levels of compliance

[sungod <as387 yfn ysu edu>]

i know this subject was hashed out in great depth and with inordinate
flaming a few months ago, but perhaps it's time to revisit this concept.
back then, several people wanted to turn the style guide into a list of
features whose creators refused to produce code. the levels of
compliance made sense in that context, but now i puzzle at them: can
someone give me an example of how a _rule_ for human interface would
meet, say, level 3 compliance or level 4 compliance but not level 1 or
2? good human interface design is not limited to whether a feature is in
or out; it involves determining _where_ and _how_ the features (_any_
features really) are implemented.

anybody have some input to clarify this, especially with examples? say,
for instance, a simple rule like "a dialog box must have at least two
buttons and at most four": ignoring the silliness or usefulness of this
rule, how would one determine what "level" it fit into?
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