RE: STIX 2.0 Specification Questions

I am uncomfortable with not using a MUST in that sentence. But I could live with a SHOULD. I would be against taking the sentence out entirely.

From: cti-stix@lists.oasis-open.org [mailto:cti-stix@lists.oasis-open.org] On Behalf Of Back, Greg
Sent: Wednesday, August 10, 2016 5:32 PM
To: Wunder, John A. <jwunder@mitre.org>; cti-stix@lists.oasis-open.org
Subject: [cti-stix] RE: STIX 2.0 Specification Questions

I dislike the idea of MUST requirements on how data is to be interpreted. Particularly if receiving a new version of a common object (such that a new version is “available”) requires a change to how existing data is interpreted. SHOULD at most, but I wouldn’t be opposed to removing it entirely.

Greg

From: cti-stix@lists.oasis-open.org [mailto:cti-stix@lists.oasis-open.org] On Behalf Of Wunder, John A.
Sent: Tuesday, August 09, 2016 4:26 PM
To: cti-stix@lists.oasis-open.org
Subject: [cti-stix] STIX 2.0 Specification Questions

Do we need a line in the specification to indicate that ID references between objects MUST always be resolved to the newest version of the object?

Right now, we have text in the IDs and References section which says this:

ID references resolve to an object when the value of the ID reference property (e.g., created_by_ref) is an exact match with the id property of another object. If an ID reference resolves to an object for which multiple versions exist, the reference MUST be resolved to the latest available version of the object. ID references MAY refer to objects to which the consumer/producer may not currently have. This specification does not address the implementation of ID reference resolution. (https://docs.google.com/document/d/1HJqhvzO35h62gQGPvghVRIAtQrZn3_J__0UcDAj-NXY/edit#)

Note the sentence in red. We added that a couple weeks ago because some people felt it was not fully specified to resolve an ID reference to an object…they felt that ID references should implicitly always resolve to the newest version of the object. On the other hand, Allan has said that resolving ID references within a tool is a function of that tool and we should not have normative requirements around it. Some tools may want to resolve it to all versions of an object and show the full history, others may show the newest, etc. His full comment is available in the google doc.

So the question is…should that sentence remain in the document? If so, is it a MUST requirement or a SHOULD requirement?

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