From jgpb@jbinfo.demon.co.uk Thu Feb 27 05:26:36 1997 Return-Path: Received: from ida.org by cronus.csed.ida.org (SMI-8.6/SMI-SVR4) id FAA05991; Thu, 27 Feb 1997 05:26:36 -0500 Received: from mail.acm.org by ida.org (4.1/SMI-4.1) id AA12994; Thu, 27 Feb 97 05:27:03 EST Received: from jbinfo.demon.co.uk (jbinfo.demon.co.uk [158.152.125.20]) by mail.acm.org (8.8.4/8.7.5) with SMTP id FAA41328; Thu, 27 Feb 1997 05:22:46 -0500 Date: Thu, 27 Feb 1997 10:15:19 GMT From: jgpb@jbinfo.demon.co.uk (john barnes) Reply-To: jgpb@jbinfo.demon.co.uk Message-Id: <610@jbinfo.demon.co.uk> To: moorej@acm.org, colket@smtp-gw.spawar.navy.mil, ClydeRoby@acm.org Cc: Michael.Pickett@baesema.co.uk, michael@norvu.demon.co.uk, lesterc@sis.port.ac.uk, John.Dawes@virgin.net Subject: ASIS ballot from UK X-Mailer: PCElm 1.10 Lines: 263 Content-Length: 7049 Status: OR Here is the electronic ballot submission regarding ASIS (N325) from the United Kingdom. We Approve with non-binding comments. ====================================== We found no obvious technical gaps. However, we wish to make an official complaint about the format. =============================================================== Much of the time that the reviewers had allocated for this review was spent in wrestling with attempting to print the document. Each of us had different quite tedious and time-consuming difficulties. Most related to page width, line numbering, colour printing, diagram overlays etc. It seems very strange that an international standard should be circulated using such proprietary software. However, if the authors must use Word for Windows which in my view is the worst designed word processor available, then they should learn how to use it properly. Broadly speaking, word processors can be used in two modes. The childish way for one-off documents. The professional way for maintainable documents. The preset styles such as Normal are meant for quick use. A properly designed document should use no predefined or default styles; certainly every paragraph style should be set through customized styles and character styles should also be used where appropriate. Hardwired or default styles always lead to difficulties. This document is entirely set using hardwired styles over Normal. It is one of the worst set documents I have *ever* encountered. I attach some specific non-binding comments from two of our reviewers. John Barnes Principal UK Expert [Remainder of email containing comments have been deleted for this particular issue.]