COMCIFS namespace and dictionary policy
Posted: Tue Jan 15, 2013 1:34 am
Could I get some comments on the following statement of IUCr namespace and dictionary policy? Can we improve on this? I think we have a chance to act on the Madrid discussion of the status of different dictionaries from external providers in the context of namespaces as well. If all goes well at this stage I will present this to COMCIFS for further discussion.
Draft COMCIFS dataname and dictionary policy within the IUCr domain
COMCIFS must ensure the uniqueness of all extant datanames within the IUCr domain. The following policy is designed to maximise the chances that the status and meaning of any dataname encountered in the IUCr domain is unambiguous. A dataname is considered to be within the IUCr domain if the proposed _audit.discipline dataname has the value 'IUCr'.
Draft COMCIFS dataname and dictionary policy within the IUCr domain
COMCIFS must ensure the uniqueness of all extant datanames within the IUCr domain. The following policy is designed to maximise the chances that the status and meaning of any dataname encountered in the IUCr domain is unambiguous. A dataname is considered to be within the IUCr domain if the proposed _audit.discipline dataname has the value 'IUCr'.
- Datanames not explicitly approved by COMCIFS and appearing in CIF datafiles should either contain the string '[local]' or commence with a prefix handed out by COMCIFS
- COMCIFS makes no undertakings as to the uniqueness of datanames containing the string '[local]'.
- In the register of approved prefixes, COMCIFS may provide certification that datanames with a given prefix will be unique. In order to obtain this certification, a prefix assignee should:
- publish a publically-available dictionary defining all datanames with that prefix
- have an organisational structure judged capable of enforcing dataname policy (a single person also suits this criterion)
- Alternatively, if a prefix assignee provides to the IUCr a dataname dictionary and advises that the prefix is no longer in use, the IUCr will archive that dictionary and certify that the prefix is unique. If later workers wish to re-use such a 'closed' prefix, they must not define any items that appear in such archived dictionaries.
- The IUCr cannot provide any guarantees as to the correctness or uniqueness of definitions in dictionaries published by third parties. COMCIFS may choose, on request, to bring such third party dictionaries into the IUCr domain, in which case datanames and details of definitions may change.