Re: [wsrp] [CR315] - Producers SHOULD or MAY do userProfile name mapping

[Rich Thompson <richt2@us.ibm.com>]

Since this will be a debate over the
application of conformance language, the following are the copied definitions
from RFC2119:

SHOULD: This word, or the adjective "RECOMMENDED",
mean that there may exist valid reasons in particular circumstances to
ignore a particular item, but the full implications must be understood
and carefully weighed before choosing a different course.

MAY: This word, or the adjective "OPTIONAL",
mean that an item is truly optional.  One vendor may choose to include
the item because a particular marketplace requires it or because the vendor
feels that it enhances the product while another vendor may omit the same
item. An implementation which does not include a particular option MUST
be prepared to interoperate with another implementation which does include
the option, though perhaps with reduced functionality. In the same vein
an implementation which does include a particular option MUST be prepared
to interoperate with another implementation which does not include the
option (except, of course, for the feature the option provides.)


Saying the Producer SHOULD map user
profile names allows for Producers to choose not to support name mapping
(a valid reason for some implementations would be the impact on the PortletDescription
of POPs), but does require that people understand the implications of that
choice (less likely to receive the data).  Reducing this to "MAY"
does not require the Consumer to do the name mapping, though it does make
it easier for Producer developers to blow by the statement.

Note: There is a corresponding SHOULD
relative to Consumers mapping custom user profile names.

Rich

Rich Thompson/Watson/IBM@IBMUS

05/04/05 01:32 PM

To	wsrp@lists.oasis-open.org
cc
Subject	[wsrp] [CR315] - Producers SHOULD or MAY do userProfile name mapping

Document: Specification 2.0 Draft
Requested by: Subbu Allamaraju
Section: 5.1.2 PortletDescription Type
Page: 25
Line: 17
Old Text:
Any use of additional userProfile items specified as available when the
Consumer registered SHOULD use the names the Consumer supplied.

New Text:
Any use of additional userProfile items specified as available when the
Consumer registered MAY use the names the Consumer supplied.

Reasoning:
The current text places the burden on the producer to do the mapping. Since
this requires the producer to change the portlet description after registration,
producers will be required to maintain different portlet description for
each portlet (even for POPs). The changed text 
would place less burden on producers. Producers can still do the mapping,
but it should be completely optional (MAY).