[xtm-wg] ANNOUNCE: update to XTM repository (new XTM 1.0 DTD; update to proto-spec)

[Murray Altheim <murray.altheim@eng.sun.com>]

Hi everyone,

It's been an exhausting several days. [I no longer need to bang my head
on the underside of my desk or jam my finger in the car door.]

I've updated the online XTM repository home page at

   http://www.doctypes.org/xtm/home.html

as well as the prototype specification:

   http://www.doctypes.org/xtm/1.0/index.html

The biggest news is that we have a version 1.0 DTD.

   http://www.doctypes.org/xtm/syntax/xtm1.dtd

At least as far as I can ascertain, this DTD represents the agreement 
we had in Dallas with three minor changes, which as far as I know (from 
talking with those I've talked with) are okay:

  a. bug: changed #REQUIRED on 'id' attribute on <subject> to #IMPLIED.
  b. removed <subjectRef> from content model of <instanceOf>. You can't
     have something *else* be an instance of the thing you're referencing
     if the thing you're referencing *is* the subject. Or something like
     that. [I'm waaaay past tired, but we agreed this was necessary.]
  c. changed #IMPLIED to #REQUIRED 'id' attribute on <association>, since
     it is a subtype of <topic> and has the same requirement on needing an
     unambiguous identifier. This will also guarantee that it can be
     pointed to by a topic. (I believe this corresponds to the conceptual
     model as well).

[there were also several erroneous comments in the DTD that have been fixed.]

We needed to lock this down prior to COB today so that we can write about
it, discuss it, etc. in order to produce the content for the specification
by this weekend. more than anything else right now we need stability. There
are still some questions as to how association templates will operate using
this syntax, ie., if there's some way to avoid more profound design changes
at this stage, such as new element types, alterations of content models,
renaming of existing element types, etc. We probably needed another several
days of meetings to finalize this to everyone's satisfaction, to work out a
compromise that "worked" for everyone. We didn't have that time.

Everyone has worked extremely hard, and it's been a difficult process for
all. From what I can tell, Sun has spent *many* thousands of dollars on 
conference calls. We're all worn out. I'm going to begin trying to 
integrate Steve Pepper's syntax documentation so that I have a chance at
digesting everything else I'm expecting. 

I hope everyone gets a chance to rest a bit over the next few days. We
all need it come next week.

My thanks to everyone for their patience. The work we are doing here is
important, and worth the energy. I'm proud of what we have.

And now I'm off to locate some beer. 

Murray W.

...........................................................................
Murray Altheim, SGML/XML Grease Monkey     <mailto:altheim&#64;eng.sun.com>
XML Technology Center
Sun Microsystems, 1601 Willow Rd., MS UMPK17-102, Menlo Park, CA 94025

      In the evening
      The rice leaves in the garden
      Rustle in the autumn wind
      That blows through my reed hut.  -- Minamoto no Tsunenobu

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