- From: Karl Dubost <karl@w3.org>
- Date: Tue, 3 May 2005 11:33:57 -0400
- To: www-qa@w3.org
- Cc: Ian Hickson <ian@hixie.ch>
Dear Ian, Thanks for your comments on the Last Call version of the QA Framework: Specification Guidelines[0] - 22 November 2004 After two weeks from now (on May 18, 2005), the lack of answer will be considered as if you had accepted the comment. Original comment (issue 1041 [1]) http://lists.w3.org/Archives/Public/www-qa/2005Jan/0006.html Thank you for your comment, which the QA Working Group has accepted. We have reworded the affected sections to clarify the meaning and use of the Implementation Conformance Statement (ICS), including explaining the meaning of checking Yes/No. The affected sections now read: Good Practice 04, Provide an Implementation Conformance Statement Pro Forma “What does it mean? An Implementation Conformance Statement (ICS) provides information about an implementation to a specification, by presenting in a uniform manner the implemented capabilities (e.g., functions, features) and options as well as limitations of the implementation. An ICS pro forma typically takes the form of a blank questionnaire or checklist for an implementation. It provides the implementer a way to indicate the features implemented. Think of it as an inventory of what has been implemented. Note that a completed ICS does not indicate conformance of the implementation. Hence, answering "yes" to indicate a capability is supported does not mean that the capability has been tested.” This Good Practice suggests that the specification itself include an ICS pro forma. Providing this pro forma makes it conducive to completing and helps to ensure consistency among completed ICS. Why care? An ICS pro forma provides a concise summary of a specification, i.e., the capabilities and options defined in the specification as well as any defined subdivisions (e.g., profiles, modules) and conformance designations. The ICS provided with the specification is blank, waiting for the implementer to complete. This blank ICS provides implementers and users a quick overview of features defined in the specification. A completed ICS not only provides information on what has been implemented (mandatory and optional features), but can also be used to document the presence of extensions or any specializations that have been made. A completed ICS provides information useful to facilitate the selection of applicable tests for the particular implementation. However, that is not all. Although the ICS content is independent of testing, associating it with conformance tests makes it an essential piece in the reporting of conformance results (see techniques in Good Practice 05).” Changes were also made to related Good Practice 05 [2] Good Practice 05: Require an ICS as part of valid conformance claims. “Why Care: Providing a completed ICS with the conformance claim might help customers and users to determine quickly the implemented capabilities as well as easily verify the level of support for individual requirements of the specifications. Combining the ICS with a conformance test suite, can strengthen the claim. Specifically, the ICS augmented with links to conformance tests, provides a very nice way to indicate not only what has been implemented, but also, what has been implemented correctly (i.e., conforms to the specification). Technique: Augment the ICS by providing links to the test suite, such that each feature has associated with it a test (or set of tests). Explain what it means to check Yes or No. Specifically, does Yes/No indicate that the implementation has the relevant feature and passes the applicable tests or does Yes/No only indicate that the feature is implemented. In the latter case, add an additional column, to indicate the result of executing the tests. To avoid confusion as to the role of ICS, we recommend adding an additional column. “ [0] http://www.w3.org/TR/2004/WD-qaframe-spec-20041122/ [1] http://www.w3.org/Bugs/Public/show_bug.cgi?id=1041 [2] http://www.w3.org/TR/2005/WD-qaframe-spec-20050428/#ics-gp [3] http://www.w3.org/TR/2005/WD-qaframe-spec-20050428/#ics-claim-gp -- Karl Dubost QA Working Group Chair http://www.w3.org/QA/WG/
Received on Tuesday, 3 May 2005 15:34:03 UTC