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Tomohiro Oda edited this page Feb 26, 2023 · 21 revisions

Welcome to the Language Board wiki!

The Language Board (LB) is a body formed from members of the Overture Community. The LB governs the management of the VDM language, its definition documents, and standard libraries. The LB is defined as part of the Overture Community Process (OCP). The OCP balances the need to encourage experimentation and sound extension of the language against the imperative for rigour in the definition of its syntax and semantics. Members of the Community may suggest changes to the VDM language by submitting a ''Request for Modification'' (RM), or may submit a Request for Clarification (RC) to alert the LB to errors or ambiguities in the Language Reference Manual (LRM). RMs are considered first by the LB, then opened to the Community for discussion. RCs are considered by the LB, but may become RMs if a deeper problem is found.

Overture Community Process

Requests for Modification (RMs)

  • Any member of the Community may submit a Request for Modification (RM) by following the Workflow for Requests for Modification.
  • The LB must process all RMs equally and in timely manner.
  • The Originator may withdraw a submitted RM at any time prior to termination of the process by informing the Convener and Secretary.
  • The LB may change the status of an RM to rejected at any time after submission and terminate the process, giving its reasons to the Originator.

Requests for Clarification (RCs)

  • Any member of the Community may submit a Request for Clarification (RC) by following the Workflow for Requests for Clarification.
  • The LB must process all RMs equally and in timely manner.
  • The Originator may withdraw a submitted RC at any time prior to termination of the process by informing the Convener and Secretary.

Library Submissions (LSs)

  • Any member of the Community may submit a Library Submission (LS) by following the Workflow for Library Submission.
  • The LB must process all LSs equally and in a timely manner.
  • The Originator may withdraw a submitted LS at any time prior to termination of the process by informing the Convener and Secretary.
  • Inclusion of an accepted LS in a tool that supports VDM is at the discretion of the tool maintainers, and is not within the purview of the LB.
  • For more information, see Library Submissions

Working Groups (WGs)

The LB must occasionally handle matters that do not fit into the existing workflows for RMs and RCs. Working Groups (WGs) exist to tackle such matters. For each matter, a WG is formed by a few members of the language board who agree to push on that particular topic. After the topic is address, the working group is disbanded. By their very nature, WGs are rather informal, so there is no further process around them.

Membership

  • The Language Board (LB) is formed from members of the Overture Community.
  • The number of members in the LB is flexible, but it must be always be odd.
  • The LB may appoint Observers who attend NMs but do not vote in LB decisions.
  • The LB shall step down on a specified date annually.
  • LB members may stand for re-election.
  • Any member of the Community may stand for election to the LB.

Current Members (2023)

  • Nick Battle
  • Anne Haxthausen
  • Hugo Daniel Macedo
  • Leo Freitas
  • Tomohiro Oda
  • Ken Pierce

Election

  • The number of LB members is flexible, therefore any number of candidates may present themselves and serve in the LB.
  • If the number of candidates is very high and would lead to an unwieldy LB, a discussion shall be had to reach consensus on LB members.
  • If it is not possible to agree on the membership of the LB, an election is held. This election shall be by Single Transferable Vote. All members shall have one vote. The election process shall be managed by a member not standing for election who is nominated and approved by simple majority voting in public open to all Overture Community members.

Operation of the Language Board

  • The LB shall appoint the following from among its members:
  • A Convener, who organises and chairs LB meetings. The Convener may not be the same person as the Secretary.
  • A Secretary, who manages the business, recording LB decisions and reporting them to the community.
  • The LB is responsible for:
  • Maintenance of the Language Reference Manual
  • The standard libraries shared between the Overture tool and VDMTools.
  • The timely consideration of all RMs and RCs
  • Communication of LB decisions to the rest of the Community.
  • Votes within the LB are by simple majority.
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