Diff:Sep 2007 & Oct 2007

This is a major release with plenty of differences and improvement. It is worth noting that at least ONE modification (the creation of the content element and the renaming of title and subtitle) is NOT BACKWARD COMPATIBLE, so that documents that were valid against the previous versions most probably will NOT be valid against this version.

Please note the modifications that are not backward compatible are still amenable of automatic conversion. I have added an XSLT stylesheet that takes a valid Akoma Ntoso document of the previous release and converts it into a valid document of the current release. You can find it in the styles directory of the release, called convertToThis.xsl.

This release also includes and documents an unofficial, undocumented release called Tentative Release 20071510 dated 15 October, 2007. 

• Element clauses has been renamed into body. NOT BACKWARD COMPATIBLE
• Elements title and subtitle are now called heading and subheading, to allow for the presence of the title hierarchical elements. NOT BACKWARD COMPATIBLE
• The list of hierarchical elements is enriched with the addition of elements title, book, tome, subsection, subpart, subparagraph, subchapter, subtitle, and subclause. As mentioned, elements title and subtitle existed for a different purpose, and are now plain hierarchical elements.
• A new element content is added to connect the list of hierarchical elements to their actual textual content. Any hierarchical element can contain either other hierarchical elements or the content element which contains blocks. NOT BACKWARD COMPATIBLE
• The content model of article and clause has completely changed and is now identical to the other hierarchical elements. NOT BACKWARD COMPATIBLE
• A new optional attribute refersTo has been added to all content elements of the Akoma Ntoso schema. The attribute refersTo can be used when necessary to refer to an element of the references section, in order to suggest an ontological interpretation of the content of the element. Also use refersTo to make an element equivalent and referring to another (e.g. for translation purposes).
• A new value for the status attribute has been added, “editorial”. The new value is to be added for content that has to appear in the final document with the rest of the text, but was not originally included in the document created by the author. Editorial elements can be used for editorial annotations (e.g.: <span status=”editorial”>(Translation of Afrikaans paragraph follows.)</span>)
• An initial list of debaterecord subdivisions has been created. Debate records can now be organized with subdivisions that reflect the actual nature of the content. The new elements are: AdministrationOfOath, Communication, Petitions, Papers, NoticesOfMotion, Questions, Address, ProceduralMotions, and PointOfOrder, and can be used in all places where previously only subdivision could be used. TENTATIVE MODIFICATION. DO NOT RELY ON THIS.
• To avoid confusion between the elements item and Item, the latter has been renamed FRBRItem. For symmetry, all four FRBR levels have similarly changed name. Therefore Work, Expression, Manifestation and Item are now called FRBRork, FRBRExpression, FRBRManifestation and FRBRItem. NOT BACKWARD COMPATIBLE
• To avoid confusion between the elements force and Force, and efficacy and Efficacy, the latter ones have been renamed ForceMod and EfficacyMod. For symmetry, all other modification elements have similarly changed name. Therefore Textual, Meaning, Scope, Force, Efficacy and LegalSystem are now called TextualMod, MeaningMod, ScopeMod, ForceMod, EfficacyMod and LegalSystemMod. NOT BACKWARD COMPATIBLE
• The uri element specifies the URI in a value attribute rather than in an href attribute. (Bug fix from previous error) NOT BACKWARD COMPATIBLE
• The value Suspension for the type attribute of the EfficacyMod (formerly Efficacy) element  has been replaced by two values, EntryIntoEfficacy and EndOfEfficacy.
• All TLC are now present in the reference section. Newly added terms are: TLCConcept, TLCObject, TLCEvent, TLCPlace, TLCProcess, TLCRole, and TLCTerm.
• Existing TLC elements have been renamed to include the prefix “TLC” to clarify their role. This include the renaming of Person, Organization, Role, and Reference into TLCPerson, TLCOrganization, TLCRole, and TLCReference. NOT BACKWARD COMPATIBLE
• Element TLCReference (formerly Reference) is now a generic element in all respects, and has a new required name attribute. NOT BACKWARD COMPATIBLE
• The Work element now contains components just like the other elements of the identification element, such as Expression, Manifestation and Item (Added in Tentative Release 20071510).
• Within the identification elements, component can now nest and contain other component elements  (Added in Tentative Release 20071510).

Click here to see the differences between the releases.