Summary
This is an edited extract from The
Practical Guide to the Open Brand
This chapter deals specifically with Waivers, Interpretations and Test
Suite Deficiencies which result from a completed Problem Report .
Index :-
Overview
Errors or ambiguities may be discovered in the specifications or formal
standards referred to in Product Standards. Acknowledgement by The Open
Group of such errors or ambiguities results in Interpretations (see http://www.opengroup.org/interpretations)
and Corrigenda (see http://www.opengroup.org/corrigenda).
A searchable database of all problem reports
resulting in interpretations and waivers is available at http://www.opengroup.org/openbrand/PR.
Errors may also be found in the test suites referenced in Product Standards.
Acknowledgement by The Open Group of such errors results in Test Suite
Deficiencies (TSDs), which are reported on The Open Group web site at
http://www.opengroup.org/openbrand/PR/.
Test Suite Deficiencies will usually be fixed in subsequent releases of
the test suite affected.
Errors may also be discovered in the implementation of the product being
registered. Under certain conditions, The Open Group may grant Temporary
Waivers, categorized as a Minor System Fault (MSF), where the impact on users is deemed to be minor. This allows Product
Registration to proceed.
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Figure 1 Interpretations, Test Suite Deficiencies, and Temporary
Waivers
An additional category not shown is for handling any problems
encountered in the Certification Systems themselves , this is
known as a Certification System Deficiency (CSD).
The relationship between Interpretations, Test Suite Deficiencies, and
Temporary Waivers is shown in the figure. In most cases the first indication
of a problem arises when there is a discrepancy in the test report when
running the test suite against a product. The applicant is advised to
check the published list of Interpretations and Test Suite Deficiencies
before proceeding. The problem is reported to The Open Group, which determines
the outcome (see Interpretations,
Test Suite Deficiencies, and Temporary Waivers).
Index
Interpretations
Interpretations of Specifications will never result in product behavior
that was previously considered to be conformant being declared non-conformant.
Interpretations may only result in product behavior that was previously
considered to be non-conformant being declared to be conformant. Permanent
Interpretations refer to the Specifications or standards, not to products.
Any Product Registration application may refer to Permanent Interpretations
to resolve discrepancies in test reports or to support the application
in any other way, irrespective of the origin of the Interpretation request.
The Open Group issues Corrigenda where there are material errors in
the referenced Specifications. Interpretations relating to the Specifications
and published Corrigenda overlap, although the former is specifically
related to Product Registration. At the time of Product Registration or
at renewal, vendors should check for the presence of Corrigenda to Specifications.
Corrigenda are published alongside the publication details on The Open
Group web site at http://www.opengroup.org/corrigenda.
In areas of the Specifications that either replicate or reference other
standards, Interpretations of Specifications are in effect Interpretations
of the other standards. In these areas, the relevant standards organization
will be contacted and involved, but to avoid unnecessary delay and inconvenience
to the applicant, The Open Group at its sole discretion may issue a Temporary
Interpretation.
The Open Group will submit a request for an Interpretation of the underlying
standard to the standards body involved, and will include the rationale
by which The Open Group decided to grant the Temporary Interpretation.
The Open Group will deal likewise in handling Interpretations relating
to specifications from other organizations referenced in Product Standards.
Temporary Interpretations remain in force until the standards or controlling
body delivers an Interpretation.
If the standards or controlling body delivers an Interpretation that
is in line with a Temporary Interpretation, then the Temporary Interpretation
will be converted to a Permanent Interpretation. If the standards body
delivers an Interpretation that is in conflict with a Temporary Interpretation,
then the Temporary Interpretation will be withdrawn and a Temporary Waiver
issued with a normal 12-month lifetime (see
Temporary Waivers).
Index
Test Suite Deficiencies
The Open Group at its sole discretion may, on application from a licensee,
agree that a test suite has an identified deficiency, provided that the
evidence supporting the request substantiates the claim.
Test laboratories will be required to continue to use the suspect portion
of the test suite in all circumstances, but, when a failure is reported,
will be able to determine the applicability of the Test Suite Deficiency
to the case in hand. This means that the suspect portion of the test suite
is effectively withdrawn only in those circumstances where it falsely
reports failure.
Test Suite Deficiencies will be permanent against the particular version
of the test suite to which they apply, and will automatically give rise
to test suite bug reports. Bugs will normally be fixed within the test
suite maintenance cycle.
On a case by case basis, the Open Group may on quality grounds require
the application of a patch or "work around", as an alternative to granting
a TSD. This is not common and depends on the significance of the tests
effected. While there can be no hard and fast rules as to when The Open
Group will require the use of a patch or work around, a typical case would
be where one or more testsets give incomplete or spurious results, and
a correcting patch or work around can be made available within five working
days. A work around is specific to an individual customer and should be
reflected by an entry in the "modifications applied" section of the test
report.
Index
Temporary Waivers (MSF)
Where there are a limited number of implementation errors and these
are demonstrated to be of a minor nature, with negligible impact on interoperability
or portability, The Open Group at its sole discretion may issue Temporary
Waivers which allow Product Registration to proceed. These are
categorized as a Minor System Fault (MSF).
Temporary Waivers are valid for 12 months, after which time the errors
must have been eliminated from the Registered Product for which the Temporary
Waiver has been granted. Since Temporary Waivers are granted only at the
discretion of The Open Group, an applicant does not know in advance whether
or not a Temporary Waiver will be granted in any particular instance.
Applicants are therefore warned not to rely on being able to register
a product as long as there is a Temporary Waiver application pending for
that product.
In order to minimize the variation in acceptance and rejection criteria,
The Open Group will, at the request of an applicant following a refusal
of a Temporary Waiver request, allow for Anonymous Review by an expert
group. Where The Open Group has already sought the advice of an expert
group during initial analysis, the applicant will be so notified.
Suppliers of Registered Products must make details of Temporary Waivers
available. The requirement to make public the technical details of a temporary
waiver may influence the wording used when completing the Temporary Waiver
request. The Conformance Statement will identify whether there are any
Temporary Waivers against the product.
At annual renewal of the Product Registration, The Open Group requires
the licensee to supply proof that the error condition covered by any expired
Temporary Waivers has been cleared. A licensee must correct errors and
make available a maintenance release incorporating the necessary corrections
within the 12-month period, and must ensure that all subsequent shipments
of the product under the Open Brand incorporate the corrections.
All requests for Temporary Waivers will be dealt with on their individual merits. Not more than one Temporary Waiver will be issued to a vendor for an identical failure. Other vendors with identical failures to published Temporary Waivers may also be granted Temporary Waivers, but they are valid for the same period as the first published Temporary Waiver. Once expired, Temporary Waivers are not granted again.
Index
Requests for Interpretations, Test Suite Deficiencies,
and Temporary Waivers
Details of how to submit requests for Interpretations,
Test Suite Deficiencies, and Temporary Waivers can be found at http://www.opengroup.org/openbrand/PR/
together with an on-line copy of the procedure to be used.
The Open Group will use reasonable efforts to respond promptly to each
request for Temporary Waivers or Interpretations, regardless of whether
the request is or is not to be granted. Requests will normally be processed
within 20 working days of receipt. If the applicant is not satisfied with
the result, Anonymous Review and Formal Appeals processes are available.
In processing an Interpretation or Temporary Waiver request, The Open
Group is likely to refer the issue to an expert group (normally the group
that developed or maintains the specification) for Anonymous Review. Note
that the review process requires that requests be filtered prior to distribution
to the appropriate review group. The filter is automatic and will remove
the product and applicant sections of the form. If company or product
names are placed in the sections reserved for the technical descriptions,
filtering will not result in anonymity.
Applicants are encouraged to apply for Interpretations and Temporary
Waivers in advance of Product Registration. Applying in advance means
that the technical process of evaluation is decoupled from the administrative
process of Product Registration.
With respect to the list of Interpretations that The Open Group maintains,
and to the Temporary Waivers that a licensee of the Open Brand is required
to make available under the terms of the Trademark License Agreement,
the fact that the technical details will be made available to prospective
customers may influence the choice of wording when making requests.
When a request is processed, The Open Group will inform the applicant
by electronic mail of the decision quoting the reference number supplied
by the applicant at the time of submission.
If an applicant wishes to dispute the refusal by The Open Group to grant
a request, they may ask for an Anonymous Review by an appropriate expert
group (normally the group or standards body that developed the specification).
If this takes place, the application will automatically have details of
applicant and product removed before being passed to the expert group
for comment.
The applicant may, alternatively or subsequently, invoke a Formal Appeal.
Both the Anonymous Review and the Formal Appeal processes are defined
in the Trademark License Agreement. Note that if an expert group has already
reviewed the request, a second review is unlikely to produce a different
result.
Index
The Formal Process
The process of assessing requests for Interpretations, Test Suite Deficiencies,
and Temporary Waivers is as follows:
- Electronic request arrives at The Open Group.
- Request is routed to a technical expert for assessment.
- Expert's response is returned to The Open Group.
- The Open Group decides to grant or refuse the request.
- Where The Open Group considers the request could be controversial
it initiates a full Anonymous Review process and informs the applicant.
- The applicant may request Anonymous Review or Formal Appeal.
- An Anonymous Review requires 14 working days for completion during
which the Product Registration application is suspended and the applicant
notified of the delay.
Index
Appeal
If an applicant wishes to dispute the refusal by The Open Group to grant
a request, they may ask for an ``anonymous review'' by an appropriate
expert group (normally the group or standards body that developed the
specification). If this takes place, the application will automatically
have details of applicant and product removed before being passed to the
expert group for comment. The applicant may, alternatively or subsequently,
invoke a formal appeal. Both the anonymous review and the formal appeal
processes are defined in the TMLA.
Note that if the request has already been reviewed by an expert group,
a second review is unlikely to produce a different result.
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