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DFDL: Minutes of OGF DFDL Working Group Call, April-1-2009
by Alan Powell 02 Apr '09

02 Apr '09

Open Grid Forum: Data Format Description Language Working Group OGF DFDL Working Group Call, April-1-2009 Attendees Alan Powell (IBM) Steve Hanson (IBM) Apologies Mike Beckerle(Oco) Dave Glick (drac) Suman Kalia (IBM) As only SH and AP were available the call was cancelled Next call 8 April 14:00 UK Meeting closed, 14:00 Actions raised at this meeting No Action Current Actions: No Action 012 AP/SH: Update decimalCalendarScheme 10/9: Not allocated yet 17/9: No update 24/9: Add calendar binary formats to actions 22/10: No progress 16/1: proposal distributed and discussed. Will be redistributed 21/1: add locale, 04/02: changed from locale to specific properties 18/2: Need more investigation of ICU strict/lax behaviour. 020 SH: Resolve packedDecimalSignCodes behaviour depends on NumberCheckPolicy 22/10: No progress 10/12: added how to decide to overpunch and sign position 11/02: proposal largely agreed. SH to make minor changes 18/02: AP to document unsigned type behaviour 25/02: no progress 023 MB: Review Schema 1.1 29/1: AP and SH to talk to Sandy Gao 04/02 Call arranged for Friday 11/02: Call took place. Identified useful changes. Consolidate with previous list. 04/03: decided to stay on Schema 1.0. 024 String XML type 025 Escape schemes 21/1: discussed requirements 04/02: AP/SH to describe behaviour for known length text fields. Need to discuss if comment escapes should be supported. 11/02 new draft distributed: 18/02: SH up document concerns 25/02: SH and AP have refined proposal ready for approval. 04/03: SH and AP have further refined proposal. 11/03: discussed. suggested a simplified proposal be evaluated. 18/03: SH and AP had further discussions on simplified proposal 026 SH: Envelopes and Payloads 027 Property precedence tables 028 Variable markup 029 valueCalc (output length calculation) 031 DG: Review dfdl v033 11/02: Initial comments received 18/02: Will include work items 5 and 12. 11/03: complete 032 DG: Investigate compatibility between DFDL infoset and XDM 033 04/03: Assert/Discriminator semantics. AP to document. TK to check uses of discriminator besides choice. 034 04/03: AP remove redundant properties Closed actions: 034 Work items: No Item 001 String XML type (Ian P) - Apr 30, 2008 002 Escape schemes (Ian P) - Apr 30, 2008 003 Variables - ??, 2008 (Mike) 005 Improvements on property descriptions - ??, 2008 (All - split TBD) 006 Envelopes and Payloads (Steve) - Apr 30, 2008 007 (from draft 32) valueCalc (Mike) - ??, 2008 mostly complete 008 (from draft 32) Property precedence for writing (Steve) - under review 009 (from draft 32) Variable markup (Steve) - Mar 31, 2008 proposal needs writing up 010 (from draft 32) Assertions, discriminators and choice, including discussion of timing option (Suman) - Mar 31, 2008 * in progress * 011 (from draft 32) How speculative parsing works (combining choice and variable-occurence - currently these are separate) ??, 2008 (IBM) in progress 012 (from draft 32) Reordering the properties discussion: move representation earlier, improve flow of topics ??, 2008 (Alan) * not started * 025 Augmented infoset and unparsing (Alan) added but needs work 026 Remove duration complete - specification updated Alan Powell MP 211, IBM UK Labs, Hursley, Winchester, SO21 2JN, England Notes Id: Alan Powell/UK/IBM email: alan_powell(a)uk.ibm.com Tel: +44 (0)1962 815073 Fax: +44 (0)1962 816898 Unless stated otherwise above: IBM United Kingdom Limited - Registered in England and Wales with number 741598. Registered office: PO Box 41, North Harbour, Portsmouth, Hampshire PO6 3AU

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Fw: Agenda for OGF WG call 1 April March 2009
by Alan Powell 01 Apr '09

01 Apr '09

NOTE: UK has moved to daylight saving time so the UK and US east coast are 5 hours apart again. Call is at 14:00 UK and 9:00 US east coast. Suggested agenda 1. Validation ranges and exclusion lists - vote 2. dfdl format specializations 3: Variable markup 4. Escape Schemes 5. Actions 6. 'Floating' definitions 7 Consuming extraneous data after schema has be used. 8 Schedule to finish DFDL v1 Alan Powell MP 211, IBM UK Labs, Hursley, Winchester, SO21 2JN, England Notes Id: Alan Powell/UK/IBM email: alan_powell(a)uk.ibm.com Tel: +44 (0)1962 815073 Fax: +44 (0)1962 816898 Unless stated otherwise above: IBM United Kingdom Limited - Registered in England and Wales with number 741598. Registered office: PO Box 41, North Harbour, Portsmouth, Hampshire PO6 3AU -- dfdl-wg mailing list dfdl-wg(a)ogf.org http://www.ogf.org/mailman/listinfo/dfdl-wg Unless stated otherwise above: IBM United Kingdom Limited - Registered in England and Wales with number 741598. Registered office: PO Box 41, North Harbour, Portsmouth, Hampshire PO6 3AU

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Cancelled: OGF DFDL Working Group weekly call
by Steve Hanson 24 Mar '09

24 Mar '09

Mike & Alan unavailable

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UPDATED DFDL: Minutes from OGF DFDL Working Group Call, March-18-2009 -
by Alan Powell 20 Mar '09

20 Mar '09

Open Grid Forum: Data Format Description Language Working Group OGF DFDL Working Group Call, March-18-2009 Attendees Alan Powell (IBM) Steve Hanson (IBM) Dave Glick (drac) Suman Kalia (IBM) Apologies Mike Beckerle(Oco) <Updated> to correct dfdl:format syntax to set common properties Open Grid Forum: Data Format Description Language Working Group OGF DFDL Working Group Call, March-18-2009 Attendees Alan Powell (IBM) Steve Hanson (IBM) Dave Glick (drac) Suman Kalia (IBM) Apologies Mike Beckerle(Oco) 1. Specialized Annotations The whole call was taken up discussing the "dfdl:sequence and other specialized annotations" proposal emailed by SH. In summary proposes - the use of specialized annotations on each schema object. eg dfdl:sequence - a separate set of scoped properties for each specialization. <xs:complexType name="myType"> <xs:annotation><xs:appinfo source=?http://www.ogf.org/dfdl/?> <dfdl:complexType> <dfdl:sequence lengthKind="implicit" ... /> <dfdl:element lengthKind="delimited" ... /> </dfdl:complexType> </xs:appinfo></xs:annotation> There was general agreement with the proposal but a lot of discussion about the two issues that SH identified. a. The meaning of short form annotations on complex type. <xs:complexType name="myType" dfdl:lengthKind="implicit" ... > It is not clear which specialized annotation scope the short form properties on complex type should apply to. There was a lot of discussion between 1) disallowing short form annotation on complex type and 2) applying them to all specialized scopes. Disallowing short form is simple but makes complex type different, forces long form which is much more verbose, means common properties, eg encoding, to be specified the same on multiple specialized annotations. This is a particular problem for element and simple type. However applying short form to all specialization introduces a new level of inheritance and consequent complexity. b. You are forced to set common properties in multiple places in defineFormat. <xs:annotation><xs:appinfo source=?http://www.ogf.org/dfdl/?> <dfdl:defineFormat> <dfdl:sequence encoding="UTF-8" ... /> <dfdl:element encoding="UTF-8" ... /> <dfdl:simpleType encoding="UTF-8" ... /> <dfdl:choice encoding="UTF-8" ... /> <dfdl:any encoding="UTF-8" ... /> </dfdl:defineFormat> </xs:appinfo></xs:annotation> Possible solution is to use dfdl:format to set common properties <xs:annotation><xs:appinfo source=?http://www.ogf.org/dfdl/?> <dfdl:defineFormat> <dfdl:format encoding="UTF-8" ... /> <dfdl:sequence ... /> <dfdl:element ... /> <dfdl:simpleType ... /> <dfdl:choice ... /> <dfdl:any ... /> </dfdl:defineFormat> </xs:appinfo></xs:annotation> The consensus was that there should be a way to provide common properties so this solution was preferred and you could use the same for complex type <xs:annotation><xs:appinfo source=?http://www.ogf.org/dfdl/?> <dfdl:complexType> <dfdl:format encoding="UTF-8" ... /> <dfdl:sequence ... /> <dfdl:element ... /> <dfdl:simpleType ... /> <dfdl:choice ... /> <dfdl:any ... /> </dfdl:complexType> </xs:appinfo></xs:annotation> It was agreed that this was the preferred solution. During the discussion SK asked what was the precedence of short and long-form properties on the same object. AP subsequently sent SK section 10.3 which states that long-form have precedence over short-form. 2. AOB To be discussed - Escape Schemes - Validation ranges and exclusion lists - Consuming extraneous data after schema has be used. - 'Floating' definitions - Actions Next call 25 March 14:00 UK Meeting closed, 15:00 GMT Actions raised at this meeting No Action Current Actions: No Action 012 AP/SH: Update decimalCalendarScheme 10/9: Not allocated yet 17/9: No update 24/9: Add calendar binary formats to actions 22/10: No progress 16/1: proposal distributed and discussed. Will be redistributed 21/1: add locale, 04/02: changed from locale to specific properties 18/2: Need more investigation of ICU strict/lax behaviour. 020 SH: Resolve packedDecimalSignCodes behaviour depends on NumberCheckPolicy 22/10: No progress 10/12: added how to decide to overpunch and sign position 11/02: proposal largely agreed. SH to make minor changes 18/02: AP to document unsigned type behaviour 25/02: no progress 023 MB: Review Schema 1.1 29/1: AP and SH to talk to Sandy Gao 04/02 Call arranged for Friday 11/02: Call took place. Identified useful changes. Consolidate with previous list. 04/03: decided to stay on Schema 1.0. 024 String XML type 025 Escape schemes 21/1: discussed requirements 04/02: AP/SH to describe behaviour for known length text fields. Need to discuss if comment escapes should be supported. 11/02 new draft distributed: 18/02: SH up document concerns 25/02: SH and AP have refined proposal ready for approval. 04/03: SH and AP have further refined proposal. 11/03: discussed. suggested a simplified proposal be evaluated. 18/03: SH and AP had further discussions on simplified proposal 026 SH: Envelopes and Payloads 027 Property precedence tables 028 Variable markup 029 valueCalc (output length calculation) 031 DG: Review dfdl v033 11/02: Initial comments received 18/02: Will include work items 5 and 12. 11/03: complete 032 DG: Investigate compatibility between DFDL infoset and XDM 033 04/03: Assert/Discriminator semantics. AP to document. TK to check uses of discriminator besides choice. 034 04/03: AP remove redundant properties Closed actions: 034 Work items: No Item 001 String XML type (Ian P) - Apr 30, 2008 002 Escape schemes (Ian P) - Apr 30, 2008 003 Variables - ??, 2008 (Mike) 005 Improvements on property descriptions - ??, 2008 (All - split TBD) 006 Envelopes and Payloads (Steve) - Apr 30, 2008 007 (from draft 32) valueCalc (Mike) - ??, 2008 mostly complete 008 (from draft 32) Property precedence for writing (Steve) - under review 009 (from draft 32) Variable markup (Steve) - Mar 31, 2008 proposal needs writing up 010 (from draft 32) Assertions, discriminators and choice, including discussion of timing option (Suman) - Mar 31, 2008 * in progress * 011 (from draft 32) How speculative parsing works (combining choice and variable-occurence - currently these are separate) ??, 2008 (IBM) in progress 012 (from draft 32) Reordering the properties discussion: move representation earlier, improve flow of topics ??, 2008 (Alan) * not started * 025 Augmented infoset and unparsing (Alan) added but needs work 026 Remove duration complete - specification updated Alan Powell MP 211, IBM UK Labs, Hursley, Winchester, SO21 2JN, England Notes Id: Alan Powell/UK/IBM email: alan_powell(a)uk.ibm.com Tel: +44 (0)1962 815073 Fax: +44 (0)1962 816898 Unless stated otherwise above: IBM United Kingdom Limited - Registered in England and Wales with number 741598. Registered office: PO Box 41, North Harbour, Portsmouth, Hampshire PO6 3AU -- dfdl-wg mailing list dfdl-wg(a)ogf.org http://www.ogf.org/mailman/listinfo/dfdl-wg Unless stated otherwise above: IBM United Kingdom Limited - Registered in England and Wales with number 741598. Registered office: PO Box 41, North Harbour, Portsmouth, Hampshire PO6 3AU

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DFDL: Minutes from OGF DFDL Working Group Call, March-18-2009
by Alan Powell 20 Mar '09

20 Mar '09

Open Grid Forum: Data Format Description Language Working Group OGF DFDL Working Group Call, March-18-2009 Attendees Alan Powell (IBM) Steve Hanson (IBM) Dave Glick (drac) Suman Kalia (IBM) Apologies Mike Beckerle(Oco) 1. Specialized Annotations The whole call was taken up discussing the "dfdl:sequence and other specialized annotations" proposal emailed by SH. In summary proposes - the use of specialized annotations on each schema object. eg dfdl:sequence - a separate set of scoped properties for each specialization. <xs:complexType name="myType"> <xs:annotation><xs:appinfo source=?http://www.ogf.org/dfdl/?> <dfdl:complexType> <dfdl:sequence lengthKind="implicit" ... /> <dfdl:element lengthKind="delimited" ... /> </dfdl:complexType> </xs:appinfo></xs:annotation> There was general agreement with the proposal but a lot of discussion about the two issues that SH identified. a. The meaning of short form annotations on complex type. <xs:complexType name="myType" dfdl:lengthKind="implicit" ... > It is not clear which specialized annotation scope the short form properties on complex type should apply to. There was a lot of discussion between 1) disallowing short form annotation on complex type and 2) applying them to all specialized scopes. Disallowing short form is simple but makes complex type different, forces long form which is much more verbose, means common properties, eg encoding, to be specified the same on multiple specialized annotations. This is a particular problem for element and simple type. However applying short form to all specialization introduces a new level of inheritance and consequent complexity. b. You are forced to set common properties in multiple places in defineFormat. <xs:annotation><xs:appinfo source=?http://www.ogf.org/dfdl/?> <dfdl:defineFormat> <dfdl:sequence encoding="UTF-8" ... /> <dfdl:element encoding="UTF-8" ... /> <dfdl:simpleType encoding="UTF-8" ... /> <dfdl:choice encoding="UTF-8" ... /> <dfdl:any encoding="UTF-8" ... /> </dfdl:defineFormat> </xs:appinfo></xs:annotation> Possible solution is to wrap with dfdl:format <xs:annotation><xs:appinfo source=?http://www.ogf.org/dfdl/?> <dfdl:defineFormat> <dfdl:format encoding="UTF-8" ... > <dfdl:sequence ... /> <dfdl:element ... /> <dfdl:simpleType ... /> <dfdl:choice ... /> <dfdl:any ... /> </dfdl:defineFormat> </xs:appinfo></xs:annotation> The consensus was that there should be a way to provide common properties so this solution was preferred and you could use the same for complex type <xs:annotation><xs:appinfo source=?http://www.ogf.org/dfdl/?> <dfdl:complexType> <dfdl:format encoding="UTF-8" ... > <dfdl:sequence ... /> <dfdl:element ... /> <dfdl:simpleType ... /> <dfdl:choice ... /> <dfdl:any ... /> </dfdl:complexType> </xs:appinfo></xs:annotation> It was agreed that this was the preferred solution. During the discussion SK asked what was the precedence of short and long-form properties on the same object. AP subsequently sent SK section 10.3 which states that long-form have precedence over short-form. 2. AOB To be discussed - Escape Schemes - Validation ranges and exclusion lists - Consuming extraneous data after schema has be used. - 'Floating' definitions - Actions Next call 25 March 14:00 UK Meeting closed, 15:00 GMT Actions raised at this meeting No Action Current Actions: No Action 012 AP/SH: Update decimalCalendarScheme 10/9: Not allocated yet 17/9: No update 24/9: Add calendar binary formats to actions 22/10: No progress 16/1: proposal distributed and discussed. Will be redistributed 21/1: add locale, 04/02: changed from locale to specific properties 18/2: Need more investigation of ICU strict/lax behaviour. 020 SH: Resolve packedDecimalSignCodes behaviour depends on NumberCheckPolicy 22/10: No progress 10/12: added how to decide to overpunch and sign position 11/02: proposal largely agreed. SH to make minor changes 18/02: AP to document unsigned type behaviour 25/02: no progress 023 MB: Review Schema 1.1 29/1: AP and SH to talk to Sandy Gao 04/02 Call arranged for Friday 11/02: Call took place. Identified useful changes. Consolidate with previous list. 04/03: decided to stay on Schema 1.0. 024 String XML type 025 Escape schemes 21/1: discussed requirements 04/02: AP/SH to describe behaviour for known length text fields. Need to discuss if comment escapes should be supported. 11/02 new draft distributed: 18/02: SH up document concerns 25/02: SH and AP have refined proposal ready for approval. 04/03: SH and AP have further refined proposal. 11/03: discussed. suggested a simplified proposal be evaluated. 18/03: SH and AP had further discussions on simplified proposal 026 SH: Envelopes and Payloads 027 Property precedence tables 028 Variable markup 029 valueCalc (output length calculation) 031 DG: Review dfdl v033 11/02: Initial comments received 18/02: Will include work items 5 and 12. 11/03: complete 032 DG: Investigate compatibility between DFDL infoset and XDM 033 04/03: Assert/Discriminator semantics. AP to document. TK to check uses of discriminator besides choice. 034 04/03: AP remove redundant properties Closed actions: 034 Work items: No Item 001 String XML type (Ian P) - Apr 30, 2008 002 Escape schemes (Ian P) - Apr 30, 2008 003 Variables - ??, 2008 (Mike) 005 Improvements on property descriptions - ??, 2008 (All - split TBD) 006 Envelopes and Payloads (Steve) - Apr 30, 2008 007 (from draft 32) valueCalc (Mike) - ??, 2008 mostly complete 008 (from draft 32) Property precedence for writing (Steve) - under review 009 (from draft 32) Variable markup (Steve) - Mar 31, 2008 proposal needs writing up 010 (from draft 32) Assertions, discriminators and choice, including discussion of timing option (Suman) - Mar 31, 2008 * in progress * 011 (from draft 32) How speculative parsing works (combining choice and variable-occurence - currently these are separate) ??, 2008 (IBM) in progress 012 (from draft 32) Reordering the properties discussion: move representation earlier, improve flow of topics ??, 2008 (Alan) * not started * 025 Augmented infoset and unparsing (Alan) added but needs work 026 Remove duration complete - specification updated Alan Powell MP 211, IBM UK Labs, Hursley, Winchester, SO21 2JN, England Notes Id: Alan Powell/UK/IBM email: alan_powell(a)uk.ibm.com Tel: +44 (0)1962 815073 Fax: +44 (0)1962 816898 Unless stated otherwise above: IBM United Kingdom Limited - Registered in England and Wales with number 741598. Registered office: PO Box 41, North Harbour, Portsmouth, Hampshire PO6 3AU

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Re: [DFDL-WG] Precedence of short and long form properties
by Alan Powell 20 Mar '09

20 Mar '09

Suman Correct Alan Powell MP 211, IBM UK Labs, Hursley, Winchester, SO21 2JN, England Notes Id: Alan Powell/UK/IBM email: alan_powell(a)uk.ibm.com Tel: +44 (0)1962 815073 Fax: +44 (0)1962 816898 From: Suman Kalia/Toronto/IBM@IBMCA To: Alan Powell/UK/IBM@IBMGB Cc: dfdl-wg(a)ogf.org Date: 19/03/2009 19:18 Subject: Re: Precedence of short and long form properties Thanks Alan -- In nutshell, long from annotations take precedence over short form when they are defined on the same xsd construct.. i.e. if you lengthKind specified in short form and on dfdl:element on XSD element declaration value specified in dfdl:element will take precedence.. Suman Kalia IBM Toronto Lab WMB Toolkit Architect and Development Lead WebSphere Business Integration Application Connectivity Tools http://www.ibm.com/developerworks/websphere/zones/businessintegration/wmb.h… Tel : 905-413-3923 T/L 969-3923 Fax : 905-413-4850 T/L 969-4850 Internet ID : kalia(a)ca.ibm.com From: Alan Powell/UK/IBM@IBMGB To: Suman Kalia/Toronto/IBM@IBMCA Cc: dfdl-wg(a)ogf.org% Date: 03/19/2009 02:11 PM Subject: Precedence of short and long form properties Suman One the last work group call you raised a question about precedence of the same property in short and long form that we were unable to answer. The last paragraph of section 10.3 provides the answer 10.3 Annotation Positioning As described in Section ‎5.2, DFDL annotations are positioned at specific annotation points within a DFDL schema. The table below shows the valid annotation points. Annotation Point | Property Scope ----------------------+----------------------------------------------------- Schema declaration | Invalid | | Only top level defining forms (e.g., | dfdl:defineFormat) can appear at top level of the | schema. These definitions are globally available. | Nothing is put into effect about the format of | data by these top-level definitions. ----------------------+----------------------------------------------------- Element declaration | Valid local ----------------------+----------------------------------------------------- Element reference | Valid local ----------------------+----------------------------------------------------- Complex type | Valid scoped over contents definition | ----------------------+----------------------------------------------------- Simple type | Valid local definition | ----------------------+----------------------------------------------------- Sequence | Valid local declaration | ----------------------+----------------------------------------------------- Choice declaration | Valid local ----------------------+----------------------------------------------------- Group reference | Valid local An annotation on a complexType definition applies over the scope of the contents and so is inherited by any contained constructs or construct references. That is, the scope include not only the part of the schema lexically enclosed by the complexType declaration which puts this scope into effect, but these properties are also inherited by these specific instances of any referenced types, referenced elements, or referenced groups from within that scope. This is sometimes called scoping over the full dynamic extent of the scope, not just the lexically appearing scope. When multiple DFDL annotation properties occur at the same annotation point then they are combined with the rule that later format annotations override earlier ones, (later meaning textually later in the schema document) and short-form annotations are interpreted as if they appeared in a long-form annotation that is first before any other long-form annotations. Alan Powell MP 211, IBM UK Labs, Hursley, Winchester, SO21 2JN, England Notes Id: Alan Powell/UK/IBM email: alan_powell(a)uk.ibm.com Tel: +44 (0)1962 815073 Fax: +44 (0)1962 816898

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Re: [DFDL-WG] Precedence of short and long form properties
by Suman Kalia 19 Mar '09

19 Mar '09

Thanks Alan -- In nutshell, long from annotations take precedence over short form when they are defined on the same xsd construct.. i.e. if you lengthKind specified in short form and on dfdl:element on XSD element declaration value specified in dfdl:element will take precedence.. Suman Kalia IBM Toronto Lab WMB Toolkit Architect and Development Lead WebSphere Business Integration Application Connectivity Tools http://www.ibm.com/developerworks/websphere/zones/businessintegration/wmb.h… Tel : 905-413-3923 T/L 969-3923 Fax : 905-413-4850 T/L 969-4850 Internet ID : kalia(a)ca.ibm.com From: Alan Powell/UK/IBM@IBMGB To: Suman Kalia/Toronto/IBM@IBMCA Cc: dfdl-wg(a)ogf.org Date: 03/19/2009 02:11 PM Subject: Precedence of short and long form properties Suman One the last work group call you raised a question about precedence of the same property in short and long form that we were unable to answer. The last paragraph of section 10.3 provides the answer 10.3 Annotation Positioning As described in Section ‎5.2, DFDL annotations are positioned at specific annotation points within a DFDL schema. The table below shows the valid annotation points. Annotation Point Property Scope Schema declaration Invalid Only top level defining forms (e.g., dfdl:defineFormat) can appear at top level of the schema. These definitions are globally available. Nothing is put into effect about the format of data by these top-level definitions. Element declaration Valid local Element reference Valid local Complex type definition Valid scoped over contents Simple type definition Valid local Sequence declaration Valid local Choice declaration Valid local Group reference Valid local An annotation on a complexType definition applies over the scope of the contents and so is inherited by any contained constructs or construct references. That is, the scope include not only the part of the schema lexically enclosed by the complexType declaration which puts this scope into effect, but these properties are also inherited by these specific instances of any referenced types, referenced elements, or referenced groups from within that scope. This is sometimes called scoping over the full dynamic extent of the scope, not just the lexically appearing scope. When multiple DFDL annotation properties occur at the same annotation point then they are combined with the rule that later format annotations override earlier ones, (later meaning textually later in the schema document) and short-form annotations are interpreted as if they appeared in a long-form annotation that is first before any other long-form annotations. Alan Powell MP 211, IBM UK Labs, Hursley, Winchester, SO21 2JN, England Notes Id: Alan Powell/UK/IBM email: alan_powell(a)uk.ibm.com Tel: +44 (0)1962 815073 Fax: +44 (0)1962 816898

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Precedence of short and long form properties
by Alan Powell 19 Mar '09

19 Mar '09

Suman One the last work group call you raised a question about precedence of the same property in short and long form that we were unable to answer. The last paragraph of section 10.3 provides the answer 10.3 Annotation Positioning As described in Section ‎5.2, DFDL annotations are positioned at specific annotation points within a DFDL schema. The table below shows the valid annotation points. Annotation Point Property Scope Schema declaration Invalid Only top level defining forms (e.g., dfdl:defineFormat) can appear at top level of the schema. These definitions are globally available. Nothing is put into effect about the format of data by these top-level definitions. Element declaration Valid local Element reference Valid local Complex type definition Valid scoped over contents Simple type definition Valid local Sequence declaration Valid local Choice declaration Valid local Group reference Valid local An annotation on a complexType definition applies over the scope of the contents and so is inherited by any contained constructs or construct references. That is, the scope include not only the part of the schema lexically enclosed by the complexType declaration which puts this scope into effect, but these properties are also inherited by these specific instances of any referenced types, referenced elements, or referenced groups from within that scope. This is sometimes called scoping over the full dynamic extent of the scope, not just the lexically appearing scope. When multiple DFDL annotation properties occur at the same annotation point then they are combined with the rule that later format annotations override earlier ones, (later meaning textually later in the schema document) and short-form annotations are interpreted as if they appeared in a long-form annotation that is first before any other long-form annotations. Alan Powell MP 211, IBM UK Labs, Hursley, Winchester, SO21 2JN, England Notes Id: Alan Powell/UK/IBM email: alan_powell(a)uk.ibm.com Tel: +44 (0)1962 815073 Fax: +44 (0)1962 816898 Unless stated otherwise above: IBM United Kingdom Limited - Registered in England and Wales with number 741598. Registered office: PO Box 41, North Harbour, Portsmouth, Hampshire PO6 3AU

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details vs. the big picture
by Sampo Syreeni 18 Mar '09

18 Mar '09

Hi. I've been following this list for a while now, because as a data modelling kinda person I'm interested in formats, conversions, metamodels, their mappings, and the like. I'm afraid to say the slow development of DFDL has disappointed me. To me it seems quite a number of implementations of DFDL should have been out there already, yet they aren't. I think the main reasons are that people in this working group are: a) concentrating too much on the details of specific binary formats to be parsed/use cases instead of a generic parsing framework for common binary data as a whole, b) paying too much attention to the XML encoding of the language, instead of its semantics, or its possible alternative encodings, c) spending far too much time meeting, specifying, theoretizing, and downright bickering-in-committee, instead of piece-meal implementing the most useful parts of the standard, d) contrariwise, optimizing the specification prematurely, e.g. with the hesitancy to declare multidimensional arrays as a first class citizen even if there are unresolved issues, e) doing all of the real work over the telephone or in person, so that low budget, practical minded people cannot contribute meaningfully, f) failing to show other people what the worth of this whole effort is, and thus failing to liaise efficiently even with the Grid Forum, and thereby, finally, g) failing to engage the broader circle of developers, managers, curators, nerds, and whathaveyou, who might be interested in this sort of thing. Is it at all possible that this effort could somehow move into the mainstream in the near future? That outside forces, like the FOSS community, could speed up the transition? In all, that some of the above peeves of mine could be rectified? -- Sampo Syreeni, aka decoy - decoy(a)iki.fi, http://decoy.iki.fi/front +358-50-5756111, 025E D175 ABE5 027C 9494 EEB0 E090 8BA9 0509 85C2

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Agenda for OGF WG call 18 March 2009
by Alan Powell 18 Mar '09

18 Mar '09

Suggested agenda 1. Validation ranges and exclusion lists - vote 2. dfdl format specializations 3. Escape Schemes 4. Actions 5. 'Floating' definitions 6. Consuming extraneous data after schema has be used. 7 AOB Alan Powell MP 211, IBM UK Labs, Hursley, Winchester, SO21 2JN, England Notes Id: Alan Powell/UK/IBM email: alan_powell(a)uk.ibm.com Tel: +44 (0)1962 815073 Fax: +44 (0)1962 816898 Unless stated otherwise above: IBM United Kingdom Limited - Registered in England and Wales with number 741598. Registered office: PO Box 41, North Harbour, Portsmouth, Hampshire PO6 3AU

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