ISO/IEC JTC 1/SC34 N251

ISO/IEC JTC 1/SC34

Information Technology --

Document Description and Processing Languages

TITLE:	National Body Comments Received on SC 34 N 227 – Working Draft 1 on TMQL Requirements
SOURCE:	SC 34 Secretariat
PROJECT:
PROJECT EDITOR:
STATUS:
ACTION:	For information and review
DATE:	2001-09-06
DISTRIBUTION:	SC34 and Liaisons
REFER TO:
REPLY TO:	Dr. James David Mason (ISO/IEC JTC1/SC34 Chairman) Y-12 National Security Complex Information Technology Services Bldg. 9113 M.S. 8208 Oak Ridge, TN 37831-8208 U.S.A. Telephone: +1 865 574-6973 Facsimile: +1 865 574-1896 E-mail: mailto:mxm@y12.doe.gov http://www.y12.doe.gov/sgml/sc34/sc34oldhome.htm Ms. Sara Hafele, ISO/IEC JTC 1/SC 34 Secretariat American National Standards Institute 25 West 43rd Street New York, NY 10036 Tel: +1 212 642 4976 Fax: +1 212 840 2298 E-mail: shafele@ansi.org

National Body Comments Received on SC 34 N 227 – Working Draft 1 on TMQL Requirements

Japan Comments Received

(1) Specific query capabilities

A new subclause "Queries returning topic maps" should be added and it should say:

1. Find all topic maps which include the topic of the query's input parameter, in case the several topic maps are specified by a mergeMap element.

U.K. Comments Received

The UK supports this Statement of Requirements with the following comments

Requirements in brief

1. It is no good having human-readable queries that are not also machine-processable. An alternative

machine-generatable representation, in XML, is also required. This requirement is unnecessary as 8

provides a more accurate specification of the real requirement.

3. Any abstract TMQL data model must take as its start point the Topic Map Data Model proposed in

N229 (as is indicated under the Model and Algebra heading below, where point 2, regarding

extension of other models, is the most important statement).

6 Remove "providing ISO regulations provide". ISO regulations allow 2 part standards where the

second part extends the first. ISO is not the arbiter of whether or not the user community needs a

standard for updating topic maps. However, such features must take into account international data

privacy and copyright laws. Update can only be acceptable where metadata relating to ownership of

the data is part of the topic map. At present this is not the case.

7 This simply duplicates 4 and should be removed.

Requirements in detail

General - 3

TQML should not define "how TMQL processors should react to them [ error situations]." This must be

application dependent.

Model and Algebra - 5

Add "When returning information not present in the queried topic maps the source of the additional

information shall be clearly identified".

Relationship to other standards - 2

Within parentheses, change "will" to "should". (If the published data model only supports 13250 then

the XTM work would have to be an extension of the published model.)

2001-08-20

Geoff Williams

For UK ‘P’ Member,

ISO/IEC JTC 1/SC 34