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<head><title>COD3 : CAcert Official Documents Policy</title>
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2008-02-25 13:20:39 +00:00
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<meta name="author" content="Sebastian Kueppers">
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2008-02-25 13:29:01 +00:00
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<meta name="date" content="2008-02-25">
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2008-02-25 13:20:39 +00:00
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2008-02-25 13:29:01 +00:00
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<center><big><b>W o r k -- i n -- P r o g r e s s</b></big></center>
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<h1>CAcert Official Documents Policy</h1>
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<h2>Table of Contents</h2>
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0. General<br>
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0.1. Document Information<br>
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0.2. References<br>
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1. Introduction<br>
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1.1. Background on COD document series<br>
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1.2. How does the documentation work?<br>
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2. General COD editorial policies<br>
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2.1. Immutability<br>
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2.2. Publication language<br>
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2.3. Publication format<br>
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2.4. Consistent Document Style<br>
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2.5. Assignment of COD Numbers<br>
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2.6. References and citations<br>
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2.7. URLs in documents<br>
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2.8. Abbreviations<br>
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2.9. Requirement-level words<br>
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2.10. Translating CODs<br>
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3. Sections in a COD<br>
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3.1. Title<br>
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3.2. Table of contents<br>
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3.3. "General"-section<br>
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3.4. Body section<br>
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3.5. Citation sources<br>
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3.6. Appendices<br>
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3.7. End-of-document and author's (email) address<br>
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4. EOD-section<br>
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<h2>0. General</h2>
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<h3>0.1. Document Information</h3>
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Document-ID: COD3<br>
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Status: wip V0.2<br>
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(C): 2007 Sebastian Kueppers
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<h3>0.2. References</h3>
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This document refers to: <br>
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-> RFC 2606 (required)<br>
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-> RFC 2119 (required)<br>
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<h2>1. Introduction</h2>
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This document provides information for authors of CAcert Official Documents (COD).<br>
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"Official" documents are all documents issued by CAcert Inc. that shall
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be supervised and versionized for legal (e.g. policies) or handy (e.g.
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the document how to organize events) reasons.<br>
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Policies and other documents that are covered by the Configuration
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Control Specification (-> COD2) contain a corresponding note in
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their "general" section (see below).<br>
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It summarizes COD editorial policies and formatting requirements,
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answers frequently asked questions, and serves as a model for
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constructing a properly formatted COD.
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<h3>1.1. Background on COD document series</h3>
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The CAcert official documents series, short COD, form an archive of documents issued officially by CAcert, Inc.<br>
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<h3>1.2. How does the documentation work?</h3>The documentation process
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and the need for officially issued documents can be initiated by CAcert
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Inc. (by stating the need for an official document on a special
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subject) or by individuals.<br>
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A document starts in WIP-status (Work In Progess). When it is finished, it will be published on the homepage in DRAFT-mode.<br>
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Draft documents are assigned to a COD-ID by the documentation officer
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and will be published on the website/SVN. While it is a draft document
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everybody is asked to revise the document and send comments, errors and
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additions to the author.<br>
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After a while in draft-status without revision the document will be given "approved" status.<br>
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When a document has reached "approved" status, changes will not be
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accepted any more. All changes and additions have to be filed as new
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versions in draft-status. This new version will stay in draft-status
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for revision as stated above. When a new version of a document finally
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reaches "approved" status the older version will be marked as obsolete
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and the new version will officially be published by the documentation
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officer.<br>
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<h2>2. General COD editorial policies</h2>
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<h3>2.1. Immutability</h3>
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Since CODs form an archival series they cannot be altered.<br>
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If changes to an approved document are required it has to be filed as a new version and run through the approval process again.<br>
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If a new version of an existing COD is approved it will keep its
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COD-number but will be given a new Version-ID by the Documetation
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Officer.
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<h3>2.2. Publication language</h3>
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Official language for CODs is English, in cases of doubt it is en_AU (Australian English).<br>
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Translations are welcome, but will only serv to inform the reader and will not habe any legally binding quality.
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<h3>2.2. Publication format</h3>
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CODs are published as HTML files.<br>
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CODs should use HTML-code as simple as possible.<br>Other
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file formats may be used if approved of by the Documentation Officer
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(e.g. for graphical content or officially issued presentations).<br>
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If file formats other than HTML are used free and interchangeable formats will be preferred.
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<h3>2.4. Consistent Document Style</h3>
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The Documentation Officer attempts to enforce a consistent style of
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CODs. To do this, the Documentation Officer may choose to reformat a
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submitted COD or ask the author to reformat it. This effort can be
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minimized if the submitted document matches the style of the most
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recent CODs.
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<h3>2.5. Assignment of COD Numbers</h3>
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COD-numbers are not assigned until late draft status and are assigned by the Documentation Officer.<br>
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<h3>2.6. References and citations</h3>If a COD refers to another COD or
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external document these documents must be named in section 0.2. of the
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specific COD. In text references to external documents they shall be
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marked with "->". If the named document is essential for
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understanding and using the COD the tag "(required)" shall be added.
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References for information only will have no tag or the tag
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"(informational)".<br>
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Citation sources shall be numbered sequentially in square brackets
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(e.g. "[1]"). A comprehensive list of citation sources should then be
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given in an appendix.<br>
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References within the same COD-document can be noted as "-> COD x
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(this document)". Even if the document is an HTML-file the use of
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(internal) links is not allowed (since links will not work if the
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document is e.g. printed).<br>
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If a COD requires any other document (another COD or an external
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document) it can not be given approved status until any required
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document is given "approved" status.
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<h3>2.7. URLs in documents</h3>Since URLs are no stable reference they
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should not be used in CODs. Exceptions may be made for references in
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those cases where the URL is the most stable reference available.<br>
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DNS names given to examples should make use of the examples defined in
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->RFC 2606 ("Reserved Top-Level DNS Names") to avoid conflicts with
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existing domains.<br>
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<h3>2.8. Abbreviations</h3>
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Abbreviations should be written out when used for the first time,
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except for common abbreviations which everybody will easily recognize.
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The Documentation Officer will make the final judgement weighing
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obscurity against complexity.
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<h3>2.9. Requirement-level words</h3>Some documents contain certain
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capitalized words ("MUST", "SHOULD", etc.) to specify precise
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requirements for technical points. In CODs these words are interpreted
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according to ->RFC2119. If other capitalized words are used the
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correct interpretation must be specified in the document.
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Abusive use of required-level words must be avoided. The words are
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intended to provide guidance to implementors about specific technical
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features or legal affairs.
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<h3>2.10. Translating CODs</h3>The translation of CODs into another
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language is permitted. However, the original author and/or the
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Documentaton Officer should be informed of such translations.
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Translations will be listed on the documentation homepage. Translated
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versions are for informational use only, see section 2.2. of this
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docment.
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<h2>3. Sections in a COD</h2>A published COD should contain the
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sections in the following list. Some of these sections are compulsory,
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as noted. The shown order is required if no good reasons are given as
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to why the order should be different.<br>
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<br>
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I. Title (required)<br>
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II. Table of contents (required)<br>
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III. "General"-section (containing document information and references, required)<br>
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IV. Body section (required)<br>
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V. Citation sources<br>
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VI. Appendixes<br>
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VII. End-of-document and Author's (email) address (required)<br>
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<br>
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<h3>3.1. Title</h3>
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Choosing a good title can be a challenge. A good title should represent
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the scope and purpose of the document without being either too general
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or too specific.
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<h3>3.2. Table of contents</h3>
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A table of contents (TOC) section shall provide a quick overview of the different sections in a COD.<br>
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It can be left out in very small CODs, in cases of doubt the Docmentation Officer will decide.
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<h3>3.3. "General"-section</h3>The "general" section contains the
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general document information (COD-ID, status, copyright) and the list
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of references. If a table of contents is available this section is
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usually lablled as section "0".<br>
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If a COD is a policy of CAcert Inc and/or controlled by the
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"Configuration Control SpecificationConfiguration Control
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Specification" (-> COD2) this fact is stated in this section, too.
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<h3>3.4. Body section</h3>
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The general section is followed by the document body.<br>Each
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COD should have an introduction that explains the motivation for the
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COD and (if appropriate) describes the applicability of the document.<br>
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<h3>3.5. Citation sources</h3>
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If citations are used in the document the specific citation sources
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should be listed here. There is no specific format required since
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citation sources can vary.
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<h3>3.6. Appendices</h3>The appendix-section can be used e. g. for
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detailed information on technical focuses. Usually appendices are
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numbered from "A"..."Z" (e.g. "Appendix A") and can be sub-sectioned
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("A.1", "A.2").
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<h3>3.7. End-of-document and Author's (email) address</h3>The last
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section of any COD-document should contain the author's email-address
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(so that comments and additions can be addressed directly to the
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author). If no author is known or if he is otherwise unavailable this
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will be the Documentation Officer's address.<br>
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The very last item of any document is the end-of-document-note coded as
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"<-- END OF COD xx -->". All text below this note does not belong
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to the document any more.
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<h3>4. EOD-section</h3>
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Author: Sebastian Kueppers, cacert@kueppers.ath.cx<br>
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<br>
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<-- END OF COD3 -->
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2008-02-25 13:29:01 +00:00
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</body></html>
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