Re: [W3C Web Crypto WG] - Comments on Draft API v22

On Tue, Aug 28, 2012 at 11:22 AM, Ryan Sleevi <sleevi@google.com> wrote:
>
> "Terminate this algorithm" is almost universally used in W3C specs,
> but I see it's actual addition to terminology is rare.

It is ambiguous what "algorithm" refers to in our spec, where
"algorithm" is usually understood to refer to a cryptographic
algorithm. I believe "terminate this algorithm" actually means
"terminate the steps that specify the method".

For example, the init() method of the CryptoOperation interface is
specified as follows:

    11.5.1. The init method

    When init method is called, the user agent must run the steps below.
    1. If the internal state is not in the "empty" state, throw an
InvalidStateError
       exception [DOM4] and terminate this algorithm.
    2. ...

Suppose the CryptoOperation object in question is a Signer for the
HMAC algorithm. Then it is ambiguous in our spec whether "terminate
this algorithm" means "terminate the HMAC sign algorithm" or
"terminate the algorithm for the init() method".

Wan-Teh