On Feb 4, 2014, at 6:15 AM, Charles McCathie Nevile wrote: > On Mon, 03 Feb 2014 19:09:53 +0400, Arthur Barstow <art.bars...@nokia.com> > wrote: > >> On 1/31/14 10:44 AM, ext Ian Clelland wrote: >>> Hi Art, >>> >>> For what it's worth, theFile API: Directories and System is also >>> implemented (and supported) by Apache Cordova[1]. The implementation is >>> essentially complete for mobile applications on Android, iOS and FireOS, >>> with nearly-complete support on Blackberry and Windows Phone. >>> >>> While our plugin registry was counting downloads, it was the >>> most-downloaded plugin for the platform by a wide margin, so I believe it >>> is being used actively. >> >> Thanks for this information Ian! >> >>> I don't know if Cordova should count as a browser implementation for the >>> purposes of this WG, but we are implementing the APIs and making them >>> available to (hybrid) web application developers. >> >> The group has some flexibility regarding the specifics of the >> interoperability criteria used to advance a spec along the Recommendation >> track, but we haven't talked about the criteria for these specs since they >> are still working drafts. > > And the particular question here isn't about CR criteria, but about whether > one or other approach is more likely to achieve the consensus of > interoperable implementation. > > Which essentially means whether implementations are likely to switch, or > credible future implementors have a strong preference for one over the other. > > In which case, what Cordova does (and more to the point what developers do > with it) seems relevant information to consider as we try to find a consensus.
Two interoperable implementations of a specification should determine the way forward. While I think distributions like PhoneGap are extremely useful as "web-like abstractions" on top of disparate mobile platforms, it is not straightforward to make a clear "apples to apples" comparision for API interoperability between PhoneGap and a web browser, or conduct common test cases. Naturally, the distinctions blur, but I still think they exist. A web page using the FileSystem API in JavaScript and working in two separate browser implementations seems like a good measure of interoperability, and I think this should be what helps us make a determination. -- A*
