DataLink inputParam PARAM/@value

[Mark Taylor]

Hi DAL,

I'm taking my first thorough look at DataLink with a view to writing
a client.  It mostly makes sense, but I have a question about the
use of the PARAM elements in the inputParams GROUP within a
service descriptor RESOURCE.

According to VOTable, PARAM elements must have a @value attribute.
But the @value doesn't seem to serve any purpose in an inputParams
GROUP, since the PARAM is just there to describe arguments that
are to be supplied, in some other way, to the described service.

Is the idea that (in both the ref-to-column and no-ref cases)
services must just fill in any syntactically legal value for the
@value attribute, and that clients should ignore that value altogether?
As far as I can see this is not mentioned in the DataLink document.
Can one of the authors or some other DataLink expert comment?

One other point: at the end of Section 4.3, it says

   'This PARAM would be added to the GROUP name="input" of the service
    description.'

I think that should read 'name="inputParams"' - is that right?

Thanks

Mark

--
Mark Taylor   Astronomical Programmer   Physics, Bristol University, UK
m.b.taylor at bris.ac.uk +44-117-9288776  http://www.star.bris.ac.uk/~mbt/