# plans moving forward?

**URL:** https://discourse.citationstyles.org/t/plans-moving-forward/844
**Category:** CSL Development
**Created:** [May 9, 2010, 5:42pm UTC](https://discourse.citationstyles.org/t/plans-moving-forward/844 "2010-05-09T17:42:02Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1

<div class="post-metadata">

### Author: ![Bruce\_D\_Arcus1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4bbf92/32.png) [@Bruce\_D\_Arcus1](https://discourse.citationstyles.org/u/Bruce_D_Arcus1)
#### Post date: [May 9, 2010, 5:42pm UTC](https://discourse.citationstyles.org/t/plans-moving-forward/844/1 "2010-05-09T17:42:02Z")

</div>

So CSL has managed to evolve fairly nicely with a fairly informal  
process, with different people stepping up to provide the labor to get  
particular things done. Most recently Rintze has done a great job with  
the 1.0 release.

But Rintze is finishing his PhD and moving on to a new job (one, oddly  
enough, that’s only about two hours from me!), and so this raises  
again the question of how we want to manage things going forward.

The biggest question has to do with the revision scheme that Rintze  
proposed, and which seems sensible to me: what process do we want to  
use to determine more significant, backward incompatible, changes? I  
mean, ideally we don’t have to do this at all, but just wondering.

We could continue as we’ve done, which is that effectively if someone  
proposes a solution that doesn’t garner any objections, and can  
provide a reasonable test scenario and spec code for it, then we add  
it, and just leave it up to other implementors to catch up.

But I’m not sure that’s the best strategy, particular as we start to  
role out the CSL editor, online repo, etc. We don’t want to have  
multiple versions of styles, for example.

The labor question is perhaps somewhat less important, but perhaps  
some of my suggestions above might point us in a direction to address  
that as well?

So, any thoughts or ideas?

Bruce

---

<div class="post-metadata">

### Author: ![Frank\_Bennett](https://yyz1.discourse-cdn.com/flex029/user_avatar/discourse.citationstyles.org/frank_bennett/32/198_2.png) [@Frank\_Bennett](https://discourse.citationstyles.org/u/Frank_Bennett)
#### Post date: [May 10, 2010, 1:46am UTC](https://discourse.citationstyles.org/t/plans-moving-forward/844/2 "2010-05-10T01:46:43Z")

</div>

> So CSL has managed to evolve fairly nicely with a fairly informal  
> process, with different people stepping up to provide the labor to get  
> particular things done. Most recently Rintze has done a great job with  
> the 1.0 release.
> 
> But Rintze is finishing his PhD and moving on to a new job (one, oddly  
> enough, that’s only about two hours from me!), and so this raises  
> again the question of how we want to manage things going forward.
> 
> The biggest question has to do with the revision scheme that Rintze  
> proposed, and which seems sensible to me: what process do we want to  
> use to determine more significant, backward incompatible, changes? I  
> mean, ideally we don’t have to do this at all, but just wondering.

Just to note that four of the items in the tracker are hard, but  
important enough that they should not be left unattended (#17 on  
cleaning up identifiers, #16 on institution names, #15 on making  
publisher an author variable, with multiple publisher-place attribute  
values, #14 on listing the last author’s name in a truncated listing).

> We could continue as we’ve done, which is that effectively if someone  
> proposes a solution that doesn’t garner any objections, and can  
> provide a reasonable test scenario and spec code for it, then we add  
> it, and just leave it up to other implementors to catch up.
> 
> But I’m not sure that’s the best strategy, particular as we start to  
> role out the CSL editor, online repo, etc. We don’t want to have  
> multiple versions of styles, for example.

Multiple versions of styles are inevitable (the CSL 0.8.1 styles  
remain available for use with 0.8.1 processors); but the version  
attribute and update-styles.xsl are our friends.

> The labor question is perhaps somewhat less important, but perhaps  
> some of my suggestions above might point us in a direction to address  
> that as well?

I’m not sure what you’re suggesting.

When I wrote about process earlier, I was more concerned with issues  
that go beyond the four corners of the schema. There are three axes  
to interoperability: (1) that CSL processors conform to the schema and  
specification; (2) that CSL styles produce the same output for  
congruent bibliographic records in in all calling applications; and  
(3) that the CSL language and styles be a reliable tool for formatting  
ordinary citations in all major fields of publishing.

Item (1) is satisfied by the current process. Item (2) requires  
knowledge of the item type and field assignments in calling  
applications (there must be no one-to-many mappings to CSL variables,  
and CSL should perhaps provide some guidance on field content  
appropriate to particular categories of content). Item (3) is pretty  
well covered for fields other than law (apart from issues around  
review articles, translations, and other hierarchical items). Legal  
support is a major task, though. The essential metadata sets for  
legal materials are complex, vary between jurisdictions, and vary over  
time within any given jurisdiction. There are efforts out there to  
produce uniform standards for data exchange between jurisdictions, but  
it’s certain that CSL would need a slightly extended set of item  
types, and the sort of guidance on mapping conventions described under  
Item (2), to get this going.

I’m concerned that Item (2), in particular, is beyond our capacity to  
handle as a small circle of developers. Yet guidance on mapping  
conventions will be needed, to make CSL processors attractive as a  
general solution to citation formatting issues.

I’m kind of stuck for a solution to this at this point, although I’m  
pretty sure that, with working code out there, it will be addressed by  
someone sooner or later – and certainly one option would be to down  
tools at this point (after dealing with the pending issues for 1.1),  
and let Items (2) and (3) sort themselves out in other fora. That has  
certainly worked out pretty well for development of the Javascript  
language (cough, cough). I guess it depends on how much central  
control you think is needed to keep things on track.

Frank

---

<div class="post-metadata">

### Author: ![Rintze\_Zelle1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/258eb7/32.png) [@Rintze\_Zelle1](https://discourse.citationstyles.org/u/Rintze_Zelle1)
#### Post date: [May 10, 2010, 8:09am UTC](https://discourse.citationstyles.org/t/plans-moving-forward/844/3 "2010-05-10T08:09:33Z")

</div>

I think backward-incompatible changes are unavoidable if want to continue to  
improve CSL: so will be the need for hosting older versions of CSL styles.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

### Author: ![Bruce\_D\_Arcus1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4bbf92/32.png) [@Bruce\_D\_Arcus1](https://discourse.citationstyles.org/u/Bruce_D_Arcus1)
#### Post date: [May 10, 2010, 2:56pm UTC](https://discourse.citationstyles.org/t/plans-moving-forward/844/4 "2010-05-10T14:56:25Z")

</div>

> > We could continue as we’ve done, which is that effectively if someone  
> > proposes a solution that doesn’t garner any objections, and can  
> > provide a reasonable test scenario and spec code for it, then we add  
> > it, and just leave it up to other implementors to catch up.
> > 
> > But I’m not sure that’s the best strategy, particular as we start to  
> > role out the CSL editor, online repo, etc. We don’t want to have  
> > multiple versions of styles, for example.
> 
> I think backward-incompatible changes are unavoidable if want to continue to  
> improve CSL: so will be the need for hosting older versions of CSL styles.

Yes, I know. But there’s an important strategic question about the  
pace of change. It would be awkward and confusing for us, say, in  
three months to issue a 1.1 change, when we have Zotero running 1.0  
code, the CSL Editor for 1.0 “coming soon”, and Mendeley running 0.8.  
We want to first get some traction on 1.0, which by definition means  
some stability.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

### Author: ![Robert\_Knight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ba9def/32.png) [@Robert\_Knight](https://discourse.citationstyles.org/u/Robert_Knight)
#### Post date: [May 10, 2010, 3:03pm UTC](https://discourse.citationstyles.org/t/plans-moving-forward/844/5 "2010-05-10T15:03:24Z")

</div>

Hello,

> It would be awkward and confusing for us, say, in  
> three months to issue a 1.1 change,  
> when we have Zotero running 1.0  
> code, the CSL Editor for 1.0 “coming soon”, and Mendeley running 0.8.  
> We want to first get some traction on 1.0, which by definition means  
> some stability.

I’d hope that in three months time we’d have Mendeley running 1.0  
(using citeproc). The current plan is the next  
release will use the ‘old’ 0.8 processor and then after that we’ll  
migrate. Having said that, I agree with the  
basic point about possible confusion arising from having several  
different versions in active use.

Regards,  
Robert.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

### Author: ![Bruce\_D\_Arcus1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4bbf92/32.png) [@Bruce\_D\_Arcus1](https://discourse.citationstyles.org/u/Bruce_D_Arcus1)
#### Post date: [May 10, 2010, 4:14pm UTC](https://discourse.citationstyles.org/t/plans-moving-forward/844/6 "2010-05-10T16:14:17Z")

</div>

Which “citeproc”? Frank’s JS version?

Bruce

---

<div class="post-metadata">

### Author: ![Rintze\_Zelle1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/258eb7/32.png) [@Rintze\_Zelle1](https://discourse.citationstyles.org/u/Rintze_Zelle1)
#### Post date: [May 10, 2010, 4:16pm UTC](https://discourse.citationstyles.org/t/plans-moving-forward/844/7 "2010-05-10T16:16:51Z")

</div>

> > > I think backward-incompatible changes are unavoidable if want to  
> > > continue to  
> > > improve CSL: so will be the need for hosting older versions of CSL  
> > > styles.
> > 
> > Yes, I know. But there’s an important strategic question about the  
> > pace of change. It would be awkward and confusing for us, say, in  
> > three months to issue a 1.1 change, when we have Zotero running 1.0  
> > code, the CSL Editor for 1.0 “coming soon”, and Mendeley running 0.8.  
> > We want to first get some traction on 1.0, which by definition means  
> > some stability.

I’m fully aware that each backward-incompatible release has a significant  
cost: we have to provide an upgrade path for styles, CSL processors have to  
be updated and tested, and implementers have to transition to a new CSL  
processor. But given the current speed of CSL development I’d say a 1.1  
release in the next three months is highly unlikely. I would be happy if we  
can maintain a 1 to 2 year release cycle for major releases.

Rintze

---

<div class="post-metadata">

### Author: ![Bruce\_D\_Arcus1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4bbf92/32.png) [@Bruce\_D\_Arcus1](https://discourse.citationstyles.org/u/Bruce_D_Arcus1)
#### Post date: [May 10, 2010, 4:21pm UTC](https://discourse.citationstyles.org/t/plans-moving-forward/844/8 "2010-05-10T16:21:40Z")

</div>

Right. But remember my bigger question here: are we content to  
continue to figure out these details (say, when x.x releases) on an ad  
hoc basis as we go along, or do we need to talk about something a  
little more explicit or formal?

I don’t have a strong opinion; just wondering …

Bruce

---

<div class="post-metadata">

### Author: ![Robert\_Knight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ba9def/32.png) [@Robert\_Knight](https://discourse.citationstyles.org/u/Robert_Knight)
#### Post date: [May 10, 2010, 4:27pm UTC](https://discourse.citationstyles.org/t/plans-moving-forward/844/9 "2010-05-10T16:27:40Z")

</div>

> Which “citeproc”? Frank’s JS version?

Yes. At least, that is the plan.

Regards,  
Robert.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

### Author: ![Rintze\_Zelle1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/258eb7/32.png) [@Rintze\_Zelle1](https://discourse.citationstyles.org/u/Rintze_Zelle1)
#### Post date: [May 10, 2010, 4:40pm UTC](https://discourse.citationstyles.org/t/plans-moving-forward/844/10 "2010-05-10T16:40:24Z")

</div>

What would be the alternative(s) to the current practice?

Rintze

---

<div class="post-metadata">

### Author: ![Bruce\_D\_Arcus1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4bbf92/32.png) [@Bruce\_D\_Arcus1](https://discourse.citationstyles.org/u/Bruce_D_Arcus1)
#### Post date: [May 10, 2010, 5:15pm UTC](https://discourse.citationstyles.org/t/plans-moving-forward/844/11 "2010-05-10T17:15:34Z")

</div>

Interesting. Please update us once you get into it.

BruceOn Mon, May 10, 2010 at 12:27 PM, Robert Knight \<@Robert\_Knight\>wrote:

---

<div class="post-metadata">

### Author: ![Bruce\_D\_Arcus1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4bbf92/32.png) [@Bruce\_D\_Arcus1](https://discourse.citationstyles.org/u/Bruce_D_Arcus1)
#### Post date: [May 10, 2010, 5:18pm UTC](https://discourse.citationstyles.org/t/plans-moving-forward/844/12 "2010-05-10T17:18:17Z")

</div>

Not really sure. It could involve, I suppose, more formal roadmaps,  
with dates and added features?

Bruce

---

<div class="post-metadata">

### Author: ![Frank\_Bennett](https://yyz1.discourse-cdn.com/flex029/user_avatar/discourse.citationstyles.org/frank_bennett/32/198_2.png) [@Frank\_Bennett](https://discourse.citationstyles.org/u/Frank_Bennett)
#### Post date: [May 10, 2010, 10:59pm UTC](https://discourse.citationstyles.org/t/plans-moving-forward/844/13 "2010-05-10T22:59:21Z")

</div>

> > > We could continue as we’ve done, which is that effectively if someone  
> > > proposes a solution that doesn’t garner any objections, and can  
> > > provide a reasonable test scenario and spec code for it, then we add  
> > > it, and just leave it up to other implementors to catch up.
> > > 
> > > But I’m not sure that’s the best strategy, particular as we start to  
> > > role out the CSL editor, online repo, etc. We don’t want to have  
> > > multiple versions of styles, for example.
> > 
> > I think backward-incompatible changes are unavoidable if want to continue to  
> > improve CSL: so will be the need for hosting older versions of CSL styles.
> 
> Yes, I know. But there’s an important strategic question about the  
> pace of change. It would be awkward and confusing for us, say, in  
> three months to issue a 1.1 change, when we have Zotero running 1.0  
> code, the CSL Editor for 1.0 “coming soon”, and Mendeley running 0.8.  
> We want to first get some traction on 1.0, which by definition means  
> some stability.

I agree that longish release cycles are good, and that a 1.1 schema  
release can wait for a year or so until things settle down.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

### Author: ![Rintze\_Zelle1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/258eb7/32.png) [@Rintze\_Zelle1](https://discourse.citationstyles.org/u/Rintze_Zelle1)
#### Post date: [May 11, 2010, 8:09am UTC](https://discourse.citationstyles.org/t/plans-moving-forward/844/14 "2010-05-11T08:09:38Z")

</div>

That would assume some clear idea of where we’re going. Do you, or anyone  
for that matter, have long-term targets in mind for CSL that could warrant a  
roadmap?

I know there are still some features missing for full-blown legal style  
support, but I think CSL 1.0 is already pretty mature (it definitely is for  
the natural sciences). If it is just a matter of maintaining CSL by adding a  
feature here and there, my vote would be to just have a release every now  
and then when we think we made some significant progress.

Rintze

---

<div class="post-metadata">

### Author: ![Andrea\_Rossato1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e47774/32.png) [@Andrea\_Rossato1](https://discourse.citationstyles.org/u/Andrea_Rossato1)
#### Post date: [May 12, 2010, 8:38pm UTC](https://discourse.citationstyles.org/t/plans-moving-forward/844/15 "2010-05-12T20:38:10Z")

</div>

I’m stepping in just to share the experience of a catching-up  
developer. I’m using the test-suite and the documentation to implement  
all the CSL-1.0 features, and I think that the developing environment  
you have created in the last year or so fulfills the need of the  
detailed information writing an implementation requires. You really  
did a great job.

I think that separating the test-suite from citeproc-js and tagging it  
together with the schema and the specification would be a step forward  
(right know name ordering are different from CSL-1.0 specification,  
for instance).

The Haskell implementation, with the patches I’ve just pushed, passes  
295 test out of 499, now. I don’t think I’ll ever reach the 100% of  
the present test-suite, since some of the citeproc-js features will  
work differently in citeproc-hs - for instance name parsing.

I’m rushing the have a new release soon, to provide pandoc with a  
CSL-1.0 compatible processor, with the features the citeproc-js API is  
offering. Which would possibly help providing that broader user base  
needed to start addressing the other issues Frank was rising.

Andrea

---

<div class="post-metadata">

### Author: ![Bruce\_D\_Arcus1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4bbf92/32.png) [@Bruce\_D\_Arcus1](https://discourse.citationstyles.org/u/Bruce_D_Arcus1)
#### Post date: [May 12, 2010, 9:07pm UTC](https://discourse.citationstyles.org/t/plans-moving-forward/844/16 "2010-05-12T21:07:29Z")

</div>

Hi Andrea,

…

> I think that separating the test-suite from citeproc-js and tagging it  
> together with the schema and the specification would be a step forward  
> (right know name ordering are different from CSL-1.0 specification,  
> for instance).
> 
> The Haskell implementation, with the patches I’ve just pushed, passes  
> 295 test out of 499, now. I don’t think I’ll ever reach the 100% of  
> the present test-suite, since some of the citeproc-js features will  
> work differently in citeproc-hs - for instance name parsing.

Given this, to have any substantive changes to suggest for the test suite?

> I’m rushing the have a new release soon, to provide pandoc with a  
> CSL-1.0 compatible processor, with the features the citeproc-js API is  
> offering. Which would possibly help providing that broader user base  
> needed to start addressing the other issues Frank was rising.

Cool; look forward to it!

Bruce

---

<div class="post-metadata">

### Author: ![Frank\_Bennett](https://yyz1.discourse-cdn.com/flex029/user_avatar/discourse.citationstyles.org/frank_bennett/32/198_2.png) [@Frank\_Bennett](https://discourse.citationstyles.org/u/Frank_Bennett)
#### Post date: [May 13, 2010, 12:55am UTC](https://discourse.citationstyles.org/t/plans-moving-forward/844/17 "2010-05-13T00:55:56Z")

</div>

> > When I wrote about process earlier, I was more concerned with issues  
> > that go beyond the four corners of the schema. There are three axes  
> > to interoperability: (1) that CSL processors conform to the schema and  
> > specification; (2) that CSL styles produce the same output for  
> > congruent bibliographic records in in all calling applications; and  
> > (3) that the CSL language and styles be a reliable tool for formatting  
> > ordinary citations in all major fields of publishing.
> > 
> > Item (1) is satisfied by the current process. Item (2) requires  
> > knowledge of the item type and field assignments in calling  
> > applications (there must be no one-to-many mappings to CSL variables,  
> > and CSL should perhaps provide some guidance on field content  
> > appropriate to particular categories of content). Item (3) is pretty  
> > well covered for fields other than law (apart from issues around  
> > review articles, translations, and other hierarchical items). Legal  
> > support is a major task, though. The essential metadata sets for  
> > legal materials are complex, vary between jurisdictions, and vary over  
> > time within any given jurisdiction. There are efforts out there to  
> > produce uniform standards for data exchange between jurisdictions, but  
> > it’s certain that CSL would need a slightly extended set of item  
> > types, and the sort of guidance on mapping conventions described under  
> > Item (2), to get this going.
> > 
> > I’m concerned that Item (2), in particular, is beyond our capacity to  
> > handle as a small circle of developers. Yet guidance on mapping  
> > conventions will be needed, to make CSL processors attractive as a  
> > general solution to citation formatting issues.
> > 
> > I’m kind of stuck for a solution to this at this point, although I’m  
> > pretty sure that, with working code out there, it will be addressed by  
> > someone sooner or later – and certainly one option would be to down  
> > tools at this point (after dealing with the pending issues for 1.1),  
> > and let Items (2) and (3) sort themselves out in other fora. That has  
> > certainly worked out pretty well for development of the Javascript  
> > language (cough, cough). I guess it depends on how much central  
> > control you think is needed to keep things on track.
> > 
> > Frank
> 
> I’m stepping in just to share the experience of a catching-up  
> developer. I’m using the test-suite and the documentation to implement  
> all the CSL-1.0 features, and I think that the developing environment  
> you have created in the last year or so fulfills the need of the  
> detailed information writing an implementation requires. You really  
> did a great job.
> 
> I think that separating the test-suite from citeproc-js and tagging it  
> together with the schema and the specification would be a step forward  
> (right know name ordering are different from CSL-1.0 specification,  
> for instance).

Disentangling the test fixtures from the citeproc-js source is a very  
good idea, and this is a good time to begin working on it. It will  
require a new archive (I’ve opened a working repository, which can be  
shifted elsewhere later if need be), and a refactored version of the  
test.py script, with facilities only for validating the embedded CSL  
against the schema, and for “compiling” the JSON version of the  
fixtures.

The standard suite should contain only purely standard tests. As  
you’ve noticed, they’re currently a mongrel mixture of standard tests  
at level 1.0, tests of experimental features (those marked with  
version “1.1x”), and tests of functionality specific to citeproc-js  
(the functionality documented in the “Dirty Tricks” section of the  
processor manual). I’ll need to do some work at my end will be needed  
to make things a bit more modular in the citeproc-js testing  
framework, after which I should be able to move a clean set of  
standard tests to the external repository.

Once things are cleanly separated, there are certainly possibilities  
for housecleaning. The category prefixes and the test names were just  
tossed on on the fly, and often don’t particularly make sense. The  
fixtures themselves often contain more data, or more complex CSL, than  
is needed to test the particular feature targeted. This has been  
useful, in a way; the randomness sometimes catches bugs that I might  
have missed had the tests been constructed in a more conservative and  
systematic fashion.

We could also use lots more tests. 🙂

There should probably also be some documentation. I can offer the  
existing chapter from the processor manual as a starting point.

It will take awhile to get the separation done. I’ll post to the list  
when something is ready.

Frank

---

<div class="post-metadata">

### Author: ![Frank\_Bennett](https://yyz1.discourse-cdn.com/flex029/user_avatar/discourse.citationstyles.org/frank_bennett/32/198_2.png) [@Frank\_Bennett](https://discourse.citationstyles.org/u/Frank_Bennett)
#### Post date: [May 22, 2010, 1:17pm UTC](https://discourse.citationstyles.org/t/plans-moving-forward/844/18 "2010-05-22T13:17:21Z")

</div>

> > When I wrote about process earlier, I was more concerned with issues  
> > that go beyond the four corners of the schema. There are three axes  
> > to interoperability: (1) that CSL processors conform to the schema and  
> > specification; (2) that CSL styles produce the same output for  
> > congruent bibliographic records in in all calling applications; and  
> > (3) that the CSL language and styles be a reliable tool for formatting  
> > ordinary citations in all major fields of publishing.
> > 
> > Item (1) is satisfied by the current process. Item (2) requires  
> > knowledge of the item type and field assignments in calling  
> > applications (there must be no one-to-many mappings to CSL variables,  
> > and CSL should perhaps provide some guidance on field content  
> > appropriate to particular categories of content). Item (3) is pretty  
> > well covered for fields other than law (apart from issues around  
> > review articles, translations, and other hierarchical items). Legal  
> > support is a major task, though. The essential metadata sets for  
> > legal materials are complex, vary between jurisdictions, and vary over  
> > time within any given jurisdiction. There are efforts out there to  
> > produce uniform standards for data exchange between jurisdictions, but  
> > it’s certain that CSL would need a slightly extended set of item  
> > types, and the sort of guidance on mapping conventions described under  
> > Item (2), to get this going.
> > 
> > I’m concerned that Item (2), in particular, is beyond our capacity to  
> > handle as a small circle of developers. Yet guidance on mapping  
> > conventions will be needed, to make CSL processors attractive as a  
> > general solution to citation formatting issues.
> > 
> > I’m kind of stuck for a solution to this at this point, although I’m  
> > pretty sure that, with working code out there, it will be addressed by  
> > someone sooner or later – and certainly one option would be to down  
> > tools at this point (after dealing with the pending issues for 1.1),  
> > and let Items (2) and (3) sort themselves out in other fora. That has  
> > certainly worked out pretty well for development of the Javascript  
> > language (cough, cough). I guess it depends on how much central  
> > control you think is needed to keep things on track.
> > 
> > Frank
> 
> I’m stepping in just to share the experience of a catching-up  
> developer. I’m using the test-suite and the documentation to implement  
> all the CSL-1.0 features, and I think that the developing environment  
> you have created in the last year or so fulfills the need of the  
> detailed information writing an implementation requires. You really  
> did a great job.
> 
> I think that separating the test-suite from citeproc-js and tagging it  
> together with the schema and the specification would be a step forward  
> (right know name ordering are different from CSL-1.0 specification,  
> for instance).

Andrea, everyone,

I’ve separated the non-standard and standard test fixtures in the test  
suite, and moved the latter to a separate repository, here:

[http://bitbucket.org/fbennett/citeproc-test](http://bitbucket.org/fbennett/citeproc-test)

There are almost certainly still some citeproc-js-isms among the  
tests. If folks call them to my attention as you come across them, I  
can move them from the standard set to my local supplementary test  
bundle. Apart from that small request, please treat this as a  
community resource. The current location is just a holding zone; it  
might make sense to move the canonical repository over to Bruce’s  
account, so it can be housed together with the schema and docs.

Frank

---

<div class="post-metadata">

### Author: ![Andrea\_Rossato1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e47774/32.png) [@Andrea\_Rossato1](https://discourse.citationstyles.org/u/Andrea_Rossato1)
#### Post date: [May 24, 2010, 6:07pm UTC](https://discourse.citationstyles.org/t/plans-moving-forward/844/19 "2010-05-24T18:07:02Z")

</div>

Thanks Frank for your work. I’ll submit the new tests I’ll be writing,  
or any correction I’ll think to propose, as patches to that  
repository.

About the citeproc-js-isms: actually I’m considering citeproc-js as  
the reference implementation and I’m planning to expose an API which  
should be modeled on citeproc-js’s API. In other words, citeproc-hs  
could share with citeproc-js the input, citation-items and the  
citations JSON data format (input and citation-items are already  
supported).

I wonder whether it could be useful to add a testsuite for covering  
extensions that may be expected in a style processor. I would do my  
best to support it.

Andrea

ps: this is a run of the testsuite with my tree (should be the same  
with the public repository).

```
443 tests in 35 groups
282 successes
161 failures

```

ps2: to run it with the darcs version, after installing citeproc-hs,  
edit test/test\_basic.hs to point to the test/machines/ subdirectory  
and run:  
runhaskell test/test\_basic.hs  
or  
runhaskell test/test\_basic.hs name nameattr nameorder

ps3: Bruce: installing hs-bibutils, the haskell bindings to bibutils,  
should be now really easy (no need to install bibutils, patch it or  
whatever). citeproc-hs comes with bibutils support by default now.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

### Author: ![Bruce\_D\_Arcus1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4bbf92/32.png) [@Bruce\_D\_Arcus1](https://discourse.citationstyles.org/u/Bruce_D_Arcus1)
#### Post date: [May 24, 2010, 6:34pm UTC](https://discourse.citationstyles.org/t/plans-moving-forward/844/20 "2010-05-24T18:34:27Z")

</div>

…

> About the citeproc-js-isms: actually I’m considering citeproc-js as  
> the reference implementation and I’m planning to expose an API which  
> should be modeled on citeproc-js’s API. In other words, citeproc-hs  
> could share with citeproc-js the input, citation-items and the  
> citations JSON data format (input and citation-items are already  
> supported).

We’ve talked about this before, but given this and other recent  
developments, is it time to formalize the data model and JSON  
representation?

> I wonder whether it could be useful to add a testsuite for covering  
> extensions that may be expected in a style processor. I would do my  
> best to support it.

You mean stuff not formally a part of CSL, but implemented in, say, citeproc-js?

> ps: this is a run of the testsuite with my tree (should be the same  
> with the public repository).
> 
> ```
> 443 tests in 35 groups
> 282 successes
> 161 failures
> 
> ```

Cool. What’s your sense of what these data tell us about the state of  
the processor?

> ps2: to run it with the darcs version, after installing citeproc-hs,  
> edit test/test\_basic.hs to point to the test/machines/ subdirectory  
> and run:  
> runhaskell test/test\_basic.hs  
> or  
> runhaskell test/test\_basic.hs name nameattr nameorder
> 
> ps3: Bruce: installing hs-bibutils, the haskell bindings to bibutils,  
> should be now really easy (no need to install bibutils, patch it or  
> whatever). citeproc-hs comes with bibutils support by default now.

Awesome!

So this is only for the darcs version; right?

When are you planning to push out a new release?

Bruce

[Next page](https://discourse.citationstyles.org/t/plans-moving-forward/844.md?page=2)
