NTEP Column
Software Versioning - Removing “or higher” from “not built for purpose software”
Jeff Gibson NCWM - NTEP Administrator
For many years, NTEP has used the statement “or higher” or a variation of it after software version numbers for “not built for purpose software,” in a format such as this: Version: 14.3.21.05 or higher. The first question you might have is, what is “Not built for purpose software?”. NTEP considers Point-of-Sale Systems, Weigh-In/Weight-Out Systems, and Scale System Controllers to be devices that use “not built for purpose software,” and the software typically runs on a Windows, Android, or iOS operating system. Having the statement “or higher” creates challenges for manufacturers, regulators, and NTEP. Going forward, there will be two methods for “not built for purpose software” software versioning. Method One: The manufacturer can declare the metrological software version and separate it from the other parts of the software, then NTEP will list on the Certificate of Conformance “Metrological software Version 14.3.21.05,” and this number can’t change without an evaluation. This is the best method and gives the manufacturer the ability to make changes without affecting the NTEP certificate; however, most Point-of-Sale Systems, Weigh-In/Weight-Out Systems, and Scale System Controllers are fully developed when the manufacturer applies for NTEP certification, and separating the metrological software would be a major time and cost expense. Method two: The manufacturer will declare what part of the software version number contains the metrological portion, and that portion will not be able to increase. Consistently, the metrological portion is contained within the 1 digit or “Major Identifier” of the software version number. st
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