Structure of URIs in ISO/TC 211 resources for implementation

1 Background

The implementation of ISO/TC211 standards as XSD Schemas and ontologies requires access to official URIs for both the schemas and individual resources within the schemas. For conformance testing and documentation, conformance classes, conformance tests, requirements and recommendations from standards need to be uniquely identified. For ISO/TC211 standards produced prior to the adoption of the formatting rules defined in this standing document, various templates have been used for such identification.

With this background, ISO/TC211 adopted resolution 858.

According to the ISO TMB resolution 38/2017 from its 68th meeting, such resources may be stored separately, outside of the master document of the standards, provided that they cannot reasonably be included in the standard document, and that a clearly defined framework exists for their use and maintenance. Considering this, the management groups in ISO/TC 211 have defined a set of rules for constructing URIs to be used in forthcoming documents published by ISO/TC 211.

2 Approved URI and web structure

2.1 Identified resources

The following ISO/TC 211 resources for implementation require unique and persistent identification:

a)   XML Schemas and example files
b)   Ontologies
c)   Profiles
d)   Registries

Besides, as approved in Resolution 858, the following elements from standards documents require unique and persistent identification:

e) Normative statements: requirements, recommendations and permissions
f) Conformance classes and conformance tests

2.2 Main repository

https://www.isotc211.org/ is the main repository for ISO/TC 211 resources for implementation, as stated in resolution 857.

2.3 Framework – sub-domain structure

Sub-domain structures are presented in Table 1 – sub-domain structure.

Table 1 – Sub-domain structure

Resource	Sub-domain structure
XML Schemas and example files	https://schemas.isotc211.org
Ontologies (as specified in Annex B of ISO 19150-2)	https://def.isotc211.org
Registries	https://registry.isotc211.org

Beneath these sub-domain structures, the following detailed path structures are recommended to be almost identical across all resource types.
Elements used in URI Templates in subsequent clauses:

Standard number: The main number of the standard. E.g. “19115”
Part number: For standards with several parts. E.g. “-1”. If the standard has no parts: “-”
Namespace: XML namespace for the schema. E.g. “mda”
Edition number: Official ISO edition number. E.g. “1”
Fix number: For subdividing an edition in fixes. Initial value “0”

2.4 XML Schemas and example files

Template:

XML Namespace:

https://schemas.isotc211.org/standardNumber/-[partNumber]/namespace/editionNumber.majorSchemaReleaseNo

XML Schema location:

https://schemas.isotc211.org/standardNumber/-[partNumber]/namespace/editionNumber. majorSchemaReleaseNo.minorSchemaRevisionNo

Notes:

The edition number is appended to the end of the template to ease the effort related to upgrading in implementations.
The major schema release number is added for major changes of the schema, in which case a new namespace will be used.
The minor schema revision number is added to the schema location to enable minor fixes while keeping the namespace stable.

Examples:

Namespace and schema location for the mcc namespace of ISO 19115-1, edition 2, major schema release number 2, minor schema revision number 1:

namespace="https://schemas.isotc211.org/19115/-1/mcc/2.2"
schemaLocation="https://schemas.isotc211.org/19115/-1/mcc/2.2.1/mcc.xsd"

2.5 Ontologies

Template:

https://def.isotc211.org/isostandardNumber/-[partNumber]/year/namespace.rdf

Notes:

The URI template for ontologies is defined in ISO 19150-2.
There are differences between Ontologies and XML schemas on the approach for namespaces. Ontologies are conforming to ISO 19150-2 and use the package name as namespace, while XML Schemas are conforming to ISO 19139 and ISO 19136, and use the tagged value xmlns.

Example:

For the MetadataApplicationInformation namespace of ISO 19115-1:2014 (edition 1):

https://def.isotc211.org/iso19115/-1/2014/MetadataApplicationInformation.rdf

2.6 Registries

Template:

https:// registryName.isotc211.org

Example:

URI for the ISO Geodetic Registry:

https://geodetic.isotc211.org

2.7 Profiles of standards

Template:

https://standards.isotc211.org/standardNumber/-[partNumber]/editionNumber/profiles/profileName

Example:

URI for the NZ Profile of ISO 19160-1:2015:

https://standards.isotc211.org/19160/-1/1/profiles/NZ Profile Specification 20151203.pdf

Notes:

As these URIs may refer to an actual file, the profile name is placed at the end of the template, while the edition number is placed earlier in the template, before the profiles keyword.

3 Approved URI structure for identifying document elements

3.1 Normative statements

Template:

https://standards.isotc211.org/standardNumber/-[partNumber]/editionNumber/statementType/nsClassId/nsId

where:

statementType: is req (requirement), rec (recommendation) or per (permission)
nsClassId: The class id for the normative statement
nsID: Internal id for the normative statement

Example:

URI for requirement “extent” in the requirement class “content” in ISO 19131 edition 2:

https://standards.isotc211.org/19131/-/2/req/content/extent

Notes:

The edition number of the document is placed before the statement type to enable one main URI for all statements in one edition. The statements are expected to require inspection for each edition.
The content of the resource should show the normative statement.

3.2 Conformance classes and tests

Template:

https://standards.isotc211.org/standardNumber/-[partNumber]/editionNumber/conf/classId/TestId

Example:

URI for the conformance test “allContent” in the requirement class “content” in ISO 19131 edition 2:

https://standards.isotc211.org/19131/-/2/conf/content/allContent

Notes:

The edition number of the document is placed before conf to enable one main URI for all conformance classes in one edition. The tests are expected to require inspection for each edition.
The content of the resource should describe the conformance class and test.

3.3 Referencing elements in documents that do not use this pattern

If a URI needs to be created for an element of a document that does not identify any of the resource types below, then the pattern shall be
http://standards.isotc211.org/iso[standardNumber]/-[partNumber]/[editionNumber]/ #[elementtype]:[elementnumber].

Elementtype shall be one of clause, figure, table, or term. Elementnumber shall match the number given in the source document. Note, Elementnumber may start with a letter, if the element being referenced is within an annex. If the document being referenced is not managed by ISO TC211, the stem of the URL shall be http://standards.iso.org.

This pattern is based on https://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc5141

Example:
https://standards.iso.org/iso19115/-1/1/clause#C.4 refers to clause C.4 (which is in Annex C) of ISO 19115-1 edition 1 (also known as ISO 19115-1:2014) because that document doesn’t provide URIs for individual requirements.

4 Relation to ISO 19105

As noted in Resolution 858, the rules recommended in this standing document will be used as input in the revision of ISO 19105 – Conformance and testing. In addition, if accepted, these rules will also be used as input to future standardization projects and revisions.

Updated	2020-09-18
Contributors	PMG Convenor HMMG Convenor