Definitive version of the VOTable schema for web services

[Ray Plante]

Hey Matthew,

On Tue, 29 Jul 2008, Matthew Graham wrote:
> The code-binding approach, however, is supposed to be easier for end users 
> (astronomers) who know (and want to know) nothing about constructing SOAP 
> messages and WSDL.

I definitely sympathize with this sentiment, and if it is possible to 
change the VOTable spec to work better with code binders, I think we 
should do it.  That said, I'm actually not sure that the code binding 
approach is that much easier when you consider the quality of the API 
(into a complex structure) compared to your favorite, hand-hewn VOTable 
library.

Leaving that as a matter of debate, what we are really weighing today is 
the effort required by the IVOA to change the VOTable Schema (which has 
been attempted before) against the effort required to create some binding 
tools and/or a HOWTO for feeding the VOTable from a SOAP message into 
one's favorite parser (or simply writing it out to a file!).

cheers,
Ray