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The Procedure
The JCP itself is a result of a JSR (JSR 99 and JSR 171). The
latest version of the JCP is version 2.5 which went through the
process of JCP iteration. To begin the JCP process we first need
to create a JSR in the prescribed format outlining the idea, the
relevance of the idea in the present day and other details that
might help the Executive Committee to give a go-ahead on the JSR
proposal. The specification can be in either J2EE functionality
or the J2ME functionality. The PMO then posts the proposed JSR
to the JCP website and also familiarizes the subscribers of the
JCP usergroup. The specification proposal is up for review for
two weeks during which the executive members get to vote on the
proposal. The PMO also creates a comments via email so that
Executive committee members can post questions to the
Specification Lead. The Specification Lead has the
responsibility to make sure that all questions related to the
specification are answered to the member's satisfaction. The JCP
approval ballot runs for the two weeks that the specification is
on the JCP website. An approval requires a minimum of five "yes"
votes. If the proposal is rejected the specification lead has
fourteen days to submit a revised proposal for a reconsideration
ballot.
The first day the proposal is approved by the EC, nominations
for the Experts Group start off. Any member of the EC can
nominate himself or anybody else to the Experts Group. The
decision to have a member in the Experts Group lies with the
Specification Lead. The active involvement of the Experts Group
determines the thoroughness of the specification draft being
prepared. The chunk of the work is done by the Specification
Lead. He then provides the draft for the approval/comments of
the Experts Group. Once the Experts Group is satisfied with the
content of the specification it approves it for a community
review ballot. At this time the Specification Lead needs to
package the specification in HTML, zip or pdf format and mail it
to the PMO specifically indicating the JSR number and
instructions that it needs to be released for community review.
The community draft should also contain the business terms used
in the specification, the recommended licensing model and the
anticipated licensing fees of the specification. The
Specification Lead also has to provide a comments e-mail alias
to solicit comments on the draft. Depending on the stage of the
draft the PMO may advise the Specification Lead on the
scheduling and development of the Reference Implementation and
the Technology Compatibility Kit.
The Specification Lead and the Experts Group need to work
together to accommodate comments and feedback which they feel
should be part of the draft. Any revisions to the draft need to
be completed and resubmitted with a summary of the changes to
the PMO so that they may advise the members of the revisions. If
for some reasons the draft is rejected by the EC, the experts
group and the specification lead have thirty days to revise the
draft and submit it for reconsideration ballot. The EC votes on
the specification and approves it for public review. After
approval by the EC the Specification Lead and the Experts Group
work together to release the proposed final draft for review by
the general public. Until this stage the specification draft was
accessible only to the members of the JCP. The Specification
Lead now will resubmit the draft in pdf, HTML or zip format to
the PMO with instructions to release it to the JCP site for
public review. An e-mail alias for comments is provided for the
public. The final draft allows the EC, the general public and
the JCP members to provide comments on the nature and
application of the specification. The Specification Lead should
provide enough time between the release of the final draft and
the final approval ballot.
The changes suggested by the public and the members of the JCP
are considered and incorporated if required in the final
specification. The Experts Group and the Specification Lead need
to be ready with the RI and the TCK by this time. The final
draft along with the TCK and RI are submitted to the PMO with
instructions to forward it to the EC for final approval ballot.
The final approval ballot runs for two weeks during which a
person from the Experts group need to be designated to answer
any questions the voting EC may have on the final draft. The
Specification lead should also provide information on the
licensing model and the details of the maintenance lead. The
maintenance lead is responsible for the smooth acceptance of the
specification after the EC approves the final draft of the
specification. He is responsible for making updates and changes
if required to the specification after the approval is done.
Once the EC has approved the final specification, the Reference
Implementation and the Technology Compatibility Kit are ready
for final release to the public. At this time the work of the
Experts Group is completed and the group is disbanded. The
specification is now handed over to the Maintenance Lead who now
starts the maintenance process.
This ends the JCP process to create a new specification. Now
the specification is open to public and vendors for
implementation. The vendors may dispute the Technology
Compatibility Kit through an appeals process defined at the JCP
site.
The approval of the final draft and the final release of the
specification does not automatically qualify it for inclusion
into the next version of the J2EE or J2ME platform
specification. The process of including a specification into the
next version of the J2EE or J2ME is the same as a normal JSR
except that it is called an Umbrella JSR. During the voting the
Umbrella JSR's require a minimum of five 'yes' votes, a two
thirds majority of 'yes' votes and a 'yes' ballot needs to be
cast by Sun (the permanent voting member of the EC). Failure to
satisfy any of these will result in the rejection of the
Umbrella JSR.
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