Re: PROV-ISSUE-539: Notation Section 3, EBNF format [prov-n]

Dear all,

Find below a response to this issue. Feedback welcome.

Regards,
Luc

>
>       ISSUE-539 (Production Documentation)
>
>   * Original
>     email:http://lists.w3.org/Archives/Public/public-prov-wg/2012Sep/0133.html
>   * Tracker:http://www.w3.org/2011/prov/track/issues/539
>   * Group Response:
>       o The comment refers to the previous working draft.
>       o In the latest version (see generation production), we are
>         using the tool and similar style for production as other W3C
>         specifications (see turtle).
>       o Now, each non-terminal links to the corresponding production,
>         whereas tokens and grammar symbols appear in different color.
>       o Furthermore, some of the more complex aspects of productions,
>         e.g. (( identifier | '-' ) ',' ) ? , have a production of
>         their own (see optionalIdentifier).
>       o Given this, we feel the current style is sufficient and a
>         breakdown into several lines is not necessary.
>   * References:
>       o Optional
>         Identifier:http://www.w3.org/TR/prov-n/#prod-optionalIdentifier
>       o Generation
>         production:http://www.w3.org/TR/prov-n/#prod-generationExpression
>       o Turtle grammar:http://www.w3.org/TR/turtle/#sec-grammar-grammar
>   * Changes to the document: none
>   * Original author's acknowledgement:
>



On 10/09/12 10:57, Provenance Working Group Issue Tracker wrote:
> PROV-ISSUE-539: Notation Section 3, EBNF format [prov-n]
>
> http://www.w3.org/2011/prov/track/issues/539
>
> Raised by: Paolo Missier
> On product: prov-n
>
> The EBNF forms of each expression are helpful, but they are not easily human-readable. Line breaks between attributes would help distinguish the groupings tremendously (this is especially important when trying to determine which terms are optional, as visually identifying matched pairs of parentheses within a long statement can be challenging). Compare:
>
> generationExpression ::= 'wasGeneratedBy' '(' (( identifier | '-' ) ',' ) ? eIdentifier ',' ( aIdentifier | '-' ) ',' ( time | '-' ) optional-attribute-values ')'
>
>
> generationExpression ::= 'wasGeneratedBy' '('
> (( identifier | '-' ) ',' ) ?
> eIdentifier ','
> ( aIdentifier | '-' ) ','
> ( time | '-' )
>   optional-attribute-values ')'
>
>
>
>

-- 
Professor Luc Moreau
Electronics and Computer Science   tel:   +44 23 8059 4487
University of Southampton          fax:   +44 23 8059 2865
Southampton SO17 1BJ               email: l.moreau@ecs.soton.ac.uk
United Kingdom                     http://www.ecs.soton.ac.uk/~lavm