FW: [members] New OASIS Discussion List: Test Assertion Guidelines (TAG)

["Durand, Jacques R." <JDurand@us.fujitsu.com>]

Also, archives for this list is accessible at:
http://lists.oasis-open.org/archives/tag-discuss/

-Jacques

-----Original Message-----
From: Mary McRae [mailto:mary.mcrae@oasis-open.org] 
Sent: Monday, November 13, 2006 12:30 PM
To: tc-announce@lists.oasis-open.org; members@lists.oasis-open.org
Cc: tag-discuss@lists.oasis-open.org
Subject: [members] New OASIS Discussion List: Test Assertion Guidelines
(TAG)


OASIS members have requested that we open a new discussion list,
regarding a
possible new OASIS Test Assertion Guidelines (TAG) TC. The proposal
conforms to
our rules and is set forth below. Standards always are improved by broad
participation. OASIS encourages open discussions about possible new TCs,
by
offering a dedicated e-mail list for 90 days, upon member request. The
address
of this list will be:

tag-discuss@lists.oasis-open.org

Anyone, including OASIS members and non-members, may subscribe to this
list in
order to discuss the merits and possibility of the proposed project. The
list is
now open, and can be joined by sending a message to:

tag-discuss-subscribe@lists.oasis-open.org [1]

The discussion list is governed by Section 2.1 of the OASIS TC Process
[2], and
may last up to 90 days. Typically, participants in the list will
determine
whether there is sufficient interest to form an OASIS TC, and then
collaborate
on a draft TC charter for submission. Only subscribers to the list will
have the
ability to post to it. If you do not wish to subscribe, but would like
to
monitor the discussion, archives of the list will be visible at [3].

Please feel free to forward this announcement to any other appropriate
lists.
OASIS is an open standards organization, and welcomes your feedback. We
look
forward to assisting parties interested in joining the community of
implementers, technologists, academics and end-users contributing to
open
standardization for e-business and information exchange.


Mary P McRae
Manager of TC Administration, OASIS
web: www.oasis-open.org 
 

[1] Additional assistance is available, if needed, from the contacts
listed at
http://www.oasis-open.org/who/contactus.php
[2] http://www.oasis-open.org/committees/process.php#2.1
[3] http://lists.oasis-open.org/archives/

====
DISCUSSION LIST PROPOSAL

(1) name of discussion list: 

tag-discuss

(2) A preliminary statement of scope for the TC whose formation the list
is
intended to discuss:

We are considering the creation of a Test Assertion Guidelines (TAG)
OASIS TC
with a charter precisely focused on producing guidelines for
facilitating and
encouraging the creation of test assertions for OASIS specifications. 

The charter would be aligned with the intent of the former OASIS
Conformance TC,
although the focus is here exclusively on test assertions, as opposed to
general
aspects of quality and conformance. The scope of TC deliverables may
include a
formal representation for TAs, e.g. XML mark-up.

The benefits of a common methodology and model for generating test
assertions
(TAs) for OASIS specifications have been recognized by the OASIS Board
and TAB
as well as OASIS staff:

- Quality: When designed at the same time a specification is written,
Test
Assertions also help the TC in sharpening the specification requirements
and
finding missing requirements or error cases. It brings a pragmatic
perspective
to the specification work, and helps uncover potential interoperability
issues.

- Coordination: Test Assertions represent a necessary step from the
narrative of
a specification to the concrete test suite that will verify conformance
to this
specification. No one is better qualified than members of a TC to write
Test
Assertions relative to their specification, but the expertise of TC
members is
usually not in writing test suites: Test Assertions is the necessary
input to a
Quality Assurance team external to the OASIS TC that produced the
specification
under test, for designing test suites. 

- Time to adoption: By enhancing specification quality and completeness,
as well
as facilitating their testing for conformance and/or interoperability,
test
suites and test harnesses can be developed as soon as the specification
is
finalized, and certification or badging programs put in place earlier.
This is
on the critical path in shortening the lead time to deploy
implementations
supporting these standards.

(3) The names, electronic mail addresses, and membership affiliations of
the
three or more Eligible Persons:

- Abbie Barbir, Nortel <abbieb@nortel.com>

- Patrick Curran, Sun <Patrick.Curran@Sun.com>

- Jacques Durand, Fujitsu Computer Systems, <jdurand@us.fujitsu.com>

- Carmelo Montanez, NIST <carmelo@nist.gov>

- Paul Rank, Sun <Paul.Rank@Sun.com>

- Lynne Rosenthal, National Institute for Standards and Technology
(NIST), US.
<lynne.rosenthal@nist.gov>


(4) The name of the discussion list leader:

Jacques Durand



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