IRC log of qa on 2005-05-16

Timestamps are in UTC.

14:46:08 [RRSAgent]
RRSAgent has joined #qa
14:46:08 [RRSAgent]
logging to http://www.w3.org/2005/05/16-qa-irc
14:46:17 [dom]
Meeting: QA Working Group Teleconf
14:46:21 [dom]
RRSAgent, make log public
14:46:26 [dom]
Chair: Karl
14:46:30 [dom]
Scribe: Dom
14:47:00 [dom]
Agenda: http://lists.w3.org/Archives/Public/www-qa-wg/2005May/0050.html
14:47:07 [dom]
Regrets: Lynne
14:58:59 [Zakim]
QA_QAWG()11:00AM has now started
14:59:04 [karl]
zakim, call karl-work
14:59:04 [Zakim]
ok, karl; the call is being made
14:59:06 [Zakim]
+??P3
14:59:35 [karl]
zakim, call karl-work
14:59:35 [Zakim]
ok, karl; the call is being made
14:59:35 [Zakim]
+Dom
14:59:36 [Zakim]
+Karl
15:00:00 [dom]
Zakim, ??P3 is Richard
15:00:00 [Zakim]
+Richard; got it
15:00:18 [Zakim]
+Patrick
15:01:00 [Zakim]
+Tim_Boland
15:01:40 [lofton]
zakim, please call lofton
15:01:40 [Zakim]
ok, lofton; the call is being made
15:01:41 [Zakim]
+Lofton
15:02:38 [Zakim]
+Dimitris
15:04:03 [Zakim]
+[IBMCambridge]
15:04:09 [dom]
agenda+ formal agreement to request SpecGL transition to PR
15:04:21 [Zakim]
+MSkall
15:04:22 [dom]
Zakim, [IBMCambridge] is really DaveMarston
15:04:22 [Zakim]
+DaveMarston; got it
15:04:37 [dom]
zakim, take agendum 1
15:04:37 [Zakim]
I don't understand 'take agendum 1', dom
15:04:43 [dom]
zakim, take next agendum
15:04:43 [Zakim]
I don't understand 'take next agendum', dom
15:04:48 [dom]
zakim, next agendum
15:04:48 [Zakim]
agendum 1. "formal agreement to request SpecGL transition to PR" taken up [from dom]
15:05:04 [dom]
karl: any disagreement wrt to requesting transition to PR
15:05:08 [dom]
...?
15:05:19 [dom]
tim: how do we look in terms of implementation?
15:05:34 [dom]
karl: the current implementation report is good enough
15:06:14 [dom]
... so unless anybody wants to go back to making more spec reviews to check...
15:06:38 [dom]
dom: the schedule is only set by ourselves, so if you want moer time for gathering experiences, that's acceptable
15:07:06 [dom]
tim: I trust the W3C process will assess whether we have enough implementation
15:07:31 [dom]
... we could always gather more reports, but if you feel what we have now is sufficient, that's fine with me
15:07:33 [lofton]
+q
15:07:38 [lofton]
q+
15:07:53 [dom]
mark: difficult to guess whether this is good enough
15:08:20 [dom]
lofton: I think we should go to the teleconf with the attitude that we have enough implementation reports
15:08:47 [dom]
... in the few places where implementation is thin, I think we can argue that these are guidelines, independently of whether they were already in use
15:08:53 [dom]
... SpecGL is different from CSS or DOM
15:09:20 [dom]
mark: plus, we have conversed with people, had many comments, have worked hard on the issues, have rewritten the doc
15:09:40 [dom]
karl: xml:id plays in our favour, too
15:10:02 [dom]
... their ICS went from very bad to SpecGL compliant through discussions
15:10:14 [dom]
... it shows that this can be achieved
15:10:49 [dom]
dimitris: reading the implementation report, it's patent that SPecGl availability has actually improved the specifications over time
15:12:09 [dom]
tim: do all the issues have to be resolved?
15:12:17 [dom]
dom: all our issues are resolved
15:12:27 [dom]
... although some commenters disagree with our resolutions
15:12:35 [dom]
... still trying to negotiate with Ian
15:12:48 [dom]
... but even if there is disagreement, we can go to PR
15:12:59 [dom]
karl: I've replied to Ian with more details this morning
15:13:04 [dom]
... hasn't reached the archives yet
15:13:33 [dom]
RESOLVED: QA WG requests transition of SpecGL to PR
15:13:57 [dom]
Topic: Test FAQ Published
15:14:05 [dom]
karl: Test FAQ was published last week
15:14:10 [dom]
... bravo to Patrick and others
15:14:17 [dom]
... it was announced on the chairs mailing list
15:14:31 [dom]
Tim: I've forwarded the announcement to WG I'm involved in
15:14:45 [dom]
Karl: It's a good thing to promote it insided W3C WG
15:14:58 [dom]
... but promoting it outside W3C is also nice
15:15:11 [dom]
... if you have opportunities, please do
15:15:15 [dom]
dom: any feedback yet?
15:15:36 [dom]
patrick: no feedback at this time
15:15:51 [dom]
tim: what's the process/schedule to integrated feedback?
15:16:07 [dom]
karl: no specific schedule; we update it when we receive feedback that we want to incorporate
15:16:28 [dom]
patrick: feedback address given in doc is www-qa-wg
15:16:51 [dom]
karl: we can republish and make additions to the document when we need
15:17:19 [dom]
mark: any other specific ideas to promote it? Conferences, this kind of opportunities coming up?
15:17:28 [dom]
karl: always good to do it at conferences
15:17:47 [dom]
... another good way is to introduce it in small bits
15:18:04 [dom]
... e.g. addressing a question in a mailing list with a pointer to the document
15:18:10 [dom]
... can help attract readers
15:18:28 [dom]
dave: the testing faq has already been publicized to the XQuery Test TF
15:18:46 [dom]
... don't know how many WGs have test moderators or task force
15:19:06 [dom]
... there could be a cross-WG mailing lists to contact editors
15:19:21 [dom]
karl: xmlspec could also be used as a link to the FAQ
15:20:05 [dom]
tim: the WCAG techniques tf is working on testing issues
15:20:18 [dom]
... I can see the utility of the test faq in that context
15:20:44 [dom]
patrick: I like the idea to point to specific answers and questions
15:20:48 [dom]
topic: Dublin hotel
15:20:56 [dom]
patrick: somebody looking it up for me
15:20:58 [dom]
... it's coming
15:21:14 [dom]
Topic: Variability in Specification
15:21:27 [dom]
karl: Dave has a proposal to reorganise the document
15:22:02 [dom]
DaveM: should there be a mention of some of these dimensions by citation over to SpecGL where they're already fully explained or should there be a repeat of the material? or another approach?
15:23:25 [dom]
dom: if we have nothing new to say about extensibility in ViS, I suggest dropping the section
15:23:30 [dom]
... and linking to SpecGl
15:23:43 [dom]
Dave: so indeed extensibility could go away
15:23:56 [dom]
... except for interrelationships between DoV
15:24:24 [dom]
karl: would it be possible to create templates to develop each of these DoV
15:24:32 [dom]
... with questions to be addressed for each DoV
15:24:42 [dom]
... ? this could help people to write content
15:25:09 [dom]
... we could then use the wiki to get content
15:25:25 [dom]
tim: is ViS considered a specification?
15:25:37 [dom]
lofton: the SOTD says it's destined to be a WG Note
15:26:07 [dom]
mark: not clear to me how do we envision ViS to be used
15:26:18 [dom]
... don't know how we can make decisions like this without having this vision
15:26:45 [dom]
dave: when ViS was started, the idea was to collect advanced topics that wouldn't fit in the spirit of SpecGL
15:27:08 [dom]
mark: so, read this document to learn more about the issues regarding variability
15:27:30 [dom]
dave: this doesn't imply whether this should go rec-track or not
15:27:42 [dom]
mark: if that's the model, I don't know why we wouldn't talk about extensions
15:28:21 [dom]
... the extensions are important enough to be there
15:28:28 [dom]
dom: but we don't have anything new to that
15:28:40 [dom]
mark: but even a regurgitation of what's in SpecGL could fit
15:28:50 [dom]
... it would be too bad if it wasn't there
15:29:10 [dom]
karl: my vision of ViS is a kind of encyclopedia vs SpecGL a technical framework
15:30:03 [dom]
... what are the big/high-level issues wrt developing a specification
15:30:18 [dom]
dave: so, is there agreement that ViS is dependent of SpecGL
15:30:38 [dom]
... and thus would assume that the reader has read SpecGL first
15:31:16 [dom]
karl: do we want to require this?
15:31:26 [dom]
dave: we could avoid it, but that would need more work
15:32:29 [dom]
dom: if we can avoid it, I'd rather, but that's only a nice thing to have IMO
15:32:58 [dom]
... please note that we don't have many cycles to make progress on this doc, so we need to practical on how it goes forward
15:33:06 [dom]
dave: here is a proposal
15:33:32 [dom]
... we keep a section on each DoV, with a small paragraph e.g. for extensions
15:34:03 [dom]
lofton: I wonder why each section doesn't link to the matching SpecGL section?
15:34:30 [dom]
... eg profile/module/level don't link back to SpecGL
15:35:46 [dom]
dave: some DoV are so little developed in SpecGL (e.g PLM) while others are much more expanded (e.g. extensibility)
15:36:00 [dom]
dom: no link back is mostly an editorial oversight, I think
15:36:14 [dom]
lofton: so this link back could be the basis for the placeholders
15:36:26 [dom]
dave: so ViS would address all the DoV
15:36:59 [dom]
... since there are consensus on that, we can go on to what should be the sequences of chapters
15:37:42 [dom]
... currently, the sequencing in ViS is CoP, Profile/Modules/levels, extensibility, optional features
15:38:01 [dom]
... extensibility should be last wrt to ordering of DoV
15:38:23 [dom]
lofton: deprecated features shouldn't be taken as part of optional features
15:38:39 [dom]
dave: how do people feel having several DoV in just one chapter?
15:38:44 [dom]
tim: what would the title be?
15:38:53 [dom]
dave: I don't have a proposal off the top of my head
15:39:34 [dom]
... it may be better to have deprecation and optional features separated
15:39:40 [dom]
dom: I think it would be clearer
15:40:01 [dom]
dave: ok; but then why having profiles/modules/level bound together
15:40:43 [dom]
dom: profiles/modules/levels were bound because they were all subdivisions
15:40:55 [dom]
... but I don't think we would lose much by separating them
15:41:16 [dom]
dave: current spec would flow well with this
15:41:20 [dom]
... except for umbrella specs
15:41:30 [dom]
... that we could move to modules
15:41:58 [dom]
... let's see when we get back to discussing umbrella specs
15:42:26 [dom]
karl: how would like to proceed to edit the different parts and get contributions?
15:42:49 [dom]
dave: I think we should concentrate on getting a document published in a later version
15:43:03 [dom]
... with the placeholders of extensions and deprecations
15:43:34 [dom]
... and we would cut the PML section in 3... we would need to move the intro of PML somewhere else
15:43:49 [dom]
... would need your help, karl, to do the technical editing
15:43:58 [dom]
karl: what about contributions? who should contribute?
15:44:19 [Zakim]
-Richard
15:44:23 [dom]
dave: if someone wants to write a quick paragraph on extensibility and deprecations, good
15:44:27 [dom]
... but otherwise, I'll do it
15:45:01 [dom]
karl: what schedule to envision for this?
15:45:18 [dom]
... also, if you can consider creating a template for the various parts, this would be really useful
15:45:32 [dom]
dave: I think this would be for another pass to the document
15:45:56 [dom]
... I need a week to do the transformations we mentioned before
15:46:57 [dom]
... if everybody agrees, it may be ready to go as early as after next week teleconf
15:47:14 [dom]
... also, is there any feedback on my proposed rewrite?
15:47:21 [dom]
karl: please comment on the mailing list
15:47:44 [dom]
Topic: Umbrella Specification and Profiles
15:47:59 [dom]
Karl: Tim asked whether profiles were umbrella specifications or not
15:48:20 [dom]
... I think not, although I'm not necessarily objecting to it
15:48:31 [dom]
... Dom thought they were
15:48:40 [dom]
... but wondered what we wanted to do with this concept
15:49:01 [dom]
Tim: what about specifications that may point to several technologies? how do we defined technology?
15:49:12 [dom]
karl: as CDF - compound document format?
15:49:25 [dom]
tim: there is a tendency to bind technologies together
15:50:31 [dom]
karl: it's very rare that specifications don't rely on other technologies
15:50:46 [dom]
... what do you expect from umbrella specs?
15:52:05 [dom]
dom: I guess my question was really why do we define this concept if we don't say anything about it?
15:52:25 [dom]
karl: origin of this is "how to move forward a technology defined in many pieces?"
15:53:55 [dom]
dave: there are already wg producing umbrella specifications
15:54:09 [dom]
dom: the fact they exist isn't enough
15:54:24 [dom]
... again, there is nothing said except the definition about umbrella specs
15:54:42 [dom]
karl: another related topic is whether defining a module without an umbrella spec is good or not
15:55:02 [dom]
... the example came because of CSS3
15:56:36 [dom]
... we probably need to discuss it more on the mailing list
15:56:54 [dom]
ACTION: karl to give a better outline of the issue and to move forward the discussion on umbrella specs
15:58:29 [dom]
Topic: Taxonomy of tests
15:58:43 [dom]
dom: was developed by Daniel back in 2001
15:58:58 [dom]
... lofton asked whether we still agree with this classification
15:59:16 [dom]
... and patrick wonders whether and how this should be integrated in the FAQ
15:59:46 [dom]
patrick: this addresses the "testing approaches" question
15:59:57 [dom]
... I'll send specific suggestions/questions to www-qa-wg
16:00:11 [dom]
dave: I'll have comments if it gets related to category of specifications
16:00:22 [dom]
... it may be outmoded by the refinements we've gone through
16:00:47 [Zakim]
-Tim_Boland
16:00:48 [Zakim]
-DaveMarston
16:00:48 [Zakim]
-Patrick
16:00:50 [Zakim]
-Dimitris
16:00:52 [Zakim]
-MSkall
16:00:58 [Zakim]
-Lofton
16:01:00 [dom]
Next teleconf: next week
16:01:00 [Zakim]
-Karl
16:01:03 [Zakim]
-Dom
16:01:04 [Zakim]
QA_QAWG()11:00AM has ended
16:01:05 [Zakim]
Attendees were Dom, Karl, Richard, Patrick, Tim_Boland, Lofton, Dimitris, MSkall, DaveMarston
16:01:07 [dom]
Zakim, bye
16:01:07 [Zakim]
Zakim has left #qa
16:01:11 [dom]
RRSAgent, make log public
16:01:20 [dom]
RRSAgent, make minutes
16:01:20 [RRSAgent]
I have made the request to generate http://www.w3.org/2005/05/16-qa-minutes.html dom
16:01:31 [dom]
RRSAgent, draft minutes
16:01:31 [RRSAgent]
I have made the request to generate http://www.w3.org/2005/05/16-qa-minutes.html dom
16:11:24 [dom]
RRSAgent, bye
16:11:24 [RRSAgent]
I see 1 open action item:
16:11:24 [RRSAgent]
ACTION: karl to give a better outline of the issue and to move forward the discussion on umbrella specs [1]
16:11:24 [RRSAgent]
recorded in http://www.w3.org/2005/05/16-qa-irc#T15-56-54