Foreword

ISO (the International Organization for Standardization) and IEC (the International Electrotechnical Commission) form the specialized system for worldwide standardization. National bodies that are members of ISO or IEC participate in the development of International Standards through technical committees established by the respective organization to deal with particular fields of technical activity. ISO and IEC technical committees collaborate in fields of mutual interest. Other international organizations, governmental and non-governmental, in liaison with ISO and IEC, also take part in the work. In the field of information technology, ISO and IEC have established a joint technical committee, ISO/IEC JTC 1.

International Standards are drafted in accordance with the rules given in the ISO/IEC Directives, Part 2.

The main task of the joint technical committee is to prepare International Standards. Draft International Standards adopted by the joint technical committee are circulated to national bodies for voting. Publication as an International Standard requires approval by at least 75 % of the national bodies casting a vote.

In exceptional circumstances, the joint technical committee may propose the publication of a Technical Report of one of the following types:

— type 1, when the required support cannot be obtained for the publication of an International Standard, despite repeated efforts;
— type 2, when the subject is still under technical development or where for any other reason there is the future but not immediate possibility of an agreement on an International Standard;
— type 3, when the joint technical committee has collected data of a different kind from that which is normally published as an International Standard (“state of the art”, for example).

Technical Reports of types 1 and 2 are subject to review within three years of publication, to decide whether they can be transformed into International Standards. Technical Reports of type 3 do not necessarily have to be reviewed until the data they provide are considered to be no longer valid or useful.

Attention is drawn to the possibility that some of the elements of this document may be the subject of patent rights. ISO and IEC shall not be held responsible for identifying any or all such patent rights.

ISO/IEC TR 9126‑2:2003 , which is a Technical Report of type 2, was prepared by Joint Technical Committee ISO/IEC JTC 1, Information technology, Subcommittee SC 7, Software and system engineering.

This document is being issued in the Technical Report (type 2) series of publications (according to the Procedures for the technical work of ISO/IEC JTC 1) as a “prospective standard for provisional application” in the field of external metrics for quantitatively measuring external software because there is an urgent need for guidance on how standards in this field should be used to meet an identified need.

This document is not to be regarded as an “International Standard”. It is proposed for provisional application so that information and experience of its use in practice may be gathered. Comments on the content of this document should be sent to the ISO Central Secretariat.

A review of this Technical Report (type 2) will be carried out not later than three years after its publication with the options of: extension for another three years; conversion into an International Standard; or withdrawal.

ISO/IEC 9126 consists of the following parts, under the general title Software engineering — Product quality:

— Part 1: Quality model
— Part 2: External metrics
— Part 3: Internal metrics
— Part 4: Quality in use metrics

PD ISO/IEC TR 9126-2:2003

Software engineering. Product quality - External metrics

Published:

24 Feb 2004

Withdrawn:

30 Jun 2016