Use of conformance identifiers

[Danny Thorpe <danny.thorpe@bitkoo.com>]

Several of the Xacml 3 profiles (Multiple Decision Profile section 7, SAML 2.0 Profile of XACML, section 9) have conformance sections that state that if your implementation supports feature XYZ, then you should indicate that support using a particular oasis-defined identifier for XYZ. 

 

The wording differs between profiles – the Multiple Decision Profile says these identifiers “may” be used, but the SAML-XACML profile uses “MUST”:  “Each

implementation MUST clearly identify the subsets it implements using the following identifiers.“

 

What does “clearly identify” mean here?  How should these conformance identifiers be exposed?  Are these identifiers intended for automated discovery, or just for documentation?

 

For automated discovery, I can see how this might fit with the HTTP OPTIONS method, where a client can ask a server what options the server supports for a given URL – essentially, retrieve metadata instead of the content.

 

Is that how these conformance identifiers are intended to be reported and consumed?

 

Thanks,

-Danny Thorpe

BiTKOO