[glue-wg] v1.3 documentation, please!

[Paul Millar]

Hi all,

Sorry, this is a bit of rant.

I'm in the process overhauling how dCache information is published into GLUE: 
a complete rewrite of how information is propagated.  So I'm looking for 
definitive information about how to publish Glue through GIP.

... and there's the rub.  I can't find any good references for how to provide 
this information.  I've started a dCache wiki page[1] that holds various 
nuggets of information, but none of them seem complete or authoritative.

[1]	http://trac.dcache.org/trac.cgi/wiki/GLUE

I understand that the current dCache system, is functional through Owen's 
sterling effort, with various trial-and-error attempts and information 
conveyed through emails.  I'm looking to avoid this process as much as 
possible; having accurate information would be a good start!

First off, the only GLUE v1.3 documentation I could find is from CNAF CVS [2].  
The most recent version is "Draft 3---16 Jan 2007".  I think Sergio was going 
to make this the final version, but could this process be clarified?  BTW, 
there's a typo in the StorageArea, UsedNearlineSize description; there are 
other sections that look somewhat incomplete (e.g., grep for "TO BE ADDED")

[2]	
https://forge.cnaf.infn.it/plugins/scmsvn/viewcvs.php/*checkout*/v_1_3/spec/pdf/GLUESchema.pdf?rev=32&root=glueschema

Second, I could also find no authoritative source of information on Glue/LDAP 
binding for v1.3.  There are some CNAF notes[3], but these mention, in bold, 
that "[t]his version is for early evaluation and is not meant to be deployed 
yet".  Can someone say what is incorrect on this page?  More importantly, can 
someone update it so the page is correct?

[3]	http://glueschema.forge.cnaf.infn.it/SpecV13/LDAP

The CNAF notes also mention that certain attributes are "deprecated and their 
use should be removed from any software".  Does this mean 
info-provides "must" (or "should", or "may", see RFC 2119) refrain from 
publishing deprecated attributes?  For example, should no info-provider be 
publishing GlueChunkKey anymore?

For publishing SRM spaces, I found a *proposal* for how this should be 
done[4].  Confusingly, this contradicts the GLUE/LDAP notes[3] as it 
stipulates that "mds-vo-name = local" must be used, whereas the notes state 
that mds-vo-name has been removed from the DIT; in practise "mds-vo-name = 
resource" (as a primary document, for feeding into GIP) is what seems to 
work.

[4]	https://twiki.cern.ch/twiki/bin/view/LCG/GSSDGLUEProposal

Finally, (prodding Laurence) I could not find *any* statement about what 
format GIP supports as primary input (although I might have missed this).  
I'd assume this is roughly GLUE v1.3/LDAP, but apparently there's some magic 
happens with DNs with RDF of "mds-vo-name=resource".  Is this (still) true?  
Is it required? What other mappings and translations are possible?

Sorry, I'm sure this info is well known by others, but it doesn't appear to be 
documented.  Can some knowledgable person take on responsibility for ensuring 
this is all properly documented?

Cheers,

Paul.