Standards Versus Specifications 标准同规范的区别

       “标准”的定义比较宽泛，泛指大家接受的一些条文、方式和方法。但是，各个标准制定的过程不同，修改的过程也不一样，标准的受众也是有非常大的差异。

标准大致来讲有三大类别：

        公认标准：公认标准通常有两种重要特征：1）在公众的参与下制定，并为大家所接受；2）在国家或国际性组织的指导下进行。以上两项将有助于对该项标准感兴趣的团体知道并了解这个标准。另外，公认 标准和规格的区别比较明显的地方是，规格的标准元素必须遵照标准而制定。公认标准和信息材料的区别是，信息材料的信息元素有其它信息，但是没有规格。ISO, IEC, ANSI等标准组织就是按照以上步骤发展标准的。公认标准可从以上组织索取。

        工业规范：工业规范常常是成文的工业规范。一个突出的例子是SWOP（轮转胶印出版规范），SWOP就是一个标准化的印刷规范。这些规范通常是由业界的某一团体开发制定的，但是没有正式的条文和方针要求在制定规范的过程中，向哪些相关团体通报，如何汲取建议和意见。但是，这些出版物通常可供公众阅读，并可在公认标准组织处索取文件。

        事实标准：事实标准通常是由单一团体或公司制定的，在使用的过程中，得到了关键受众的肯定，从而赢得公信力。此类标准的制定是在封闭的团体中进行，并没有向公众通告其制定过程。此外，制定之后的标准可由制订者在不预先通知的情况下修改。有时候，使用这些信息需要支付一定的费用。PostScript就是事实标准的一个例子。在很多情况下，事实标准是由一个公司为某个目标市场开发某个产品线而设计的。

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英文原文（NPES资料）

        The term “standard” has been loosely applied to any agreed-upon way of doing things. However, there is a big difference in the way the standard has been developed and will be maintained, and often a big difference in who has agreed upon the contents of the standard.

        There are essentially three principal types of standards:

        Accredited standards generally have two important characteristics. They are developed and adopted as standards through an open consensus process, under the guidelines of national or international standards bodies. These procedures ensure that the concerns of all interested parties will be heard and addressed. In addition, accredited standards tend to distinguish more clearly the difference between requirements (normative elements) that must be met to conform to the standard, and descriptive material (informative elements) that provide additional information, but do not contain requirements. ISO, IEC, ANSI and other national standards bodies develop standards through this consensus process. Accredited standards are publicly available from the respective standards bodies.

        Industry specifications often take the form of formalized industry practices. An example of this would be SWOP (Specifications for Web Offset Publications), which is a standardized printing specification. These specifications generally are developed by a group within the industry, but there are no formal guidelines or procedures that ensure that the work is open to any interested party or open to review and comment during the development process. Such groups are not bound to consider or respond to comments on the work. However, such publications are generally publicly available and can be referenced in accredited standards.

        De facto standards are usually developed and owned by a single group or company, and gain credibility as the result of the use of a critical mass of people. The development of such work is done within a closed group and is not open to the consensus process. In addition, the resulting standards are subject to change, without notice, by the owner of the work. In some cases, the use of these standards requires payment of a licensing fee. PostScript is an example of a de facto standard. In many cases, de facto standards are developed by a company to serve a specific product line and target market.

        This handbook focuses on the work of accredited standards bodies, specifically ISO, IEC and ANSI.Most agree that the development of accredited standards is important to facilitate international exchange and trade.

         However, one complaint often heard is that their development takes too long. In general, this work is done by industry volunteers, whose companies support their participation in the standards development process as an important investment of time and manpower for the benefit of the company. It is often the case that the length of time it takes to develop a standard is directly proportional to the technical manpower available to do the work. So, if you are one who is unwilling to provide some of the manpower, it is hard to defend the complaint that standards development “takes too long.”