TAP/QL Draft published

[Keith Noddle]

I have just uploaded the first version of the TAP/QL Draft Specification 
to the DAL Wiki page:

http://www.ivoa.net/internal/IVOA/TableAccess/TAP-QL-0.1.pdf

I would like to thank Doug for uploading his version to the same page. I 
need to make one small correction to his email: the specification he 
references is the TAP/Param Draft even though it goes some way beyond 
merely specifying parametrised querying (see below).

Subscribers to this distribution list will remember that a while back I 
initiated a twin track process with the goal of first producing TAP 
specifications that met the needs of *all* VO projects and then merging 
those specifications once the full implementation intricacies had been 
explored. This resulted in the TAP/Param and TAP/QL definition efforts, 
a somewhat artificial separation based upon calling mechanisms but which 
was the cleanest division I could devise given the varying Use Case 
Suites of the different VO projects.

In the case of TAP/QL, the emphasis is to evolve a standard built upon 
the experience of those VO projects which have created and are running 
prototype table access services. TAP/QL particularly focuses on the need 
for early, robust support for asynchronous processing, full integration 
with other IVOA services and metadata provision using VOSI mechanisms.

It is my firm belief that the needs of all VO projects can be equitably 
serviced using this "twin track and merge" process.

-- 
Keith Noddle                    Phone:  +44 (0)116 223 1894
AstroGrid Project manager       Fax:    +44 (0)116 252 3311
Dept of Physics & Astronomy     Mobile: +44 (0)7721 926 461
University of Leicester         Skype:  keithnoddle
Leicester                       Email:  ktn at star.le.ac.uk
LE1 7RH, UK                     Web:    http://www.astrogrid.org