[STDS-802-3-EPOC] IEEE Style Manual

[Glen Kramer <gkramer@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

I think it will be useful for this group to review the IEEE Style Manual. Especially look at 11.2.2

11.2.2 Shall, should, may, and can
Shall, should, may, and can are defined in 6.4.7 of the IEEE-SA Standards Board Operations Manual.

The word shall indicates mandatory requirements strictly to be followed in order to conform to the standard
and from which no deviation is permitted (shall equals is required to).
NOTE-The use of the word must is deprecated and shall not be used when stating mandatory requirements; must is
used only to describe unavoidable situations. The use of the word will is deprecated and shall not be used when stating
mandatory requirements; will is only used in statements of fact.

The word should indicates that among several possibilities one is recommended as particularly suitable,
without mentioning or excluding others; or that a certain course of action is preferred but not necessarily
required (should equals is recommended that).

The word may is used to indicate a course of action permissible within the limits of the standard (may
equals is permitted to).

The word can is used for statements of possibility and capability, whether material, physical, or causal (can
equals is able to).

Also, see
17.1 Notes
Subclause 6.4 of the IEEE-SA Standards Board Operations Manual states that notes are informative. Notes
are explanatory statements used in the text for emphasis or to offer informative suggestions about the
technical content of the standard. Notes provide additional information to assist the reader with a particular
passage and shall not include mandatory requirements. Because a note in the text is an informative part of
the approved standard, important information on safety, health, or the environment shall not be included. A
note should follow that paragraph to which it belongs, and shall be set apart from the text by introducing
the statement with the capitalized word "NOTE-." Within each subclause, notes should be numbered
sequentially, i.e., "NOTE 1-", "NOTE 2-", etc. The one exception is when notes appear in the
definitions clause. Notes in the definitions clause should only be numbered if there are multiple notes that
apply to a single definition. That is, each definition acts as if it were its own subclause.

"Note that" is normative and is translated to mean "pay special attention to." "Note that" is usually part of a
paragraph while "NOTE-" is set apart as its own paragraph.


Regards,
Glen


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