Introduction to ISO-TBX-TML

ISO-TBX-TML is the name of the terminology markup language (TML) used to represent the terminology that is described in ISO standards documents (typically under Section 3). Based on XML, ISO-TBX-TML is compliant with ISO 30042 -TermBase eXchange (TBX). However, to accommodate some unique features of ISO documents, it was necessary to "extend" ISO 30042 with a few new components. Likewise, not all the data categories included in ISO 30042 are necessary for describing ISO terminology; removing the unnecessary data categories helps to simplify the format. These extensions and restrictions are documented in xxx.

ISO-TBX-TML adheres to the best practices of terminology management as described in the standards produced by ISO Technical Committee 37, "Terminology and other language and content resources." In particular, the following standards are normative in ISO-TBX-TML:

- ISO 704, Terminology Work -- Principles and methods
- ISO 10241-1, Terminological entries in standards -- Part 1: General requirements and examples of presentation
- ISO 30042, TermBase eXchange
- ISO 16642, Terminological Markup Framework

The following standards are informative in ISO-TBX-TML:

- ISO 26162, Design, implementation and maintenance of terminology management systems

Terminological data categories (datcats) refer to the various types of terminological information that can occur in a glossary or a terminology database, such as term and definition. The datcats in TBX and in ISO-TBX-TML are taken from the DCR, which is accessible at the following Web site: www.isocat.org

The Terms and Definitions section

In preparing international standards, ISO Technical Committees are required to follow certain editing practices. These include a requirement to define the key terms that are used in a standard. The purpose of this requirement is to ensure that users of the standard interpret the key terms the way that they were meant to be interpreted, otherwise, the standard would not be implementable.

In most standards, the terms and definitions are contained in Section 3, "Terms and definitions". However, terms can also be defined in a separate document; this approach is taken, for instance, when the terms and definitions need to be produced in multiple languages in a single document, or when it is decided to publish a collection of terms from a set of related standards in order to provide a wider view of the terminology used in a specific domain. In both cases, the markup in ISO-TBX-TML is used.