Re: Best practice for referring to specifications which may update

Magnus

Latest known - makes sense. We should share that feedback with the TAG.

Thanks

regards, Frederick

Frederick Hirsch
Nokia



On Dec 21, 2009, at 6:45 PM, ext Magnus Nystrom wrote:

> Why "earliest known" and not "latest known"?
>
> -- Magnus
>
>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: public-xmlsec-request@w3.org [mailto:public-xmlsec-
>> request@w3.org] On Behalf Of Frederick Hirsch
>> Sent: Monday, December 21, 2009 2:52 PM
>> To: ext Thomas Roessler
>> Cc: Frederick Hirsch; XMLSec WG Public List
>> Subject: Re: Best practice for referring to specifications which may
>> update
>>
>> I plan to add the following to the References section of XML  
>> Signature
>> 1.1 and XML Encryption 1.1, thus applying to both the normative and
>> informative sections
>>
>> A. References
>>   [[
>> Dated references below are to the earliest known or appropriate
>>   edition of the referenced work.  The referenced works may be
>>   subject to revision, and conformant implementations may follow,
>>   and are encouraged to investigate the appropriateness of
>>   following, some or all more recent editions or replacements of the
>>   works cited.  It is in each case implementation-defined which
>>   editions are supported.
>> ]]
>>
>> A.1 Normative References
>> ...
>> A.2 Informative References
>> ...
>>
>> Any comment or objection?
>>
>> Note that I do not believe it is readable or maintainable to have to
>> make an separate statement for every individual reference.
>>
>> regards, Frederick
>>
>> Frederick Hirsch
>> Nokia
>>
>>
>>
>> On Nov 12, 2009, at 3:28 AM, ext Thomas Roessler wrote:
>>
>>> FYI.  Henry's proposed boilerplate reference language might make
>>> sense for our specs, too, where we normatively reference moving
>>> targets.  Something very similar might also make sense for some of
>>> the informative references.
>>>
>>> Regards,
>>> --
>>> Thomas Roessler, W3C  <tlr@w3.org>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> Begin forwarded message:
>>>
>>>> From: ht@inf.ed.ac.uk (Henry S. Thompson)
>>>> Date: 28 October 2009 15:57:48 GMT+01:00
>>>> To: www-tag@w3.org
>>>> Cc: "C. M. Sperberg-McQueen" <cmsmcq@blackmesatech.com>
>>>> Subject: Best practice for referring to specifications which may
>>>> update
>>>> archived-at:
>> <http://www.w3.org/mid/f5biqdzd0r7.fsf@hildegard.inf.ed.ac.uk
>>>>>
>>>>
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>>>> In the context of an extended discussion at the recent TAG f2f
>>>> regarding references to potential time-varying specification URIs
>> [1]
>>>> I took an action [2] to suggest wording for a Best Practice in this
>>>> area, based on wording developed by C. M. Sperberg-McQueen, who  
>>>> also
>>>> reviewed and contributed to the following.
>>>>
>>>> Here's what I think this might look like:
>>>>
>>>> When citing a W3C specification in the normative references section
>>>> of another specification, care should be taken to be clear about  
>>>> the
>>>> status of editions of the referenced specification other than the
>>>> then-current one.  In order to on the one hand acknowledge that
>>>> implementations sometimes lag behind specifications, and on the
>>>> other that implementations of new editions of referenced
>>>> specifications should be encouraged, wording along the following
>>>> lines should be used:
>>>>
>>>>  Left-Handed Sewer Flutes 1.0 (Second edition), P.D.Q. Bach and
>>>>  Peter Schickele, Editors.  World Wide Consortium, 29 February
>>>>  2009.  The edition cited (http://www.w3.org/TR/2009/REC-lhsf-
>> 20090229/
>>>> )
>>>>  is the earliest appropriate for use with this specification.
>>>>  Conformant implementations may follow the edition cited and/or any
>>>>  later edition(s).  The latest edition of LHSF 1.0 is available at
>>>>  http://www.w3.org/TR/lhsf/.  It is implementation-defined which
>>>>  editions of LHSF 1.0 are supported.
>>>>
>>>> The appropriateness of this approach is based on the W3C rules
>>>> regarding what constitutes an acceptable new edition of an existing
>>>> W3C Recommendation.  For references to publications from other
>>>> standards bodies with similar expectations regarding backwards
>>>> compatibility, for example IETF or ISO, a similar approach to
>>>> citation is also called for, along the following lines:
>>>>
>>>>  The Extension of MIME Content-Types to a New Medium, N. Borenstein
>>>>  and M. Linimon.  Internet Engineering Task Force RFC 1437, 1 April
>>>>  1993.  RFC 1437 was current at the date of publication of this
>>>>  specification, but may be updated or obsoleted by later RFCs.
>>>>  Conformant implementations may follow the RFC cited and/or any
>>>>  later RFCs which update or obsolete it.  It is
>>>>  implementation-defined which RFCs are supported.
>>>>
>>>>  Intelligent transport systems -- Physical characterisation of
>>>>  vehicles and equipment -- International airline seat pitch
>>>>  measurements. Part 1: Measurement architecture.  International
>>>>  Standard ISO 314159-1:2009, 29 February 2009.  The referenced
>>>>  specification may from time to time be amended, replaced by a new
>>>>  edition, or expanded by the addition of new parts.  See
>>>>  http://www.iso.org/iso/home.htm for up-to-date information.
>>>>  Conformant implementations may follow the edition cited and/or any
>>>>  amendments etc.  It is implementation-defined which amendments
>>>>  etc. are supported.
>>>>
>>>> In cases where many references require similar treatment, a blanket
>>>> statement at the top of the references section may be more
>>>> appropriate:
>>>>
>>>>  Dated references below are to the earliest known or appropriate
>>>>  edition of the referenced work.  The referenced works may be
>>>>  subject to revision, and conformant implementations may follow,
>>>>  and are encouraged to investigate the appropriateness of
>>>>  following, some or all more recent editions or replacements of the
>>>>  works cited.  It is in each case implementation-defined which
>>>>  editions are supported.
>>>>
>>>> and then simply
>>>>
>>>>  Left-Handed Sewer Flutes 1.0 (Second edition), P.D.Q. Bach and
>>>>  Peter Schickele, Editors.  World Wide Consortium, 29 February 2009
>>>>  (http://www.w3.org/TR/2009/REC-lhsf-20090229/).  The latest
>>>>  edition of LHSF 1.0 is available at http://www.w3.org/TR/lhsf/.
>>>>
>>>>  The Extension of MIME Content-Types to a New Medium, N. Borenstein
>>>>  and M. Linimon.  Internet Engineering Task Force RFC 1437, 1 April
>>>>  1993.
>>>>
>>>>  Intelligent transport systems -- Physical characterisation of
>>>>  vehicles and equipment -- International airline seat pitch
>>>>  measurements. Part 1: Measurement architecture.  International
>>>>  Standard ISO 314159-1:2009, 29 February 2009.  See
>>>>  http://www.iso.org/iso/home.htm for up-to-date information.
>>>>
>>>> All of the above formulations assume a definition of
>>>> 'implementation-dependent' along the following lines:
>>>>
>>>>  If a choice is described as 'implementation-dependent', then
>>>>  conformant implementations must document which choice they make.
>>>>
>>>> Comments welcome.
>>>>
>>>> ht
>>>>
>>>> [1] http://www.w3.org/2001/tag/2009/09/23-minutes#item03
>>>> [2] http://www.w3.org/2001/tag/group/track/actions/303
>>>> - --
>>>>     Henry S. Thompson, School of Informatics, University of
>>>> Edinburgh
>>>>                       Half-time member of W3C Team
>>>>    10 Crichton Street, Edinburgh EH8 9AB, SCOTLAND -- (44) 131
>>>> 650-4440
>>>>              Fax: (44) 131 651-1426, e-mail: ht@inf.ed.ac.uk
>>>>                     URL: http://www.ltg.ed.ac.uk/~ht/
>>>> [mail really from me _always_ has this .sig -- mail without it is
>>>> forged spam]
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>>>>
>>>
>>>
>>
>>
>

Received on Tuesday, 22 December 2009 00:45:37 UTC