Subject: SC22 N2958 - WG19 Convener Report - PLENARY AGENDA ITEM

From: William Rinehuls <[email-masked]>
Date: Thu, 8 Jul 1999 17:01:43 -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
N2958

TITLE:
WG19 Convener Report and WG19 Business Plan for the September 1999 JTC 1/
SC22 Plenary - PLENARY AGENDA ITEM

DATE ASSIGNED:
1999-07-08

SOURCE:
Secretariat, ISO/IEC JTC 1/SC22

BACKWARD POINTER:
N/A

DOCUMENT TYPE:
WG Convener Report

PROJECT NUMBER:
N/A

STATUS:
Discussion of this document will be an agenda item for the September 1999
JTC 1/SC22 Plenary

ACTION IDENTIFIER:
FYI

DUE DATE:
N/A

DISTRIBUTION:
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/WG19 (Formal Specification Languages)

PERIOD COVERED:

September 1998 to August 1999

SUBMITTED BY:

Convener, ISO/IEC JTC1/SC22/WG19
John Wordsworth
IBM United Kingdom Laboratories
MP 137 Hursley Park
Winchester
Hants SO21 2JN
UK

Email: [email-masked]
Phone: +44 1962 815700

1: MANAGEMENT SUMMARY

1.1: JTC1/SC22/WG19 STATEMENT OF SCOPE

WG 19 is responsible for formal methods activities, formal specification
languages, and syntactic metalanguages.  It is currently responsible for
two specification languages, VDM-SL and Z Notation, and for the syntactic
metalanguage Extended BNF.

1.2: PROJECT REPORT

1.2.1: COMPLETED PROJECTS

None in this period.

1.2.2: PROJECTS UNDER WAY

JTC1.22.29.02 - Vienna Development Method Part 2

A first CD is to be delivered to the SC22 secretariat before the plenary
meeting.

JTC1.22.45 - Z Notation

A final CD is to be delivered to the SC22 secretariat before the plenary
meeting.

1.2.3: CANCELLED PROJECTS

None in this period.

1.2.4: COOPERATION AND COMPETITION

The work of the VDM group involves collaborative work of six participating
P-members: UK, Denmark, Holland, France, Japan and the USA.

The work of the Z group involves the participation of members from the UK,
USA, Australia, Japan, Germany, France, Italy, Brazil, Canada, Ireland, and
New Zealand.

There are no competitive activities.

2: PERIOD REVIEW

2.1: MARKET REQUIREMENTS

The increasing interest in safety-critical systems and in secure systems
suggests a continuing interest in the use of formal notations like Z and
VDM.  Industrial users of the notations continue to exert pressure for
standards, and contribute people's time to the work.

2.2: ACHIEVEMENTS

Submission of CDs.

2.3: RESOURCES

The convener continues to receive support from IBM United Kingdom
Laboratories for his work and expenses.

Lack of funding for the project editor for VDM Part 2 has reduced the scope
of the planned CD.

The project editor for Z Notation continues to receive support for his work
from the University of York.

Technical work is supported by a wide range of academic, industrial, and
government organizations.

3: FOCUS NEXT WORK PERIOD

For the VDM Part 2 project:

Task 1. To respond to comments on the CD for VDM Part 2.
Task 2. To produce a second CD for VDM Part 2.

For the Z Notation project:

Task 1.  To respond to comments on the Final Committee Draft.
Task 2.  To prepare a DIS from the FCD and the comments received.
Task 3.  To prepare proposals for further work based on the requirements of
the worldwide academic and business communities.

3.1: DELIVERABLES

The schedule for some of the deliverables depends on the comments received
on the CDs.  The following deliverables are planned:

Second CD for VDM Part 2 - about August 2000
DIS for Z Notation - about August 2000
List of proposals for further work on the Z Notation - about April 2000

3.2: STRATEGIES

For the Z Notation: To canvass academic and industrial proposals for
further standardization work, to estimate the likely resources needed, and
to canvass support for the required technical work.

3.3: RISKS

Lack of funding for project editing in the VDM project.

3.4: OPPORTUNITIES

To be investigated as described in STRATEGIES above.

3.5: WORK PROGRAM PRIORITIES

None.

4: OTHER ITEMS

4.1: POSSIBLE ACTION REQUESTS AT THE FORTHCOMING PLENARY

To approve concurrent registration and ballot for the CD for VDM Part 2.

To approve concurrent registration and ballot for the FCD for the Z
Notation.

4.2: PROJECT EDITORS

The Project Editor for the VDM-SL project is unchanged, though he has
changed his addresses and telephone numbers:

Derek Andrews
The Paddocks
28 High Street
Great Glen
Leicester LE8 9FJ
UK

Email: [email-masked]
Tel:    +44 (0)116 259 3579
Mobile: +44 (0)7957 441 236

Dr Ian Toyn continues as project editor of the Z Notation project.

Dr Ian Toyn,
Dept of Computer Science,
University of York,
York YO1 5DD
UK

Email: [email-masked]
Phone: +44 1904 433386

4.3: ELECTRONIC DOCUMENT DISTRIBUTION

Much of the work of the group is carried out by email, and by the
electronic distribution of proposals and drafts. Some documents are
accessible from the Internet, and by FTP.

4.4: RECENT MEETINGS

The following meetings were devoted to the work of the Z Notation project:

26 Jan 199 - Cambridge UK
23 March 1999 - Southampton, UK
27 July 1999, London, UK

4.5: FUTURE MEETINGS

Meetings to review comments on the CD are planned but not yet scheduled.

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