OASIS ebXML Messaging Services TC

RE: [ebxml-msg] Issue 15: Use of the word OPTIONAL

  • 1.  RE: [ebxml-msg] Issue 15: Use of the word OPTIONAL

    Posted 02-14-2002 15:44
    Yes Marty, this is what I am saying. We, as a group, agreed to add Role as long as it was OPTIONAL. As to why Chris added this element, he didn't tell us -- I'm sure he had his reasons (we didn't ask since, after all, this element is OPTIONAL). Support for this element has always been OPTIONAL. It is too late to change that now. If I were an implementer, I would never send a value in Role unless the receiving end, at CPA configure time, asked for this. As an implementer, I would never fault when receiving this element since it will not cause a parser error -- I would ignore it, unless I were someone like RosettaNet who needed this element. However, if an implementation chooses to return a NotSupported when it receives a Role, they are allowed to do so. This is what OPTIONAL means. We voted NOT to change functionality. If we are going to ignore group decisions, then why do we bother to vote? David.