Citation Tagging

Citation Reference: § 8.3

Citation Guidance: Due to the various use cases that apply to a SWID tag, there are a number of data attributes that are specified as optional because they may not be available in certain cases (for example, an organization may not specify a version number for a product – it is unusual, but possible that this element will be unspecified or unknown by a tool or service provider who may be creating a SWID tag for a software product). For most software products, however, the data elements specified below should be made available whenever possible. This allows organizations to more completely automate their IT processes. a) SoftwareIdentity (8.5.1): 1) name; 2) tagVersion; 3) tagId; 4) version; 5) versionScheme; b) Entity (8.5.2): 1) name; 2) regid; 3) role (minimum requirement is that the tagCreator role is specified). As well, the following data should be provided whenever possible to assist in IT automation processes: a) SoftwareIdentity (8.5.1): 1) patch (if this tag provides data about a patch); 2) supplemental (if this tag provides supplemental information to another tag); b) Entity (8.5.2 whenever possible, provide the softwareCreator and licensor role data as well); c) Meta (8.5.5); 1) product (this is the product name only, not including the edition, colloquial version, or services pack information). If the software specified in this SWID uses the following type of naming structures, they should be provided both for human usability and so that other IT systems can utilize the information for automation purposes: — edition; — colloquialVersion; — revision.