Standardising units and formats (and ref frames?) in transmission

[Alberto Micol]

> On 19 May 2009, at 06:31, Rob Seaman wrote:
>
> It's a good sign that we're wrestling with these sorts of issues (again).
> Astronomy is full of units and formats - astronomers aren't being 
> quixotic when they choose diverse representations for overtly similar 
> quantities:
>
>     - 
> http://www.amazon.com/Astrophysical-Quantities-Arthur-Cox/dp/0387987460
>     - 
> http://www.amazon.com/Astrophysical-Formulae-Radiation-Processes-Astrophysics/dp/3540296921/ref=pd_bxgy_b_text_b/190-9360854-9222241
>     - http://aa.usno.navy.mil/publications/docs/exp_supp.php
>     - 
> http://www.amazon.com/Astronomical-Algorithms-Jean-Meeus/dp/0943396352
>     ...
>
Exactly. And could you imagine the VO handling all that at once?
If there is no constraint on what data providers put on the wire,
then any VO client will have to deal with such complexity.
Can we imaging a software library that hosts all the receipes, formulae,
conventions, units, formats written in those books? Obviously not.
All that complexity is to be left to the specialist, to the astronomer 
that knows
what she wants in his (I'm bipartisan) specific domain. The VO can 
perform only if
that complexity is left to the specialised astronomer.
The VO can only help by passing around information in a standard way.
>
> These discussions keep coming up.  Perhaps a dispassionate analysis of 
> VO use cases would reveal a requirement for such a library of 
> astronomically aware software tools. 
> Such a work product seems like it could be very popular with users 
> independent of the VO functionality it would enable.
VO use cases, yes! That would be good to remind us why we are all 
discussing on these mailing lists.

At the EURO-VO level there is a Science Advisory Committee, and other VO 
communities
also have such body. It would be nice to have all those bodies from 
different nations/organisations
to meet and come up with an IVOA set of use cases, and their analysis.  
A fantastic white paper,
the bible in every VO developer's drawer. Can we ask our representatives 
to think about this?

Alberto