Conventions

This Code of Practice is implemented using the following convention:

The keywords MUST, MUST NOT, REQUIRED, RECOMMENDED, and OPTIONAL in this document are to be interpreted as described in RFC 2119.

Note that the force of these words is modified by the requirement level of the document in which they are used.

1. MUST (or REQUIRED) means that the definition is an absolute requirement of the specification.
2. MUST NOT means that the definition is an absolute prohibition of the specification.
3. RECOMMENDED means that there may be valid reasons in certain circumstances to ignore a particular item, but the full implications should be understood and carefully weighed before choosing a different course.
4. NOT RECOMMENDED means that there may be valid reasons in certain circumstances when the particular behaviour is acceptable or even useful, but the full implications should be understood and the case carefully weighed before implementing any behaviour described with this label.

Content providers implementing the Code of Practice who feel they have a valid disagreement with a requirement of the code are requested to present their case in writing to the COUNTER Project Director and ask for clarification on interpretation of the code.

Text appearing in italic will be replaced with appropriate values at implementation time, terms enclosed in curly brackets are variables. For example, Exception in the format “{Exception Number}: {Exception Description}” might resolve to “3030: No Usage Available for Requested Dates”.