Reference implementations

[Gerard Lemson]

Hi
What is meant by item 2, "An XML serialization of the DM".
The standard representation (serialization?) of a VO-DML data model is
VO-DML/XML, i.e. XML. And that is the representation that can be validated
(step 1?) using automated means, for example using XSLT scripts in the
vo-dml/xslt folder on volute at gavo.
If 2) is meant to imply an XML serialization of an *instance* of the model,
that we can only do once we have a standard XML representation of instances
of models. That does not yet exist. The original VO-URP framework does
contain an automated XML Schema generator for its version of VO-DML, that
has not yet been ported to VO-DML.
And of course the mapping document describes how one can describe instances
serialized in VOTable, but that is a different standard.

For what it's worthy, I think that an "implementation of VO-DML" is a data
model expressed using that language (in VO-DML/XML to be precise) and
validated using software. The latter enforces that the language should
allow automated validtion.
I think interoperable implementations of VO-DML are two or more valid
models that are linked by "modelimport" relationships. I.e.one model
"imports" the other(s) and uses types from the other as roles or super
types in the definition of its own types. This is supported by the
VODMLID/VODMLREF meachanism of the language.

Cheers
Gerard



On Tue, May 10, 2016 at 9:04 AM, Matthew Graham <mjg at cd3.caltech.edu> wrote:

> Hi,
>
> We're trying to define specifically what would satisfy the reference
> implementation requirement for an IVOA Spec in the context of a data model.
> The proposal is that:
>
> (1) If the DM has been described using VO-DML it can be validated as valid
> VO-DML
>
> (2) An XML serialization of the DM can be validated
>
> so therefore is the combination of the two sufficient to demonstrate the
> validity and potential interoperability of the data model (which is the
> purpose of the reference implementations).
>
>         Cheers,
>
>         Matthew
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