RE: [election-services] Re: Moving Forward with EML v5.0

["David RR Webber \(XML\)" <david@drrw.info>]

Robin,

 

Simply put - in the end the schema changes related to minor corrections.

 

V4 code was already looking at changes regardless to take advantage of V5.  Key though is the fact that those substantive changes were already there in the initial V5 call for review schemas.  In fact after the comment period we made only 3 corrections.  Its a mute point if any V4 code that had already been modified to V5 draft would need to be changed at that point any more; it could be compliant at that point.  We specifically set aside new work on a new 530 statistics schema until a future release.

 

My personal sense here is that there is no value in a further public review.  The prior comments raised were already addressed and agreed.  Also - the new approach to documenting every detail of schema changes with logs may appear more substantial than the actual impacts actually are.  Individual developers are definately able to access more immediately the impacts on their own implementations.

 

If we had outstanding critical issues that required further input and discussion then it would make sense, or if we had introduced brand new schemas.  With completion of the V5 we have reached a stable point that should carry us forward.  Future work toward an entirely new V6 and an overhaul in the information model is the next challenge.

 

Thanks, DW

"The way to be is to do" - Confucius (551-472 B.C.)

-------- Original Message --------
Subject: [election-services] Re: Moving Forward with EML v5.0
From: Robin Cover <robin@oasis-open.org>
Date: Sat, July 28, 2007 8:11 am
To: EML TC <election-services@lists.oasis-open.org>
Cc: Robin Cover <robin@oasis-open.org>,  Mary McRae
<mary.mcrae@oasis-open.org>


Congratulation to all members of the OASIS Election and
Voter Services TC for reaching several v5.0 milestones.

I have some questions for the TC about its initial
disposition not to hold another Public Review subsequent to
the Public Review which ended 10-June-2007. In particular:
I have not seen any response to Mary McRae's memo of
July 16, 2007 to the TC [1] citing the OASIS TC Process
definitions and rules about "Substantive Changes" [2].

I understand from the published minutes of the OASIS
Election and Voter Services Technical Committee Meeting
of 19-June-2007 that "overall" the TC members did not feel
the specification changes made in light of review were
"substantive" [3]:

"Overall members present were content with the latest
draft and agreed that the comments suggested did not
represent substantive changes and therefore felt
another Public Review was unnecessary."

However, as Mary's memo intimates, the OASIS TC Process
has a very specific technical definition about that
constitutes a "Substantive Change" -- which triggers
the need for another review cycle [4]. The definition:

(gg) "Substantive Change" is a change to a specification
that would require a compliant application or
implementation to be modified or rewritten in order
to remain compliant."

Did the TC use that definition of "Substantive Change" in
arriving at the feeling that another Public Review was
unnecessary?

I am having difficulty reconciling the fact that significant
changes were made in the XML schema files (at least four
schema files), including numerous cases of renaming
elements, adding and deleting attributes, etc. over several
iterations of XML schema editing [5]. In the general case,
XML schema changes will be "substantive".

For example, we may contrast the XML Schema 'emlcore-v5-0.xsd'
submitted [6] for Public Review (version 5.00) vs. the most
recent release of this same schema version 5.05 [7].

As noted in various documents, including the published
"EML v5 PUBLIC REVIEW - DISPOSITION OF COMMENTS RECEIVED" [8],
and memo of 08-May-2007 [8a] the TC agreed to remove the
Party element (change the name to "Supporter") add a Type
on Affiliation

Version 5.00 (PR) Schema in file 'emlcore-v5-0.xsd' via grep:

==============================================================

<xs:element name="PartyIdentifier" type="PartyIdentifierStructure"/>
<xs:complexType name="PartyIdentifierStructure">
<xs:element name="PartyName" type="xs:token"/>
<xs:element name="PartyAbbreviation" type="xs:token"/>
<xs:complexType name="PartyStructure">

==============================================================

Version 5.05 of the same schema file now contains no reference
to 'Party', but instead attests type/element component 'Supporter'

==============================================================

<xs:element name="SupporterIdentifier"
type="SupporterIdentifierStructure"/>
<xs:complexType name="SupporterIdentifierStructure">
<xs:element name="SupporterName" type="xs:token"/>
<xs:element name="SupporterAbbreviation" type="xs:token"/>
<xs:complexType name="SupporterStructure">

==============================================================

Numerous other changes to the XML Schemas have also been made,
as documented (in part) by the change logs presented in the
schema release of 30-Jun-2007 [7]

If Company Foo developed an application (implementation) of
EML v5.0 using the XML schemas and documentation for the
Public Review release, the application would code operations
matching names and constraints from the v5.00 XML schemas, and valid
data conforming to that EML 5.00 specification as implemented
could contain markup elements "PartyIdentifier", "PartyName",
"PartyAbbreviation", etc. The application's documentation,
error handling, UIs, and other features will naturally
reflect names and constructs implied by the v5.00 XML
schemas and documented in the XML schema descriptions. However,
that same data matching EML v5.00 will be *invalid* according
to the XML schemas of (edited) EML version 5.05; much of the
application code itself (for UIs, help system) will also
be made obsolete.

In terms of the OASIS TC Process definition -- it seems to me --
the EML 5.05 XML Schema changes are indeed "substantive",
by definition: Company Foo will need to modify (rewrite) its
application to remain [become] compliant with the EML v5.05
specification schemas.

If the TC disagrees, can someone kindly offer an explanation?

Thanks,

Robin Cover

[1]
http://lists.oasis-open.org/archives/election-services/200707/msg00009.html
"Moving Forward with EML v5.0 - I just wanted to point out the following
rules in the TC Process..."

[2] http://www.oasis-open.org/committees/process.php#definitions

[3] Minutes

http://lists.oasis-open.org/archives/election-services/200706/msg00025.html
TC Meeting Minutes (TCminutes2007_06_19.rtf) uploaded
The document named TC Meeting Minutes (TCminutes2007_06_19.rtf) has been
submitted by Mr. John Borras* to the OASIS Election and Voter Services TC
document repository.
Document Description:
The minutes of TC meeting held 19 June 2007.

http://www.oasis-open.org/committees/download.php/24445/TCminutes2007_06_19.rtf

EML V5 COMMENTS
JB outlined the standards approval process for members and said
the objective following this meeting was to approve v5 as a
Committee Specification and then an OASIS Standard as per the
OASIS TC Process Guidelines.

Members present then reviewed the comments received following
the public review and in turn confirmed their acceptance or
rejection of the proposed changes. The changes as follows
were discussed:

a. Party Affiliations - Agreed to withdraw Party and introduce
a type on Affiliation
b. Voter ID - Agreed to revise existing VoterID rather than
having two separate elements. Also agreed the need for some
commentary in the EMLCore schema and to post some localisation
examples to explain how to use the ID.
c. IRV/RVC - Agreed to add to VotingmethodType
d. CountMetric/CountReport - Agreed to add to 510 and 110
e. Referendum Item - Agreed to implement proposal
f. Internationalisation - Agreed to implement a one to many on
election to item. The existing EML specification handles
internationalization but it is down to each implementation
to decide whether they do a single language per message or
a single language per process.

JB, DW and PS will update and circulate a new version of EML
v5 with the changes applied to TC members for approval before
asking OASIS Staff to conduct Committee Specification vote

Overall members present were content with the latest draft
and agreed that the comments suggested did not represent
substantive changes and therefore felt another Public Review
was unnecessary.

[4] TC Process Section 3.2. Public Review

If Substantive Changes are made to the specification after the public
review, whether as a result of public review comments or from TC Member
input, then the TC must conduct another review cycle. The specification
may not be considered for approval by the TC as a Committee Specification
until it has undergone a review cycle during which it has received no
comments that result in Substantive Changes to the specification.


[5] Changes to XML schemas after release of PR materials

http://lists.oasis-open.org/archives/election-services/200705/msg00020.html
Groups - EML 5.01 draft changes to link EML600 proposal options usage
(EML-v5-0-schemas-070522.zip) uploaded. The document named EML 5.01
draft changes to link EML600 proposal options usage
(EML-v5-0-schemas-070522.zip) has been submitted by Mr. David Webber
to the OASIS Election and Voter Services TC document repository.
Document Description: Draft changes to EML to support referendum and
proposal items across 200, 300, 400 and 500 series for review.

http://www.oasis-open.org/committees/download.php/24068/EML-v5-0-schemas-070522.zip

http://lists.oasis-open.org/archives/election-services/200705/msg00031.html
The document named EML 5.02 draft changes to add CountMetric and
CountReport tracking (EML-v5-0-schemas-070525.zip) has been submitted by
Mr. David Webber to the OASIS Election and Voter Services TC document
repository. Document Description:
Draft changes to EML core to provide a CountMetric structure for additional
information regarding ValidVotes in 510 reporting. Also ReportingUnit
extension to provide status for results reporting. Also added option to
PollingPlace to use status mechanism. These changes are designed to
support US style reporting of counting - but are extensible to suit any
geographic polling hierarchy.

http://www.oasis-open.org/committees/download.php/24120/EML-v5-0-schemas-070525.zip

http://lists.oasis-open.org/archives/election-services/200705/msg00036.html
The document named EML 5.03 draft refinement to CountMetric and CountReport
tracking (EML-v5-0-schemas-070529.zip) has been submitted by Mr. David
Webber to the OASIS Election and Voter Services TC document repository.
Document Description:
Added ability to define the CountMetrics in the EML 410 - and also to
control where in the EML 510 those occur via XPath location.
Fixed metric to be decimal from integer to support percentage reporting,
and added to TotalCount level in 510.
Provide ability in 410 to define CountMetrics and counting algorithm Id -
to permit pre-definition for developers of exactly what is needed in the
510 count results tabulations.

http://www.oasis-open.org/committees/download.php/24142/EML-v5-0-schemas-070529.zip

http://lists.oasis-open.org/archives/election-services/200706/msg00003.html
The document named EML 5.04 draft refinement to complete change requests
(EML-v5-0-schemas-060629.zip) has been submitted by Mr. David Webber to the
OASIS Election and Voter Services TC document repository.
Document Description:
Review of 5.03 compared to comments and change requests showed outstanding
items - so 5.04 resolves these:-
- Corrected Candidate attributes issue
- Added IRV and RCV to VotingMethodType
- VoterId / VoterIdentification@Id - no change (allows two approaches)

http://www.oasis-open.org/committees/download.php/24274/EML-v5-0-schemas-060629.zip

http://lists.oasis-open.org/archives/election-services/200706/msg00029.html
http://www.oasis-open.org/committees/download.php/24516/EML-v5-0-schemas-070629.zip
Subject: Groups - EML 5.05 committee draft schemas from public
review change/comments requests (EML-v5-0-schemas-070629.zip)
uploaded
From: david@drrw.info
To: election-services@lists.oasis-open.org
Date: 29 Jun 2007 20:37:54 -0000

The document named EML 5.05 committee draft schemas from public
review change/comments requests (EML-v5-0-schemas-070629.zip) has
been submitted by Mr. David Webber to the OASIS Election and
Voter Services TC document repository.

Document Description: This release is intended to cover all
changes relating to the public comment period and discussed
at the June TC meeting.

Change summary:

EMLCore items:
- VoterId attribute for type changed to support xsi:type approach
- Referendum items structure support for 630 and 510
- Cosmetic change to declarations to make them in alphabetic sort order
- Added standard OASIS required copyright and use statement text
EML 630 items:
- Proposal made repeatable within Election
EML 410 items:
- Removed CountMetric
EML 110 items:
- Added CountMetric

http://lists.oasis-open.org/archives/election-services/200706/msg00030.html
Subject: Groups - EML 5.05 committee draft schemas from public
review change/comments requests (EML-v5-0-schemas-070629.zip) uploaded
From: david@drrw.info
To: election-services@lists.oasis-open.org
Date: 30 Jun 2007 16:57:38 -0000

Added Change logs using DeltaXML

Change summary:

EMLCore items:
- VoterId attribute for type changed to support xsi:type approach
- Referendum items structure support for 630 and 510
- Cosmetic change to declarations to make them in alphabetic sort order
- Added standard OASIS required copyright and use statement text
EML 630 items:
- Proposal made repeatable within Election
EML 410 items:
- Removed CountMetric
EML 110 items:
- Added CountMetric

http://www.oasis-open.org/committees/download.php/24519/EML-v5-0-schemas-070629.zip

[6] specification v5.0 as submitted for Public Review

http://lists.oasis-open.org/archives/election-services/200704/msg00007.html
http://lists.oasis-open.org/archives/tc-announce/200704/msg00014.html

[7] EML 5.05 committee draft schemas

http://lists.oasis-open.org/archives/election-services/200706/msg00030.html
http://www.oasis-open.org/committees/download.php/24519/EML-v5-0-schemas-070629.zip
Subject: Groups - EML 5.05 committee draft schemas from public
review change/comments requests (EML-v5-0-schemas-070629.zip) uploaded
From: david@drrw.info
To: election-services@lists.oasis-open.org
Date: 30 Jun 2007 16:57:38 -0000

Added Change logs using DeltaXML

Change summary:

EMLCore items:
- VoterId attribute for type changed to support xsi:type approach
- Referendum items structure support for 630 and 510
- Cosmetic change to declarations to make them in alphabetic sort order
- Added standard OASIS required copyright and use statement text
EML 630 items:
- Proposal made repeatable within Election
EML 410 items:
- Removed CountMetric
EML 110 items:
- Added CountMetric

[8]
http://lists.oasis-open.org/archives/election-services/200707/msg00000.html
EML V5 FINAL CHANGES
You will see from below that David has now posted the final schema
changes on the TC website. In addition to those I'm attaching a
simple text Changes Log to supplement the technical one included
in David's posting plus a Disposition of Comments document following
the Public Review. Will you please take time over the next week
to review all these and satisfy yourselves that they capture all
the changes that we discussed at the recent TC meeting. Please
let me have a note of any concerns by Monday 8th July. After that
date I will proceed to ask OASIS staff to take us through the next
stage of the approvals process.
I will complete the changes to the supporting documents, ie the
Data Dictionary and the Process and Schema Definitions in next few
days to complement the changes noted above.
Regards John

http://lists.oasis-open.org/archives/election-services/200707/doc00000.doc
= 1310476990-EML v5 Public Review Comments - Disposition.doc

http://lists.oasis-open.org/archives/election-services/200707/doc00001.doc
= 69059534-EML v5 Changes Log.rtf

[8a] Change "Party" to "Supporter"
http://lists.oasis-open.org/archives/election-services-comment/200705/msg00000.html
The EML usage of party and affiliation is misleading compared to the US
election practice and terminology. To resolve this conflict suggested
course of action is:

a) Rename everything that is labelled "Party" to "Supporter" instead.

b) Add an additional element to Affiliation to indicate a Type token.
This then can be extensible to include Party and everything else - Party,
Union, Incumbent, and so on.

c) Make this change in EMLcore so it is reflected everywhere it is needed.