Re: Diagrams (Was RFCs should be distributed in XML)

[Stewart Bryant <stbryant at cisco.com>]

Gray, Eric wrote:

> Stewart,
>
> 	While an interesting turn of phrase, "hair shirt approach"
> is hardly an accurate analogy, nor is it particularly apt to compare
> presentation materials (where there's a real live person in front
> of you to answer questions) with specifications (where there usually
> is not).
>  
Indeed - where there is a person, the audience can ask questions of
clarification, but an document must stand by itself. Clarity is
therefore more important in a document, and we should therefore
use the best tools available.

> 	One dilemma associated with unlimited scope for complex drawing 
> is the fact that group-thinking rarely ever results in simplification
> (for pictures in particular, especially when those pictures are meant 
> to be normative).  While an author, editor or working group may want
> to keep figures/pictures simple, what are the criteria we should use
> to determine when an appropriate level of complexity is achieved?
>  
Occam's razor seems to be the best criteria for such a dilemma.

Using a primitive presentation mechanism as a substitute for
peer review on the appropriateness of the solution seems something
of a cop-out that harms our ability to produce the most appropriate
solution described in the clearest possible way.

> 	I would argue that those criteria would be along the lines of
> what I suggested earlier - irrespective of the editing technology we
> might use.  And that would go along with the notion of using the 
> simplest common document format sufficient for the task.
>
>  
I don't much care what technology we use, that is not a key issue for
me. The key issue is to be able to describe a protocol using the
most appropriate mixture of clear English, clear diagrams and if
necessary pseudo-code. We can do the first and the last but seem
reluctant to recognize the need for the middle.

- Stewart

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