RE: 3 different assertions diagrams

["Simon Y. Blackwell" <sblackwell@psoom.com>]

> -----Original Message-----
> From: Eve L. Maler [mailto:eve.maler@east.sun.com]
> Sent: Monday, June 11, 2001 10:20 AM
> To: security-services@lists.oasis-open.org
> Subject: RE: 3 different assertions diagrams
> 
 ... major section deleted ...
> 
> >2) It is not clear from the diagram (which is one reason I don't find
> >diagrams useful) how the syntax is implemented.
> 
> Sorry, but I find diagrams immensely useful for ensuring that 
> we all are 
> talking in the same language, and they're particularly useful 
> in a group 
> where most of the expertise is on the security side, not the 
> XML side.  The 
> notation I've used isn't complete for implementing a schema, 
> but given our 
> discovery of mismatched concepts in last Tuesday's meeting, I 
> don't think 
> we're ready for a real schema yet.  We have to ensure that 
> our rough design 
> incorporates all the "things" it needs and that we have 
> agreed on common 
> names for the different "things."  Then we can agree on a 
> configuration for 
> them, and only then can we start writing a schema that won't 
> have to be 
> rewritten a bunch of times...  I anticipate that we might be 
> able to get to 
> the "configuration" point by the end of the F2F, which would 
> be a huge 
> accomplishment.

I agree with both points. As such, I would find it VERY useful to have at
least some snippets of syntax associated with diagrams. In general, the
diagram creator is probably the person with the best mental model to create
these snippets. Maybe I'm a cripple, but I find it a real mental exercise to
grasp the model and then create for myself what I think the syntax would
look like, which then allows be to re-confirm the model, i.e. if I come up
with a really strange syntax, I assume I have failed to understand the
model. I also find snippets of syntax useful for determining if everything
needed is captured. The same goes for DTDs BTW, they are much more
approachable if provided with an example of actual use.