Re: Question: Week Number Semantics (Mars, CSS)

[Phil Wolff <pwolff@xxxxxxxx>]

With the addition of the ".mars" domain, we're talking about years and
weeknumbers that are very different. I don't know that RFC 2445 or ISO 8601
address this.

Chris' comments on inter-calendaring systems bring back a basic notion. We're
dictating an exchange protocol. As long as it is rigorous, we can translate and
perform calendar arithmetic, scheduling logic, and user representation between
any two systems.

I'm influenced by the way HTML can link to external CSS style sheets. Is there a
logical separation where we describe events, event rules, and other event
characteristics that are separate from the core protocol? Week number seems to
me to be a lot like calculating the first night of Ramadan or Rosh Hashana or a
fiscal quarter. These schemes are useful, and used widely. Do we need to include
their logic and algebras in this standard? Or can we includes those calendar
logics and algebras by external reference?

In this approach, you pass along the attributes you want and a URI that either
does conversion for you or that provides you with the conversion logic so your
tool can do it itself.

An external reference would:
    Allow me to build a calendar tool that can be flexbile and grow. If the
logics are external, I can use them as they become available.
    Cut the complexity of my event data. If all I need to know is that I have a
meeting 60 minutes before sunset until 45 minutes after on Tuesdays and
Thursdays in Paris for the next year, per
http://calendar.judaica.is/traditional.dtd; then I don't need to do the solar
calculations and render them for 104 unique meetings.
    Same thing for week of fiscal year data. I can rely on an external engine
specified by the event author to do the conversion. What's more, I can share the
URI for cross-calendar scheduling so popular/useful representations can spread.

I'm working in IT for a firm that has more than a million workers spread among
40 countries and based at hundreds of thousands of customers. Our calendar
revolves around time card weeks ending Fridays in the US but other days around
the world. These ietf protocols matter if they help bridge regional, cultural,
and corporate barriers.
    I don't expect to be worrying about our Martian subsidiary any time soon,
but this protocol should provide for those differences for broad acceptance on
this planet.

-------------------------------------------------------------
Phil Wolff
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