Proposed Charter for OASIS OAXAL TC

["Mary McRae" <mary.mcrae@oasis-open.org>]

To OASIS Members:

  A draft TC charter has been submitted to establish the Open Architecture for
XML Authoring and Localization  (OAXAL) Technical Committee. In accordance with
the OASIS TC Process Policy section 2.2: 
(http://www.oasis-open.org/committees/process-2008-02-05.php#formation) the
proposed charter is
hereby submitted for comment. The comment period shall remain open until 11:45
pm ET on 26 May 2008. 

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proposed charters. Any OASIS member may post to this list by sending email to:
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  A telephone conference will be held among the Convener, the OASIS TC
Administrator, and those proposers who wish to attend within four days of the
close of the comment period. The announcement and call-in information will be
noted on the OASIS Charter Discuss Group Calendar.

  We encourage member comment and ask that you note the name of the proposed TC
(OAXAL) in the subject line of your email message. 

Regards,

Mary
 
---------------------------------------------------
Mary P McRae
Manager of TC Administration, OASIS
email: mary.mcrae@oasis-open.org  
web: www.oasis-open.org
phone: 603.232.9090
 

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PROPOSED CHARTER FOR REVIEW AND COMMENT

OASIS Open Architecture for XML Authoring and Localization Reference Model
(OAXAL) Technical Committee

 (1)(a) The name of the TC, such name not to have been previously used for an
OASIS TC and not to include any trademarks or service marks not owned by OASIS.
The proposed TC name is subject to TC Administrator approval and may not include
any misleading or inappropriate names. The proposed name must specify any
acronyms or abbreviations of the name that shall be used to refer to the TC. 

OASIS Open Architecture for XML Authoring and Localization Reference Model
(OAXAL) Technical Committee

(1)(b) A statement of purpose, including a definition of the problem to be
solved. 

OAXAL represents a method to exploit technical documentation assets by extending
the usefulness of core XML-related standards in a comprehensive Open Standards
based architecture. 

The OAXAL allows system builders to create an integrated environment for
document creation and localization, with reference to the following
international standards:

W3C ITS - an XML vocabulary that defines translatability rules for a given XML
document type.

xml:tm - XML-based text memory, a LISA OSCAR standard for author and translation
memorySRX - Segmentation Rules eXchange, an XML vocabulary defining segmentation
rules for each language.

GMX - Global Information Management Metrics Exchange, a LISA OSCAR standard for
word and character count and metrics exchange.

TMX - Translation Memory eXchange, a LISA OSCAR standard for exchanging
translation memories.

Unicode TR29 - primary Unicode standard defining word and sentence boundaries.

DITA -  Darwin Information Typing Architecture, an OASIS standard for component
based XML publishing

XLIFF - XML Localization Interchange File Format, an OASIS standard for
exchanging localization data

The OAXAL TC will deliver an Open Architecture for XML Authoring and
Localization Reference Model. 
This Reference Model will demonstrate the integration of the standards listed
above to present a complete automated package from authoring through
translation. Authors are provided with a systematic way to identify and store
all previously authored sentences. Authors are encouraged to reuse existing
sentences; such sentences are likely to have been previously translated,
providing a means to increase translation matches.

Once the Reference Model has been delivered, the TC may consider appropriate
follow-up, including the creation of sub-committees, promotional material,
liaisons or other promulgation of the TC's work, in order to promote the use of
the OAXAL Reference Model in specific OAXAL implementations, in particular for
vertical industries.

(1)(c) The scope of the work of the TC, which must be germane to the mission of
OASIS, and which includes a definition of what is and what is not the work of
the TC, and how it can be determined when the work of the TC has been completed.
The scope may reference a specific contribution of existing work as a starting
point, but other contributions may be made by TC Members on or after the first
meeting of the TC. Such other contributions shall be considered by the TC
Members on an equal basis to improve the original starting point contribution. 

The TC will:

-- deliver an Open Architecture for XML Authoring and Localization Reference
Model and, if it elects, ancillary materials as described under "purpose" above.

-- allow the commission of sub-committees to create specialized OAXAL models for
vertical industries or technology families.

-- propose usage and implementation guidelines for creating specializations of
the reference model, whether as a formal methodology or as best practice
guidelines.

In no event shall this Technical Committee finalize or approve any technical
specification if it believes that the use, distribution, or implementation of
such specification would necessarily require the unauthorized infringement of
any third party rights known to the Technical Committee, and such third party
has not agreed to provide necessary license rights on perpetual, royalty-free,
non-discriminatory terms.

Benefits of OAXAL

OAXAL offers the following benefits:
.	Supports the DITA topic-oriented architecture
.	Supports content reuse among different deliverables
.	Supports author memory repository at the sentence level
.	Encourages consistency in authoring
.	Enhances the reuse of translation memory 
.	Reduces translation cost and time
.	Automates a heretofore manual process

(1)(d) A list of deliverables, with projected completion dates.

1. Reference Model: completion date in twelve months from formation of this TC.

2. Specializations of the Reference Model, possibly including reference
architectures, for vertical industries, technology families or other special
interest groups: optional.

(1)(e) Specification of the IPR Mode under which the TC will operate.
RF on Limited Terms

(1)(f) The anticipated audience or users of the work.

Anyone involved in the design, documentation or implementation of XML-based
Structured Authoring Localization systems or components thereof, regardless of
the standards body under which the work is sanctioned.

(1)(g) The language in which the TC shall conduct business.

English.

(2) Non-normative information regarding the startup of the TC, which includes: 
(2)(a) Identification of similar or applicable work that is being done in other
OASIS TCs or by other organizations, why there is a need for another effort in
this area and how this proposed TC will be different, and what level of liaison
will be pursued with these other organizations.

OAXAL comprises the following Open Standards from the relevant Standards
Organizations:
W3C: 
ITS - Internationalization Tag Set (ITS) Version 1.0 (03 April 2007). 
Status: W3C Recommendation. 
Purpose: ITS is designed to be used with schemas to support the
internationalization and localization of schemas and documents. 

LISA OSCAR: 
xml:tm - XML Text Memory (xml:tm) Version 1.0 (26 February 2007). 
Status: LISA OSCAR Standard. 
Purpose: xml:tm is a vocabulary to store text memory information within an XML
document using the XML namespace syntax.
SRX - Segmentation Rules eXchange (SRX)  Version 1.0 (20 April 2004). 
Status: LISA OSCAR Standard (version 2.0 currently under review). 
Purpose: SRX is an XML-based standard for description of the ways in which
translation and other language-processing tools segment text for processing.
TMX - Translation Memory eXchange format (TMX) Version 1.4b (26 April 2005). 
Status: LISA OSCAR Standard (version 2.0 currently under review). 
Purpose: TMX provides a standard method for describing translation memory data
that is being exchanged among tools and/or translation vendors, while
introducing little or no loss of critical data during the process.
GMX - Global Information Management Metrics eXchange Volume (GMX-V) Version 1.0
(26 February 2007). 
Status: LISA OSCAR Standard. 
Purpose: GMX-V defines the metrics that allow for the unambiguous sizing of a
given Global Information Management task. GMX-V is one of the tripartite Global
Information Management standards which encompass volume (GMX-V), complexity
(GMX-C) and quality (GMX-Q). GMX-V addresses the issue of quantifying the
workload for a given localization or translation task.

Unicode:
Unicode Technical Report #29, Text Boundaries forms an integral part of the
Unicode Standard, but is published online as a separate document. Current
Version 5.0.0 (12 October 2006). 
Status: Unicode Technical Report (Version 5.1.1 currently under review). 
Purpose: Unicode TR#29 Describes guidelines for determining default boundaries
between certain significant text elements: grapheme clusters ("user-perceived
characters"), words, and sentences.

OASIS:
XLIFF - XML Localization Interchange File Format (XLIFF) Version 1.2 (24 July
2007). 
Status OASIS Standard. 
Purpose: XLIFF defines a vocabulary to store localizable data and carry it from
one step of the localization process to the other, while allowing
interoperability between tools.
DITA - Darwin Information Typing Architecture (DITA) Version  v1.1 (1 August
2007). 
Status OASIS Standard. 
Purpose: DITA defines both a) a set of document types for authoring and
organizing topic-oriented information; and b) a set of mechanisms for combining
and extending document types using a process called specialization.

(2)(b) The date, time, and location of the first meeting, whether it will be
held in person or by phone, and who will sponsor this first meeting. The first
meeting of a TC shall occur no less than 30 days after the announcement of its
formation in the case of a telephone or other electronic meeting, and no less
than 45 days after the announcement of its formation in the case of a
face-to-face meeting.
Teleconference: 
Proposed Date: 14 July 2008 11 am

(2)(c) The projected on-going meeting schedule for the year following the
formation of the TC, or until the projected date of the final deliverable,
whichever comes first, and who will be expected to sponsor these meetings.
The TC will meet bi-weekly unless decided otherwise by the TC. 
The TC will use a free conference call service.

(2)(d) The names, electronic mail addresses, and membership affiliations of at
least Minimum Membership who support this proposal and are committed to the
Charter and projected meeting schedule.
JoAnn Hackos - joann.hackos@comtech-serv.com - ComTech Services Inc
Andrzej Zydroń - azydron@xml-intl.com - Associate
Tony Jewtushenko - tony.jewtushenko@productinnovator.com - Associate
Arle Lommel - arle@lisa.org - Localization Industry Standards Assoc. (LISA)
Mavis Cournane - mcournane@cognitran.com - Cognitran
Bryan Schnabel - bryan.s.schnabel@tek.com - Individual
Rodolfo Raya - rmraya@maxprograms.com - Associate

(2)(e) The name of the Convener who must be an Eligible Person.
Andrzej Zydron

(2)(f) The name of the Member Section with which the TC intends to affiliate, if
any.
None

(2)(g) Optionally, a list of contributions of existing technical work that the
proposers anticipate will be made to this TC.

(2)(h) Optionally, a draft Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) document regarding
the planned scope of the TC, for posting on the TC's website.

(2)(i) Optionally, a proposed working title and acronym for the specification(s)
to be developed by the TC.
Open Architecture for XML Authoring and Localization Reference Model (OAXAL-RM)