Identification of Express Version

[Dave Loffredo]

>>>>> "Phil" == Phil Spiby <Phil.Spiby at Eurostep.com> writes:

Phil> Sorry if you think I am being a little dim here, but I don't see
Phil> a problem!

There may or may not be a problem -- that's what we are trying to
explore with this discussion.


Phil> Of course the ASN.1 number will change if a TC is published, but
Phil> so far we have only published TC's when there has been a clear
Phil> technical need to go through the process. Although some people
Phil> believe the two TC's issued against edition one only fixed up
Phil> minor editorial issues, they both had varying effects on
Phil> conforming parsers (TC2 much more so than TC1 admitted).

Yes, I think we are getting closer to something here.

So this version id is more about parser compliance than about 
language compliance.   

In my opinion, way to address parser compliance is not to force AP
developers to add version numbers to every schema.  Rather, it is to
add TC1, TC2, etc to the PICS, and then have the customers demand
these features from the vendors!


------------------------------
A little thought experiment

What if this ID was in place when TC 1 & 2 came out?

Well, all of the IS schemas in existance would have an ID in place
requiring version(1).  Would TC1 apply to them?  You would probably
put verbage in TC1 saying that it would. 

>From that point on, everyone would just put version(2) in any new
schemas.   Now it's starting to get confusing to the schema writers
because the IRs have a mix of version(1) and version(2) in them.

What have the vendors done at this point?  Would they update their
parsers any faster than before?  Probably not.  Will they refuse to
process versions > 1?  Not likely, unless they want to annoy their
customers.  But if enough vendors do refuse to process versions > 1,
the AP developers will avoid calling for newer versions!

So in 2002, we would have schemas with version(1), version(2), and
version(3).  Seems like this makes life more confusing for the schema
developers, without changing the status quo on parser compliance.


					       - Dave