[UCR] comment on reference to charter definition of "rule language"

I am puzzled by the following section of 
http://www.w3.org/2005/rules/wg/wiki/RIF_Use_Cases_and_Requirements

	1.1 What is a Rule Interchange Format And Why Create One?

	[...]

	A RIF is not a rule language. A rule language, as we understand that
	term here, consists of the following elements: 1) a precise syntax
	and/or effective procedure for determining whether or not any
	expression is a well-formed formula (wff) of the language, and 2) a
	derivation procedure, which is defined as a partial function that takes
	a set of wffs in the language, together with a set of zero or more
	queries (also wffs), and for each query either returns an answer after
	some finite time, or terminates without returning an answer.

	(This definition is in line with the terms stated in the RIF charter,
	section 2.2.3, except that we here explicitly account for the
	possibility that a bona-fide rule-engine can "go on forever" in certain
	cases.)

However, Section 2.2.3 of the charter (http://www.w3.org/2005/rules/wg/charter)
doesn't talk about rule languages, but instead is 

	2.2.3.  Load-and-Query Rule Engine

To take this point further, there has been talk that the RIF WG is prohibited
from specifying a rule language.  However, the only prohibition (only
occurrence of "Must not") that I see in the charter is contained in Section
2.2.3 of the charter

	The Working Group must not specify an engine control or query interface
	(language, protocol, or API) as part of the Phase 1 specifications,
	although it is expected to make use of some interfaces as part of the
	test suite and in examples.

This does not sound to me like the WG is prohibited from specifying a rule
language.  In fact, one of the Phase 1 deliverables of the WG is 

	A W3C Recommendation providing technical specifications of the
	interchange format, suitable for implementers of rule engines and rule
	language translation software.

To me, this opens up the distinct possibility of direct implementations of the
RIF.


Peter F. Patel-Schneider


PS: I have other questions and comments about the UCR document, but this is the
most fundamental.

Received on Tuesday, 7 February 2006 00:09:12 UTC