtain copies from the American National Standards Institute,
(ANSI), 1430 Broadway, New York, New York 10018. Refer to X3.4-1968, Standard
Code for Information Interchange. A catalog with price information is available
from ANSI.
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APPENDIX A
ASSOCIATED ASCII STANDARDS ADOPTED FOR FEDERAL USE
FIPS PUB 2, Perforated Tape Code for Information Interchange (X3.6-1965).
FIPS PUB 3-1, Recorded Magnetic Tape for Information Interchange (800 CPI, NRZI)
(X3.22-1973).
FIPS PUB 14, Hollerith Punched Card Code (X3.26-1970).
FIPS PUB 15, Subsets of the Standard Code for Information Interchange.
FIPS PUB 16, Bit Sequencing of the Code for Information Interchange in Serial-By-
Bit Data Transmission (X3.15-1966).
FIPS PUB 17, Character Structure and Character Parity Sense for Serial-By-Bit Data
Communication in the Code for Information Interchange (X3.16-1966).
FIPS PUB 18, Character Structure and Character Parity Sense for Parallel-By-Bit
Data Communication in the Code for Information Interchange (X3.25-1968).
FIPS PUB 22, Synchronous Signaling Rates Between Data Terminal and Data Communi-
cations Equipment (X3.1-1969).
FIPS PUB 25, Recorded Magnetic Tape for Information Interchange (1600 CPI, Phase
Encoded) (X3.39-1975).
FIPS PUB 32, Optical Character Recognition Character Sets (X3.17-1975) and (X3.49-1975).
FIPS PUB 33, Character Set for Handprinting (X3.45-1974).
FIPS PUB 35, Code Extension Techniques in 7 or 8 Bits (X3.41-1974).
FIPS PUB 36, Graphic Representation of the Control Characters of ASCII (X3.32-1973).
FIPS PUB 37, Synchronous High Speed Signaling Rates Between Data Terminal Equipment
and Data Communications Equipment (X3.36-1975).
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