Re: [emergency-cap-profiles] Definition of "Profile"

[Jacob Westfall <jake@jpw.biz>]

> collection of constraints that comprise this Profile.  I suspect by the
> time we're done with the substance we'll find that the form... 

I don't think discussing profiles in general will in any way hinder this effort, there is good consensus on the approach so far.  However I don't think it can be assumed that this profile will establish all of the use cases for profiles and so a higher level discussion with some other hypothetical use cases could be useful.  There are a number that I can think of just off the top of my head.

> Jacob asks, "Can a CAP profile be a subset of CAP?"  Yes, that's what a
> standard profile is, by the cited definition and by every usage of the
> term I've ever encountered.  It's accomplished by asserting a set of

The RSS profile is a good example where there is no "subset" at all, only an "interpretation" of the spec. 

> constraints and requirements which should or must be met within the
> broader constraints of the CAP spec itself. Thus messages that conform

Adding constraints and requirements does not create a subset.  To create a subset, some of the optional and potentially required elements of the CAP spec would have to be dropped in the profile.  Such as Profile X saying an area block can only have areaDesc and polygon elements, nothing else.

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jake@jpw.biz
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