[Odrl-version2] Dates and times in constraints

Sat Feb 19 12:13:07 EST 2011

Hi Stuart

Maybe I've misunderstood something in the WorkingWithTimeZones discussion
document, but it seems to me that the W3C Note mandates the use of a time
zone designator (TZD) in date-times,  but the discussion document  appears
to be saying something different. In the Guidelines Summary at the end it
states:

If you are using time zone independant values: 

*	Omit zone offset 
*	Ignore zone offset on values received 
*	If a zone offset is required, use UTC (offset = 0) 

[I wish these people would learn to spell.]

It's not a total volte-face, but it does seem to me to be a more flexible
position.

Regards,

Francis

From: Myles, Stuart [mailto:SMyles at ap.org] 
Sent: 18 February 2011 19:44
To: francis at franciscave.com; ODRL-Version2
Subject: RE: [Odrl-version2] Dates and times in constraints

Hi Francis,

I just read that page and I don't agree that they are in some way pulling
back from recommendations for working with ISO Dates and Times laid out in

http://www.w3.org/TR/NOTE-datetime

Or maybe I just missed where they said it? Can you point to where the above
document is contradiction with
http://www.w3.org/International/wiki/WorkingWithTimeZones?

But, either way, I suggest that the issue we need to decide regarding ODRL
is whether specifying the timezone offset is important.

To take an example, let's say that someone specifies in ODRL that the
recipient is allowed to play a video on their website after
2011-11-05T13:15:30. Because there is no timezone offset applied, this is
what the W3C wiki refers to as a "floating time". In other words,
2011-11-05T13:15:30 occurs at different instants in different timezones. Is
there really a use case for that?

I think there *is* a use case for "floating times" when it comes to dates.
Specifying 2011-11-05 without specifying an exact timezone makes sense to
me, because if day is the granularity that is required, then timezone is
irrelevant (even though that "day" could be cover as much as 50 hours across
the various timezones around the world). And if someone does want to specify
a particular instant, then they can do so by supplying a time, as well as a
date, with a timezone offset.

I am not opposed to having the ODRL core model allow for floating times, if
there's a use case. And, as we've already said, we can always rely on
profiles of ODRL to tighten the requirements for making timezone offsets
required, as needed.

Regards,

Stuart

From: odrl-version2-bounces at odrl.net [mailto:odrl-version2-bounces at odrl.net]
On Behalf Of Francis Cave
Sent: Wednesday, February 09, 2011 6:39 AM
To: 'ODRL-Version2'
Subject: Re: [Odrl-version2] Dates and times in constraints

It seems that W3C are pulling back from making time zone offsets mandatory:

http://www.w3.org/International/wiki/WorkingWithTimeZones

This new draft of the W3C Note is currently out for comment.

Regards,

Francis

From: odrl-version2-bounces at odrl.net [mailto:odrl-version2-bounces at odrl.net]
On Behalf Of Francis Cave
Sent: 02 February 2011 12:54
To: 'ODRL-Version2'
Subject: Re: [Odrl-version2] Dates and times in constraints

That makes sense to me.

Regards,

Francis

From: odrl-version2-bounces at odrl.net [mailto:odrl-version2-bounces at odrl.net]
On Behalf Of ri at odrl.net
Sent: 02 February 2011 12:37
To: ODRL-Version2
Subject: Re: [Odrl-version2] Dates and times in constraints

On 2 Feb 2011, at 22:14, Francis Cave wrote:

XML Schema dateTime supports timezones, but doesn't mandate their use. The
W3C Note recommends that their use be mandatory.

Ok, I see know....

My view is the less we make mandatory in the Common Vocab, the more flexible
we are.

Mandatory options are best specified in Profiles, which have real-world use
cases.

Cheers

Renato Iannella

ODRL Initiative

http://odrl.net

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