How to submit an editorial issue

If you think you've found an editorial problem in the current C++ standard, or the current working draft, please report it. This page provides brief instructions to help streamline these reports.

Is your issue editorial?

Editorial issues fall into two broad categories:

• Problems with the presentation of the specification, which, when fixed, would not alter the (intended) meaning of the specification. Typos and obvious inconsistencies fall into this category.
• Inconsistencies between working papers voted into the draft and the actual text of the draft. Forgetting to include a section of a voted-in paper in the draft is an example of such an issue. These issues may be considered editorial even if they change the meaning of the specification, since they are easy to verify and generally fix the intended meaning of the specification.

Most editorial fixes fall into the first category of presentational issues. Some examples include:

• Typos
• Formatting errors (e.g. inline text that should be in typewriter font but is not)
• Internal inconsistencies (e.g. two different declarations for the same function overload, when it is clear which is the correct declaration)
• Unclear writing, when the intention of the text in question is well-known to the committee, but the presentation could be clearer.
• Incorrect usage of Standards Wording Idioms
• Anything that changes non-normative text. Non-normative text is contained in code examples and notes (the ones that start with "[Note -" and end with "- end note]") and does not have any bearing on the meaning of the standard. Changes to such wording can usually be done by the editor when requested.

If you are not sure whether your proposed edit falls into the above categories, you should consider submitting it as a technical issue instead.

Submitting your issue

Ideally, submit a git pull request with your fix. Alternatively, e-mail any editorial issues found to [email protected]. It makes things much easier if you can provide a git patch directly, but a clear description of the issue is fine.

If you do not provide a git patch, please describe your issue clearly, including:

• Indicate the location of the issue clearly:
  • the exact version of the document you are referring to (e.g. N-number or specific version of the standard)
  • the section(s) where the issue appears - use non-numeric section names, e.g. [intro.scope]
  • the paragraph(s) where the issue appears
• Clearly state what type of issue this is (e.g. a typo, or an inconsistency), and briefly describe the problem.

If you are reporting an inconsistency between a standards draft and a paper that you feel was incorrectly applied, please provide a link to the paper and describe the section of the paper you are referring to.

Thanks for your contributions! The C++ standard is a very large document read by many people, and the committee very much appreciates individual error reports.