W3C Spec Conformance

This is a last call comment from Cliff Schmidt (cschmidt@microsoft.com) on
the Character Model for the World Wide Web 1.0
(http://www.w3.org/TR/2002/WD-charmod-20020430/).

Semi-structured version of the comment:

Submitted by: Cliff Schmidt (cschmidt@microsoft.com)
Submitted on behalf of (maybe empty): Microsoft
Comment type: substantive
Chapter/section the comment applies to: 2 Conformance
The comment will be visible to: public
Comment title: W3C Spec Conformance
Comment:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
"[S] Every W3C specification MUST:
1. conform to the requirements applicable to specifications,
2. specify that implementations MUST conform to the requirements applicable to software, and 
3. specify that content created according to that specification MUST conform to the requirements applicable to content.

[S] If an existing W3C specification does not conform to the requirements in this document, then the next version of that specification SHOULD be modified in order to conform."
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
CONCERN:
The CharMod's requirement that all specs and related implementations conform to the entire CharMod spec will force non-NFC based applications to perform round trip transcoding to/from NFC in order to use the Web, even in closed system scenarios (e.g. extranets).  This will also affect intranet scenarios as corporate systems are forced to jump through hoops in order to satisfy text processors (such as XML parsers) that are required to reject non-NFC text.  The costs certainly outweigh the benefits for closed systems.  However, it is clear that a recommended conformance level would improve open system interoperability. 

RECOMMENDATION:
Replace conformance paragraph and included list with the following sentence: "[S] Future W3C specifications (including future versions of existing specifications) MUST reference this specification as W3C recommended guidance for interoperable Web applications."




Structured version of  the comment:

<lc-comment
  visibility="public" status="pending"
  decision="pending" impact="substantive">
  <originator email="cschmidt@microsoft.com" represents="Microsoft"
      >Cliff Schmidt</originator>
  <charmod-section href='http://www.w3.org/TR/2002/WD-charmod-20020430/#sec-Conformance'
    >2</charmod-section>
  <title>W3C Spec Conformance</title>
  <description>
    <comment>
      <dated-link date="2002-06-06"
        >W3C Spec Conformance</dated-link>
      <para>--------------------------------------------------------------------------
"[S] Every W3C specification MUST:
1. conform to the requirements applicable to specifications,
2. specify that implementations MUST conform to the requirements applicable to software, and 
3. specify that content created according to that specification MUST conform to the requirements applicable to content.

[S] If an existing W3C specification does not conform to the requirements in this document, then the next version of that specification SHOULD be modified in order to conform."
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
CONCERN:
The CharMod's requirement that all specs and related implementations conform to the entire CharMod spec will force non-NFC based applications to perform round trip transcoding to/from NFC in order to use the Web, even in closed system scenarios (e.g. extranets).  This will also affect intranet scenarios as corporate systems are forced to jump through hoops in order to satisfy text processors (such as XML parsers) that are required to reject non-NFC text.  The costs certainly outweigh the benefits for closed systems.  However, it is clear that a recommended conformance level would improve open system interoperability. 

RECOMMENDATION:
Replace conformance paragraph and included list with the following sentence: "[S] Future W3C specifications (including future versions of existing specifications) MUST reference this specification as W3C recommended guidance for interoperable Web applications."

</para>
    </comment>
  </description>
</lc-comment>

Received on Thursday, 6 June 2002 12:25:52 UTC