[Bug 8271] New: WS-Eventing misuse of RFC2119 terms

http://www.w3.org/Bugs/Public/show_bug.cgi?id=8271

           Summary: WS-Eventing misuse of RFC2119 terms
           Product: WS-Resource Access
           Version: PR
          Platform: All
        OS/Version: All
            Status: NEW
          Severity: normal
          Priority: P2
         Component: Eventing
        AssignedTo: public-ws-resource-access-notifications@w3.org
        ReportedBy: gilbert.pilz@oracle.com
         QAContact: public-ws-resource-access-notifications@w3.org


The RFC 2119 terms "MUST", "MUST NOT", "REQUIRED", "SHALL", "SHALL NOT",
"SHOULD", "SHOULD NOT", "RECOMMENDED",  "MAY", and "OPTIONAL" are meant to
apply to specific requirements and behaviors within the context of a
specification. They are *not* meant to refer to general concepts and actions.

For example, a (repeated) incorrect use of the RFC 2119 keyword "MAY" is as
follows:

"Different security mechanisms MAY be desired depending on the frequency of
messages. For example, for infrequent messages, public key technologies MAY be
adequate for integrity and confidentiality. However, for high-frequency events,
it MAY be more performant to establish a security context for the events using
the mechanisms described in WS-Trust [WS-Trust] and WS-SecureConversation
[WS-SecureConversation]."

None of the above uses of MAY has anything to do with the particulars of
WS-Eventing specification.

A correct use of the RFC 2119 keyword "MAY" is as follows:

"The value of the wse:Expires element as well as those of its @min and @max
attributes MAY be either a duration (xs:duration) or a specific time
(xs:dateTime)."

This tells you something very specific about the value-space of the wse:Expires
element and it's @min and @max attributes.

Since the RFC 2119 keywords have a direct impact upon implementations, the
misuse of these keywords makes the spec more difficult to read and correctly
implement.

WS-Eventing contains a number of cases where RFC 2119 keywords are misused. A
complete list with some suggested changes will be sent to the mailing list and
linked in the comments below.


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Received on Friday, 13 November 2009 00:22:49 UTC