In article <4n026i$9j@engnews1.Eng.Sun.COM>,
Steve Clamage <clamage@Eng.Sun.COM> wrote:
>The standards process is open. Anyone who wants to monitor the committee's
>work may do so by joining the committee, possibly as an observer, and have
>access to all papers and discussions. The process is not set up for people
>who just want to drop by and make random comments at their convenience.

As a long-ago member of ANSI-X3H3, I would like to support what
Mr. Clamage is saying.  Most of the committee members are
participating at the pleasure of their employers, and have other
responsibilities besides their committee work.  Many committee members
donate significant personal time to their committee work.  It is not
reasonable to expect the committee members to respond to comments on
working drafts from the general public. We are very fortunate that
Mr. Clamage and other committee members have been willing to
participate in this forum.
--
Kevin Cline
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Bob Kline wrote:
>
> Wasn't there supposed to be a public-comment draft released last month?
> Can I get a pointer to the electronic version, please?  Thanks!
>
> Bob Kline
>
> [ moderator's note: See the FAQ at
>         http://reality.sgi.com/austern/std-c++/faq.html
>   -sdc
> ]

The FAQ still only has pointers to the April 95 "public comment" version.
Is there any way the general public can find out about changes made since
then?

--
Ross Smith ........................................ Wellington, New Zealand
Work: <mailto:ross.smith@nz.eds.com> ... Home: <mailto:alien@netlink.co.nz>
     "Once a new technology starts rolling, if you're not part of the
     steamroller, you're part of the road."          -- Stewart Brand
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In article 682A@nz.eds.com, Ross Smith <ross.smith@nz.eds.com> writes:
>>
>> Wasn't there supposed to be a public-comment draft released last month?
>> Can I get a pointer to the electronic version, please?  Thanks!
>>
>> [ moderator's note: See the FAQ at
>>         http://reality.sgi.com/austern/std-c++/faq.html
>>   -sdc
>> ]
>
>The FAQ still only has pointers to the April 95 "public comment" version.
>Is there any way the general public can find out about changes made since
>then?

The FAQ contains the answer to that question. It also points to the
comp.lang.c++ FAQ:
 ftp://rtfm.mit.edu/pub/usenet-by-hierarchy/comp/lang/c++
which contains more details.

---
Steve Clamage, stephen.clamage@eng.sun.com
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Ross Smith wrote:
>
> The FAQ still only has pointers to the April 95 "public comment" version.
> Is there any way the general public can find out about changes made since
> then?

Sites exist with a copy of the January Committee draft available. This
draft was to be presented for approval
at the joint meeting in Santa Cruz, California, USA in March 1996.

One of the internet sites that provided an HTML version of Jan 96 has
recently replaced it with the older April 95 version and the nessage,
NOTE : Later drafts have been removed by request.

The truth is, the January 1996 Draft is marked up for Working Group
members, hence it has various annotations about work-in-progress. A new
public comment draft is supposed to be released in July. You shouldn't
want to read the in between versions, but since people in this newsgroup
sometimes mention items from them, you might be curious.

de jure: you cannot read drafts between April 95 and July 96, unless
         you are a member of the committee.

de facto: you go to http://www.altavista.digital.com and do a search on
          the keywords "draft" +"standard" +"C++" +"ANSI" +"January"
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In article 218F@isc.tamu.edu, Kevin Copps <kc@isc.tamu.edu> writes:
>
>de jure: you cannot read drafts between April 95 and July 96, unless
>         you are a member of the committee.

No, that is not a rule. Committee papers are not secret. You can purchase
a copy of the current draft from X3, for example. If you know someone
who is a committee member, you could ask to see copies of committee papers.
(Before you ask, think what would your response would be to random people
dropping by your office asking to borrow or copy any books or papers that
look interesting.)

X3 and ISO policy is that committee docs are not distributed for public
consumption except for drafts made available for public comment. Not
being publicly posted isn't the same as being stamped "confidential".

If you are writing a paper or a book or a big program, would you like
to have lots of people looking over your shoulder making comments as you
work? No. But at times that *you* select, you would circulate a draft for
review. The same is true of standards committees.

The standards process is open. Anyone who wants to monitor the committee's
work may do so by joining the committee, possibly as an observer, and have
access to all papers and discussions. The process is not set up for people
who just want to drop by and make random comments at their convenience.
---
Steve Clamage, stephen.clamage@eng.sun.com
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