[ebxml-iic] Conformance Clause update & issues

Hi all:

This is  an update on the Conformance Clause status.
Your input  / opinion is actually requested...

As you may know, the  Messaging Services spec is currently  revised,
which makes it a moving target for conformance clause work - but also
an opportunity. A preliminary draft (V1.05) is circulating.

On the positive side, V1.05 is addressing conformance concerns much more

explicitly than V1.0. A set of core features is being proposed. To
summarize:
- SOAP envelope and extensions
- Security and Error handling modules

This does not exactly match what the CC working group is currently
planning
as "base conformance level", but is close.
(We are mostly targeting a baseline conformance level that supports
basic interoperability,
and that could easily be remotely tested. So features such as "security"
may not be required
here.)

Another good thing in V1.05 is the grouping of features in modules,
which are logical
(and implementation) entities that will make it easier to define
conformance levels or
profiles.

A not so good thing is that compatibility with 1.0 seems broken.
New QoS elements such as "duplicateElimination" are being added.  That
is rather brutal
for a minor revision that early after the initial release. (
compatibility breaks would not
be a problem for major releases, and it would be better to "space" them
as much as possible).

But another aspect of V1.05 that IIC-CC is more concerned with, is the
inclusion of
a conformance clause.
Here please review the attached comment / feedback that I propose
to communicate to the MS TC. Your comments are welcome.

Regards,

Jacques Durand
chair of the Conformance Clause working group