Re: New Draft of Web MIDI Spec?

[Doug Schepers]

Hi, folks–

Update: the new publication date for the Web MIDI API is next Tuesday, 
17 March 2015.

The spec is prepped and ready to go [1].


Background (skip if you aren't interested in process details):

I told you last month that I'd be publishing it then, and since that 
didn't happen, I wanted to explain why.

We're testing a new auto-publication system at W3C, called Echidna 
(along with a new publication-rules checker, Specberus). This will allow 
WG chairs or editors to publish normal updated working drafts (not yet 
FPWD, CR, PR, or Rec status) whenever they want, without going through 
the staff contact or webmaster; of course, normally the staff contact 
will still handle this, but the system will make it much easier.

This system is still in alpha phase, but it has been used to publish 
specs by the Web Performance WG, and since our publication wasn't 
particularly time-sensitive, I thought it was a worthwhile effort to 
attempt to do so for the Web MIDI API as well. After several attempts, 
however, I found that there were some bugs that still need to be ironed 
out for it to work for us. (If you're interested in those details, I can 
share them in the proper forum.) Those bugs are still being fixed, and 
rather than delay the spec publication further, we've decided to publish 
the spec manually, the old-fashioned way.

Though I wasn't able to get it working this time, I'll keep working with 
the publication team so we can automate it. This is a worthwhile 
investment in time, since it will be a big improvement on W3C's 
publication workflow; early testers of this system will encounter bugs, 
but that helps the publication team know what needs fixing.

I'll keep you posted on the status of this improved workflow.

(Not all the delay was working with this new publication system; all 
last week, I was at CSUN, a web accessibility conference, where I demoed 
a data visualization tool for blind users, which among other features 
uses the Web Audio API to "sonify" line and bar charts. Happy to demo it 
to anyone interested. This week, I was catching up on other delayed 
work, and recovering from the inevitable conference cold.)


In the meantime, Chris Wilson and Takashi Toyoshima have made several 
important edits to the spec, which will be reflected in the updated TR 
working draft. Chris will be sending a separate message about that, but 
I'm assuming that the Audio WG still approves the earlier publication 
approval, unless I hear differently before next Tuesday.


Sorry for the delay!


[1] http://www.w3.org/TR/2015/WD-webmidi-20150317/

Regards–
–Doug

On 2/19/15 5:38 PM, Doug Schepers wrote:
Hi, folks–

I'm delaying publication by a day or so.

I'll be making the changes needed directly in the github version, to
save future time.

I'll also be prepping it for automatic publishing with W3C's new
publication system, which is still rough around the edges.

I'll let you know when it's been published.

Regards–
–Doug

On 2/19/15 11:18 AM, Chris Wilson wrote:
1) PR, dude, seriously.  :P

2) Can you just drop me a copy of the file and I'll fix it up?  Like,
I'm not sure what you mean by "feedback link" or "added some editor
data".

On Wed, Feb 18, 2015 at 8:03 AM, Doug Schepers <schep...@w3.org
<mailto:schep...@w3.org>> wrote:

    Hi, ChrisW, Jussi–

    In prepping the Web MIDI API spec for publication, we made a few
    changes that you may want to sync up with the Editor's Draft:

    * added a Feedback link to the Audio WG mailing list in the
heading list
    * updated the copyright statement (this is administrivia, but it
    currently says 2012-2015, when it should just say 2015)
    * added "editor-data-id" attributes to the editor DDs
    * fixed some duplicate IDs:

    ** idl-def-ForEachCallback (changed to
    idl-def-MIDIInputMap-__ForEachCallback and
    idl-def-MIDIOutputMap-__ForEachCallback)

    ** widl-ForEachCallback-id (changed to
    widl-MIDIInputMap-__ForEachCallback-id and
    widl-MIDIOutputMap-__ForEachCallback-id)

    ** widl-ForEachCallback-port (changed to
    widl-MIDIInputMap-__ForEachCallback-port and
    widl-MIDIOutputMap-__ForEachCallback-port)

    * fixed a couple broken links:

    ** fragment #event-midiacces-disconnect (text "MIDIConnectionEvent")
    was not found, so I replaced the link with
    #idl-def-MIDIConnectionEvent (like other links with the same text)

    ** http://avd.io was 404, so I changed the link to http://juss.in/

    If any of these changes are incorrect, please let me know.


    The document is prepped and will be published on Thursday.

    Regards–
    –Doug

    On 2/11/15 10:29 AM, Joseph Berkovitz wrote:

        Hi Chris,

        Since it is so very easy: please consider this a request to
        publish a
        new update to the Web MIDI API Working Draft. Thank you so much.

        Best,

        .            .       .    .  . ...Joe

        *Joe Berkovitz*
        President

        *Noteflight LLC*
        Boston, Mass.
        phone: +1 978 314 6271 <tel:%2B1%20978%20314%206271>
        www.noteflight.com <http://www.noteflight.com>
        <http://www.noteflight.com>
        "Your music, everywhere"

        On Feb 9, 2015, at 4:21 PM, Chris Lilley <ch...@w3.org
        <mailto:ch...@w3.org>
        <mailto:ch...@w3.org <mailto:ch...@w3.org>>> wrote:

            Hello Joseph,

            Monday, February 9, 2015, 7:17:22 PM, you wrote:

                I’ll wait to hear from the editors, but of course I’d
                love to get
                the ball rolling (I’ll need a bit of help understanding
                the mechanics
                of same).


            Its an update to a Working Draft so its easy. The WG
decides to
            publish, tells me to do it, and I do it.


                …Joe



                On Feb 9, 2015, at 1:07 PM, Doug Schepers
                <schep...@w3.org <mailto:schep...@w3.org>
                <mailto:schep...@w3.org <mailto:schep...@w3.org>>> wrote:


                Hey, folks–


                I was informed that the Editor's Draft link on the Web
                MIDI API is
                wrong; it points to the ED for the Web Audio API.


                I requested permission to update this spec in place, but
                was told
                it's against our current policy (which, thankfully,
                seems to be
                changing soon); we don't change our specs in TR after
                publication
                (not even metadata, apparently).


                Instead, I was told to publish a new draft with the
                correct link in
                place.


                We should publish a new draft of the Web MIDI API
                anyway, to meet
                heartbeat publication requirements (normally every 3
                months... we're
                about 5 publications behind ^_^).


                Would the editors be okay with publishing a new draft?
                (Are there
                any changes that can be reflected in a new draft? Or,
                perhaps,
                issues that could be resolved quickly?)


                If so, would the Chairs be willing to get this ball
                rolling, by
                putting out a RFC for publication?


                Regards–
                –Doug










            --
            Best regards,
            Chris Lilley, Technical Director, W3C Interaction Domain