4 Conformance
4.1 Product types and features
Every requirement in EIS applies to one or more product types. A product conforms to EIS when it meets every shall that applies to its product type.
| Product type | What its requirements cover | Clauses |
|---|---|---|
| module | Front panel, board clearance, patch jacks, power entries and header current, the port list with signal classes and the formats of its rear video reference ports, patch safety; a DC entry panel or a reference distributor in module form claims the features of what it carries | 5.1, 5.2, 6.1, 6.3, 6.4, 6.6, 6.7, 6.8, 6.9, 7.1, 7.2, 7.3, 7.4, 8.1 |
| enclosure | Rack frame, rails, inserts, mounting screws, published row width and depth; what is built in claims its own role: a built-in supply is a power supply, a built-in bus board a bus board; a case DC entry claims PWR-DC12-IN | 5.1, 5.2, 5.3, 5.4, 6.1, 6.2, 6.3, 6.5, 6.7, 7.3, 7.4, 8.1 |
| bus board | Headers, links, published capacity, one 0 V, row wiring terminals; and whatever else it carries behind the panel: a DC rail, the ±6 V rails, the video reference tree, or the case's CTRL-USB-HOST, each a feature it claims | 6.1, 6.3, 6.4, 6.5, 6.7, 7.3, 7.4, 8.1 |
| power supply | Rails, output connector, protection, published ratings and ripple, the earth bond of 0 V, row wiring terminals; a supply may also make the 12 V DC rail or the ±6 V rails and claims that domain | 6.1, 6.2, 6.3, 6.4, 6.7, 6.8, 6.9, 8.1 |
| power converter | A source for one product that makes one power domain from another, such as ±6 V from the bus on the back of a module | 6.1, 6.2, 6.3, 6.4, 6.7, 6.8, 6.9, 8.1 |
| cable | The interface it mates: power ribbon, video, DC, PWR-A6, or CTRL-USB | 6.4, 6.5, 6.7, 6.8, 6.9, 7.4, 8.1 |
The optional features add requirements to a product that claims them. A product that does not claim a feature owes none of its requirements.
| Feature | Adds | Clause |
|---|---|---|
| PWR-BUS-IN | Takes the Eurorack bus at a power header: ±12 V and optional +5 V (the domain nearly every module claims) | 6.4, 6.5, 6.6 |
| PWR-BUS-OUT | Gives the Eurorack bus: a supply's terminals, a bus board's headers, a case with a supply built in | 6.4, 6.5, 6.6 |
| PWR-DC12-IN | Takes 12 V DC at a DC entry: a module's DC-BAR21 or DC-VH2, a case entry on DC-BAR25, DC-DIN4, DC-MF6, or DC-MF8 | 6.7 |
| PWR-DC12-OUT | Gives 12 V DC at DC-12 outlets to modules: a supply, a bus board, a DC entry panel, a distributor | 6.7 |
| PWR-A6-IN | Takes ±6 V at an A6-VH3 entry | 6.8 |
| PWR-A6-OUT | Gives ±6 V at A6-VH3 outlets: a supply, a power converter, a bus board | 6.8 |
| PWR-A15-IN | Takes ±15 V at an A15-MF4 entry | 6.9 |
| PWR-A15-OUT | Gives ±15 V at A15-MF4 outlets: a supply, a power converter, a bus board | 6.9 |
| VID-REF-IN | A video reference input behind the panel: a rear COAX-IN the module locks to, with the formats it locks to | 7.3, 7.4 |
| VID-REF-OUT | A video reference output behind the panel: a rear COAX-OUT giving a reference the module generates, with its formats | 7.3, 7.4 |
| VID-REF-PASSTHRU | With VID-REF-IN, a buffered pass-through of the reference input (COAX-PASSTHRU, marked PASSTHRU); not an output claim | 7.3, 7.4 |
| VID-REF-LOOPTHRU | With VID-REF-IN, the input as a loop-through pair with a termination switch (COAX-LOOPTHRU, marked TERM) | 7.3, 7.4 |
| CTRL-USB-DEV | A USB 2.0 service port and the MIDI 2.0 parameter interface as a device: the USB-PH4 port, identity, Property Exchange controls, current values | 8.1 |
| CTRL-USB-HOST | A case host: a module or a bus board that connects to the CTRL-USB ports of a case and edits its devices | 8.1 |
Every power domain is a pair of features, one for each direction: a product claims PWR-BUS-IN, PWR-DC12-IN, PWR-A6-IN, or PWR-A15-IN for each domain it takes at an entry, and PWR-BUS-OUT, PWR-DC12-OUT, PWR-A6-OUT, or PWR-A15-OUT for each it gives at outlets, so a module with a power header claims PWR-BUS-IN, a passive module claims none, a supply that makes only ±6 V claims PWR-A6-OUT alone, and a DC entry panel claims PWR-DC12-IN and PWR-DC12-OUT. A CTRL-USB port is CTRL-USB-DEV on the product that is edited and CTRL-USB-HOST on the case host that edits it. No product type implies a feature. Distribution is a capability, not a product type: a product that claims PWR-DC12-OUT distributes the DC rail, and a product with VID-REF-PASSTHRU ports beside its VID-REF-IN distributes the video reference, whether it is a bus board, a module, or an enclosure with those built in; it claims the feature and meets that feature's outlet or port rules. Claiming VID-REF-IN, VID-REF-OUT, VID-REF-PASSTHRU, or VID-REF-LOOPTHRU claims the coaxial interface rules of 7.4 with it; VID-75 on its own is a coaxial picture port or a coaxial cable.
Roles and interfaces
Underneath the product types, every requirement binds a role or an interface, and the register names which. An interface is a place where two products mate: the front panel (PANEL), the rail and its screw (RAIL), the bus (PWR-BUS), a DC entry (PWR-DC12), a PWR-A6 entry (PWR-A6), a patch jack (PATCH), a coaxial video port (VID-75), a USB service port (CTRL-USB). A role is what a product does and publishes: module, panel, enclosure, bus board, power supply, power converter, distribution, cable, host. A product is a composition: an enclosure with a built-in supply and bus board plays the enclosure, power supply, and bus board roles and owes every requirement of each; a case host is a module, or a bus board, in the host role; a bus board that also distributes a DC rail, the ±6 V rails, or the video reference, or hosts the case's CTRL-USB, claims the matching feature beside PWR-BUS (BUS-020). The product type a product claims names its main role; what is built in or added claims its own.
EIS Core
EIS Core is what every Eurorack product shares, whoever makes it: Part 2 (mechanical) and the patch jacks and video timing of Part 4. A product that claims a product type and no feature conforms to EIS Core; PWR-BUS is the feature nearly every module adds, and the other features add the interfaces of Parts 3, 4, and 5.
Product types are written in lower-case words, as they read in a sentence; DC keeps its capitals as an abbreviation. Features and interfaces are written in capitals with a hyphen, like every other EIS identifier: signal classes (MOD-CV), port modes (COAX-IN), and connector variants (DC-BAR21). A product type is never written as a code, and a feature never in lower case.
The requirements register lists each requirement with its product types and, in a column of its own, its feature. Chapter 9 binds the person assembling a system, not a product.
4.2 Claims
A conformance claim names the EIS edition, the product type, and every feature claimed beyond the one its product type implies, and for a cable what it mates; a statement that omits one of them is not an EIS claim. The claim applies to the product as a whole.
Examples of the claim line:
| Claim line | Product |
|---|---|
EIS draft, module |
A passive module: a panel, a mult, an attenuator; no power, no coaxial port |
EIS draft, module (PWR-BUS-IN) |
Any module on the bus; its port list is in its manual or claim file |
EIS draft, module (PWR-BUS-IN, VID-REF-IN) |
A module that locks to the row's video reference at a rear COAX-IN |
EIS draft, module (PWR-BUS-IN, VID-REF-IN, VID-REF-PASSTHRU) |
The same, with a buffered pass-through of the reference for the next module |
EIS draft, module (PWR-BUS-IN, VID-REF-IN, VID-REF-LOOPTHRU) |
The same, with the input as a loop-through pair and a termination switch |
EIS draft, module (PWR-BUS-IN, VID-REF-OUT) |
A module that generates the row's video reference, such as a video reference generator |
EIS draft, module (PWR-BUS-IN, VID-REF-IN, VID-REF-OUT) |
A generator that also genlocks to an external reference |
EIS draft, module (PWR-BUS-IN) |
A module whose only coaxial jacks are picture ports on the front, such as a composite encoder's output or a decoder's input: they are in its port list as VID-CVBS or VID-YPBPR and add no feature |
EIS draft, module (PWR-BUS-IN, PWR-DC12-IN) |
A dual-source module with a 12 V DC entry |
EIS draft, module (PWR-DC12-IN) |
A DC entry panel: a case DC entry on DC-DIN4 or DC-MF8 that feeds PWR-DC12 outlets to modules |
EIS draft, module (PWR-BUS-IN, PWR-A6-IN) |
A module that takes its analog rails at a PWR-A6 entry and its logic from the bus |
EIS draft, module (PWR-BUS-IN, CTRL-USB-DEV) |
A module whose settings a case host or a computer edits over its CTRL-USB port |
EIS draft, module (PWR-BUS-IN, CTRL-USB-HOST) |
A case host: the case's USB host and editor, a module in the host role (8.1) |
EIS draft, power converter (PWR-BUS-IN, PWR-A6-OUT) |
A ±6 V converter on the back of a module, fed from the bus |
EIS draft, bus board (PWR-BUS-OUT) |
A bus board |
EIS draft, bus board (PWR-BUS-OUT, VID-REF-IN, VID-REF-PASSTHRU) |
A bus board that also carries the video reference tree: a video reference distributor (6.5) |
EIS draft, bus board (PWR-BUS-OUT, PWR-DC12-OUT) |
A bus board with PWR-DC12 outlets beside its headers |
EIS draft, bus board (PWR-BUS-OUT, CTRL-USB-HOST) |
A bus board that is the case's USB host |
EIS draft, power supply (PWR-BUS-OUT) |
A standalone bus supply |
EIS draft, power supply (PWR-BUS-OUT, PWR-DC12-OUT) |
A bus supply that takes 12 V DC at a DC entry, or gives a DC rail at PWR-DC12 outlets (SUP-009); its claim file says which |
EIS draft, power supply (PWR-A6-OUT) |
A supply that makes only the ±6 V rails |
EIS draft, enclosure |
A case with nothing built in |
EIS draft, enclosure + power supply + bus board (PWR-BUS-OUT, PWR-DC12-OUT) |
A case with a built-in supply and bus board, fed at a case DC entry |
EIS draft, cable (PWR-BUS) |
A power ribbon; or (VID-75) for a coaxial cable, (PWR-DC12), (PWR-A6), (CTRL-USB): a cable names the one interface it mates |
The edition is a tag on the specification's repository, and until the edition in work is tagged a claim names draft. A claim names one edition and stays valid for it when later editions change. A product that plays several roles names them all, joined by a plus sign: an enclosure with a built-in supply and bus board claims EIS draft, enclosure + power supply + bus board. A claim that names no feature is an EIS Core claim (4.1).
Claim line grammar
The claim line in ABNF (RFC 5234), generated from the register by tools/claim.py (eis claim --grammar):
claim = "EIS " edition ", " roles [" (" features ")"]
edition = "v" 1*DIGIT "." 1*DIGIT "." 1*DIGIT / "draft" ; a tag of the repository, or draft until one exists
roles = role *(" + " role) ; the product type, then every other role the product plays
role = "module" / "enclosure" / "bus board" / "power supply" / "power converter" / "cable"
features = feature *(", " feature) ; every power domain and video reference port kind the product has, behind the panel or inside the case
feature = "PWR-BUS-IN" / "PWR-BUS-OUT" / "PWR-DC12-IN" / "PWR-DC12-OUT" / "PWR-A6-IN" / "PWR-A6-OUT" / "PWR-A15-IN" / "PWR-A15-OUT" / "VID-REF-IN" / "VID-REF-OUT" / "VID-REF-PASSTHRU" / "VID-REF-LOOPTHRU" / "CTRL-USB-DEV" / "CTRL-USB-HOST"
cable-claim = "EIS " edition ", cable (" interface ")" ; a cable names the one interface it mates
interface = "PWR-BUS" / "PWR-DC12" / "PWR-A6" / "PWR-A15" / "VID-75" / "CTRL-USB"
Self-declaration
A maker states conformance on one page: the claim line, what the product publishes, how it was verified, and the date. data/examples/eis-declaration.md is the template; eis claim prints, for a valid claim file, the register rows the product owes and how each is verified, which is the list the declaration's verification statement covers.
Claim file
What a product publishes under EIS goes in its manual or product page: a module's port list (SIG-001, VID-001), width, depth, and rail currents (PANEL-003, PWR-001); a supply's rail ratings and ripple (PWR-002, SUP-001); and so on for each product type. EIS recommends keeping the claim line and all of these in one claim file, eis-claim.yaml, in the form of data/claim.schema.json. Its power block lists the product's power entries and outlets by domain, each with the current on every rail of that domain (6.1).
eis claim eis-claim.yaml checks that the file carries every figure the register requires of its product type, that its classes, ranges, and formats exist, and that its header currents and ripple are inside their limits, and then prints the claim line. Worked examples of every product type are in data/examples/.
4.3 Verification
EIS defines interfaces and limits, not factory test procedures; each product documents its own verification. A maker demonstrates conformance by inspection and measurement against the figures and tables in the normative clauses, or by documented analysis. Annex G describes typical measurements and adds no requirements. The tests compare selected EIS figures with external publications; a test does not change a requirement.