--On Thursday, 04 September, 2003 19:17 -0400 Michael Richardson
<mcr(_at_)sandelman(_dot_)ottawa(_dot_)on(_dot_)ca> wrote:
John, your reduced proposal would mean that the XML might not
hang around during the editing/publication processs. One key
thing is that the XML be available for later use in tracking
references.
It also makes it easier to do RFCXXXXbis.
Michael,
Two responses/ observations...
(1) At best, one step at a time. I was trying to stay with the
spirit of the original proposal, which was, as I understand it,
"if the XML for an I-D is available, then let's post it too".
(2) Today, the RFC publication process is one of
author-supplied nroff -> RFC Editor nroff -> RFC
text -> nroff -> RFC or
XML -> nroff -> RFC
In each of those cases, the RFC Editor makes changes to the
document, and those changes are made on the RFC Editor's nroff
version of the document. Now, 2629bis says (more or less) "if
the RFC Editor makes changes, make those in the XML and submit
them to the archive". Good plan, except that
* there is no way to guarantee that the RFC Editor
changes will be reflected correctly in author
modifications to the XML. Remember that the RFC
Editor's text files are authoritative, not original or
the post-editing XML files.
* because the RFC Editor's notions of flexibilities in
formatting are broader than those permitted in the
xml2rfc kit (that is both a good thing and a bad thing),
there is no guarantee that the changes make by the RFC
Editor even can be accurately reflected in the XML
source.
Now, "tracking references" is a much easier problem than "copy
of the document source in XML that exactly matches the published
form of the RFC". If nothing else, it is presumably much less
sensitive to subtle changes made by the RFC Editor. But both
are rather different proposals, with their own sets of
complications and issues, than the originally-proposed "if XML
is available for an I-D, let's post it" or my modified version
of "if document source is available for an I-D being processed
by a WG, let's make it available if the WG Chair(s) and
Editor(s) think that wise".
john