Re: [ubl-lcsc] Currency codes (ISO 4217)

[jon.bosak@sun.com]

| I hope we all realise the significance of Jon's activity as it
| impacts of the interoperability of 'standard' code sets:
| 
| 1. he needed to manually edit these code set values, which
| questions the integrity of the code sets and creates opportunities
| for others to interpet them differently.  therefore, they are not
| 'standard' anymore.

I didn't need to edit the currency codes themselves, I just needed
to resolve one very obscure duplication in the names of the
currencies (there is a unit of currency called the kwacha that is
used in Malawi with the code MWK and in Zambia with the code ZMK,
so in the file 4217cod2.txt, I call the first unit "Kwacha
(Malawi)" and the second unit "Kwacha (Zambia)").  There was
definitely some editorial judgement involved in the inclusion of
the whole set of codes published by BSI; for example, my list
includes Gold with the code XAU whereas Ken's does not.  In
practice, however, I doubt very much that these differences will
have any practical effect.

The bigger problem here is that our code list is now a snapshot of
what was standard on 5 September 2003 and won't reflect future
changes until and unless we revise our version.  Again, I doubt
that this will have any big practical effect in the case of
currencies and country codes, but it is a disconnect.

| 2. the source of these code set values (BSI) is not the 'source'
| of the standard (ISO)

Well, it looks like ISO thinks it is.  That's what they're
referring us to, anyway.  BSI does describe itself as the
maintainer on the web page pointed to by ISO.

Jon