Subject: SC 22 N 3543 - Minutes from the SC 22/WG 4 Meeting, 10-13 Septemb er 2002, Nara, Japan

From: Matthew Deane <[email-masked]>
Date: Wed, 19 Feb 2003 11:23:29 -0500

ISO/IEC JTC 1/SC22
Programming languages, their environments and system software interfaces
Secretariat:  U.S.A.  (ANSI)

ISO/IEC JTC 1/SC22 N3543

TITLE:
Minutes from the SC 22/WG 4 Meeting, 10-13 September 2002, Nara, Japan

DATE ASSIGNED:
2003-02-19

SOURCE:
SC 22/WG 4 Convenor (D. Schricker)

BACKWARD POINTER:

DOCUMENT TYPE:
Meeting Report (Open)

PROJECT NUMBER:
N/A

STATUS:
For information.

ACTION IDENTIFIER:
FYI

DUE DATE:
N/A

DISTRIBUTION:
Text

CROSS REFERENCE:
N/A

DISTRIBUTION FORM:
Open

Address reply to:
ISO/IEC JTC 1/SC22 Secretariat
Matt Deane
ANSI
25 West 43rd Street
New York, NY  10036
Telephone:  (212) 642-4992
Fax:             (212) 840-2298
Email:  [email-masked]

___end of cover page, beginning of document_______

Meeting report

ISO/IEC JTC 1/SC 22/WG4 - COBOL
Meeting 23
10-13 September 2002

Location:
		NARA-KEN NEW PUBLIC HALL
		101 Kasugano-cho, Nara City, 
		Nara-ken  630-8212, Japan

1.	Opening of the meeting.  The convener, Mr. Don Schricker, opened the
meeting at 10:00 am, Tuesday, 10 September 2002.

2.	Opening business
2.1	Introduction of delegates.  Each of the delegates introduced
himself.  The following is the list of delegates in attendance for all or
part of the meeting, along with their affiliation if any:

Germany:
	Mr. Othmar Augustin, GOI
Japan:
	Dr. Tetsuji Imajo, Hitachi, Ltd.
	Mr. Kazuhiko Noba, Fujitsu Info Software Technologies Ltd.
	Mr. Wataru Takagi, Hitachi, Ltd.
	Mr. Kazuto Nagai, NEC System Technologies, Ltd.
U.K.:
	Dr. Rod Grealish 
U.S.:
	Ms Ann Bennett, IBM
	Mr. Thane Hubbell, Fujitsu Software Corp.
	Mr. Barry Tauber, Victor Consulting

Some expected delegates could not attend.  Mr. Bernd Ewert, GOI, from
Germany was unable to attend because of flooding in Germany.  Mr.
Ebbinkhuijsen from the Netherlands was unable to attend because of an
injury.

2.2	Introductory remarks by convener.  Mr. Schricker announced that he
had been approved as convenor at the SC22 meeting in August 2002.

2.3	Welcome by host, local arrangements.  The Japanese delegation
welcomed the delegates and invited them to a dinner on Thursday night.

2.4	Appointment of secretary and chair.  Mr. Schricker chaired most of
the meeting.  Mr. Tauber volunteered to chair portions of the meeting so
that the convenor could participate in technical discussions.

Mr. Schricker appointed himself as secretary for this meeting.

2.5	Selection of drafting committee.  The following delegates
volunteered to serve on the drafting committee: 
	Mr. Rod Grealish - chairman
	Mr. Thane Hubbell
	Mr. Wataru Takagi

The convenor appointed Mr. Grealish to be the chairman.

2.6	Recognition of documents.  Documents for the meeting are shown in
the final agenda, which is Attachment 1.  Documents labeled NARA-n were
temporary documents, of interest only for the duration of the meeting.

2.7	Approval of agenda.  The agenda was adopted by consensus.
(Attachment 1)

2.8	Approval of Minutes of Meeting 22, November 2001 (WG4 N 0159).  The
minutes of WG4 meeting 22 were approved by consensus.

3.	JTC1 or SC22 information affecting the group
3.1	NARA-6 - Resolutions from the SC22 meeting (SC22 N 3489).  The
convenor highlighted the SC22 resolutions that might influence the work of
WG4.

3.2	SC22 character handling ad hoc.  Mr. Schricker attended this ad hoc
and presented SC22 N 3465, SC 22/WG 4 Convenor Contribution to the Coded
Character Sets Workshop, which had been prepared by Ms. Bennett.  Mr.
Schricker summarized the proceedings of the ad hoc.  He reported that after
each attendee had explained the character handling support in their
language, it was clear to him that COBOL character handling support is as
good as or better than that of other SC22 programming language standards.

4.	Liaison reports
4.1	WG 20, Internationalization.  Mr. Schricker will liaise with WG20.

4.2	Open Group.  It is unclear whether this liaison is in effect.  We
are waiting to hear back from Mr. Michel Dessier of Bull France on whether
the Open Group has any interest in continuing this relationship.

4.3	WG 11, Binding Techniques.  WG4's liaison with WG11, Mr. Don Nelson,
has retired and can no longer serve as liaison with WG11.  Mr. Grealish
volunteered for this position.  Mr. Schricker will notify the WG11 convenor.
Mr. Schricker will make SC22 N 3432, the WG11 convenor's report, available
to WG4.

4.4	INCITS/J4.  Mr. Schricker reported the following highlights of J4's
activities:

*	ISO/IEC 1989 FDIS.  J4 completed work on the final draft standard as
requested by WG4.
*	Finalizer TR.  J4 prepared a draft technical report as requested by
WG4.  A PDTR ballot closed just before this meeting.
*	Defect processing.  J4 has evolved defect handling processes and a
few defects have been discussed.
*	Class libraries.  J4 investigated potential class library topics,
and focused on the four areas for which WG4 requested investigation:  XML,
database, persistence, and collections.
*	Future revision:  J4 has started preliminary discussions of the
timing of a next revision and is reviewing the list of candidate items that
were deferred for future consideration.

4.5	Other.  Dr. Imajo presented material that Professor Shunsuke Uemura
had prepared on early COBOL development by the CODASYL COBOL Committee, with
pictures of some of the founding members.

5.	Preliminary discussion of future meetings.  Mr. Ebbinkhuijsen has
extended a tentative offer to host the next WG4 meeting in The Netherlands.
See later discussion for other alternatives.

6.	Status of ISO/IEC 1989.  We learned during the week that the ballot
had closed on September 11 and the COBOL standard had been approved without
opposition.

7.	Defect Handling for ISO/IEC 1989
7.1	NARA-2 - J4 Defect Handling Process.  WG4 reviewed J4's defect
handling process.  Ms Bennett volunteered to serve as the project editor for
the Records of Response and Technical Corrigenda

Mr. Schricker listed the 11 topics that have been submitted to J4 for
interpretation.

7.2	J4 Defect Handling web site.  Mr. Hubbell has set up a J4 web site
to track defects.  Initially, it has the defect tracking documents that J4
has discussed.  He will add defects as J4 work progresses.  He will maintain
a similar site for defect reports that are submitted to WG4.

8.	Finalizer Technical Report, WG4 N0163
8.1	NARA-1 - Summary of Voting on Finalizer TR.  WG4 developed responses
to the comments on the ballot.  These are detailed in the Record of
Response, which is WG4 N 0167.

One straw vote was taken during discussion of the ballot comments:
Regarding garbage collection during InvokeFinalizers method execution
1.  Make no requirement for garbage collection in the InvokeFinalizers
method - 1 
2.  Require garbage collection before return from the InvokeFinalizers
method - 2
3.	Add a parameter to the InvokeFinalizers method indicating whether
garbage collection is required. - 3,  
4.	abstain - 1

8.1.1	Acknowledgment.  There was consensus to remove the Acknowledgment
from the Finalizer TR.

8.2	Schedule.  WG4 requested that the Finalizer TR be sent forward for
next ballot by April 1, 2003.  There was consensus that the determination
made by the convenor on whether to forward the TR as a PDTR or a DTR will be
based on the magnitude of changes that result from the implementation by J4
of the direction given by WG4 in the Record of Response to these comments
and any possible late PDTR comments.

9.	Class Library Technical Report
9.1	Scope of work
9.1.1	XML - WG4 N 0165 (J4/02-0147) - XML Classes.  Mr. Schricker
presented WG4 N 0165 summarizing J4's investigation of XML classes.  There
was WG4 consensus to request that J4  develop the proposed facilities and
also investigate some high level facilities for importing and exporting
COBOL data structures to and from XML.

9.1.2	Collections - NARA-4 (J4/02-0133) - Collection Class Library.  Mr.
Hubbell presented the J4 recommendation that collection classes be
developed.  See resolution 3 for WG4's direction.

9.1.3	Database - NARA-3 (J4/02-0134) - Proposed Database Classes.  Mr.
Tauber presented a summary of the J4 investigation of database classes.
There was WG4 consensus not to pursue database classes at this time.

9.1.4	Persistence - NARA-5 (J4/02-0142) - Object Persistence with COBOL.
Ms Bennett presented a summary of the J4 investigation of persistence.
There was WG4 consensus not to pursue a class for persistence at this time.

9.1.5	Other Candidates.  Class library support for strings and blobs was
added to the candidates list for a future revision.  No other candidates for
a class library were proposed.

9.2	Schedule.  WG4 requested that J4 propose a schedule for development
of these class libraries at the next WG4 meeting.  That schedule should
include a date for work item initiation.

10.	Future plans 
10.1	Future revision or amendment of ISO/IEC 1989.  WG4 discussed methods
of soliciting input for the next COBOL standard.

Vendor extensions were suggested as one source of input.

Another suggestion was to hold a workshop to solicit input on a vision for
the future of the COBOL language.  COBOL Expo was suggested as a possible
venue for this workshop.  We could call for papers on a vision for the
future of the COBOL language.  The last day of COBOL Expo would be a good
day for the workshop.  Mr. Schricker will contact Mr. Ed Arranga to try to
arrange for a workshop in conjunction with COBOL Expo in June 2003.

WG4 wants to have a workshop, even if it is not possible to have it in
conjunction with COBOL Expo.

10.1.1	WG4 N 0166 - Candidate features for a future revision.  Mr.
Schricker asked what the target date for the next standard should be.
Responses were:

	*	Germany - in about 6 years.

	*	Japan - 2010 should be the goal.  WG4 should evaluate J4's
recommendations for features.

The convenor will develop a schedule for development of the next standard in
5 years that will be reviewed at the next WG4 meeting.

10.2	Future meetings.  In addition to the tentative offer from the
Netherlands, the U.S. extended a tentative offer to host the next WG4
meeting.  The date would be dependent on the scheduling of COBOL Expo.

11.	Review and approval of resolutions from this meeting.  The following
resolutions were approved unanimously:

	1.	ISO/IEC JTC 1/SC 22/WG4 approves ISO/IEC JTC 1/SC 22/WG4 N
0167 as the interim record of response to comments for ISO/IEC PDTR 19755 -
Object Finalization for Programming Language COBOL (Type 2 TR).

	2.	ISO/IEC JTC 1/SC 22/WG4 requests that INCITS/J4 proceed with
the development of an XML Class Library in accordance with WG4 N 0165 and
investigate further capabilities to more directly relate XML and COBOL.

	3.	ISO/IEC JTC 1/SC 22/WG4 requests that INCITS/J4 proceed with
the development of a Collection Class Library providing unordered, ordered,
and keyed access to collections of object references.

	4.	ISO/IEC JTC 1/SC 22/WG4 requests that INCITS/J4 explore
methods of soliciting a broader range of views for the development of the
COBOL programming language.

	5.	ISO/IEC JTC 1/SC 22/WG4 expresses its appreciation to all
those who have assisted in the work of this meeting, and in particular to: 
		*	Dr. Tetsuji Imajo  and Mr. Wataru Takagi of ITSCJ
for their preparation and administration of the meeting, as well as the very
entertaining and enjoyable social events; 
		*	Professor Shunsuke Uemura of NAIST for the
presentation "CODASYL committees in 1970";
		*	Dr.Tetsuji Imajo, Mr. Kazuhiko Noba, Mr. Wataru
Takagi and the other authors of "COBOL 2002", for publication of the first
book on the new COBOL standard and to Dr. Imajo for presenting the WG4
meeting participants with gift copies of the book;
		*	Mr. Barry Tauber for arranging the gift of M&M
candies in celebration of the Standard;
		*	Ms. Keiko Nakamura, Mr. Shigekazu Kuribayashi and
the volunteers of the Nara Convention Bureau for their excellent
organization, hospitality, and support of the meeting.

	6.	ISO/IEC JTC 1/SC 22/WG4 expresses its deep appreciation to
Ms. Ann Bennett for her many years of service and leadership as SC 22 WG4
Convenor.

	7.	ISO/IEC JTC 1/SC 22/WG4 expresses its deep appreciation to
Mr. Don Nelson for his many years of service as project editor for ISO/IEC
1989, COBOL.

The resolutions are also presented in WG4 N 0168 for open distribution.

12.	Adjournment.  The meeting adjourned at 12:30 p.m. on 13 September
2002.
Attachment 1

Final Agenda

ISO/IEC JTC 1/SC 22/WG4 - COBOL
Meeting 23
10-13 September 2002

Location:
		Conference Room 3
		NARA-KEN NEW PUBLIC HALL
		101 Kasugano-cho, Nara City, 
		Nara-ken  630-8212, Japan

1.	Opening of the meeting:    10:00 am, Tuesday, 10 September 2002

2.	Opening business
2.1		Introduction of delegates
2.2		Introductory remarks by convener
2.3		Welcome by host, local arrangements
2.4		Appointment of secretary and chair
2.5		Selection of drafting committee
2.6		Recognition of documents
2.7		Approval of agenda
2.8		Approval of Minutes of Meeting 22, November 2001 (WG4 N
0159)

3.	JTC1 or SC22 information affecting the group
3.1	NARA-6 - Resolutions from the SC22 meeting (SC22 N 3489)
3.2	SC22 character handling ad hoc

4.	Liaison reports

5.	Preliminary discussion of future meetings

6.	Status of ISO/IEC 1989 (Project 

7.	Defect Handling for ISO/IEC 1989
7.1	NARA-2 - J4 Defect Handling Process
7.2	J4 Defect Handling web site (Hubbell)

8.	Finalizer Technical Report,  WG4 N0163 - Finalizer TR
8.1		Status:  NARA-1 - Summary of Voting on Finalizer TR
8.1.1		Acknowledgment
8.2		Schedule

9.	Class Library Technical Report
9.1		Scope of work
9.1.1		XML - WG4 N 0165 (J4/02-0147) - XML Classes
9.1.2		Collections - NARA-4 (J4/02-0133) - Collection Class Library
9.1.3		Database - NARA-3 (J4/02-0134) - Proposed Database Classes
9.1.4		Persistence - NARA-5 (J4/02-0142) - Object Persistence with
COBOL
9.1.5		Other Candidates
9.2		Schedule

10.	Future plans
10.1		Revision or amendment of ISO/IEC 1989
10.1.1		WG4 N 0166 - Candidate features for a future revision
10.2		Future meetings

11.	Review and approval of resolutions from this meeting

12.	Close of the meeting:    end of day 13 September 2002

Daily schedule:
		Meeting start:		9:00 am
		Breaks and lunch time to be determined
		Meeting stop:		6:00 pm