versioning and WSDL and namespaces, etc.

[Robert Hanisch]

Following a bit of side discussion with Matthew to make sure I understand
the issue, I think we can resolve the problem if we consider "software
breakage" in the sense of manual recoding.  Changes to WSDL or XML
namespaces typically require regeneration of bindings and recompilation of
code, but this is all (supposed) to be more or less automatic.

So, with some clarification to the text, the implication would be that the
integer part of the version remains fixed -- it is notional and describes
the intention -- and updates to WSDL, etc., coincide with increments to the
part of the version number to the right of the decimal point.

As for Paul's comment:

What should be removed from the
Standards document is the idea of a public WD that has a 0.x number,
as this is logically inconsistent with the new scheme - the first
public WD of a new protocol/standard should have a 1.0 number - the
new numbering scheme was intended to remove this ambiguity, but I
agree that the Standards document still does not make it clear.

What the document says is

·       The number to the left of the (first) decimal point starts with 0
for documents that are being discussed within a Working Group prior to
publication for IVOA-wide review.  The number increments to 1 for the first
public version, and to 2, 3, ..., for subsequent versions that are not
backward compatible and/or require substantial revisions to implementations.

Thus, I do not see why there is confusion on this point.

Bob