The PubID Metaschema

The PubID metaschema is the formal definition of how publication identifiers are structured. It provides a shared vocabulary and set of rules that each publisher's schema builds upon.

Design Principles

1. Extensibility — The metaschema defines common elements; publishers extend it with their specifics
2. Round-trip fidelity — Parse any identifier and re-render it identically
3. Multi-style rendering — A single set of data elements can be rendered in multiple formats (full, abbreviated, short, machine-readable, URN) without information loss
4. Machine-readable — Every element has a formal definition suitable for automated processing
5. Human-readable — The output format remains familiar to standards users

Metaschema Elements

Core Elements (Present in Most Schemas)

Element	Type	Description
publisher	String	The issuing organization code (ISO, IEC, IEEE, etc.)
type	String	Document type key (is, tr, ts, guide, etc.)
number	String	Unique document number
year	Integer	Publication year
part	String	Part number

Extended Elements (Publisher-Specific)

Element	Type	Used By	Description
edition	String	ISO, IEC, JIS	Edition number
stage	String	ISO, IEC	Development stage abbreviation
typed_stage	String	ISO, IEC	Combined stage+type (e.g., DTR, FDTS)
language	String	ISO, IEC, CIE	Language code
copublisher	String	ISO	Joint publisher code
supplement	Object	Most publishers	Amendment, corrigendum, or addendum
draft_version	String	IEEE	Draft version number
vap_suffix	String	IEC	Value-added product suffix
sector	String	ITU	ITU sector (R, T, D)
version	String	ETSI, BSI Flex	Version number
revision	String	NIST	Revision number

How Publishers Use the Metaschema

Each publisher defines a schema that specifies:

1. Which elements they use — Not all publishers use all elements
2. Allowed values — For example, which document types, stage codes, or language codes
3. Syntax rules — How elements combine into a string representation
4. URN format — How the identifier maps to a URN

Example: ISO Schema

ISO/[Copublisher] [TypedStage] [Number]-[Part]:[Year]/[Supplement]([Language])

• Uses: publisher, copublisher, type, number, part, year, stage, typed_stage, language, supplement
• Stages: NP, WD, CD, DIS, FDIS, PRF, IS
• Supplements: Amendment (Amd), Corrigendum (Cor), Addendum (Add)

Example: NIST Schema

[Publisher] [Type] [Number]-[Part] Rev. [Revision] Vol. [Volume]

• Uses: publisher (NIST or NBS), type, number, part, revision, volume, edition, stage, update, translation
• Types: SP, FIPS, IR, TN, HB, etc.
• Historical: NBS prefix for pre-1988 documents
• Multi-style rendering: NIST was the first to define four distinct output styles from a single data model:
  • Full (Long): National Institute of Standards and Technology Special Publication 800-53A
  • Abbreviated: Natl. Inst. Stand. Technol. Spec. Publ. 800-53A
  • Short: NIST SP 800-53A
  • Machine-Readable: NIST.SP.800-53A (used as DOI suffix)

Multi-Style Rendering

The PubID metaschema supports rendering a single identifier into multiple output formats. This means one parse operation produces data elements that can be serialized in different contexts:

Output Format	Used For	Example
Human-readable string	Citations, references	ISO 9001:2015
URN	Machine interchange, resolution	urn:iso:std:iso:9001:ed-5:en
JSON	API responses, databases	{"publisher":"ISO","number":"9001","year":2015}
Full style (NIST)	Title page, bibliography	National Institute of Standards and Technology Special Publication 800-53A
Short style (NIST)	Inline citations	NIST SP 800-53A
Machine-readable (NIST)	DOI, machine interchange	NIST.SP.800-53A

This interchange is lossless: converting from any style to any other style preserves all semantic information. The data model is the single source of truth; the styles are just different serializations.

Formal Definition

The metaschema is implemented in the PubID Ruby library as:

• Shared components in lib/pubid/components/ — reusable element definitions
• Per-publisher schemas in lib/pubid/{flavor}/ — publisher-specific rules
• Parsers — PEG grammars (Parslet) for each publisher's syntax
• Serializers — Lutaml::Model mappings for JSON/YAML/URN output

See Also

• Common Elements — Detailed element reference
• PubID Algebra — Relationships between identifiers
• URN Mapping — Machine-readable URN representation
• Browse Publishers — See all implemented schemas