Transition Request: CR Request for XLink 1.1

The XML Core WG requests publication of 
  XML Linking Language (XLink) Version 1.1
available at
http://www.w3.org/XML/Group/2004/xmlcore/xlink11/Overview.html
as a Candidate Recommendation.  

The URL cited above is for the most recent Member-only 
version of the specification as of 15 March 2006 but 
dated 28 March 2006 in anticipation of publication then.

That file is set up to be published by moving it to
http://www.w3.org/TR/2006/CR-xlink11-20060328/Overview.html

The XLink 1.1 specification had been published on 7 July 2005 
at http://www.w3.org/TR/2005/WD-xlink11-20050707/
as a Last Call Specification.  A document containing the 
comments received from other WGs and the public is at
http://www.w3.org/XML/2005/xlink11/lc-status/status-report.html

The Last Call comments have been considered and resolved, 
and a notification of the fact sent to every commenter.  
The document being sent to CR contains the changes that 
were made to accommodate these comments.

There is a Disposition of Comments outlining the status at
http://www.w3.org/XML/2005/xlink11/lc-status/doc.html

We are requesting TimBL's attendance on the CR call due
to the large number of "unsatisfied comments".  The WG
has spent quite a bit of time trying to satisfy the
commentors, but a fair number of comments have been deemed 
to be out of the scope clearly defined by our Requirements
Document [1] and Charter [2].  The commentors were not 
satisfied by our decisions in this area and in one case 
went so far as to say:

  XLink is dead, dead-by-design, and our time would
  be better spent on other things. [3]

and

  I don't think the XLink 1.1 draft should earn
  The Director's endorsement.... [3]

[1] http://www.w3.org/TR/xlink10-ext/
[2] http://www.w3.org/2005/02/xml-core-wg-charter.html#deliverables
[3]
http://lists.w3.org/Archives/Public/www-xml-linking-comments/2006JanMar/
0088

The WG's decision to request publication as a Candidate 
Recommendation was taken during our f2f on 2006 March 2
whose minutes may be found at
http://www.w3.org/XML/Group/2006/02/xml-f2f-20060302-minutes.htm#xlink


SCHEDULE

We propose a publication date of 2006 March 28.

We propose that the CR period lasts from the date of publication
until 1 May 2006.  Given the brevity of the specification and 
the current existence of several implementations, we expect to 
to collect the necessary implementation experience in that time.

EXIT CRITERIA

See them within the SOTD quoted below.

PRELIMINARY IMPLEMENTATION REPORT

There is a preliminary Implementation Report at
http://www.w3.org/XML/2006/01/xlink11-implementation


PROPOSED CR TITLE, ABSTRACT AND STATUS SECTIONS

XML Linking Language (XLink) Version 1.1

Abstract
--------
This specification defines the XML Linking Language 
(XLink) Version 1.1, which allows elements to be 
inserted into XML documents in order to create and 
describe links between resources. It uses XML syntax 
to create structures that can describe links similar 
to the simple unidirectional hyperlinks of today's HTML, 
as well as more sophisticated links.

Status of this Document
-----------------------
This section describes the status of this document at 
the time of its publication. Other documents may supersede 
this document. A list of current W3C publications and the 
latest revision of this technical report can be found in 
the W3C technical reports index at http://www.w3.org/TR/.

This is a Candidate Recommendation Working Draft as 
described in the Process Document. This document is 
intended for review by W3C members and other interested 
parties. The publication of this document constitutes a 
call for implementations of this specification. This 
specification will remain a Candidate Recommendation until 
at least 1 May 2006. Publication as a Candidate Recommendation 
does not imply endorsement by the W3C Membership. This is a 
draft document and may be updated, replaced or obsoleted by 
other documents at any time. It is inappropriate to cite this 
document as other than work in progress.

The XML Core Working Group will advance the specification 
to Proposed Recommendation when the following exit criteria 
have been met:

  * There are at least two interoperable implementations 
    of the specification.

  * It has been shown that any valid XLink 1.1 document can
    be programmatically converted into an equivalent XLink 1.0
    document.

  * A minimum of four weeks of the CR period must have elapsed.

Any feedback on implementation and use of this specification 
would be very welcome. To the extent possible, please provide 
a separate email message for each distinct comment.

A preliminary Implementation Report is available at
http://www.w3.org/XML/2006/01/xlink11-implementation.

This document has been produced by the W3C XML Core Working Group 
as part of the XML Activity in the W3C Architecture Domain. For 
background on this work, please see the XML Activity Statement.

Please report possible errors in this document to the public 
email list www-xml-linking-comments@w3.org (archive at 
http://lists.w3.org/Archives/Public/www-xml-linking-comments/). 
Any confirmed errors will be documented in an list of errata 
available at http://www.w3.org/2001/06/xlink-errata.

This specification implements all of the XLink 1.1 requirements 
documented in [Extending XLink 1.0]. These changes make XLink 
more useful in the places where it is already being used and 
make it practical in a variety of similar vocabularies.

The patent policy for this document is the 5 February 2004 W3C 
Patent Policy. Patent disclosures relevant to this specification 
may be found on the XML Core Working Group's patent disclosure 
page. An individual who has actual knowledge of a patent which 
the individual believes contains Essential Claim(s) with respect 
to this specification should disclose the information in accordance 
with section 6 of the W3C Patent Policy.


Paul Grosso and Norman Walsh, chairs of the XML Core WG. 

Received on Wednesday, 15 March 2006 20:59:02 UTC