ISO/IEC JTC1/SC22/WG9 N451

Approved with correction by Resolution 49a-1, 13 December 2005

Minutes
Meeting #48 of ISO/IEC JTC1/SC22/WG9
Friday, 24 June 2005
York, UK

Meeting #48 of ISO/IEC JTC1/SC22/WG9 was colocated with the Ada-Europe conference.

The announcement and preliminary agenda for this meeting were circulated as N449. The detailed agenda was circulated as N450.


Agenda

References


Detailed Agenda Items


Opening Orders, Jim Moore, Convener

Call to Order

The meeting began at approximately 2:15 pm.

Welcoming Remarks by Host

The local organizer of the Ada-Europe conference, Alan Burns, made brief welcoming remarks..

Appointment of Meeting Secretary

The convener kept notes of the meeting resulting in these minutes.

Approval of Agenda

The detailed agenda was circulated as N450. It was approved with the addition of two items:

With these changes, the agenda was approved.

Approval of Minutes of Meeting #46

Background The draft minutes of Meeting #47 are recorded in document N448
Discussion The minutes were approved as distributed.
Resolution [Resolution 48-1]

[Agenda]


National Body Introductions and Reports

Attendees:

National Body Representatives:

Belgium Dirk Craeynest (HOD)
Canada  Steve Michell (HOD)
France Jean-Pierre Rosen (HOD), Pascal Leroy
Germany Erhard Ploedereder (HOD)
Italy Tullio Vardanega (HOD)
Japan Kiyoshi Ishihata (HOD)
Switzerland Urs Mauer (HOD)
UK John Barnes (HOD), Alan Burns, Kit Lester
USA Joyce Tokar (HOD), Randy Brukardt

Liaison Representatives

Ada-Europe Erhard Ploedereder
SIGAda David Harrison

WG9 Officers:

Convener Jim Moore
Webmaster Clyde Roby (unable to attend)
ARG Rapporteur Pascal Leroy
ASIS RG Rapporteur Currie Colket (unable to attend, but represented by Dr. Alok Srivistava)
HRG Rapporteur Alan Burns
Project Editors
ISO/IEC 8652: Erhard Ploedereder, Randy Brukardt, and Pascal Leroy
ISO/IEC 13813 and 13814: Don Sando, Jon Squire and Ken Dritz (all unable to attend)
ISO/IEC 15291: Clyde Roby and Greg Gicca (both unable to attend)
ISO/IEC TR 15942: Brian Wichman (unable to attend)
ISO/IEC 18009: Erhard Ploedereder

Other Attendees:

 Observers:  Ahlan Marriott (President, Ada in Switzerland)

Those sending regrets include:  Clyde Roby, Currie Colket

HOD Reports:

France

The following report was submitted shortly after the final pre-meeting distribution of the agenda:

The Ada group of AFNOR met on June 16th to prepare for the upcoming WG9 meeting.

The group supports the positions of the convenor.

On the issue of publishing the consolidated reference manual, the group questionned its necessity.

On the issue of the vernacular name, it was felt that the name Ada2006 carried a small negative message for the Ada community, while Ada2005 would carry a strong negative message to the public at large. Since Ada needs mainly a good publicity outside its own community, the name Ada2006 is preferred.

The group reaffirmed its support toward a quick update of the ASIS standard. The solution that would ensure the fastest path is preferred, including charging the ARG with this duty.

It was felt that WG9 would have more work to do past the publication of the amendment; topics are AIs on the amended standard, ASIS, and the possible endorsement of secondary standards and/or IWA for commonly used libraries. In any case, the future of WG9 is strongly connected to the continuation of the ARG. It is recognized however that the issue of the cost of meetings shoud be addressed, and that WG9 should work in the most cost-effective way.

Considering the importance of standard libraries for the popularity of the language, AFNOR proposes to add a topic to the "committee of the whole" discussion on the issue of measures that could be taken to foster the development of secondary standards.

Belgium

Oral report:

Belgium believes that it is important to update the ASIS standard to correspond to the new Ada language specification.

[Agenda]


Liaison Reports


Report of Ada-Europe Liaison Representative, Erhard Ploedereder

Background Ada-Europe is a Category C Liaison to WG9 [See N414]
Prior Discussion

Minutes of Meeting #47 [N448]:

Erhard Ploedereder reported ... that the Ada Europe conference is scheduled for 20-24 June 2005, in York, UK, and welcomed WG9 to colocate its meeting.

Oral Report Ada-Europe invited WG9 to colocate its meeting #50 with the Ada-Europe conference in Porto, Portugal, on the morning of Friday, 9 June 2006.

[Agenda]


Report of SIGAda Liaison Representative, David Harrison

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.

From Minutes of Meeting #44 [N428]:

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.

From Minutes of Meeting #47 [N448]:

Currie Colket reported that SIGAda has named a chair, Geoff Smith, of its APIWG (Application Programming Interface Working Group) to replace Clyde Roby who has been acting in the role. Geoff will lead an effort to update the draft charter and to gain its approval by SIGAda.

Oral Report

SIGAda confirmed its previous invitation for WG9 to colocate its meeting #49 with the SIGAda conference on the afternoon of Thursday, 17 November 2005, in Atlanta, Georgia, USA.

SIGAda advised WG9 of the results of its recent election. John McCormick was elected chair.

[Agenda]


Convener's Report

Report 

End of Convener's Term

It should be noted that my third term as convener will end with the SC22 plenary of September 2006. Considering the two years spent as acting convener, I will have served for eleven years in all. The procedure for filling the position is for the US to nominate a person who must then be confirmed by SC22. If the US cannot find a candidate, then the convenership will be made available to other national bodies.

Correspondence with Unaffiliated Individuals

The convener has been in correspondence with two individuals who are not affiliated with national bodies or with any liaison organizations. In such cases, the convener refers such individuals to their respective national bodies so their viewpoints may be appropriately considered.

JTC1 and SC22 Vocabulary Projects

Both JTC1 and SC22 have determined the need to update their long-obsolete terminology standards. At their Sep 2004 plenary, SC22 asked its working groups to submit the definitions clause of each of their standards. Here is a summary of WG9 responses:

  • 8652 has only in-line definitions, most of which seem very specific to Ada. The convener submitted the informative glossary.
  • 15291 is in a similar situation. Working with the editor, Clyde Roby, the convener submitted the informative glossary.
  • 15942 was determined to contain no definitions.
  • 18009: the convener submitted the definitions clause.
  • 24718: the editor, Alan Burns, submitted the definitions clause.

New Directions for SC22

At the SC22 plenary, a study group was created to consider possible new projects for SC22. I serve as a member of this study group and am leading a sub-group to consider standards or technical reports regarding language subsets or usage guidelines in software systems with critical characteristics, such as safety or security. The sub-group has primarily focused on a document that would provide a list of vulnerabilities that are common to many languages or specific to a few languages. The document would describe linguistic means to avoid the vulnerability of extra-linguistic means to mitigate thre risk. The initial report of the study group was submitted to an ad hoc group on Future Directions for SC22. That group encouraged the preparation of a New Work Item Proposal. Additional information on this work can be found at the web site of the SC22 High Integrity Ad Hoc Group.

Future of ASIS

In order to remain useful, the ASIS standard, ISO/IEC 15291, must be updated to reflect the amendment to ISO/IEC 8652. A discussion of that issue has been scheduled for later in the meeting.

Publication and Free Availability of TR 24718

ISO/IEC TR 24718 has been published by ISO Central Secretariat. SC22 and JTC1 have endorsed free availability. The request awaits action by ITTF and ISO Central Secretariat.

Reconsideration of JTC1 Confirmation of ISO/IEC 13814

After a somewhat convoluted series of events, JTC1 has agreed with WG9's request to withdraw ISO/IEC 13814. The result of their voting is documented in 22N3752, Summary of Voting on JTC 1 N 7405, SC 22 Request to JTC 1 to Reconsider the Decision to Confirm ISO/IEC 13814. WG9 awaits implementation by ITTF and ISO Central Secretariat.

Confirmation of 15291 and 18009 and Needed Confirmation of 8652

As requested by WG9 (and endorsed by SC22), ISO/IEC TR 15291 and ISO/IEC 18009 were recommended for "confirmation" by JTC1 in its most recent systematic review. The recommendations go to ITTF for decision and to ISO Central Secretariat for implementation. Also, ISO/IEC 8652 is reaching the end of its second five-year review period. Accordingly, a motion has been drafted recommending confirmation for that standard.

Vernacular Name of the Language and Publication of a new Edition of the Ada Language Standard

The convener is aware that discussion of these issues has occurred in the ARG. The convener believes that any decisions regarding these issues should be made at the WG9 level. Accordingly, discussion has been scheduled for later in the meeting.

Schedule for Consideration of Amendment

The most current schedule has been included in the material related to the ARG report.

Future of WG9

With the completion of the amendment to the Ada language standard, it may be appropriate for WG9 to consider changing its methods of operation. A discussion has been scheduled for later in this meeting.

[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 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 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:

  • ISO/IEC 18009:1999, Conformity Assessment of an Ada Language Processor

CLOSED: For details, see [Project Editor Maintenance Report, ISO/IEC 18009]

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:

  • ISO/IEC 15291:1999, Information Technology--Programming Languages--Ada Semantic Interface Specification (ASIS)

CLOSED: For details, see [Project Editor Maintenance Report, ISO/IEC 15291]

Action Item 46-1:

(Rapporteur of ASIS RG): Draft a new work item proposal for the revision of the ASIS standard, ISO/IEC 15291.

For status, see [Report of ASIS Rapporteur Group]

Action Item 46a-3

(Brian Wichmann: Editor, ISO/IEC TR 15942:2000):

To implement Resolution 04-01 of the 2004 SC22 plenary, each WG9 project editor is instructed to provide comments on 22N3784 and the text (in text format) of any definition clauses of their standard to the SC22 Terminology Chair, Roger Scowen (email: roger.scowen@npl.co.uk) by 7 March 2005.

CLOSED: For status, see [Project Editor Maintenance Report 15942]

Action Item 46a-4

(Clyde Roby: Editor, ISO/IEC 15291:1999):

To implement Resolution 04-01 of the 2004 SC22 plenary, each WG9 project editor is instructed to provide comments on 22N3784 and the text (in text format) of any definition clauses of their standard to the SC22 Terminology Chair, Roger Scowen (email: roger.scowen@npl.co.uk) by 7 March 2005.

CLOSED: For status, see [Project Editor Maintenance Report 15291]

Action Item 46a-5

(Erhard Ploedereder: Editor, ISO/IEC 18009:1999):

To implement Resolution 04-01 of the 2004 SC22 plenary, each WG9 project editor is instructed to provide comments on 22N3784 and the text (in text format) of any definition clauses of their standard to the SC22 Terminology Chair, Roger Scowen (email: roger.scowen@npl.co.uk) by 7 March 2005.

CLOSED: For status, see [Project Editor Maintenance Report, 18009]

Action Item 46a-6

(Alan Burns: Editor, DTR 24718):

To implement Resolution 04-01 of the 2004 SC22 plenary, each WG9 project editor is instructed to provide comments on 22N3784 and the text (in text format) of any definition clauses of their standard to the SC22 Terminology Chair, Roger Scowen (email: roger.scowen@npl.co.uk) by 7 March 2005.

CLOSED: For status, see [Project Editor Maintenance Report, 24718]

Action Item 47-1

[Convener] Request SC22 to endorse free availability of the Ravenscar Guide, ISO/IEC TR 24718.

For status, see: [Project Editor Maintenance Report, 24718]

Action Item 47-2

[Convener] Determine if processing of the Amendment can be accelerated by combining votes at the SC22 level.

CLOSED: On 13 January 2005, the convener advised WG9 that the schedule already incorporated all permitted means of acceleration..

Action Item 47-3

[ASIS Rapporteur] At next meeting of WG9, report on vitality of ASIS RG and recommend any changes in duties to facilitate the update of ASIS to Ada 2005.

For status, see [ Report of ASIS Rapporteur ]

Resolution 47-6:

WG9 directs its convener to respond to SC22 Resolution 04-15 by sending an edited revision of document WG9 N445 to the Secretariat of SC22. [Convener's note: The edited revision of the document is N447.]

CLOSED: The document was circulated by the SC22 Secretariat as SC22 N3834, WG 9 Explanatory Report Regarding SC 22 Resolution 04-15, 2004-12-01.

[Agenda]


Scheduling of Meetings

Background

Resolution 47-3 scheduled "Meeting #49 in conjunction with the 2005 SIGAda conference, Thursday, 17 November 2005, Atlanta, Georgia, USA."

The resolution below confirms the previous arrangement for Meeting #49 and adds the intent to meet with Ada-Europe in 2006.

Resolution [Resolution 48-3

[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

WG9 N437: ARG Rapporteur’s Proposal for Defining Scope of Amendment to ISO/IEC 8652:1995

Resolution 44-4 of N428: 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.

SC22 Resolution 02-24: Recommendation on Coded Character Sets Support:
JTC 1/SC 22 believes that programming languages should offer the appropriate support for ISO/IEC 10646, and the Unicode character set where appropriate.

SC22 Resolution 04-15: Coded Character Sets:
JTC 1/SC 22 agrees that the proposed implementation of coded character set support
described in document N 3758 agrees with the principles for coded character set support previously adopted by SC 22, notably resolution 02-24. JTC 1/SC 22 instructs WG 9 to consider referencing ISO/IEC TR 10176 Annex A in the revision of the Ada language standard.

WG9 N447, Explanatory Report re SC22 Resolution 04-15

From Minutes of Meeting #46 [N440]:

At its San Diego meeting, WG9 considered the best way to proceed with standardization of APIs, and recommended the use of Technical Reports or International Workshop Agreements to reach agreement on APIs (see resolution 45-6). ... At this point it appears that AI95-00302-03 will likely be part of the Amendment, and that there is no need to start an alternative standardization process.

As directed by WG9, the Rapporteur has prepared a document presenting the scope of the Amendment. In general, the AIs mentioned in this document either have either been approved by WG9 or are very close to approval. However, some of them still require technical refinement before the ARG can decide whether to include them in the Amendment. Others are controversial. In both cases, the AIs have been included in the scope document with the understanding that this inclusion is provisional.

Resolution 46-8:

WG9 approves the scope of Amendment 1 to ISO/IEC 8652:1995 as defined by N437 and requests the ARG to initiate preparation and circulation of draft text of the Amendment.

From Minutes of Meeting #47 [N448]:

The Ada Rationale will include a note explaining why the Amendment references IS 10646 regarding character set coding rather than TR 10176. [Document N447 is relevant.] ...

Alan Burns asked about the schedule for processing the Amendment. The convener replied that WG9 must approve the amendment--either at a meeting or by an email ballot. Then the processing is similar to approving a standard. Approval by JTC1 would probably occur in early 2006. The Convener took an action item, 47-2, to determine if processing could be accelerated by combining votes at the SC22 level. [It was subsequently determined that no further improvement could be made.]

From email note of convener, 16 May 2005:

As we approach the end-game for the Amendment to ISO/IEC 8652, it is important for us to handle the document so that intellectual property rights are appropriately conveyed. This is performed through a "contribution" to ISO/IEC JTC 1/SC 22/ WG 9. In this case, the contribution is made by the US National Body.

The text of the draft amendment is currently the property of AXE Consultants. It was prepared under a contract initiated by The MITRE Corporation at the direction of the US Department of Defense. AXE Consultants has been coordinating with WG9's Ada Rapporteur Group (ARG) to ensure that the draft meets the requirements of the ARG as specified in their disposition of Ada Issues. The document will also be informally circulated to WG9 for comment. After dealing with the comments, a draft will be produced that carries the copyright of AXE Consultants.

When the time is appropriate to make the contribution, AXE Consultants will provide the document to the TAG Administrator, Robert Pritchard, of the IEEE. The document will be covered by a letter that explains that the document carries the AXE copyright in order to clarify the unfettered right of AXE Consultants to make the contribution, that AXE Consultants understands that the AXE copyright statement will be removed, and that an ISO copyright statement will be affixed to the document resulting from the JTC 1 balloting process.

Dr. Pritchard will forward the document to the "ISO Team" at ANSI. ANSI will send the document to the SC22 Secretariat--the formal "contribution". The SC22 Secretariat will forward the document to the Convener of WG9. The Convener will cover the document with a note explaining the situation with the AXE copyright and will then commence a formal WG ballot to approve sending the draft to SC22 for balloting.

Report

The following report was submitted shortly after the final pre-meeting distribution of the agenda:

The ARG met in Atlanta, GA, in November; in Arcueil, France, in February; and in Burlington, MA, in April. It is uncommon to have meetings so close together, but the purpose was to resolve last-minute issues found during integration of the AIs in the Amendment document and the Reference Manual.

The Atlanta meeting was the last one where addition of new capabilities to the language were considered. Because of the late date, this was done very conservatively, and only the most important and less disruptive changes were approved. A number of interesting proposals on which the ARG had toiled long and hard were discarded because they were insufficiently mature.

At the same meeting, various sections of the core language were assigned to ARG members for review, the goal being that each section would be reviewed by at least two people. The review took place in January, and roughly 800 comments were gathered. The most important ones led to the creation of AIs that were considered at the next meeting.

The Arcueil meeting was mostly devoted to resolving AIs that originated in comments and questions received during the review of the core language (about 25 AIs). The editorial changes made during integration of the core language were also reviewed and approved (in some cases with minor tweaks).

At the same meeting, the annexes were assigned to ARG members for review, using the same principles as for the review of the core language. At that date however not all the annexes were ready for review, so a first batch of review took place in March, and a second batch in April.

The Burlington meeting, like the Arcueil meeting, was mostly devoted to resolving AIs that originated in comments and questions received during the review of the entire standard (about 15 AIs). Again, the editorial changes made since the last meeting were reviewed and approved.

Since the Burlington meeting the final integration and review of the Reference Manual has started, and at the time of this writing most of the core language is done. It is clear however that there is still at least a month of work needed to complete the draft Reference Manual to be circulated to the WG9 Officers and Heads of Delegations. The delay would not be too problematic, but the funding of the Editor might become an issue very soon.

Unusually, the ARG doesn't have a list of AIs for approval at this meeting. As explained above, most of the AIs are addressing integration problems, and approving them in isolation doesn't make much sense.

The Rapporteur proposes the following list of members for the ARG: Baird, Barnes, Brukardt, Burns, Dewar, Dismukes, Duff, Ishihata, Leroy, Michell, Ploedereder, Rosen, Schonberg, Taft, Tokar, Vardanega.

Oral Report

The Rapporteur provided an additional report based on a meeting of the ARG previous in the week.

The ARG now believes that it can release a draft of the amendment to WG9 no earlier than 1 October 2005. All text prepared between now and then will be reviewed via email interaction.

Discussion

Germany asked the convener to update the previous schedule (see here) based on the assumption that T is 1 October. The convener replied as follows:

  • 1 to 31 October: Informal review by member bodies and "socialization" to the public, resulting in minor comments.
  • 1 to 30 November: ARG makes changes based on received comments.
  • 1 to 31 December: Email letter ballot for WG9 approval.
  • After these steps, the document goes to SC22 and then JTC1 for their approval. The "speed of light" for these steps is 6 months. So, if the ARG releases the draft for informal review by member bodies on October 1, the earliest possible date for approval of the amendment by JTC1 would be 30 June 2006. In practice, administrative delays would add another month or two to this date.
  • Publication of the resulting amendment would occur after an indeterminate period of time. (In answer to a question, the convener noted that the amendment is dated according to its date of publication, not its date of approval.)

It was noted that publication might actually occur during the year 2007.

It was also noted that if the load of comments from the initial informal review is light and the comments are easily disposed, then it might be possible for WG9 to provide its approval at Meeting #49 in November rather than by conducting an email ballot. This would serve to accelerate the schedule by about 6 weeks.

It was noted that speedy processing crucially depends on receiving comments early in the cycle (e.g. during the first informal review) rather than later (e.g. during balloting by SC22). To improve these prospects, HODs were encouraged to achieve the widest possible circulation to interested parties during the informal review. In addition, it was decided to make the draft available on the WG9 web site with instructions for sending comments to Heads of Delegation.

It was noted that comments may still result from SC22 balloting despite WG9's best efforts. The convener said that he may have to schedule comment disposition meetings; this would have the effect of delaying progress toward JTC1 approval.

Resolutions [ Resolution 48-2 ]

[Agenda]


Report of ASIS Rapporteur Group, Currie Colket (Rapporteur) represented by Dr. Alok Srivastava

Background WG9 N417: Charter of the ASIS Rapporteur Group (ASISRG)
Open Item: Action Item 46-1

(Rapporteur of ASIS RG): Draft a new work item proposal for the revision of the ASIS standard, ISO/IEC 15291.

Status: Open

Open Item: Action Item 47-3

[ASIS Rapporteur] At next meeting of WG9, report on vitality of ASIS RG and recommend any changes in duties to facilitate the update of ASIS to Ada 2005.

Status: Open

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.

From Minutes of Meeting #46 [N448]:

It was noted that Action Item 46-1, NWI for revision of ASIS, has not been done by Currie; France concerned about timeframe for obtaining new ASIS; we really should have started by now; Ada 200Y is sufficiently stabilized now that work can go on; if IBM doesn't get an ASIS in a reasonable time after Ada 200Y, then they will be forced to define their own - what can we do to accelerate progress? Currie will send NWI to ASISWG. France concerned that the new ASIS should be started now - Ada is pretty well defined now. IBM is willing to have someone participate (Gary Barnes), but needs to be an active group. Currie will try to get some activities jump-started before Xmas. After Jim asked Currie if there's still life in ASISWG, he responded that he had been overloaded for awhile. If ASISRG is lacking resources, maybe ARG could help out with resources. Canada suggested that if ARG set aside 1/2-day for ASISRG. France said that if we don't see any progress in 6 months or so, the work might be under ARG, possibly disbanding ASISRG. Athough Currie has taken blame, his heavy activities were SIGAda related. Currie has not asked for help in ASISRG; thus, we conclude that nobody else is working in ASISRG (Jim) and that's the real problem. Currie hasn't been pushing anything to ASISRG because he hasn't seen anything coming out of new Ada related to syntax. We will see where Currie is at at the next meeting.

Currie Colket was assigned action item 47-3, to report on the vitality of the ASIS RG at the next meeting of WG9.

Report

The following report was submitted after the final pre-meeting distribution of the agenda:

Dear WG9:

Last Wednesday I sent out an email soliciting volunteers to lead the updating of the ASIS Standard for Ada 2006. There were 3 highly qualified candidates who responded. Although I believe any of the three would do an excellent job leading the ASIS update, one of the three also served as a officer in the SIGAda ASIS Working Group and played a vital role in the development of the specification which eventually became the ASIS Standard. As many of you know, ASIS was developed as a specification under the auspices of ACM SIGAda ASISWG and standardized under WG9 via the ASIS Rapporteur Group.

The recommended candidate to lead the ASIS revision is Dr. Bill Thomas of the MITRE Corporation. He attended most of the ASIS meetings and even hosted an ASIS meeting twice. He is already well known in the ASIS community. Besides playing a very active role from the early stages of ASIS, he has also developed a number of ASIS applications. His most important ASIS application is the Design Assessor's Workbench which establishes an assessment framework that relates the concepts of software quality factors, software engineering design principles, views of a software product, design representations, measures, and tools. This has been used many times to assess the quality of code. Besides being technically competent, he also has the necessary leadership and organizational skills to be successful in leading the ASIS Revision. He is willing and prepared to serve as the ASIS Rapporteur Chair. The success of the original ASIS standard is in large part due to Dr. Thomas.

During several email exchanges, Dr. Robert Dewar suggested that an alternative to having a separate ASIS Rapporteur Chair might be to position the ASIS tasking under the ARG. Clearly this could have been beneficial during the development of the Ada revisions. With ASIS tasking, the ARG could also have developed the necessary ASIS revisions at the same time that the Ada revisions were being developed. Such a relationship might still be quite valuable. This option was discussed with Dr. Thomas and he is very eager to lead the ASIS revision either as a task under WG9 as the ASIS Rapporteur Chair or as a task under the ARG. Please use the collective judgment of WG9 to best ascertain where the task should be positioned.

The email sent out last week also asked for support of a ISO standardization effort or for compiler vendors developing an ASIS revision on their own. (Please see the discussion in the original, attached email). Almost 20 people responded indicating that they are interested is seeing a consensus based ISO standard as the approach. This is a statistically significant given that the email lists represent slightly more than 100 souls and this is prime vacation time. Some of these respondents volunteered to work on the ASIS Revision. There were no responses requesting vendor developed ASIS interfaces.

I regret not being able to play an active role as the Chair of ASISRG for the ASIS Revision. My health will not cooperate with my heart's desires. Thank you for letting me be part of WG9. It was an honor to be associated with such a vibrant group of people. You have achieved much good work. I wish you the best in the standardization effort for Ada 2006 and for the ASIS Revision.

v/r Currie Colket, Past Chair, ASISRG

The referenced attachment follows:

From: Currie Colket [mailto:colket@mitre.org]
Sent: Wednesday, June 15, 2005 3:43 PM
To: ASIS Officers; ASISWG/ASISRG; Alok Srivastava; Alok Srivastava; Currie Colket
Cc: James.W.Moore@ieee.org; 'Alan Burns'; 'Alejandro Alonso'; 'Bob Pritchard (IEEE TAG Admin)'; roby@ida.org; 'David Harrison'; 'Dirk Craeynest'; 'Don Sando'; 'Erhard Ploedereder'; 'Frederic Maillard (AFNOR)'; 'Greg Gicca'; 'Jean-Pierre Rosen'; 'John Barnes'; 'Jon Squire'; 'Joyce Tokar'; 'Ken Dritz'; 'Kiyoshi Ishihata'; 'Pascal Leroy'; 'Patricia Ruiz (AFNOR)'; 'Randy Brukardt'; 'Stephen Michell'; 'Ted Baker'; 'Tullio Vardanega'; 'Urs Maurer'
Subject: Opportunity for an ASIS for Ada 2005

Dear ASISWG/ASISRG:
(Copy to WG9 per Jim Moore's request)

We need to address the updating of the ASIS Standard to incorporate all the new features for Ada 2005.

There is an opportunity for one of you to lead this effort. My health has been deteriorating over the last number of years and I do not have the stamina to lead the effort for an amendment to the ASIS Standard. Hence we are looking for a volunteer to take on this important effort.

As most of you know, the ASIS Standard began as a SIGAda ASIS Working Group (ASISWG) effort. Once a strawman specification was developed, ISO/IEC JTC1/SC22 WG9 approved the New Work Item that eventually was approved by ISO authorizing the work for the ASIS Standard. This work was done under the ASIS Rapporteur Group (ASISRG).

New ISO rules will probably mean that the new ASIS effort will be done under only the ASISRG. The Chair of the ASISRG must be approved by WG9 and be from a country that is willing to support the ISO effort.

I should note that I have been delinquent in taking action on starting a NWI for the new ASIS effort. As many of you know, I have been suffering since early 2004 and had 3 operations since 7 March 2005. At one point I thought I might be able to carry on after I recovered, but it is becoming clear that this is not the case. Clyde Roby had me convinced that I should wait until after the total hip replacement surgery on 7 March before stepping down, but I realize now that it would be a disservice to the ASIS community for me to attempt to continue on.

At the WG9 meeting on 24 June 2005, they will be discussing the future of ASIS. I believe that it is important to the Ada community to maintain an ASIS standard that will provide some level of collaboration of needs amongst the compiler implementers, researchers, tool developers, and user community. At one point we thought that portability of tools amongst compiler implementations was a high concern. I don't believe this has materialized to the extent desired. However, compiler implementers, researchers, tool developers, and user community have learned the value of ASIS. Implementers are planning to implement their own versions of ASIS independent of a standardization activity.

I think that the collaboration/standardization effort for ASIS for Ada 1995 was valuable in producing a higher quality interface than what might have been achieved with compiler implementers working on their own. I strongly believe that such collaboration will produce a higher quality interface for an ASIS for Ada 2005. A lot of the volunteer collaboration for ASIS for Ada 1995 was made possible as researchers and implementers and tool vendors and users worked together to make the ASIS specification viable and useful. I think similar collaboration will be valuable for ASIS for Ada 2005. Such collaboration will not be possible unless ASIS is maintained as a standardization effort. Volunteers will work together to address the needs of the ASIS community. A disadvantage of having Ada complier implementers implement their own ASIS independent of a standardization activity is that the collaboration between these important communities will be missing.

I suppose this question will be answered very shortly by WG9. If a qualified leader is available and the community is willing to support a collaborative effort, then we need this information very soon.

If you are interested in this opportunity to lead the ASIS amendment for the Ada 2005 changes, please contact me ASAP at colket@acm.org <mailto:colket@acm.org> . If you would like to talk to me about this opportunity, you can contact me at (703) 983-7381.

If you are willing to support a collaborative standardization effort, please send a short email to me at colket@acm.org <mailto:colket@acm.org> with a copy to Mr. Clyde Roby at roby@ida.org and Dr. Alok Srivastava at alok.srivastava@auatac.com and ASrivastava@Yahoo.Com. Alok will be representing ASIS at the WG9 meeting, so it would be especially useful for him to receive a copy.

There is a WG9 meeting on 24 June 2005 in association with Ada-Europe in York, UK. It will be useful for WG9 to have the names of potential volunteers, both from the aspect of leading the effort as well as those willing to support the collaborative standardization effort.

v/r
Currie Colket
Chair ASISWG/ASISRG

Discussion

The US stated that they have information that Sergey Rybin (Russia) might have employer support to lead an effort to update ASIS. Canada said that the current ASIS RG has demonstrated no vitality; the most recent report still falls short of a satisfactory plan. France would have preferred that the retired ASIS Rapporteur provide all of the names of candidates rather than forwarding a single name; experience in leading a standards effort is important.

Further discussion was deferred to the Committee of the Whole.

[Agenda]


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

Background WG9 N416, Charter of the HRG
Prior Discussion

From email note of Convener, 19 March 2005:

I see that the Ravenscar Guide has been published by ISO Central Secretariat and is available for the price of 176 CHF.

ISO/IEC TR 24718:2005, Information technology -- Programming languages -- Guide for the use of the Ada Ravenscar Profile in high integrity systems,
Technologies de l'information -- Langages de programmation -- Guide pour l'usage de "Ada Ravenscar Profile" dans les systèmes de haute intégrité
(disponible en anglais seulement)

Report

The Annex H Rapporteur made an oral report:

After the current language revision effort is complete, the HRG will consider whether to update ISO/IEC TR 15942. The Rapporteur will take steps to update the membership of the Rapporteur Group at that time.

Resolutions None

[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.

Open Item   JTC1, hence SC22, requires a recommendation for the five-year review of the standard: confirm, revise, withdraw. The resolution would make that recommendation to SC22.
Report

From an email from the editor, 2 May 2005:

Working with the ARG (and with funding from the ARA and Ada Europe), I have prepared additional drafts of the Amendment and (consolidated) AARM. As usual, there have been no formal defect reports submitted (a number of informal comments have been submitted to the Ada Comment mailing list).

Resolution [Resolution 48-7]

[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 implementation by ITTF.) 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). This year, however, JTC1 voted to confirm ISO/IEC 13814 rather than withdraw it as requested by WG9 and SC22. The SC22 Secretariat conducted a letter ballot authorizing it to request that JTC1 reconsider its action. Accordingly, the request was sent to JTC1 and JTC1 has responded by circulating a letter ballot (J1N7405) to withdraw the standard. The ballot ended on 22 June 2004 with the decision to recommend withdrawal (22N7451). Implementation awaits action by ITTF.

Report None

[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, Clyde Roby and Greg Gicca, Project Editors, supported by the ASIS Rapporteur Group.
Open Item: 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:

  • ISO/IEC 15291:1999, Information Technology--Programming Languages--Ada Semantic Interface Specification (ASIS)

Status: CLOSED. SC22 endorsed this recommendation at its September 2003 plenary. The request was forwarded to JTC1. In its 2004 "systematic review" (JTC 1 N7645, JTC1 voted to confirm the document.

Open Item: Action Item 46a-4

(Clyde Roby: Editor, ISO/IEC 15291:1999):

To implement Resolution 04-01 of the 2004 SC22 plenary, each WG9 project editor is instructed to provide comments on 22N3784 and the text (in text format) of any definition clauses of their standard to the SC22 Terminology Chair, Roger Scowen (email: roger.scowen@npl.co.uk) by 7 March 2005.

Status: CLOSED: After conferring with the project editor, Mr. Roby, the convener sent the following email note on 19 March 2005 to the SC22 Vocabulary Rapporteur:

After studying ISO/IEC 15291, I have found that its definitions clause does not contain any definitions. It simply refers to ISO/IEC 8652 (upon which I have reported separately).

Normative terms are defined in-line of the text. In general, the in-line terms are narrowly defined for the purposes of rigorous specification. Few, if any, seem to have any relevance to programming languages in general.

There is an informative glossary that gathers the more important of the inline definitions. It is my judgment, though, that its contents are too specific to be of use to the SC22 vocabulary project. (So that you may form your own opinion on this issue, I have attached a copy of the glossary.)

So, I would summarize the situation by reporting that ISO/IEC 15291 offers no definitions suitable for the SC22 vocabulary project.

Report None

[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 Item: SC22 Resolution 04-05

From 2004 SC22 Plenary: Resolution 04-05: Standards for 2005 Periodic Review

JTC 1/SC 22 recommends to JTC 1 that at the end of their 5-year review period, the
following standards and technical report be confirmed … ISO/IEC TR 15942: 2000,
Guidance for the use of Ada Programming Language in High-Integrity Systems.

Status: The request has been forwarded to JTC1 for action during 2005.

Open Item: Action Item 46a-3

(Brian Wichmann: Editor, ISO/IEC TR 15942:2000):

To implement Resolution 04-01 of the 2004 SC22 plenary, each WG9 project editor is instructed to provide comments on 22N3784 and the text (in text format) of any definition clauses of their standard to the SC22 Terminology Chair, Roger Scowen (email: roger.scowen@npl.co.uk) by 7 March 2005.

Status: CLOSED:

Email from Convener to SC22 Vocabulary Rapporteur, 27 Feb 2005:

Upon studying ISO/IEC TR 15942, I have determined that it has no definitions clause.

[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 Editor, supported by the Ada Rapporteur Group.
Open Item: 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:

  • ISO/IEC 18009:1999, Conformity Assessment of an Ada Language Processor

Status: CLOSED:

SC22 endorsed this recommendation at its September 2003 plenary. The request was forwarded to JTC1. In its 2004 "systematic review" (JTC 1 N7645, JTC1 voted to confirm the document.

Open Item: Action Item 46a-5

(Erhard Ploedereder: Editor, ISO/IEC 18009:1999):

To implement Resolution 04-01 of the 2004 SC22 plenary, each WG9 project editor is instructed to provide comments on 22N3784 and the text (in text format) of any definition clauses of their standard to the SC22 Terminology Chair, Roger Scowen (email: roger.scowen@npl.co.uk) by 7 March 2005.

Status: CLOSED:

After conferring with the Project Editor, Dr. Ploedereder, the convener sent the following email on 19 March 2005 to the SC22 Vocabulary Rapporteur:

The attached file contains the definitions that I have extracted from ISO/IEC 18009.

Prior Discussion .

[Agenda]


Project Editor Maintenance Report, ISO/IEC TR 24718

Document Status

ISO/IEC TR 24718:2005, Guide for the use of the Ada Ravenscar Profile in high integrity systems

22.24718, Alan Burns, Project Editor, supported by the Annex H Rapporteur Group

This is a Type 3 Technical Report providing guidance for users.

Open Item: Action Item 47-1

[Convener] Request SC22 to endorse free availability of the Ravenscar Guide, ISO/IEC TR 24718.

Status: Email from Convener, 22 March 2005:

The JTC1 letter ballot on free availability for TR 24718 (the Ravenscar Guide) completed with no objections. The request has been forwarded to ITTF for implementation. It's hard to predict how long this will take.

CLOSE and RE-OPEN as Action Item 47-1A: [Editor, TR 24718] Monitor implementation by ITTF of free availability for ISO/IEC TR 24718.

Open Item: Action Item 46a-6

(Alan Burns: Editor, DTR 24718):

To implement Resolution 04-01 of the 2004 SC22 plenary, each WG9 project editor is instructed to provide comments on 22N3784 and the text (in text format) of any definition clauses of their standard to the SC22 Terminology Chair, Roger Scowen (email: roger.scowen@npl.co.uk) by 7 March 2005.

Status: CLOSED:

The project editor sent the following email on January 17, 2005 to the SC22 Vocabulary Rapporteur:

As editor of TR 24718 I attach in pdf (Word is available if you wish) the part of our report that deals with definitions

[Agenda]

At this point, the meeting of WG9 was recessed and the group entered into a Committee of the Whole for the purpose of drafting resolutions regarding issues on which specific proposals had not yet been made.


Committee of the Whole

Because some issues before WG9 were not accompanied by specific proposals, a Committee of the Whole was used to permit free discussion of the issues and the drafting of resolutions addressing the issues.

Vernacular Name of the Amended Language

(This includes the question of whether we should recommend that ISO publish a consolidated document.)

Background

From Minutes of Meeting #46 [N440]:

The convener noted that the decision to publish ISO/IEC 8652 as a merged document or separately as base standard, corrigendum, and amendment would be a business decision made by ISO Central Secretariat. If Central Secretariat requests a merged document, the project editor should be prepared to provide one by merging the official ISO standard, corrigendum, and amendment.

From the JTC1 Directives:

15.5.4 At the publication stage [of an Amendment] (see 12.8), the ITTF shall decide, in consultation with the Secretariat of JTC 1 or SC, and bearing in mind both the financial consequences to the organisation and the interests of users of the IS, whether to publish an amendment or a new edition of the IS, incorporating the amendment.

From Maho Takahashi (Ms.), ISO Central Secretariat, 4 May 2005:

If the base standard, corrigendum and amendment were to be merged into a single document, it would be published as ISO/IEC 8652:2006 Ed. 3 (if published in 2006).

Issues

WG9 might decide to make a recommendation regarding the vernacular name of the language.

WG9 might also decide to make a recommendation regarding ISO publication of a consolidated standard.

Discussion of publication of consolidated edition

It was initially noted that the decision to publish a third edition of ISO/IEC 8652 (including base standard, corrigendum, and amendment) is reserved to ISO Central Secretariat.

Germany noted that publishing a third edition might take longer than publishing an amendment. Canada suggested that there is no benefit to ISO in publishing a third edition. It was noted that a possible benefit to the community is the establishment of a new baseline.

It was also noted that some parties outside WG9 believe that the revision process would have been more appropriate than the amendment process. Germany stated that ISO can easily achieve the equivalent result if they so choose, so the choice of process is not a real issue.

Canada suggests that WG9 should make no recommendation regarding publication of a third edition because it is inappropriate for WG9 to attempt to preempt a decision that is made by Central Secretariat; however, WG9 should be ready to respond positively if Central Secretariat does decide to publish a third edition. This suggestion met with general approval.

Accordingly, the Committee of the Whole drafted Resolution 48-4 for consideration by WG9.

Discussion of vernacular name

The ARG Rapporteur pointed out that the range of choices is broadening because there is a plausible chance that the amendment will actually be published as late as 2007, suggesting a name of "Ada 2007".

Canada said that WG9 has no standing to make any ruling on this issue. The Annex H Rapporteur replied that the community wants an answer so that different vendors don't make differing decisions; he said that the only sensible choice with the knowledge that we currently have is Ada 2005. The editor of 8652 noted that the ARG uses the vernacular name in supplementary documents. The UK said that authors need a recommendation.

Germany said that the community will probably move toward the date that is printed on the cover of the amendment; that is most likely to be 2006. The UK recalled that "Fortran 90" was actually standardized long after 1990 and that "Ada 83" was actually completed by ISO in 1987.

France said that there is no normative result from this decision--only perceptions; choosing "Ada 2006" suggests some delay in the work and choosing "Ada 2005" could suggest that the contents are already old. The representative of the ASIS Rapporteur suggested that choosing "Ada 2005" provides less damage to perceived credibility.

Belgium said that the name "Ada 2005" is already published in many web pages and other references; it would not be reasonable to expect people to change all of these items; hence confusion would be introduced if we recommend any other name.

Canada said that "Ada Millennium" might have more marketing appeal. The US mentioned that there is already a lot of investment in "Ada 2005". Germany said that no other alternatives have been suggested; perhaps someone with marketing experience could make suggestions.

The UK said that what matters in the marketplace is not the publication date of the standard but the marketing literature; that literature currently uses the name "Ada 2005". Also, maintaining that term leads one to the (correct) perception that WG9 thinks in terms of ten-year cycles. France disagreed; users do note the date of the standard; "Ada 2006" is used by some on comp.lang.ada; France does not perceive a ten-year cycle.

The US said that what counts is that the name is "Ada"; changing the date will hurt credibility in the US. Switzerland said that the 2006 publication date is only a possibility because publication might occur in 2007; if "Ada 2005" is widespread, then we should stay with it.

Italy said that there are only three options: (1) we don't decide; (2) we invent a novel name; (3) we choose one of the names mentioned so far. All possibilities were enumerated and straw polls of national body votes were used to eliminate less favored alternatives. Some nations chose to caucus.

At the conclusion of these exercises, the Committee of the Whole drafted Resolution 48-5 for subsequent consideration by WG9.

The Future of WG9

Issues How should WG9 conduct its business in the future? Should we reduce the number of meetings? Should we switch to an email-only style of work? Should we "stabilize" the Ada standard, i.e., decline further maintenance? 
Discussion

The ARG Rapporteur said that these questions depend on the level of activity of the Rapporteur Groups. France said that we must consider cost-effective alternatives. Canada said that we should continue as is for the next few meetings. Italy said that we should continue without fundamental change through the completion of the language amendment; we must also determine an approach to ASIS based on available energy.

At the conclusion of this discussion, it was decided that the Committee of the Whole should not draft a resolution on this subject.

The Future of ASIS

Issues What is a practical way to update the ASIS standard to the level of the amended Ada language? 
Discussion

The Convener initiated the discussion by reminding the group of its deep appreciation to the ASIS RG and associated groups for its past work and contributions to WG9. He said that treatment of the current problems required frank discussion. All should understand that the discussion is grounded in WG9's respect for the past work on ASIS.

The ARG Rapporteur said that his employer, IBM, has substantial interest in updating ASIS and would support him in performing relevant work. He noted that the ARG has technical competence and a suitable group dynamic. It is willing to take the work if assigned.

Canada said that other people would need to be added; perhaps the ARG could take the work temporarily with a view to spinning it off again. The ARG Rapporteur said that qualified persons could be added to the ARG as "observers" in performing this work. Canada said that confusion between the roles of the SIGAda ASIS WG and the WG9 ASIS RG has caused some persons to incorrectly conclude that they are members of the ASIS RG; they might resent the change. The US said that there is no motivation for "observers" to perform substantial duties.

France noted that we can disband the ASIS RG at any time because RGs must be reappointed at each meeting; knowledge of standardization processes is required.

Germany said that adjusting the ASIS specification to the Ada language changes is a manageable change; however taking advantage of new language features by adding an object-oriented interface in addition to the current function-oriented interface would be a big project.

The representative of the ASIS Rapporteur said that the candidate suggested by the ASIS Rapporteur is a capable person.

France mentioned that some shortcomings of the current standard need to be fixed.

The US said that they support ASIS being a separate RG; they think that the candidate suggested by the ASIS Rapporteur is up to the task.

Italy said that WG9 should make a clean start, avoiding previous mistakes.

There was general agreement that the revision effort should be conducted under the supervision of the ARG in order to ensure consistency with the language revision. It was also agreed, though, that the ARG should devote all of its energy during the next few months to completing the language amendment. Accordingly, it was decided that the ASIS RG should not be continued at this meeting; the following resolutions were drafted: Resolution 48-8; Resolution 48-11.

Measures that could be taken to foster the development of secondary standards

France mentioned that they have a continuing interest in work related to bindings to commonly used services (like sockets for example), but are unsure how to proceed. The Convener responded that he has received some inquiries regarding the use of an "international workshop" to develop ISO International Workshop Agreements on this subject. However, no one has yet committed the necessary energy to organize a workshop.

The Committee of the Whole was concluded and the WG9 meeting resumed.

[Agenda]


Unfinished Business

There was none.

[Agenda]


New Business

HOPL conference

Belgium suggested that the Ada community should participate in the forthcoming conference on the History of Programming Languages. The conference is held every five years. A one-page abstract is needed by early July. The US and UK suggested submitting the Ada 95 introduction (the first chapter of the Ada 95 rationale) as the abstract.

The US -- Joyce Tokar -- accepted an Action Item to prepare an appropriate submission if possible.

[Agenda]


Administrative Actions

Action:

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

[Resolution 48-10]

Action:

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

[Resolution 48-12]

Action:

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

[Resolution 48-2]

[Agenda]


Review of New Action Items

Action Item 47-1A

[Editor, TR 24718]

Monitor implementation by ITTF of free availability for ISO/IEC TR 24718.

Action Item 48-1

[US, Joyce Tokar]

If practical, prepare a submission to the HOPL conference regarding Ada 95.

[Agenda]


Final Consideration of Resolutions

All resolutions were approved unanimously except as noted.

Administration

Resolution 48-1:

The minutes of Meeting #47 as contained in document N448 are approved.

[Discussion] [Agenda]

Resolution 48-2:

ISO/IEC JTC1/SC22/WG9 continues two of its 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 the ARG is designated to be: Steve Baird, John Barnes, Randy Brukardt, Alan Burns, Robert Dewar, Gary Dismukes, Robert Duff, Kiyoshi Ishihata, Pascal Leroy, Steve Michell, Erhard Ploedereder, Jean-Pierre Rosen, Ed Schonberg, Tucker Taft, Joyce Tokar, and Tullio Vardanega.

The membership of the Annex H Rapporteur Group 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 nominating the member.

Rapporteurs are instructed that they may permit other individuals to observe the deliberations of the Rapporteur Group. The admission 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 48-3:

WG9 schedules future meetings as follows:

[Discussion] [Agenda]

Resolution 48-4:

WG9 requests the project editor of the 8652 amendment to remain prepared to respond to any request from ITTF for a manuscript of a third edition to 8652.

[Discussion] [Agenda]

Resolution 48-5:

Recognizing that ISO's publication date will differ from the date of technical completion in 2005, and recognizing that the term "Ada 2005" is widely used in the community, WG9 recommends that an appropriate vernacular designation for the amended language should be "Ada 2005".

[Discussion] [Agenda]

[There is no Resolution 48-6.]

Work Programme

Resolution 48-7

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: ISO/IEC 8652:1995, Information Technology--Programming Languages--Ada, as amended by COR.1:2001. This recommendation is made with the understanding that WG9 is currently preparing an amendment to the standard with completion expected during 2006.

[Discussion] [Agenda]

Resolution 48-8

In order to begin work on a revision of the ASIS standard appropriate to Ada 2005, WG9 assigns the scope of ASIS to the Ada RG. The WG9 convener is requested to provide a proposal by the November 2005 meeting of WG9, including scope of work, plan of work, schedule and personnel. WG9 encourages SIGAda to formulate proposals for extending the ASIS specification to include the new language elements of Ada 2005.

[Canada voted NO to this resolution.]

[Discussion] [Agenda]

[There is no Resolution 48-9.]

Appreciation

Resolution 48-10:

ISO/IEC JTC1/SC22/WG9 expresses its grateful appreciation to Ada-Europe for their gracious accommodations in hosting Meeting #48 of WG9 and a meeting of the ARG.

[Discussion] [Agenda]

Resolution 48-11

WG9 thanks Currie Colket, the members of the ASIS RG, and SIGAda for valuable past contributions related to the ASIS standard.

[Discussion] [Agenda]

Resolution 48-12:

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

[Discussion] [Agenda]


Recess

The meeting ended at approximately 6:45 pm. The convener recessed the meeting subject to his call. HODs may anticipate email ballots to be conducted during the months between this meeting and the next one.

[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, 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

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

N428r, DRAFT Minutes, Meeting #44 of ISO/IEC JTC1/SC22/WG9, 20 June 2003, Toulouse, France

N434, Minutes, Meeting #45 ISO/IEC JTC1/SC22/WG9, Friday, 12 December 2003, San Diego, California, USA

N435, Draft for PDTR Approval Ballot, ISO/IEC TR 24718, Guide for the use of the Ada Ravenscar Profile in high integrity systems, 14 Feb 2004

N437, ARG Rapporteur's Proposal for Defining Scope of Amendment to ISO/IEC 8652:1995, 9 April 2004

N439r, Convener's Report, 2004, ISO/IEC JTC1/SC22/WG9 (Ada)

N440, Minutes, Meeting #46 ISO/IEC JTC1/SC22/WG9, Friday, 18 June 2004, Palma de Mallorca, Spain

N441, SC22 N3758, WG9 Request for National Body Contributions on Implementation of Coded Character Sets in Ada (text document),

N442, Draft submitted for DTR Approval Ballot, ISO/IEC TR 24718, Guide for the use of the Ravenscar Profile in high integrity systems, 20 July 2004 (PDF file, 626 KBytes)

N443, Announcement and Draft Agenda, Meeting #47 of ISO/IEC JTC1/SC22/WG9, Thursday, 18 November 2004 Atlanta, Georgia, USA

N444, Meeting Report: ISO/IEC JTC1/SC22, 6-10 September 2004, Jeju, Republic of Korea

N445, DRAFT Explanatory Report re SC22 Resolution 04-15

N446, Draft Detailed Agenda, Meeting #47 of ISO/IEC JTC1/SC22/WG9, Thursday, 18 November 2004, Atlanta, Georgia, USA

N447, Explanatory Report re SC22 Resolution 04-15 (PDF file, 132 KBytes)

N448, Minutes, Meeting #47 of ISO/IEC JTC1/SC22/WG9, Friday, 18 November 2004, Atlanta, Georgia, USA

N449, Announcement and Draft Agenda, Meeting #48 of ISO/IEC JTC1/SC22/WG9, Friday, 24 June 2005, York, UK (text document)

N450, Draft Detailed Agenda, Meeting #48 of ISO/IEC JTC1/SC22/WG9, Friday, 24 June 2005, York, UK

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.open-std.org/JTC1/SC22/

WG9 Web Site: http://www.open-std.org/JTC1/SC22/WG9/

SC22 High Integrity Ad Hoc Group Web Site: http://www.aitcnet.org/isai/

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 2005 Conference Web Site: http://www.cs.york.ac.uk/rts/adaeurope/

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

SIGAda 2004 Conference Web Site: http://www.sigada.org/conf/sigada2004/

[Agenda]


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