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  1. Technical Advisory Board
  2. TAB-1266

MAY vs. may keywords

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    Details

    • Type: Bug
    • Status: New
    • Priority: Blocker
    • Resolution: Unresolved
    • Affects Version/s: Darwin Information Typing Architecture (DITA) Version 1.3 CSPRD01
    • Fix Version/s: None
    • Component/s: Public reviews
    • Labels:
      None
    • Environment:

      Normative

    • Proposal:
      Hide

      Review to verify that the 70 instances of MAY are the only RFC 2119 requirements for conforming DITA implementations and documents.

      If "may" is used for such a requirement, the text should be revised to use UPPERCASE SHOULD as per RFC 2119.

      There are 390 of "may" and 11 of "May." All of them should be checked.

      Show
      Review to verify that the 70 instances of MAY are the only RFC 2119 requirements for conforming DITA implementations and documents. If "may" is used for such a requirement, the text should be revised to use UPPERCASE SHOULD as per RFC 2119. There are 390 of "may" and 11 of "May." All of them should be checked.

      Description

      The current draft includes 70 instances of MUST and 390 instances of must and 11 instance of May.

      What is the meaning in difference of UPPERCASE versus lowercase?

      RFC 2119 says that UPPERCASE is normative and lowercase is normal usage.

      Is the difference in case intentional?

      As I pointed out in TAB-1264, a reader is left to wonder if MAY announces all the requirements for conformance under section 4 or are some of the "may"s meant to voice requirements as well?

      You will be better able to judge requirements than I am but for instance, at page 64, the table reads in part:

      *****
      Replace the one in the topic. If multiple <searchtitle> elements are specified for a single target, processors may choose to issue a warning.
      *****

      For a processor to choose, that looks like a MAY to me. As in being truly optional. Yes?

      This comment applies to all three versions.

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            • Assignee:
              Unassigned
              Reporter:
              patrick Patrick Durusau
            • Watchers:
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              Dates

              • Created:
                Updated: