<br><font size=2 face="sans-serif">One correction in the revised minutes
below: some duplicate text removed from para 2.1. With thanks to Simon
for spotting the error.</font>
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<br><font size=2 face="sans-serif">Ian</font>
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<br><font size=2 face="sans-serif"><b>Open Grid Forum: Data Format Description
Language Working Group</b></font><font size=3> <br>
</font><font size=2 face="sans-serif"><b><br>
Weekly Working Group Conference Call</b></font><font size=3> </font><font size=2 face="sans-serif"><b><br>
17:00 GMT, 7 Nov 2007</b></font><font size=3> <br>
</font><font size=2 face="sans-serif"><b><br>
Attendees</b></font><font size=3> </font><font size=2 face="sans-serif"><br>
Mike Beckerle (IBM)</font><font size=3> </font><font size=2 face="sans-serif"><br>
Geoff Judd (IBM)</font><font size=3> </font><font size=2 face="sans-serif"><br>
Steve Hanson (IBM)</font><font size=3> </font><font size=2 face="sans-serif"><br>
Suman Kalia (IBM)</font><font size=3> </font><font size=2 face="sans-serif"><br>
Simon Parker (PolarLake)</font><font size=3> </font><font size=2 face="sans-serif"><br>
Ian Parkinson (IBM)</font><font size=3> <br>
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</font><font size=2 face="sans-serif"><b><br>
1. Introduction</b></font><font size=3> </font><font size=2 face="sans-serif"><br>
The previous meeting left two areas for consideration: the Information
Set (InfoSet) proposal, and the work regarding defaulting and nulls. This
meeting would cover a review of a revised InfoSet proposal. The defaults/nulls
issue has not been progressed.</font><font size=3> <br>
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2. Review of Revised Information Set Proposal</b></font><font size=3> </font><font size=2 face="sans-serif"><br>
Steve and Simon have collaborated on a revision, v6, of the InfoSet proposal.
This has been circulated via the DFDL-WG mailing list.</font><font size=3>
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The meeting reviewed the v6 proposal, highlighting the following points:</font><font size=3>
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<br><font size=2 face="sans-serif">1. There
remain two types of information item: Element Information Items and Document
Information Items. There are now two categories of Element Information
Item: simple, and complex.</font><font size=3> </font>
<br><font size=2 face="sans-serif">2. The
description of Document Information Items incorrectly lists a "root"
member. This should be replaced by a "children" member. Geoff
pointed out that the associated UML diagram suggests that a Document Information
Item may contain multiple children; this will be restricted in the text.</font><font size=3>
</font>
<br><font size=2 face="sans-serif">3. The
"dfdl version" member is now used to describe the version of
DFDL to which the InfoSet conforms; it does not describe the version of
the parser generating the InfoSet. In particular, for an InfoSet to inlcude
a dfdl version identifier, there is now no requirement for that InfoSet
to have been generated by a DFDL parser.</font><font size=3> </font>
<br><font size=2 face="sans-serif">4. Mike
queried the meaning of "absolute Schema Component Descriptor";
it should identify a schema as a whole. This is a term defined by the SCD
specification, and an appropriate citation should be added to the proposal.</font><font size=3>
</font>
<br><font size=2 face="sans-serif">5. The
meeting discussed, at length, the "data value" member of Element
Information Item, which the proposal lists as being of type String. Mike
pointed out that this is insufficient to distinguish between some binary
floating-point values, and suggested that it should be of a type defined
by the "data type" member. Suman suggested this would also make
for a more natural API. Simon remarked on the precedent set by XML Schema
where all values are represented as strings. Mike closed the discussion
advocating dropping the word "String" from the definition of
the "data value" member.</font><font size=3> </font>
<br><font size=2 face="sans-serif">6. Suman
queried the purpose of the document information item. This is an in-memory
artifact only, which acts as a container of the InfoSet's data, and has
no representation in a serialization of the InfoSet. This should be clarified
in the proposal.</font><font size=3> </font>
<br><font size=2 face="sans-serif">7. The
proposal now contains a UML diagram illustrating the object model. The
relationship between Parent and Element requires some clarifying: it should
be modelled as a composite containment relationship.</font><font size=3>
</font>
<br><font size=2 face="sans-serif">8. Simon
highlighted that the "schema" member of Element Information Item
may be either a relative or an absolute SCD; while the "schema"
member of Document Information Item must be an absolute SCD.</font><font size=3>
</font>
<br><font size=2 face="sans-serif">9. The
current version makes no mention of arrays, preferring to treat arrays
as repeated children with the same name. The meeting consdered how to denote
arrays in the InfoSet, but opted instead to add a note regarding arrays
to the specification.</font>
<br><font size=2 face="sans-serif"><br>
Mike will circulate his notes regarding the agreed changes to the spec.
Simon will circulate a new version, v7, incorporating further comments.</font><font size=3>
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3. Other Business</b></font><font size=3> </font><font size=2 face="sans-serif"><br>
There was no other business.</font><font size=3> <br>
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Meeting closed</b></font><font size=3> </font>
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<br>
<br><font size=2 face="sans-serif"><br>
Ian Parkinson<br>
WebSphere ESB Development<br>
Mail Point 211, Hursley Park, Hursley, Winchester, SO21 2JN, UK<br>
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</i></font>
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