Subject: SC22 N2479 - WG9 Business Plan and WG9 Conveners Report for SC22 August 1997 Plenary

From: "william c. rinehuls" <[email-masked]>
Date: Wed, 28 May 1997 17:02:57 -0400 (EDT)

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

ISO/IEC JTC 1/SC22
N2479

May 1997

TITLE:
WG9 Business Plan and WG9 Convener's Report for the August 1997 JTC 1/SC22
Plenary

SOURCE:
Secretariat, ISO/IEC JTC 1/SC22

WORK ITEM:
N/A

STATUS:
Please note that this Report contains a number of issues for consideration
at the August 1997 SC22 Plenary

CROSS REFERENCE:
N/A

DOCUMENT TYPE:
Convener's Report

ACTION:
To SC22 Member Bodies for action.

Address reply to:
ISO/IEC JTC 1/SC22 Secretariat
William C. Rinehuls
8457 Rushing Creek Court
Springfield, VA 22153 USA
Tel:  +1 (703) 912-9680
Fax:  +1 (703) 912-2973
email:  [email-masked]

________________________end of title page; beginning of text ___________

          Convener's Report, ISO/IEC JTC1/SC22/WG9 (Ada)

This report is in the form of the requested "Business Plan." Other items
are included in an additional Section 4.

BUSINESS PLAN FOR ISO/IEC JTC1/SC22/WG9 (Ada) 

PERIOD COVERED: 
June 1996 - May 1997 

SUBMITTED BY: 
Convener of ISO/IEC JTC1/SC22/WG9
James W. Moore
The MITRE Corporation, W534
1820 Dolley Madison Blvd.
McLean, Virginia 22102
USA
703.883.7396 (Office)
703.883.5432 (Fax)
[email-masked] 

1. MANAGEMENT SUMMARY 

1.1 JTC1/SC22/WG9 STATEMENT OF SCOPE 

Development of ISO standards for Programming Language Ada 

1.2 PROJECT REPORT 

1.2.1 COMPLETED PROJECTS 

22.10.01 -- IS 8652:1995 Programming Languages: Ada 
Planning for the revision of 8652 is commencing. 
22.10.02 -- IS 11430:1994 Generic Package of Elementary Functions for
Ada
22.10.03 -- IS 11729:1994 Generic Package of Primitive Functions for Ada

The contents of 11430 and 11729 are substantively subsumed by the
subsequent approval of the 1995 revision of 8652. These standards will
probably be withdrawn circa 1999. 
22.31 -- IS 12227:1995 SQL/Ada Module Description Language (SAMeDL) 
WG9 has determined that the revision of 12227 is currently unnecessary;
this decision will be reconsidered periodically.
22.35 -- (Type 2) TR 11735:1996 EXTensions for real-time Ada 
The contents of 11735 are substantively subsumed by the 1995 revision of
8652. This Technical Report will be withdrawn when usage of the 1987
version of the Ada language has diminished.

1.2.2 PROJECTS UNDERWAY 

22.10.04 -- DIS 13813 Generic packages of real and complex type
declarations and basic operations for Ada (including vector and matrix
types) 
WG9 has submitted this document for DIS ballot. Completion in 1998 is
planned. 
22.10.05 -- DIS 13814 Generic package of complex elementary functions
for Ada
WG9 has submitted this document for DIS ballot. Completion in 1998 is
planned.
22.15291-- WD 15291 Ada Semantic Interface Specification (ASIS)
At the August plenary meeting of SC22, permission will be requested for
simultaneous CD registration and ballot of this document. Completion in
early 1999 is planned.

1.2.3 NEW PROJECTS 

At its June meeting, WG9 will consider proposing a New Work Item for Ada
in High-Integrity Systems. The product would be a Technical Report
describing how Ada might be applied to the most demanding of
safety-critical and security-critical systems. Liaison with interested
national and international organizations (such as IEC TC56) is
envisioned, and, in fact, is already occurring on an informal basis.

1.2.4 COOPERATION AND COMPETITION 

There are two major professional societies in this area: the Special
Interest Group on Ada (SIG) of the Association for Computing Machinery
and Ada-Europe. The semi-annual meetings of WG9 are scheduled to
coincide with the major conferences organized by these two groups.
Informal but close cooperation with SIGAda is maintained by the
convener. The UK Head of Delegation to WG9 is also an officer of
Ada-Europe.

There is one major vendor consortium, the Ada Resource Association
(ARA). Formal liaison with ARA is maintained. WG9 is looking for
opportunities to transpose de facto standards from the ARA.
The United States Department of Defense (DOD), Ada Joint Program Office
(AJPO) has a continuing interest in the Ada language. Liaison is assured
because AJPO funds the convener to serve in his position.
In addition, liaison and/or consultation are applied as appropriate with
WG4 (Cobol), WG11 (Language-Independent Standards), WG14 (C Language),
WG15 (POSIX), WG16 (LISP), WG21 (C++), SC21/WG3 (IRDS), the SC22 Java
Study Group, and the IEEE Computer Society Software Engineering
Standards Committee.

2.0 PERIOD REVIEW 

2.1 MARKET REQUIREMENTS 

The most fundamental change in the market has been action by the US DOD
to drop its "mandate" of Ada in all military systems. The choice of
language to be used will now be made by each individual development
program. Certain segments of the DOD apparently remain committed to
favoring Ada, notably the real-time, embedded systems community. DOD has
committed to increase funding to support the activities of the AJPO. 

2.2 ACHIEVEMENTS 

Published: (Type 2) TR 11735:1996 EXTensions for real-time Ada 
DIS text submitted: DIS 13813 Generic packages of real and complex type
declarations and basic operations for Ada (including vector and matrix
types)
DIS text submitted: DIS 13814 Generic package of complex elementary
functions for Ada
A Web page was established for the business of WG9,
"http://www.dkuug.dk/JTC1/SC22/WG9/".

2.3 RESOURCES 

With the completion of the major language revision, available resources
are declining, as expected. All new work item suggestions are screened
by the requirement for active support from five national bodies. This
has worked well, resulting in the decision not to pursue one possible
project and explicit commitments from national bodies supporting another
possible project. 

3.0 FOCUS NEXT WORK PERIOD 

Aside from the specific deliverables described below, the most important
task of WG9 is to set up a defect resolution and clarification process
for IS 8652; this work would eventually lead to formal COR or AMD
documents or to a revision of the base standard. So that preliminary
defect reports and clarifications may be properly circulated among the
entire community of concern, it is necessary that they be openly
available without copyright restrictions. The current uncertainty
regarding the copyright issue endangers satisfactory performance of this
task. Even the one-year trial relaxation of the policy is inadequate
because the threat remains that once such material is introduced into
the JTC1 process, it is subject to imposition of copyright in the
future. 

3.1 DELIVERABLES 

It is anticipated that DIS 13813 and DIS 13814 will be approved during
the next twelve months.
It is anticipated that WD 15291 will reach FCD stage during the next
twelve months.

3.2 STRATEGIES 

Routine processing will suffice to achieve our goals for DIS 13813 and
DIS 13814.
To achieve the goal for WD 15291, WG9 will request simultaneous CD
registration and balloting of WD 15291.

3.2.1 RISKS 

Unexpectedly heavy technical comment could delay any of the strategies
described above. WG9 has mitigated this risk by providing mechanisms for
full treatment of NB technical concerns at the WG level.

3.2.2 OPPORTUNITIES 

WG9 is considering whether to request simultaneous CD registration and
FCD balloting of WD 15291.

3.3 WORK PROGRAM PRIORITIES 

1. The item described in Section 3.0 is the top concern of WG9.
(Unfortunately, satisfactory resolution of the copyright issue is beyond
the control of WG9.) Much of the appeal of the Ada language is based
upon the precision of its specification and the robust (but now
informal) process of language clarification. 
2. Secondary concerns are the progress of DIS 13813, DIS 13814 and WD
15291.
3. Acceptance of new work is a tertiary concern.

4. OTHER ITEMS 

This section lists other items that are not part of the "Business Plan"
but are appropriate for Convener's Report.

4.1 ACTION REQUESTED AT FORTHCOMING PLENARY 

WG9 requests approval for simultaneous CD registration and balloting of
WD 15291.

4.2 APPOINTMENT OF NEW CONVENER 

James W. Moore has been acting as convener since December 1996 and was
formally appointed to the position in May 1997.

4.3 AWARD TO RETIRING CONVENER 

Retiring convener, Robert Mathis, was presented with an Outstanding Ada
Community Service Award by the Association for Computing Machinery for
his accomplishments as convener of WG9.

4.4 MIGRATION TO ELECTRONIC DISTRIBUTION 

WG9 is moving rapidly toward electronic distribution. Recent WG9
documents, including a ballot, have been exchanged exclusively via
email. A Web page, "http://www.dkuug.dk/JTC1/SC22/WG9/" provides
documents for consultation.

4.5 CONCERN WITH COPYRIGHT POLICY 

As noted in Section 3.0, continuing uncertainty regarding ISO copyright
policy hampers progress toward an effective defect reporting and
clarification process.

4.6 FUTURE MEETINGS 

7 Meeting #32, 2 June 1997, London, England, UK, with Ada-Europe
conference 
7 Meeting #33, 14 Nov 1997, St. Louis, Missouri, US, with Tri-Ada
conference (exact date tentative)
7 Meeting #34, 12 June 1998, Uppsala, Sweden, with Ada-Europe conference
(exact date tentative)

4.7 RECENT MEETINGS 

7 Meeting #31, 7 December 1996, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, US, with
Tri-Ada conference
7 Meeting #30, 14 June 1996, Montreux, Switzerland, with Ada-Europe
conference 

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