[sc34wg3] N358 and N372 Requires synchronization: changes in workplan, names, etc.

[Michel Biezunski]

Steve Pepper wrote:

> I welcome a discussion of the issues people are unhappy about. As
> I see it, there are two separate items: the question of a multipart
> as opposed to multiple standards, and the disposition of material
> across the parts/standards. I will start new threads for each of
> these.

I believe than rather than considering this an editorial issue
(<chapter> or <document> as root), we should concentrate on
the content. What exactly is our understanding on what the
pieces are and how do they fit together. Another way to put
it is: who needs what? Another question is: how to ensure
consistency between the parts? 

I believe that starting the discussion on TMCL is actually
putting a new perspective. It's the whole issue of what
part of the application is "constrained" by end users using
a constraint language as opposed to what part of the application
is "built-in" within a standard model or any other model. 
Should the reference model be used to define where the boundaries
are? Do we actually need them? Are merging rules an example of
such constraints? If the name-based merging rule goes away
from the standard model, how does this impact the basic concepts,
and how can it be expressed with TMCL? Should the reference model
contain its own merging rules?

This is just a sample of the questions that I think need 
to be answered so that we know clearly where we are going, 
and we are also sure that the various people or subgroups 
that work on different parts are actually working together 
rather than everyone going in a different direction without 
caring of each other. 

My goal is to be able to get a standard which is easy to understand,
whose usefulness is obvious, and who is reasonably straightforward
to implement while being at the same extensible. It may seem 
idealistic, unreasonable, naively optimistic, whatever, I recognize
it's tough, but if we all agree that these goals are commonly shared,
we might be able to make progress together, which is what I very much
hope will happen. 

I think we have the components we need to make this work. We just
have to be sure that we share a common understanding on how the
pieces work together. Let's try to have the big picture in place
before we get into the details. Focusing immediately on the details
might lead us to forget that the basic stuff is not in place.

Michel
===================================
Michel Biezunski
Coolheads Consulting
402 85th Street #5C
Brooklyn, New York 11209
Email:mb@coolheads.com
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Voice: (718) 921-0901
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