ebXML deliverable format suggestion

[Joseph Baran <joebaran@extol.com>]

To the QR Team:

This note was prompted by our discussion during yesterday's conference call 
concerning the "official" format for ebXML deliverables, as referenced in 
the following except from the minutes:

<minutes_excerpt>
5. a. Following an action item from 2 weeks ago, Tim reported that a
Word template document is the format currently being applied to all
technical specifications.  The Team expressed concern about the
proprietary nature of this format and that the initiative should adopt
the tools it preaches.  W3C publish technical specifications using the
XML specs, DTDs and stylesheets available from Eve Maler.  However, they
require at least all Team Editors to have appropriate tools (eg XMetal)
to maintain the content.
</minutes_excerpt>


In order to clarify the somewhat less-than-rigorous statement "W3C publish 
technical specifications using the
XML specs, DTDs and stylesheets available from Eve Maler", I thought I 
would provide some links to resources concerning this thing.


What is being referred to is more properly called "XMLspec"; it is defined 
in a "report" entitled:
"Guide to the W3C XML Specification ("XMLspec") DTD, Version 2.1"

The section "About This Report" states:
This report describes the XML specification ("XMLspec") DTD used for World 
Wide Web Consortium (W3C) specifications and notes related to XML. It is 
maintained by Eve Maler (<elm@east.sun.com <mailto:elm@east.sun.com>>, +1 
781 442 3190) of Sun Microsystems. This release of the report corresponds 
to the DTD with the formal public identifier "-//W3C//DTD Specification 
Version 2.1//EN".


The complete report is quite substantial (almost 300KB when saved as an 
HTML file). It includes extensive documentation, an annotated version of 
the DTD with change history, etc. The latest version of the report is at:

http://www.w3.org/XML/1998/06/xmlspec-report

The latest version of the actual DTD file itself is at:

http://www.w3.org/XML/1998/06/xmlspec.dtd

There is a mailing list archive of the XMLspec discussion list at:

http://lists.w3.org/Archives/Public/spec-prod/

There is no "official" stylesheet, but you can find the most recent 
general-purpose one at:
http://www.w3.org/XML/1998/06/xmlspec.xsl

The example commercial tool mentioned in the minutes ("XMetaL" - no 
endorsement implied!) is available for trial or purchase at:
http://www.softquad.com/
I have downloaded the trial, but have not installed it yet. I will 
eventually report on my experience with it.
I hope this is helpful for anyone wanting to come up to speed on this 
effort.
Joe Baran