ISO/IEC JTC1/SC22/WG9 N428

These minutes are not yet approved.

Minutes
Meeting #44 of ISO/IEC JTC1/SC22/WG9
Friday, 20 June 2003
Toulouse, France

The meeting of ISO/IEC JTC1/SC22/WG9 was collocated with the Ada-Europe conference. It began at approximately 9:00 am on Friday, 20 June 2003 in the Salon Club room.

The announcement and preliminary agenda for this meeting were circulated as N425. The detailed agenda is N427.


Agenda

References


Detailed Agenda Items


Opening Orders, Jim Moore, Convener

Call to Order

The meeting was called to order at 9:15 am.

Welcoming Remarks by Host

Erhard Ploedereder, the President of Ada Europe, welcomed the delegates on behalf of the organization.

Appointment of Meeting Secretary

Tucker Taft (US) agreed to serve as meeting secretary. 

Approval of Agenda

The agenda was approved with the submission of two items of new business:

Approval of Minutes of Meeting #43

Background The draft minutes of Meeting #43 are recorded in document N418.
Discussion Approved without comment.
Resolution [Resolution 44-1]

[Agenda]


National Body Introductions and Reports

Attendees:

National Body Representatives:

Canada Steve Michell (HOD)  
France Jean-Pierre Rosen (HOD), Pascal Leroy [Report]
Germany Erhard Ploedereder (HOD)  
Italy Tullio Vardanega (HOD) [Report]
Japan Kiyoshi Ishihata (HOD)  
Russia (Sergey Rybin was unable to attend)  
Switzerland (Alfred Strohmeier was unable to attend)  
UK John Barnes (HOD), Alan Burns [Report]
USA Joyce Tokar (HOD), Currie Colket, Randy Brukardt, Tucker Taft [Report]

Liaison Representatives

Ada-Europe Erhard Ploedereder
SIGAda Currie Colket

WG9 Officers:

Convener Jim Moore
Webmaster (Clyde Roby was unable to attend)
ARG Rapporteur Pascal Leroy
ASIS RG Rapporteur Currie Colket
HRG Rapporteur Alan Burns
Project Editors
ISO/IEC 8652: Randy Brukardt, Erhard Ploedereder and Pascal Leroy
ISO/IEC TR 11735: (Nasser Kettani was unable to attend)
ISO/IEC 13813 and 13814: (Don Sando, Jon Squire and Ken Dritz were unable to attend)
ISO/IEC 15291: (Clyde Roby and Steven Blake were unable to attend)
ISO/IEC TR 15942: (Brian Wichmann was unable to attend)
ISO/IEC 18009: Erhard Ploedereder

Other Attendees:

 Observers:  Arnaud Lecanu

Those sending regrets include:  Clyde Roby (Webmaster), Alfred Strohmeier (Switzerland)

HOD Reports:

France

The AFNOR-Ada group met on June 13th to prepare for the upcomming WG9 meeting.

Resolutions:

The group reviewed the proposed resolutions and approved them.

AI's:

AI216: A glitch was found on AI216 during the editorial review process, and sent to the ARG. The version proposed to WG9 now includes a satisfactory fix..

AI265: AFNOR noted that this AI proposes to add a section H.6, while there is currently no section numbered H.5. AFNOR recognizes that the state of AI's is tentative a this point in time, but takes this opportunity to remind to be careful not to introduce inconsistencies in numbering due to lack of synchronization between various AI"s.

AFNOR will approve all proposed AIs.

Committee of the Whole / Future of WG9:

AFNOR has no candidate with enough availabilities both in time and funding to offer for the convenorship of WG9.

AFNOR whishes to express its sincere appreciation to J. Moore for his efficient management of the group and professionalism during his term as convener.

Status of ISO/IEC 12227:

The nomination of 12227 as "stabilized" standard was taken by AFNOR at a time where the Ada group was in the process of being restarted, which prevented the group from providing guidance. The group will track the motivations of AFNOR for this nomination, and elaborate a consistent position.

Reviews of AIs submitted to WG9:

It was felt that there is a scheduling problem in the current process for AIs submitted to WG9. A NB can meet for a WG9 preparation meeting only when the agenda has been received. However, at that time, it is too late to correct or withdraw a proposed AI, if an objection is raised, therefore leading to a "no" vote at WG9 level, as happened in Houston. On the other hand, as happened here, if the AIs are circulated early, it is possible to comment and change the AI. The problem is that there is currently no official notification of which AIs will be proposed to WG9 until the agenda is sent.

In order to make "official" the process that worked for this meeting, AFNOR proposes the following resolution:

"That the convener directs the chair of the ARG to send the list of AIs intended for submission to WG9 to all HOD at the time they enter the "editorial review" state. It would then be the duty of each HOD to circulate this information within its own NB for action as appropriate".

Italy

There is no Ada-Italy yet, although I have been having encouraging contacts with potential members from various industrial organisations.

My relevant activity has mostly concentrated on the production of the HRG report on Ravenscar.

I also hosted one meeting of the ARG [in Padua], which allowed me to peek into the details of their activity.

Finally, as the editor of the Ada User Journal, I have managed to obtain from delegated ARG members overview articles with highlights of the language revision process.

  • AUJ 23-4 (December 2002) : Pascal Leroy, An Invitation to Ada 2005, pp. 230-237.
  • AUJ 24-1 (March 2003): Alan Burns, Increasing the Real-Time Expressive Power of Ada 95, pp. 60-63
  • AUJ 24-2 (June 2003): Tucker Taft, article in making on the subject of the OOP extensions.
UK  The Ada UK User group held a meeting in April at which Tucker Taft gave a presentation on some proposals for Ada 0y; some useful feedback was obtained. The BSI Ada group has met and had some discussions regarding adding numerics material. 
USA The Administration of the US TAG is uncertain at the present time -- the call for a new TAG Administrator will not be closed until 26 June.

[Agenda]


Convener's Report

Report 

Possible Reinstatement of ISO/IEC 12227

JTC1 has established a new category of standards called "stabilized" to indicate standards that are no longer maintained but should nevertheless remain on the rolls because they are referenced by other standards or for historical reasons. When JTC1 established this category, they invited nations to nominate recently withdrawn standards for designation as stabilized. France has nominated ISO/IEC 12227. [SC22 N3576]

ISO/IEC 12227 was completed and approved in 1995, the same year that the Ada
language was revised. As the 12227 standard was written in the 1987 version of
the Ada language, it was instantly obsolescent. As time passed, it was clear that there
was little industrial uptake of the standard. In 1999, after careful consideration, WG9, decided that the standard should be withdrawn. On 12 June 1999, WG9 passed the following resolution:

Resolution 36-3:

ISO/IEC JTC1/SC22/WG9 recommends to SC22 that the following standard be
withdrawn when it reaches the end of its five-year life. The standard is
relevant to the 1987 version of the Ada language standard rather than the
current version:

ISO/IEC 12227:1995 SQL/Ada Module Description Language (SAMeDL), Project JTC1.22.31

In due course, this recommendation was acted upon by SC22, JTC1 and ultimately
ISO Central Secretariat, resulting in withdrawal of the standard in 2001.

Recently, JTC1 created a new category of "stabilized" standards. Some NBs
suggested that recently withdrawn standards should be considered for stabilized
status. The SC22 Secretariat asked for nominations under the rule that any
suggestions would be forwarded to JTC1 for consideration.

AFNOR has nominated ISO/IEC 12227. At my request, the US National Body has objected to the reclassification to prevent its automatic forwarding to JTC1.

On 16 June 2003, the SC22 Secretariat advised France to the issue should be discussed in WG9 and asked the convener to add the item to the agenda.

Free Availability of TR 15942

All approvals have been received and TR15942 is now included in the web site of publicly available standards

Systematic Review of Standards

Every year, JTC1 reviews its work programme, notably those standards approved five years prior, hence requiring action to confirm, revise or withdraw. In advance of this consideration, WG9 is required to make a recommendation that is forwarded to SC22 for endorsement. This year, we must consider ISO/IEC 15291, ASIS, and ISO/IEC 18009, Conformity Assessment.

Convener's Term

My second three-year term as convener is scheduled to end with the SC22 plenary meeting in September 2003. Because I served as acting Convener for a year prior to officially taking the job, my service in this regard will have spanned seven years. I have already announced that I will not seek another term as convener. I have advised the US National Body to initiate the search for a replacement. The procedure is that they will search for a candidate within the US. That candidate would be submitted to SC22 for approval at its 2003 plenary meeting. If the candidate is rejected (a truly rare occurrence), the US would look for a different candidate. If the US cannot find an acceptable candidate, the US would offer the convenership to other National Bodies. 

Discussion

Algol is an example of a standard suitable for the status of "stabilized." The delegate of the French NB and the convener have collaborated on drafting a resolution addressing the status of ISO/IEC 12207. It will be considered under new business.

When visiting the web site of publicly available standards, one must ignore the request for userid and password and simply click on the link for the list of standards.

The systematic review of standards will be considered as their individual reports appear in the agenda.

The subject of the convener's term will be address in a meeting of the Committee of the Whole.

[Agenda]


Summary of Action Items and Unimplemented Resolutions

This is the "To Do" list for WG9. Some are informal action items assigned to various participants. Some are formal resolutions, which are not yet implemented. Some are suspense items awaiting action by other groups.
 

Resolution 38-4

ISO/IEC JTC1/SC22/WG9 recommends to SC22 that the following Technical Report be withdrawn when it reaches the end of its five-year review period. The Technical Report is relevant to the 1987 version of the Ada language standard rather than the current version: 

  • ISO/IEC TR 11735:1996, EXTensions for real-time Ada 

For status, see [Project Editor Maintenance Report, 11735]

Action Item 39-5

(HRG Rapporteur): Draft a New Work Item Proposal for the Technical Report providing guidelines and rationale for the use of the Ravenscar profile. 

Status: CLOSED. See N426.

Resolution 40-6

ISO/IEC JTC1/SC22/WG9 recommends to SC22 that the following Standard be confirmed when it reaches the end of its five-year review period: 

  • ISO/IEC 13813:1998 Generic packages of real and complex type declarations and basic operations for Ada (including vector and matrix types) 

ISO/IEC JTC1/SC22/WG9 recommends to SC22 that the following Standard be withdrawn when it reaches the end of its five-year review period: 

  • ISO/IEC 13814:1998 Generic package of complex elementary functions for Ada 

For status, see: [Project Editor Maintenance Report, 13813]

Resolution 40-8

ISO/IEC JTC1/SC22/WG9 requests that SC22 request JTC1 and any other appropriate bodies to take action to ensure that ISO/IEC TR 15942 be made freely available on a web site. 

Status: CLOSED. All approvals have been received and TR15942 is now included in the web site of publicly available standards

Action Item 42-3

(Convener and ASIS RG Rapporteur): Confer to develop a charter or other terms of reference defining the scope of work of the ASIS RG.

Status: CLOSED. Resolution 43-3.

Action Item 42-4

(Convener and ASIS RG Rapporteur): Review ISO procedures for handling defects and develop an appropriate mechanism. Ensure that there are terms of reference for the ASIS RG.

For status, see [ Report of ASIS Rapporteur Group ]

Action Item 42-6

(Currie Colket and Erhard Ploedereder) In cooperation with SIGAda, develop a proposal for a light-weight method for maintaining Ada APIs and present it to WG9.

CLOSED. See N419.

Resolution 42-7

WG9 receives N405, Recommendation on ISO/IEC 13813 from the UK, and N404, Project Editor's Proposal of a Revised ISO/IEC 13813. To consider the recommendations of the UK:

  • The ARG is requested to prepare its recommendation regarding the appropriate packaging for the revised content of the standard. Alternatives to be considered include (but are not limited to) revision of ISO/IEC 13813, incorporation into an amended or revised ISO/IEC 8652, publication as a Technical Report, and publication external to ISO.
  • The convener is directed to circulate email ballots in WG9 to consider and implement any recommendations of the ARG.

For status, see [ Report of Ada Rapporteur Group ]

Action Item 43-1: 

(Convener) Forward a request to the ARG that it prepare a description of technical alternatives addressing the interaction of constrained access subtype and general access types. It is requested that the description include a discussion of tradeoffs among the proposed solutions. It is requested that this description be provided for the June 2003 meeting of WG9.

For status, see [ Report of Ada Rapporteur Group ]

[Agenda]


Scheduling of Meeting #45 and 46

Background

Meeting #45 was tentatively scheduled by Resolution 43-4 [see N418]:

WG9 tentatively schedules Meeting #45 in conjunction with the SIGAda 2003 conference on the Friday of the week that SIGAda 2003 is held and at the same place.

The conference has now been scheduled for 7-11 December 2003 in San Diego, CA, USA. So the WG9 meeting would occur on Friday, 12 December 2003.

Ada-Europe 2004 has been scheduled for 14-18 June 2004, in Palma de Mallorca, Spain. Following the usual practice, the WG9 meeting would occur on Friday, 18 June 2004.

Resolution [Resolution 44-3

[Agenda]


Report of Ada Rapporteur Group, Pascal Leroy (Rapporteur)

Background

WG9 N406: Procedures of the ARG

WG9 N412: Instructions to the Ada Rapporteur Group from SC22/WG9 for Preparation of the Amendment to ISO/IEC 8652.

WG9 N423: Convener's Comments on Instructions to the Ada Rapporteur Group from SC22/WG9 for Preparation of the Amendment to ISO/IEC 8652

Open Item
Resolution 42-7

WG9 receives N405, Recommendation on ISO/IEC 13813 from the UK, and N404, Project Editor's Proposal of a Revised ISO/IEC 13813. To consider the recommendations of the UK:

  • The ARG is requested to prepare its recommendation regarding the appropriate packaging for the revised content of the standard. Alternatives to be considered include (but are not limited to) revision of ISO/IEC 13813, incorporation into an amended or revised ISO/IEC 8652, publication as a Technical Report, and publication external to ISO.
  • The convener is directed to circulate email ballots in WG9 to consider and implement any recommendations of the ARG.

Status: OPEN.

Open Item

Action Item 43-1:

(Convener) Forward a request to the ARG that it prepare a description of technical alternatives addressing the interaction of constrained access subtype and general access types. It is requested that the description include a discussion of tradeoffs among the proposed solutions. It is requested that this description be provided for the June 2003 meeting of WG9.

Status: OPEN. From the ARG Chair, 26 May 2003: "At the Padua ARG meeting I discussed this with Tucker and we agreed that the two of us needed to write a memo covering all the issues and the technical implications of the possible resolutions. We also had the feeling that, while this is an issue that must be addressed in the context of the Amendment, it is not particularly urgent. At this point in time it seems more important to make progress (and try to achieve consensus) on the "big" AIs. Once the scope of the Amendment is frozen (which is at the end of this year) we'll do research on the more pathological and obscure issues."

Written Report

Received from Pascal Leroy, 4 June 2003:

The ARG met in Padua, Italy, in February. As is customary, most of this meeting was devoted to amendment AIs. Good progress was made on a number of amendments: some of them are ready for consideration by WG9 (see list below) while a number of other important new features (e.g. generalized use of anonymous access types, timing events, execution time clocks, etc.) are getting very close to completion.

Two amendments have proven quite difficult, though. One has to do with mutually-dependent types across packages, the other with accidental overloading.

Mutually-dependent types have been studied by the ARG for years, and no less than seven proposals have been submitted on this topic. A good deal of the Padua meeting was devoted to weighting the pros and cons of each of these proposals. Some of them were eliminated, but there are still three candidates, and it seems quite difficult to find a consensus on which approach is best. It is hoped that, with more detailed technical analysis made (in particular by implementers) since the Padua meeting, it will be possible to reach a consensus at the Toulouse meeting.

Accidental overriding is a topic for which an AI was submitted to WG9 (and approved) a few years ago. This AI was using pragmas to mark declarations that are expected to be overrides. However, the ARG realized since then that a number of deep semantic issues had been missed, and that, to properly deal with these issues, a syntax-based solution will be necessary. Such a solution would also have the advantage of being better integrated in the language. However it appears to be difficult to converge on a satisfactory syntax, so progress on this topic has been quite slow.

The ARG has its "usual" motion for the June meeting for approval of a series of AIs. See Resolution 44-9. A pointer to retrieve the AIs is included.

The Rapporteur proposes the following list of members for the ARG: Baird, Baker, Barnes, Brosgol, Brukardt, Burns, Dewar, Dismukes, Duff, Gargaro, Ishihata, Leroy, Michell, Ploedereder, Rosen, Taft, Tokar. (This list is unchanged from the last meeting.) See Resolution 44-2.

The cited AIs can be retrieved from the ACAA Web Site for AIs.

Oral Report Some troublesome Ada Issues may have to be elevated to WG9 for resolution because it has been difficult to reach consensus within the ARG.
Discussion There had been a comment from an NB representative that one of the AIs created a Section H.6 when no H.5 existed; it was noted that H.5 was created in by the resolution of a different AI.
Resolutions [ Resolution 44-9 ] [ Resolution 44-2 ]

[Agenda]


Report of ASIS Rapporteur Group, Currie Colket (Rapporteur)

Background WG9 N417: Charter of the ASIS Rapporteur Group (ASISRG)
Open Items 

Item 42-4

(Convener and ASIS RG Rapporteur): Review ISO procedures for handling defects and develop an appropriate mechanism. Ensure that there are terms of reference for the ASIS RG.

Status: OPEN. Convener and Rapporteur will continue to work on this item. 

Prior Discussion

From Minutes of Meeting #41 [N400]:

ASIS RG is considering the preparation of a New Work Item Proposal to revise and extend ASIS to keep pace with Ada 2005. The ASIS RG may reconsider some of the design goals for the specification.

From Minutes of Meeting #42 [N409r]:

Currie Colket reported that the ASIS RG has begun planning for the development of amendments to the ASIS standard in coordination with the planned amendment to the Ada standard. Steve Blake cannot continue as project editor; however, he has agreed to continue serving until a replacement is found.

Oral Report There has been no meeting of the ASIS RG since last WG9 meeting. They are in the process of updating their web site. They plan to work with the ARG to update ASIS along with the Ada standard.
Discussion Website contains information about ASIS, examples, tutorials, conference papers, etc. Vendors are identified and tools can be mentioned if requested. It was suggested that the web site should have a link to and from the ARA web site.
Resolutions

[Agenda]


Report of Annex H Rapporteur Group, Alan Burns (Rapporteur)

Background WG9 N416, Charter of the HRG
Open Items

Action Item 39-5:

(HRG Rapporteur): Draft a New Work Item Proposal for the Technical Report providing guidelines and rationale for the use of the Ravenscar profile. 

Status: CLOSED. A report has been published by the University of York [N424] A new work item proposal has been drafted to process the York report as an ISO/IEC Type 3 Technical Report [N426]. 

Prior Discussion

From Minutes of Meeting #40, [N389]:

The HRG ... discussed the continuing role of Annex H of ISO/IEC 8652. They discussed the desirability of changing its title to High-Integrity rather than Safety and Security. The HRG might recommend that the fourth section of Annex H should be reworked to better fit with the recently completed TR 15942. They also considered tracking the usage of relevant pragmas implemented by various vendors. 

It is understood that the HRG may work with the University of York or other institutions in obtaining material that might be incorporated into a Technical Report. 

From Minutes of Meeting #41 [N400]:

The HRG has produced an initial 35-page draft of a TR providing guidance on usage of the Ravenscar profile. At yesterday's meeting, they confirmed the structure and the style of the guide. By the next meeting of WG9, they will produce a substantially completed draft. They meeting also reviewed the contents of Annex H of ISO/IEC 8652:1995. 

The International Real-time Ada Workshop (IRTAW) will look at real-time issues during its meeting in April 2002.

Alan mentioned that there were no plans to revise TR 15942.

From Minutes of Meeting #42 [N409r]:

The HRG continues to work with the ARG in developing exact text for the amendment to describe the incorporation of the Ravenscar profile. Work on the guidelines document is progressing. It is anticipated that the guidelines will first be published by the University of York and then contributed to WG9.

There was a discussion regarding the "Free Availability" of Technical Reports. It was asked, on the one hand, why so many reports are available and, on the other hand, why it is so tedious to get permission to make 15942 available. The Convener responded that the initial implementation of free availability explicitly provided for a large backlog. However, new ones still go through formal JTC1 and IEC procedures.

From Minutes of Meeting #43 [N418]:

HRG met in October and finalized the Ravenscar Guide. We await WG9 acceptance of Ravenscar AIs to complete our Guide. This will then be published as a University of York report and offered to WG9 as a Technical Report.

The procedure for treating the NWIP will be to attach the draft report to the NWIP and ask for immediate PDTR Registration.

Email from Alan Burns, 15 May 2003:

Now that the Ravenscar report has been completed and `published' by York [N424], I guess we would still like it to become an ISO technical report.

I think, going on what you said before, this needs a new work item [N426].

Oral Report

The HRG met in October at York University. A paper regarding guidelines for the use of the Ravenscar profile was published. It will be submitted to be processed as an ISO/IEC Technical Report.

The HRG met again on June 16 to discuss possible changes to Annex H. It concluded that the title of the annex should be changed from "Safety and Security" to "High Integrity Systems."

Discussion

The HRG Rapporteur was asked to summarize why the title should be changed. He replied that "High Integrity" has become the accepted name for this category of issues; there is nothing in the annex related to security; and the current contents are broader than safety. Feedback on the proposed name change was favorable. The HRG will submit an AI to change the name.

The Convener noted that the draft Technical Report will be attached to the New Work Item for concurrent PDTR registration. The New Work Item calls for a Type 3 Technical Report -- a document that is inherently unsuited for standardization.

It was noted that any typographical errors in the Report should be fixed prior to submission.

Resolutions [Resolution 44-5]

[Agenda]


Project Editor Maintenance Reports

[Agenda]


Project Editor Maintenance Report, ISO/IEC 8652

Document Status

ISO/IEC 8652:1995 Information Technology--Programming Languages--Ada, 22.10.01, Randy Brukardt and Erhard Ploedereder, Project Editors, supported by the Ada Rapporteur Group.

ISO/IEC 8652:1995/COR.1:2001, Technical Corrigendum to Information Technology--Programming Languages--Ada, 22.10.01, Randy Brukardt and Erhard Ploedereder, Project Editors, supported by the Ada Rapporteur Group.

Project Status

Working Draft, 8652:1995/AMD.1, Randy Brukardt and Pascal Leroy, Project Editors, supported by the Ada Rapporteur Group

The request for subdivision [N388] of Project 22.10.01 was endorsed by WG9 Resolution 40-7 [N389], and approved by SC22 N3310 on 2001-09-12.

Prior Discussion

From Minutes of Meeting #43 [N418]:

Draft 3 of the Amendment document is available at the ACAA Web Site. This document includes all of the AIs approved by the ARG as of the Bedford meeting; thus it is a snapshot of a work-in-progress rather than a finished document in any way.

Work on the accompanying integrated Ada Reference Manual is proceeding slowly due a to lack of funding. Some work has been accomplished, but much more remains to be done. At this time, priority is being given to developing the proposals over editorial presentation of them.

Oral Report Another draft of the amendment was posted in March. The content includes anything approved by the ARG (even if not yet approved by WG9.) There have been no updates to the ARM because of lack of funding. It is important to do this to make sure that there are no errors in integrating the amendment into the base standard. When the Corrigendum was developed, some errors were discovered at this stage.
Discussion

There was some discussion of the advisability of updating the rationale. Leroy suggested that books may be more useful to end users than the rationale. Taft suggested that we may not have to produce as many products for end users -- perhaps some existing paper and other products could be combined. A web site might the appropriate vehicle.

Ploedereder suggested that individual rationale articles, devoted to specific issues, could be published in the Ada Journal. They could then be collected in a book.

The schedule for the amendment includes: WG9 approval of scope in spring 2004 and approval of the wording of the amendment in spring 2005.

[Agenda]


Project Editor Maintenance Report, ISO/IEC TR 11735

Document Status

ISO/IEC TR 11735:1996, Information Technology--EXTensions for Real-Time Ada, 22.35, Nasser Kettani, Project Editor

The Technical Report addressed the Ada 87 language and is effectively replaced by the 1995 language standard. WG9 has requested withdrawal of the standard.

Open Items
Resolution 38-4:

ISO/IEC JTC1/SC22/WG9 recommends to SC22 that the following Technical Report be withdrawn when it reaches the end of its five-year review period. The Technical Report is relevant to the 1987 version of the Ada language standard rather than the current version: 

  • ISO/IEC TR 11735:1996, EXTensions for real-time Ada 

Status: OPEN. This resolution has been reported to SC22 and endorsed (Resolution 00-22) at their plenary meeting in September 2000. However, because of a defect in the wording of the SC22 resolution, JTC1 took no action. SC22 initiated a letter ballot, ending 6 December 2002, to correct the resolution. JTC1 approved the request in 2003. We await implementation.

[Agenda]


Project Editor Maintenance Report, ISO/IEC 13813 and 13814

Document Status

ISO/IEC 13813:1998, Information Technology--Programming Languages--Generic Packages of Real and Complex Type Declarations and Basic Operations for Ada (including Vector and Matrix Types), 22.10.04, Don Sando and Ken Dritz, Project Editors

The standard addresses the Ada 87 language. WG9 plans to incorporate the substance of this standard in the Amendment to ISO/IEC 8652:1995. WG9 has recommended that the 1998 standard be confirmed during the period while the Amendment is under preparation.

ISO/IEC 13814:1998, Information Technology--Programming Languages--Generic Package of Complex Elementary Functions for Ada, 22.10.05, Jon Squire and Ken Dritz, Project Editors

WG9 has voted to withdraw this standard by year-end 2004. (The action awaits approval by JTC1.) The standard addressed the Ada 87 language and is effectively replaced by the 1995 language standard.

Open Items
Resolution 40-6:

ISO/IEC JTC1/SC22/WG9 recommends to SC22 that the following Standard be confirmed when it reaches the end of its five-year review period: 

  • ISO/IEC 13813:1998 Generic packages of real and complex type declarations and basic operations for Ada (including vector and matrix types) 

ISO/IEC JTC1/SC22/WG9 recommends to SC22 that the following Standard be withdrawn when it reaches the end of its five-year review period: 

  • ISO/IEC 13814:1998 Generic package of complex elementary functions for Ada 

Status: OPEN. The recommendations above were endorsed by SC22 Resolution 01-07 at their September 2001 plenary meeting. They have been forwarded to JTC1 for approval (during 2003) and implementation by ITTF (during 2004).

Discussion John Barnes said that he had heard that some National Body had attempted to place ISO/IEC 13814 into "stabilized" status. The convener said that he would check this.

[Agenda]


Project Editor Maintenance Report, ISO/IEC 15291

Document Status ISO/IEC 15291:1999, Information Technology--Programming Languages--Ada Semantic Interface Specification (ASIS), 22.15291, Steve Blake and Clyde Roby, Project Editors, supported by the ASIS Rapporteur Group.
Open Item JTC1, hence SC22, requires a recommendation for the five-year review of the standard: confirm, revise, withdraw.
Discussion It was decided to confirm the standard for now although eventual revision is desired. It was reported that Clyde Roby is willing to remain as co-editor.
Resolution [Resolution 44-7]

[Agenda]


Project Editor Maintenance Report, ISO/IEC TR 15942

Document Status ISO/IEC TR 15942:2000, Guidance for the Use of Ada in High Integrity Systems, 22.15942, Brian Wichmann, Project Editor, supported by the Annex H Rapporteur Group.
Open Items

ISO/IEC JTC1/SC22/WG9 requests that SC22 request JTC1 and any other appropriate bodies to take action to ensure that ISO/IEC TR 15942 be made freely available on a web site. 

Status: CLOSED. All approvals have been received and TR15942 is now included in the web site of publicly available standards

[Agenda]


Project Editor Maintenance Report, ISO/IEC 18009

Document Status ISO/IEC 18009:1999, Conformity Assessment of an Ada Language Processor, 22.18009, Erhard Ploedereder, Project Editors, supported by the Ada Rapporteur Group.
Open Item JTC1, hence SC22, requires a recommendation for the five-year review of the standard: confirm, revise, withdraw.
Discussion It was decided that the standard should be confirmed.
Resolution [Resolution 44-6]

[Agenda]


Liaison Reports


Report of Ada-Europe Liaison Representative, Erhard Ploedereder

Background Ada-Europe is a Category C Liaison to WG9 [See N414]
Open Items None
Oral Report Will offer comments during discussion of convenership.

[Agenda]


Report of SIGAda Liaison Representative, Currie Colket

Background SIGAda is a Category C Liaison to WG9 [See N414]
Prior Discussion

From Minutes of Meeting #43 [N418]:

Clyde Roby made a presentation on a method to deal with APIs. Clyde's presentation will be posted on the WG9 web site as N419.

There were some comments regarding the assurance that SIGAda has the proper rights to republish the artifacts. Erhard noted that an API may be an Ada binding to an implementation in another language or a standalone Ada implementation. Jim noted that "Stamp of Approval" concept might lead to anti-trust problems. "Choosing or Judging" would be an antitrust problem. This should be done under WG9 auspices.

Erhard noted that there should be a long-term program to collect APIs; and a short-term program to select some APIs into Ada 200Y. Make sure that this is clear to participants. Only a few will be selected for the Ada Amendment.

Oral Report

Clyde Roby reported on the formation of a SIGAda API WG at WG9's last meeting. This work is proceeding. Information has been posted to a web page. Material from previous groups is being gathered. They are starting work on CGI and XML interfaces. XML seems to be active also. Some issues remain regarding licensing. API WG will be formally approved soon.

SIGAda is looking at an organization to provide comments on WG9 documents. They should collabrote with the convener and the Ada Europe liaison representative on a procedure for doing this. Comments must be vetted and formed into a consistent position. It was noted that comments on technical documents are generally unwelcome at the WG9 level and should be submitted at the Rapporteur Group level. The convener suggested that the liaison organizations might want to designated formal representatives to the RGs.

[Agenda]


Committee of the Whole

Future of WG9

WG9 recessed to meet as a Committee of the Whole to discuss the following issue: "The current convener of WG9 has stated that he will not stand for election to another term. His term ends at the SC22 Plenary meeting of September 2003. No candidates have stepped forward to take the position of convener. What is the future of WG9 in these circumstances?"

Results of Committee Meeting

At the conclusion of the Committee meeting, WG9 resumed its meeting. The Convener reported that he is willing to remain in his position as a result of financial arrangements discussed during the Committee meeting. He will seek to resolve any outstanding procedural problems to accept a third term as convener.


Unfinished Business

There was none.

[Agenda]


New Business

Two items were tabled: one submitted by France and the second delegated by SC22:

Review of AIs Submitted to WG9:

Item of New Business

From the report of the French National Body:

It was felt that there is a scheduling problem in the current process for AIs submitted to WG9. A NB can meet for a WG9 preparation meeting only when the agenda has been received. However, at that time, it is too late to correct or withdraw a proposed AI, if an objection is raised, therefore leading to a "no" vote at WG9 level, as happened in Houston. On the other hand, as happened here, if the AIs are circulated early, it is possible to comment and change the AI. The problem is that there is currently no official notification of which AIs will be proposed to WG9 until the agenda is sent.

In order to make "official" the process that worked for this meeting, AFNOR proposes the following resolution:

"That the convener directs the chair of the ARG to send the list of AIs intended for submission to WG9 to all HOD at the time they enter the 'editorial review' state. It would then be the duty of each HOD to circulate this information within its own NB for action as appropriate".

Discussion Michell noted that most HODs are already members of the ARG and receive adequate notice. Rosen responded that the official notification would trigger formal consideration by the National Body. It was suggested that the term "HOD" in the proposed resolution should be changed to "NB representatives." The discussion centered on how to treat comments that might result from the circulation of the AI. It was agreed that they should go to the ARG. Editorial comments could be immediately implemented and substantive comments could lead to further processing by the ARG. It was noted, though, that the purpose of the procedure is not to process comments but to assist in forming national positions.
Resolution [ Resolution 44-4 ]

Possible Reinstatement of ISO/IEC 12227

Item of New Business

From the convener's report:

JTC1 has established a new category of standards called "stabilized" to indicate standards that are no longer maintained but should nevertheless remain on the rolls because they are referenced by other standards or for historical reasons. When JTC1 established this category, they invited nations to nominate recently withdrawn standards for designation as stabilized. France has nominated ISO/IEC 12227. [SC22 N3576]

ISO/IEC 12227 was completed and approved in 1995, the same year that the Ada
language was revised. As the 12227 standard was written in the 1987 version of
the Ada language, it was instantly obsolescent. As time passed, it was clear that there
was little industrial uptake of the standard. In 1999, after careful consideration, WG9, decided that the standard should be withdrawn. On 12 June 1999, WG9 passed the following resolution:

Resolution 36-3:

ISO/IEC JTC1/SC22/WG9 recommends to SC22 that the following standard be
withdrawn when it reaches the end of its five-year life. The standard is
relevant to the 1987 version of the Ada language standard rather than the
current version:

ISO/IEC 12227:1995 SQL/Ada Module Description Language (SAMeDL), Project JTC1.22.31

In due course, this recommendation was acted upon by SC22, JTC1 and ultimately
ISO Central Secretariat, resulting in withdrawal of the standard in 2001.

Recently, JTC1 created a new category of "stabilized" standards. Some NBs
suggested that recently withdrawn standards should be considered for stabilized
status. The SC22 Secretariat asked for nominations under the rule that any
suggestions would be forwarded to JTC1 for consideration.

AFNOR has nominated ISO/IEC 12227. At my request, the US National Body has objected to the reclassification to prevent its automatic forwarding to JTC1.

On 16 June 2003, the SC22 Secretariat advised France to the issue should be discussed in WG9 and asked the convener to add the item to the agenda.

Recent Activity

Email from F. Maillard (AFNOR) to M. Deane (SC22 Secretariat), 18 June 2003:

I'm in charge of the secretariat of the mirror committee SC22/WG9 - ADA, the object of this email is to clarify the french request regarding "Proposal for Re-adoption of Withdrawn Standard (ISO/EC
12227:1995) and Simultaneous Transition to Stabilized Status ".

Last friday (2003-06-13) the mirror committee met and discussed the "Proposal for Re-adoption of Withdrawn Standard (ISO/EC 12227:1995) and Simultaneous Transition to Stabilized Status", the french position has been reviewed and the mirror committee has decided to withdraw its request for reinstatement of the standard. The WG9's convener, in agreement with the french delegation, will publish a resolution to rule on this proposal.

If somes more actions (letter mail or any else) are needed to close this matter or if you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me.

Resolution [ Resolution 44-8 ]

[Agenda]


Administrative Actions

Action:

We appreciate the comfortable accommodations provided by Ada-Europe. The resolution expresses WG9's gratitude.

[Resolution 44-10]

Action:

We appreciate the services of the meeting Secretary. The resolution expresses WG9's gratitude.

[Resolution 44-11]

Action:

We appreciate the continuing services of the WG9 Web Master. The resolution expresses WG9's gratitude.

[Resolution 44-12]

Action:

According to the JTC1 Directives, Rapporteur Groups serve from meeting to meeting of the parent body. The following resolution continues the existing RGs and appoints their membership until the next meeting of WG9.

[Resolution 44-2]

[Agenda]


Review of New Action Items

[Agenda]


Final Consideration of Resolutions

The final resolution was added during final consideration. All resolutions were approved unanimously.

Administration

Resolution 44-1:

The minutes of Meeting #43 as contained in document N418 are approved.

[Discussion] [Agenda]

Resolution 44-2:

ISO/IEC JTC1/SC22/WG9 continues its three Rapporteur Groups until the next plenary meeting and expresses its grateful appreciation to the Rapporteurs and members for their continuing service. The following are continued as Rapporteurs:

The membership of each of the Rapporteur Groups is continued.

The Convener of WG9 is authorized to act for WG9 between meetings in appointing additional members of Rapporteur Groups. In doing so, he shall consult with the Rapporteur and the National Body or Liaison Organization designating the member.

Rapporteurs are instructed that they may permit other individuals to observe the deliberations of the Rapporteur Group. The naming of observers and the extent of participation permitted to observers are at the discretion of the Rapporteur with the concurrence of the membership of the Rapporteur Group.

[Discussion] [Agenda]

Resolution 44-3:

WG9 schedules future meetings as follows:

[Discussion] [Agenda]

Resolution 44-4:

The convener directs the chair of the ARG to send the list of AIs intended for submission to WG9 to NB and liaison representatives at the time they enter the 'editorial review' state. It would then be the duty of each NB and liaison representative to circulate this information within their own organization for the purpose of developing a position for the forthcoming meeting of WG9.

[Discussion] [Agenda]

Work Programme

Resolution 44-5:

WG9 authorizes the convener to forward N426 (with editorial corrections) to SC22 for approval as a New Work Item. The convener is also authorized to attach N424 (with editorial corrections) to the NP with a request for concurrent registration as a PDTR.

[Discussion] [Agenda]

Resolution 44-6:

ISO/IEC JTC1/SC22/WG9 recommends to SC22 that the following Standard be confirmed when it reaches the end of its five-year review period:

[Discussion] [Agenda]

Resolution 44-7:

ISO/IEC JTC1/SC22/WG9 recommends to SC22 that the following Standard be confirmed when it reaches the end of its five-year review period:

[Discussion] [Agenda]

Resolution 44-8:

ISO/IEC JTC1/SC22/WG9 directs its convener to report to SC22 as follows: "At the request of SC22 and AFNOR, WG9 has reviewed its recommendation regarding the status of ISO/IEC 12227. As a result of this review, WG9 has decided to confirm its prior recommendation and AFNOR has decided to withdraw its request for reinstatement of the standard."

[Discussion] [Agenda]

Resolution 44-9

WG9 approves the following AIs as written by the ARG, subject to their final editorial correction by the ARG, for incorporation into the planned Amendment to ISO/IEC 8652:

AI95-00216-01/12 2003-05-03 -- Unchecked unions -- variant records with no run-time discriminant
AI95-00224-01/09 2003-05-22 -- pragma Unsuppress
AI95-00265-01/08 2003-05-02 -- Partition Elaboration Policy for High-Integrity Systems
AI95-00270-01/05 2003-05-03 -- Stream item size control
AI95-00287-01/05 2003-05-22 -- Limited Aggregates Allowed
AI95-00310-01/04 2003-05-22 -- Ignore abstract nondispatching subprograms during overloading

In addition, the following "Normal" AIs are approved:

AI95-00167-01/04 2003-05-03 -- Scalar unchecked conversion can be used with 'Valid to prevent erroneousness
AI95-00178-01/04 2003-05-03 -- Which I/O operations are potentially blocking?
AI95-00228-01/05 2003-05-03 -- Premature use of "shall be overridden" subprograms
AI95-00256-01/08 2003-05-02 -- Various wording changes to the standard
AI95-00259-01/05 2003-05-02 -- Can accesses to volatile objects be combined?
AI95-00283-01/03 2003-05-03 -- Truncation of stream files by Close and Reset
AI95-00306-01/03 2003-05-22 -- Class-wide extension aggregate expressions
AI95-00316-01/02 2003-05-22 -- Return accessibility checks and value conversions

[Discussion] [Agenda]

Appreciation

Resolution 44-10:

ISO/IEC JTC1/SC22/WG9 expresses its grateful appreciation to Ada-Europe for their gracious accommodations in hosting Meeting #44.

[Discussion] [Agenda]

Resolution 44-11

ISO/IEC JTC1/SC22/WG9 expresses its grateful appreciation to Tucker Taft for serving as Secretary of Meeting #44.

[Discussion] [Agenda]

Resolution 44-12:

ISO/IEC JTC1/SC22/WG9 expresses its grateful appreciation to Clyde Roby for his continuing service in maintaining the WG9 Web Page.

[Discussion] [Agenda]

Resolution 44-13:

WG9 expresses its grateful appreciation to Jim Moore for his continuing service as convener of WG9.


Closing Remarks by Convener

[These remarks were originally prepared as a farewell by the Convener. Noting the decision of the Convener to seek another term, it was suggested that the remarks should remain as a status report.]

My second full term as convener of SC22/WG9 ends with the SC22 plenary meeting in September 2003. Counting a year as Acting Convener, I will have convened WG9 for seven years -- fourteen meetings.

I assumed the role of Convener at Meeting #31 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, November 1996. Nine National Bodies participated in that meeting. All but one -- Sweden -- continue to participate in some form. In overall terms, though, we have widened participation by admitting two organizations -- Ada-Europe and SIGAda -- as Category C liaisons.

In 1996, WG9 had four completed standards. All but one of those have since been withdrawn, but another five projects have been completed.

In 1996, our collection consisted of a newly updated language standard. It was supplemented by two numerics standards and one binding which were obsolescent, having been written in the old version of the language. Since then, we have:

In addition, we have withdrawn four obsolescent documents.

In 1996, the Ada Joint Program Office was about to disband, marking an inexorable decline in Defense Department support. WG9 played a crucial role in stabilizing the Ada industry infrastructure by reinventing the compiler conformity assessment process.

WG9 has made contributions to the standardization process itself. Our defect reporting procedures were generalized and adopted by SC22, and ultimately JTC1. At our request, JTC1 now permits O-members of subcommittees to fully participate at the working group level. Our continuing pressure for public availability of key documents has caused JTC1 to designate entire classes of documents as publicly available.

Under the leadership of Erhard Ploedereder and now Pascal Leroy, the ARG continues to maintain the vitality of the Ada language.

Under the leadership of Brian Wichmann and now Alan Burns, the HRG continues to improve the focus on Ada on the high-integrity niche.

Under the leadership of Currie Colket, the ASIS RG continues to champion support for compiler-independent tooling.

Under the leadership of Clyde Roby, WG9 developed an award-winning web site to inform the community and provide timely reporting to WG9's participants.

I thank each of my friends here for the support they have provided to me and to WG9 for these past seven years. I wish all of you the best of fortune in the years to come.


Adjournment

The meeting adjourned at approximately 12:30 pm.

[Agenda]


References

WG9 Documents

N388, Request for Subdivision of Project ISO/IEC 8652:1995

N389, Minutes, Meeting #40 of ISO/IEC JTC1/SC22/WG9, Friday, 18 May 2001, Leuven, Belgium

N400Minutes, Meeting #41 of ISO/IEC JTC1/SC22/WG9, Friday, 5 October 2001, Bloomington, Minnesota, USA

N404Working Draft, Revision of ISO/IEC 13813

N405, Recommendation on ISO/IEC 13813 from the UK

N406, Procedures of the Ada Rapporteur Group

N409r, Minutes, Meeting #42, ISO/IEC JTC1/SC22/WG9, Friday, 21 June 2002, Vienna, Austria

N412, Instructions to the Ada Rapporteur Group from SC22/WG9 for Preparation of the Amendment to ISO/IEC 8652, 10 October 2002

N414, Notification of Approval of Category C Liaisons between SC 22/WG 9 and Ada-Europe and SIGAda

N416, Charter of the Annex H Rapporteur Group (HRG)

N417, Proposed Charter of the ASIS Rapporteur Group (ASISRG)

N418, Minutes, Meeting #43, ISO/IEC JTC1/SC22/WG9, Friday, 13 December 2002, Houston, Texas, USA

N419, SIGAda's Approach to the Management of Ada Bindings to Application Program Interfaces (APIs), Clyde Roby, SIGAda, Presented to ISO/WG9, December 13, 2002

N423, Convener's Comments on Instructions to the Ada Rapporteur Group from SC22/WG9 for Preparation of the Amendment to ISO/IEC 8652, December 2002

N424, University of York Technical Report YCS-2003-348, Guide for the use of the Ada Ravenscar Profile in high integrity systems

N425, Announcement and Draft Agenda, Meeting #44 of ISO/IEC JTC1/SC22/WG9, Friday, 20 June 2003, Toulouse, France

N426, Proposed New Work Item, Guide for the use of the Ada Ravenscar Profile in High-Integrity Systems

N427, Detailed Agenda, Meeting #44 of ISO/IEC JTC1/SC22/WG9, 20 June 2003, Toulouse, France

External Web Sites

ISO Web Site: http://www.iso.ch/

ITTF Web site of publicly available standards: http://isotc.iso.ch/livelink/livelink/fetch/2000/2489/Ittf_Home/PubliclyAvailableStandards.htm. (Click on "Proceed to Public Areas". No username or password is required.)

JTC1 Web Site: http://www.jtc1.org/

SC22 Web Site: http://www.dkuug.dk/JTC1/SC22/

WG9 Web Site: http://www.dkuug.dk/JTC1/SC22/WG9/

ACAA Web Site: http://www.ada-auth.org/

ACAA Web Site for ARG Minutes: http://www.ada-auth.org/arg-minutes.html

ACAA Web Site for AIs: http://www.ada-auth.org/cgi-bin/cvsweb.cgi/AIs/

ACAA Web Site for Amendment: http://www.ada-auth.org/amendment.html

Ada-Europe Web Site: http://www.ada-europe.org/

Ada-Europe 2003 Conference Web Site: http://www.irit.fr/AdaEurope2003/

SIGAda Web Site: http://acm.org/sigada/

SIGAda 2003 Conference Web Site: http://www.acm.org/sigada/conf/sigada2003/

[Agenda]


End of Document