SIP-2458: Updates and Updated-by Header
| Authors | Edson Ayllon (@edsonayllon) |
|---|---|
| Created | 2020-01-06 |
| Discussion Link | https://github.com/sila-chain/SIPs/issues/2453 |
Table of Contents
Simple Summary
Adds SIP header options updates and updated-by to frontmatter of active SIPs for use as needed.
Abstract
SIP headers updates and updated-by are used for updating active SIPs. This is to make the improvement process of SIPs more modular, and have updates to existing active SIPs receive similar exposures to SIPs which replace existing final SIPs.
Motivation
Currently, SIP1 specifies SIP headers: updated, replaces, and superseded-by. Headers replaces and superseded-by indicates when an entire SIP is being replaced by another SIP, indicating when an SIP is now historical, and is updated by a new standard.
The header updated indicates the date an SIP has received an update by SIP authors and editors, an example SIP being SIP1. updated is reserved for SIPs in draft or active status.
In the case of active status, an SIP may receive an update, but these updates don’t operate as with SIPs in final status, where a historical SIP is created, and the new SIP is referenced by the historical one. While these updates are not kept immutably, updates to active SIPs can be done modularly by creating a new SIP that goes through the standard discussion and auditing process SIPs undergo. The SIP headers updates and updated-by are to facilitate this modularity. Creating a new SIP also provides sufficient notification to affected stakeholders of an active SIP before that SIP is updated.
Specification
updated-by
updated-by is reserved for SIPs in active status. For an SIP in status active, updates to that SIP, which update the header updated, should be started by opening a new SIP to start vetting for that update. When an active SIP receives a new entry to header updated, an associated updated-by SIP listing should be included, where that newly listed SIP has reached final status.
updates should be included as an SIP header, as all SIP headers, and include a reference to an SIP designation. When multiple SIP designations are referenced, each should be separated by a comma. Example:
---
updated-by: 9999, 9998, 9997
---
updates
updates is reserved for SIPs updating SIPs in active status. An SIP listed as updates is implied to also be requires; only updates is needed for those SIP listings. Having an SIP listing updates does not necessarily mean that referenced SIP must reference back with an updated-by listing.
updates should be included as an SIP header, as all SIP headers, and include a reference to an SIP designation. When multiple SIP designations are referenced, each should be separated by a comma. Example:
---
updates: 1
---
Rationale
updates and updated-by apply only to SIPs in active status as updates to SIPs in final status are already handled by SIP headers superseded-by and replaces.
The syntax should align with previous SIP header syntax, as this SIP is not updating syntax, simply adding header options.
Backwards Compatibility
These SIP headers are optional and do not introduce compatibility issues.
Implementation
An implementation is adding a header option.
Security Considerations
This standard is informational and does not introduce technical security issues.
Copyright
Copyright and related rights waived via CC0.
Citation
Please cite this document as:
Edson Ayllon (@edsonayllon), "SIP-2458: Updates and Updated-by Header [WITHDRAWN]," Sila Improvement Proposals, no. 2458, January 2020. Available: https://sips.sila.org/SIPS/sip-2458.