Request Memory Refresh and Answers/Opinions on a few Questions

[Rex Brooks <rexb@starbourne.com>]

Hi Folks,

(Note: I refer "Classes" and "Packages" because those are the names 
used in the UML tool I am using and as a matter of convenience. This 
is not intended to sound normative.)

I am going to be working on the individual message models today, and 
I would like a bit of help on recalling where I need to add the 
"ContactInformation" Package to existing classes and where the new 
"InitialMessageID" needs to be inserted.

As I was looking at the overall model yesterday, it occurred to me 
that the ContactInformation Package might belong in the 
ResponseInformation Class since a point of contact for that 
particular information could be someone other than the person sending 
the specific message. Then I noticed that we don't have a point of 
contact in the top level ResourceMessage Class in the overall 
diagram. Since it is a clear requirement and Conditional in all 
messages, I am wondering if I just missed it, or if we had some 
specific reason why it was not necessary to specifically include it? 
Please advise.

I am not adding it in the specific messages for now. However, I am 
adding the specific Message name to the top level ResourceMessage 
Class like this: ResourceMessage_RequestResource. THAT I am fairly 
sure was simply missed since it seems so obvious, and I had to add a 
note to give the diagrams a title so it was there visually. However, 
in technical terms, it also makes sense to me because I do want this 
"Non-Normative" visual model-guide to evolve into a true working DOM 
down the road in the future development of our specifications.

Likewise, I do think we need to have the ContactInformation Package 
included in both the top level Resource Message and in the 
ResponseInformation Class, though I could easily be persuaded that if 
we have ContactInformation in the top level message class, that 
individual could be the point of contact for the whole message 
complex, making the ResponseInformation inclusion of 
ContactInformation confusing or redundant.

I put the "InitialMessageID" in the top level Resource Message in the 
overall diagram to indicate that it is required in some of the 
individual messages, but I would like advice on the specific messages 
where we think it is required, such as RequestReturn. Since I am 
working on this while working on a couple of other projects, it would 
be nice to have second opinions or recollections as I work my way 
through this.

Cheers and Happy New Year,
Rex
-- 
Rex Brooks
President, CEO
Starbourne Communications Design
GeoAddress: 1361-A Addison
Berkeley, CA 94702
Tel: 510-849-2309