Deliverables

The deliverables of a standard package consist of standard documents and other files. A standard package consists of at least one base standard. Other deliverable items, as listed on this page, are optional.

Base Standard

A base standard contains all fundamental specifications such as abstract object models, syntax definitions and functional behavior descriptions. It uses a problem- or task-oriented notation, such as UML or BNF. A base standard is technology- and implementation-independent. Each ASAM standard consists of one base standard document. Some base standards at ASAM are split-up into two documents, which is the Reference Guide, which contains all formal specifications of the standard in a reference-book style, and the User's Guide, which further specifies the application of the standard.

All other standard documents within a standard package are associated to the base standard, and are of one of the following types:

• Companion Standard
  The notion of companion standard is typically used for application- or device-specific extensions of a base standard.
   
• Technology Reference
  Technology references map the abstract specifications of the base standard to specific technologies, e.g. programming langages or data-base implementations.
   
• Transport Layer Specification
  Transport layer specifications are similar to technology references, as they also provide a technology mapping. The notion of transport layer specification is used in the area of communication technologies. They provide a mapping of the base standard to specific protocol- or bus-technologies. The transport layer abstracts access of higher application layers to the lower layers of the communication system.
   

Model Files
Model files typically contain the object model of the standard. A typical example of a model file in ASAM standards are UML models created with the tool "Enterprise Architect" (.ea).
 

Schema Files
Schema files define the formal structure and syntax of text files. They are used for automated schema validation. Typical examples of schema files are XML definition files (.xsd) or Google protocol buffers definition files (.proto).
 

Interface Definition Files
Interface definition files define programmatic interfaces, such as APIs (Application Programming Interface). They are used for automatic code generation of the standardized interface for specific programming languages. A typical example of an interface definition file is the Interface Description Language file (.idl). 
 

Example Files
Example files demonstrate a typical and standard-compliant implementation of the standard.