PDF Attachment Workgroup

September 10, 2010

Public Comment Requested on XML PDF Attachments
Public Comment Period Now Open

The Board of Directors of PESC - the Postsecondary Electronic Standards Council is pleased to announce that a 30-day public comment period is now open on the XML format for PDF Attachments. The public comment period begins Friday September 10, 2010 and expires at the close of business on Friday October 8, 2010.

"By capitalizing on one of PDF's capabilities to serve as a container or conveyance, the Workgroup has devised a standard for embedding files within the PDF that can make the PDFs machine-readable. Also, if embedded files are themselves machine-readable (e.g., another standard XML file), the PDF joins with the other...PESC approved standards...as a very effective data exchange medium," states the Implementation Guide developed by the Workgroup. The development Workgroup is being co-chaired by Jim Bouse of the University of Oregon and Chris Kaschmitter of Avow Systems.

The complete submission is posted to the right. All comments from the general public and PESC membership should be made in the form of an e-mail to the PESC President & CEO at: Michael.Sessa@PESC.org. Public comments can address any and/or all part of the standard being proposed. The comment e-mail should clearly identify the:

1) Responder full name and appropriate contact information (phone, email, organization, etc);
2) Source of the comments, i.e., whether the comments are individual or originate from a group the responder represents;
3) Nature of the responder's interest in the standard (what is the issue and why is it important?);
4) Element(s) of the proposed standard with which issue is taken;
5) Changes suggested resolving the issue(s).

The Process

Within 30 calendar days after the close of the public comment period, the Change Control Board (CCB) of PESC's Standards Forum for Education will address and consider all public comments and make, in consultation with the XML PDF Attachment Workgroup any necessary revisions. All public comments will be posted to the PESC website during the review process. The CCB's consideration/revision period expires on Monday November 8, 2010 unless extenuating circumstances exist which require further deliberation.

Once any changes resulting from the public comment period have been incorporated, the CCB will recommend to the Standards Forum's Steering Committee and the PESC Board of Directors that the XML PDF Attachment be submitted to a vote by the PESC members. The PESC office will issue electronic ballots to the official contacts of PESC member organizations. Completed ballots, including the reason(s) for any rejection, must be returned to the PESC office via e-mail attachment, fax, overnight delivery, or U.S. Postal Service within ten (10) business days.

PESC staff is responsible for the tabulation of the ballots; acceptance of the specification as a standard requires an affirmative vote of at least 80% of all votes cast. Once the members accept and approve the specification, the PESC Board of Directors will within seven (7) calendar days ratify the vote or refer it back to the CCB with specific instructions for further work.

PESC staff will then publish/post all necessary documents and communications and implement version control on all documents, as needed. PESC approved standards are freely accessible on the PESC website ww.PESC.org.

Letter of Intent

DOWNLOADS

Public Comment Requested on XML PDF Attachments
PDF Attachment Implementation Guide v 1.0.0
PDFAttachment_v1.0.0.xsd
AttachmentTypes_v1.0.0.xsd
PDF_Attachment_Instance
CoreMain_v1.9.0.xsd

To view the files simply click on the links above. To save to your computer, right-click and select "save target as" (in IE).