[oslc-scm] Predecssor/successor misisng from spec v1.0

[Frank Schophuizen]

Hello,

I was reading through SCM
Specification<http://open-services.net/bin/view/Main/ScmSpecV1>v1.0
and I noticed that there is nothing specified about successors or
predecessors.
Given that SCM is about (managing) the evolution of software configurations,
I would expect (at least some basic) concept of predecessor/successor, at
object version level or at configuration level.

More specifically, a baseline consists of configurations, consisting of
object versions from change sets. The first configuration consists of a
baseline without change sets. The next configuration consists of a baseline
+ change set(s). Then the next configuration, does it consist of the
previous configuration + change set(s). But does a change set contain the
changes relative to a baseline or relative to the (or "a") previous
configuration? Which configuration is the "previous" configuration?

In other words, we need a concept of a "stream", a sequence of
configurations that represents the (sequential) evolution of the software.
And we need a concept of "integration" to merge configurations of different
streams, and a concept of "branching" to evolve a configuration in different
directions. One of the most common cases of branching is maintenance
(bugfixing) of old releases while continuing development for a new release.
A common case for "integration" is component development; various components
are developed independently (i.e. in independent streams) and then
integrated (i.e. used or reused) in other streams to compose a product or
system. Even various different products or systems may be developed (in
independent streams) using/reusing components from a component library,
developed in independent streams too.

I can imagine that these streaming concepts are not for V1.0 of the SCM
spec, but shouldn't we at least have a concept of predecessor/successor in
V1.0 of the spec?

Regards,
Frank.

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