Subject: N2938 - WG17 Business Plan and Convener Report for SC22 Plenary

From: William Rinehuls <[email-masked]>
Date: Wed, 16 Jun 1999 16:26:52 -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
N2938

TITLE:
SC22/WG17 Business Plan and Convener Report for the September 1999 JTC
1/SC22 Plenary

DATE ASSIGNED:
1999-06-16

SOURCE:
Secretariat, ISO/IEC JTC 1/SC22

BACKWARD POINTER:
N/A

DOCUMENT TYPE:
Convener Report

PROJECT NUMBER:
N/A

STATUS:
Please note that this report contains action items to be handled at the
Plenary.

ACTION IDENTIFIER:
FYI

DUE DATE:
N/A

DISTRIHBUTION:
Text

CROSS REFERENCE:
N/A

DISTRIBUTION FORM:
Def

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

____________ end of title page; beginning of report ______________________

 BUSINESS PLAN AND CONVENER'S REPORT: ISO/IEC JTC1/SC22/WG17 (PROLOG)

PERIOD COVERED: 
June 1998 - May 1999

SUBMITTED BY: 
R S Scowen  (ISO/IEC JTC1 SC22 WG17 Convener)
9 Birchwood Grove, Hampton, Middlesex
United Kingdom     TW12 3DU
Tel: +44 (0)181 979 7429;        Fax: +44 (0)181 287 3810;
E-mail: [email-masked]
16 June 1999

1. MANAGEMENT SUMMARY

1.1 JTC1/SC22/WG17 STATEMENT OF SCOPE 

  Development of ISO/IEC standards related to the programming language
  Prolog.

1.2 PROJECT REPORT 

1.2.1 COMPLETED PROJECTS 

JTC1.22.22.01 -- ISO/IEC 13211-1 Prolog - Part 1: General core

  ISO/IEC 13211-1 was published in June 1995.  So far, no serious
  problems have been reported.

1.2.2 PROJECTS UNDERWAY 

JTC1.22.22.02 -- ISO/IEC 13211-2 Prolog - Part 2: Modules

  FCD 13211-2 (SC22 N2737) was approved in a ballot ending in 
  December 1998. The ballot was approved (see N2855 and N2863). 
  A ballot resolution meeting was held in January 1999 (see 
  N2878 for minutes and resolutions).  The disposition of comments 
  has been published (SC22 N2929).  The DIS is scheduled for 
  July 1999, and it is hoped to publish the standard as ISO/IEC 
  13211-2:1999 in December 1999.

1.2.3 NEW PROJECTS

  ISO/IEC 13211-1:1995 is approaching its five-year review. WG17 
  intend to prepare a revision, primarily in order to correct a few 
  known minor errors, but also to see if there are further facilities 
  where standardization would be a benefit.

1.3 COOPERATION AND COMPETITION 

  WG17 has always tried to cooperate with the whole Prolog community.
  Although many are not well aware of Prolog and its unique
  functionality, there are many important applications.  Where
  appropriate, WG17 has established contact with other SC22 working
  groups. There is no direct competition with any other efforts.

2.0 PERIOD REVIEW 

2.1 MARKET REQUIREMENTS 

  The Prolog user community has expressed a wish for the standard to 
  be more readily available. 

  It is noteworthy how queries from users in the newsgroup 
  'comp.lang.prolog' are often answered by describing the requirements 
  made by the "ISO standard". Queries why a particular processor behaves 
  in a particular fashion are similarly explained with reference to 
  the ISO standard.

2.2 ACHIEVEMENTS 

  ISO/IEC 13211-1 (Prolog, General core) was published in June 1995.

  FCD 13211-2 (Modules) was published in May 1998.

  WG17 hosted a forum at the PACLP99 (The Practical Application of 
  Prolog and Constraint Technology) conference in April 1999 in
  order to recruit new members and discuss the future of standard
  Prolog.

  SC22 WG17's web site is:
    http://www.sju.edu/~jhodgson/wg17/wg17web.html

2.3 RESOURCES 

  Although resources in general are declining, the future of the
  current WG17 projects seems to be secured.  There is a project editor
  and backup project editor for Part 2 as well as for the completed
  core Language Standard.

3.0 FOCUS NEXT WORK PERIOD 

  For the upcoming work period, WG17's main task will be to publish 
  ISO/IEC DIS 13211-2 and ISO/IEC 13211-2:1999.

  WG17 also intend to consider revision of ISO/IEC 13211-1:1995. 
  Where an extension would not be trivial, WG17 may recommend that 
  the extension is published as a new and separate part of ISO/IEC 13211.

3.1 DELIVERABLES 

  ISO/IEC 13211-2 Prolog - Part 2: Modules 
  Publication of DIS                      1999-07-31
  Camera ready copy of standard to ITTF   1999-11-30
  
3.2 STRATEGIES 
 
  WG17 has two principal strategies: (1) technical excellence, and 
  (2) liaison with all interested parties

3.2.1 RISKS 

  The problems raised by Germany have now been resolved, and no further 
  problems are anticipated.

3.2.2 OPPORTUNITIES 

  The standard will undoubtedly be more widely adopted when it is freely
  available electronically over the web.

3.3 WORK PROGRAM PRIORITIES 

  The completion of ISO/IEC 13211-2 has priority at present.

4. OTHER ITEMS 

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

4.1 POSSIBLE ACTION REQUEST AT FORTHCOMING PLENARY

  WG17 requests permission from SC22 to correct errors in ISO/IEC 
  13211-1:1995, and to consider whether more wide-ranging revisions 
  would be appropriate.

4.2 CONVENERS AND PROJECT EDITOR

  Roger Scowen has been WG17 convener since the Working Group was 
  created in 1987. With the completion of Part 2 imminent, he now 
  wishes to step down. WG17 recommends Jonathan Hodgson (currently 
  project editor of Part 2) be appointed as convener of WG17.

  The following individuals have been appointed project editors and
  backup project editors, respectively:

  JTC1.22.22.01 -- Prolog, Base Language
    Roger Scowen (main), Jonathan Hodgson (backup)

  JTC1.22.22.02 -- Prolog, Modules
    Jonathan Hodgson (main), Roger Scowen (backup)

4.4 ELECTRONIC DOCUMENT DISTRIBUTION

  All discussions and decisions within the working group are
  taken using e-mail.

4.5 RECENT MEETING

  The last meeting of WG17 took place in London, England on 7-8 January 1999.

4.6 FUTURE MEETINGS

  No future meetings are currently planned, until it is clear whether 
  substantial work on Part 1 will be required.

5 DRAFT RESOLUTIONS FOR SC22

  The following draft resolutions arise from clauses 4.1 and 4.2 
  in the report above.

5.1 APPOINTMENT OF WG17 CONVENER

  SC22 appoints Jonathan Hodgson as convener of WG17.

5.2 REVISION of ISO/IEC 13211-1:1995 Prolog: Part 1 - General core

  SC22 instructs WG17:
  (1) to revise ISO/IEC 13211-1:1995 (Prolog: Part 1 - General Core) 
      by correcting known errors, and 
  (2) to consider what other functionality should be standardized 
      in Prolog, and whether it should be defined as a separate part 
      of ISO/IEC 13211, or incorporated into the revision of Part 1.

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