1059 2005-01-26 14:56:35 +0000 Parsing the definition of specification 2005-04-28 11:53:52 +0000 1 1 1 Unclassified QA QASpec-GL LC-2004-11-22 All All RESOLVED REMIND http://lists.w3.org/Archives/Public/www-qa/2005Jan/0034.html P2 minor --- 1 dom karl karl oldest_to_newest 2913 0 dom 2005-01-26 14:56:35 +0000 I found it difficult to parse and understand the definition of specification. It says "...interface to accomplish a task." But interfaces are static, passive entities. They don't accomplish anything. Perhaps "for accomplishing a task" would read better, but even that feels uncomfortable. What task does XML accomplish? (It is used for many more things besides machine-independent data interchange.) I'm not sure that this phrase is necessary at all. Saying that "A specification is a set of technical requirements which define a reliable interface." seems adequate. If really necessary to qualify "interface", then "interface between actors" is what I'd suggest. On the same sentence, though less important, the phrase "which aim at ..." is one of those unnecessary phrases (like "in order to") that are best removed. 4010 1 dom 2005-03-07 17:40:39 +0000 http://lists.w3.org/Archives/Public/www-qa-wg/2005Mar/0018.html http://www.w3.org/Bugs/Public/show_bug.cgi?id=1059 suggests that our definition of specification is hard to parse; firstly, because it's not in proper English, with a suggested rewording: """A specification is a set of technical requirements which aim at defining a reliable interface for accomplishing a given task""" (instead of "to accomplish") that I think is good. Then the commenter argues that an interface can't accomplish anything - it's passive entity; of course I agree that an interface can't accomplish anything, but I think the new sentence only says that the interface defined should be reliable for accomplishing a given task. So unless anybody disagrees, I suggest simply changing "to accomplish" into "for accomplishing". (I plan to send several editorial issues proposals, that I think should be formally adopted in batch during next week teleconf - but discussing them beforehand on the mailing list would help that a lot) Dom 3833 2 dom 2005-04-08 08:42:36 +0000 http://www.w3.org/2005/03/21-qa-minutes.html RESOLUTION: to use ISO's definition of "specification" for SpecGL and ViS, referencing ISO Guide 2-4 ISO definition: Specification: document that prescribes requirements to be fulfilled by a product, process, or service. 3699 3 dom 2005-04-28 11:53:52 +0000 setting version to LC in case of future use