Thread: Beta release of ws-station, including a new StationXML schema

Started: 2012-03-08 01:04:37
Last activity: 2012-03-10 00:24:24
Topics: Web Services
Hello webservice users,

The DMC has released a beta version of our ws-station service and would appreciate any level of feedback. The changes in this release include an update to the StationXML schema making the results NOT backwards compatible with the current service (more details below). Also introduced are new time range selection parameters.

http://www.iris.edu/wsbeta/station/

We anticipate this version replacing the current service on April 2nd. After which any clients depending on the (few) changes in the schema will not work correctly. In particular, the beta Java IRIS-WS Library (and the related MATLAB support) will stop working properly. We plan on releasing new versions of the IRIS-WS Library at the same time to match this update in the ws-station service.

regards,
Web services team


Details of the changes include:

1) New starttime and endtime parameters, the timewindow parameter is now deprecated as these two parameters provide the same and much more functionality. In addition to allowing start and end times to be specified independently these new parameters allow time to be specified (as opposed to only a date). See the service help for details.

2) The service has been updated to the latest StationXML schema:
http://www.data.scec.org/xml/station/20120307/station.xsd

The relavent changes for ws-station users are as follows:

A) The SEED "site name" is now placed in the <Name> element inside the <Site> tag.
before:
<Site>
<Country>Ankober, Ethiopia (near Debra Birhan)</Country>
</Site>

after:
<Site>
<Name>Ankober, Ethiopia (near Debra Birhan)</Name>
</Site>

This rearrangement also removes the <Name> element previously found inside of a the Channel <Epoch> tag.

B) Removed the swap_order attributes from the Station <Epoch> tag
<StationEpoch> instead of <StationEpoch swap_order_16="BIG_ENDIAN" swap_order_32="BIG_ENDIAN">

C) Removed stage 0 response structure, this is replaced by the 'Channel' 'InstrumentSensitivity structure'.

D) Added new elements describing <PolesZeros> and <Coefficients>: <PzTransferFunctionType> and <CfTransferFunctionType>

E) Replaced <GainUnits> with <SensitivityUnits> inside of <StageSensitivity> tag of a response cascade.
  • Hi.

    I don't like to be the one to slow down progress, but I have oral exams on
    April 2 and have no time before them to test the beta or update EMERALD to
    handle the new schema. Is there any chance we can put this one off for a
    week or two?

    Many thanks,

    -- John


    On Wed, Mar 7, 2012 at 6:04 PM, Yazan Suleiman <yazan<at>iris.washington.edu>wrote:

    Hello webservice users,

    The DMC has released a beta version of our ws-station service and would
    appreciate any level of feedback. The changes in this release include an
    update to the StationXML schema making the results NOT backwards compatible
    with the current service (more details below). Also introduced are new
    time range selection parameters.

    http://www.iris.edu/wsbeta/station/

    We anticipate this version replacing the current service on April 2nd.
    After which any clients depending on the (few) changes in the schema will
    not work correctly. In particular, the beta Java IRIS-WS Library (and the
    related MATLAB support) will stop working properly. We plan on releasing
    new versions of the IRIS-WS Library at the same time to match this update
    in the ws-station service.

    regards,
    Web services team


    Details of the changes include:

    1) New starttime and endtime parameters, the timewindow parameter is now
    deprecated as these two parameters provide the same and much more
    functionality. In addition to allowing start and end times to be specified
    independently these new parameters allow time to be specified (as opposed
    to only a date). See the service help for details.

    2) The service has been updated to the latest StationXML schema:
    http://www.data.scec.org/xml/station/20120307/station.xsd

    The relavent changes for ws-station users are as follows:

    A) The SEED "site name" is now placed in the <Name> element inside the
    <Site> tag.
    before:
    <Site>
    <Country>Ankober, Ethiopia (near Debra Birhan)</Country>
    </Site>

    after:
    <Site>
    <Name>Ankober, Ethiopia (near Debra Birhan)</Name>
    </Site>

    This rearrangement also removes the <Name> element previously found inside
    of a the Channel <Epoch> tag.

    B) Removed the swap_order attributes from the Station <Epoch> tag
    <StationEpoch> instead of <StationEpoch swap_order_16="BIG_ENDIAN"
    swap_order_32="BIG_ENDIAN">

    C) Removed stage 0 response structure, this is replaced by the 'Channel'
    'InstrumentSensitivity structure'.

    D) Added new elements describing <PolesZeros> and <Coefficients>:
    <PzTransferFunctionType> and <CfTransferFunctionType>

    E) Replaced <GainUnits> with <SensitivityUnits> inside of
    <StageSensitivity> tag of a response cascade.

    _______________________________________________
    webservices mailing list
    webservices<at>iris.washington.edu
    http://www.iris.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/webservices



    • Hi

      Echoing John and going one step further, I wish you would consider
      adopting a less disruptive server upgrade policy that brings new
      versions of the web services online in parallel with the existing ones
      when there are "breaking changes". It is really unfair, IMHO, to
      expect users to all be using version X clients on April 1 and to all
      switch to version Y on April 2. This is a problem for your users,
      especially as these web services become more popular.
      Users just do not upgrade software that rapidly and I think the DMC,
      once it "releases" a service from beta mode to production, has an
      obligation to support the client software that is coded to that
      version for some reasonable period of time. Otherwise you are saying
      that there MUST be a new release of Emerald, SOD, and every other ws
      client program on April 2nd. New versions won't work on April 1st and
      the old version won't work on April 2nd.

      This could be easily accomplished if the version of the web service
      was part of the URL.

      I too do not wish to stand in the way of progress, but it is hard for
      me to justify putting time and effort into building a web services
      client if I can't count on my software working tomorrow.

      Philip

      On Thu, Mar 8, 2012 at 9:05 PM, John D. West <john.d.west<at>asu.edu> wrote:
      Hi.

      I don't like to be the one to slow down progress, but I have oral exams on
      April 2 and have no time before them to test the beta or update EMERALD to
      handle the new schema. Is there any chance we can put this one off for a
      week or two?

      Many thanks,

      -- John


      On Wed, Mar 7, 2012 at 6:04 PM, Yazan Suleiman <yazan<at>iris.washington.edu>
      wrote:

      Hello webservice users,

      The DMC has released a beta version of our ws-station service and would
      appreciate any level of feedback.  The changes in this release include an
      update to the StationXML schema making the results NOT backwards compatible
      with the current service (more details below).  Also introduced are new time
      range selection parameters.

      http://www.iris.edu/wsbeta/station/

      We anticipate this version replacing the current service on April 2nd.
      After which any clients depending on the (few) changes in the schema will
      not work correctly.  In particular, the beta Java IRIS-WS Library (and the
      related MATLAB support) will stop working properly.  We plan on releasing
      new versions of the IRIS-WS Library at the same time to match this update in
      the ws-station service.

      regards,
      Web services team


      Details of the changes include:

      1) New starttime and endtime parameters, the timewindow parameter is now
      deprecated as these two parameters provide the same and much more
      functionality.  In addition to allowing start and end times to be specified
      independently these new parameters allow time to be specified (as opposed to
      only a date).  See the service help for details.

      2) The service has been updated to the latest StationXML schema:
      http://www.data.scec.org/xml/station/20120307/station.xsd

      The relavent changes for ws-station users are as follows:

      A) The SEED "site name" is now placed in the <Name> element inside the
      <Site> tag.
      before:
      <Site>
      <Country>Ankober, Ethiopia (near Debra Birhan)</Country>
      </Site>

      after:
      <Site>
      <Name>Ankober, Ethiopia (near Debra Birhan)</Name>
      </Site>

      This rearrangement also removes the <Name> element previously found inside
      of a the Channel <Epoch> tag.

      B) Removed the swap_order attributes from the Station <Epoch> tag
      <StationEpoch> instead of <StationEpoch swap_order_16="BIG_ENDIAN"
      swap_order_32="BIG_ENDIAN">

      C) Removed stage 0 response structure, this is replaced by the 'Channel'
      'InstrumentSensitivity structure'.

      D) Added new elements describing <PolesZeros> and <Coefficients>:
      <PzTransferFunctionType> and <CfTransferFunctionType>

      E) Replaced <GainUnits> with <SensitivityUnits> inside of
      <StageSensitivity> tag of a response cascade.

      _______________________________________________
      webservices mailing list
      webservices<at>iris.washington.edu
      http://www.iris.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/webservices



      _______________________________________________
      webservices mailing list
      webservices<at>iris.washington.edu
      http://www.iris.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/webservices




      • Hi,

        Explaining our strategy and the situation a bit further. We have worked for a while to get to the point where we do not expect StationXML to change in a non-backwards compatible way, with this next change we intend to stick with the current version of the schema for a long while.

        It is our intent to maintain a stable service interface. Highest on the list is to avoid changing things that break current client usage, we have client software too so we suffer along with the community on that one. Also, not all clients are broken by this update (changes to the XML are relatively small). Another factor is the merit of the update, the previous results did not include critical information such as the type of the Poles and Zeros in the response cascade (how was anyone using those without knowing if they were expressed in radians/sec versus Hertz??). Less directly import for the users, there is the consideration of how much infrastructure the data center should run to support older versions for indefinite periods, we run a growing suite of services, each one has redundant instances on redundant hosts on redundant hardware. Putting all these factors in a reasonable balance we decided not to split off a new service interface, even though this will break some client usage.

        On the horizon, the FDSN versions of these services are being planned. These are already being designed to include a specification number in the URL, the intention is to be able to make future updates and maintain older versions in parallel.

        Chad

        On Mar 9, 2012, at 6:08 AM, Philip Crotwell wrote:

        Hi

        Echoing John and going one step further, I wish you would consider
        adopting a less disruptive server upgrade policy that brings new
        versions of the web services online in parallel with the existing ones
        when there are "breaking changes". It is really unfair, IMHO, to
        expect users to all be using version X clients on April 1 and to all
        switch to version Y on April 2. This is a problem for your users,
        especially as these web services become more popular.
        Users just do not upgrade software that rapidly and I think the DMC,
        once it "releases" a service from beta mode to production, has an
        obligation to support the client software that is coded to that
        version for some reasonable period of time. Otherwise you are saying
        that there MUST be a new release of Emerald, SOD, and every other ws
        client program on April 2nd. New versions won't work on April 1st and
        the old version won't work on April 2nd.

        This could be easily accomplished if the version of the web service
        was part of the URL.

        I too do not wish to stand in the way of progress, but it is hard for
        me to justify putting time and effort into building a web services
        client if I can't count on my software working tomorrow.

        Philip

        On Thu, Mar 8, 2012 at 9:05 PM, John D. West <john.d.west<at>asu.edu> wrote:
        Hi.

        I don't like to be the one to slow down progress, but I have oral exams on
        April 2 and have no time before them to test the beta or update EMERALD to
        handle the new schema. Is there any chance we can put this one off for a
        week or two?

        Many thanks,

        -- John


        On Wed, Mar 7, 2012 at 6:04 PM, Yazan Suleiman <yazan<at>iris.washington.edu>
        wrote:

        Hello webservice users,

        The DMC has released a beta version of our ws-station service and would
        appreciate any level of feedback. The changes in this release include an
        update to the StationXML schema making the results NOT backwards compatible
        with the current service (more details below). Also introduced are new time
        range selection parameters.

        http://www.iris.edu/wsbeta/station/

        We anticipate this version replacing the current service on April 2nd.
        After which any clients depending on the (few) changes in the schema will
        not work correctly. In particular, the beta Java IRIS-WS Library (and the
        related MATLAB support) will stop working properly. We plan on releasing
        new versions of the IRIS-WS Library at the same time to match this update in
        the ws-station service.

        regards,
        Web services team


        Details of the changes include:

        1) New starttime and endtime parameters, the timewindow parameter is now
        deprecated as these two parameters provide the same and much more
        functionality. In addition to allowing start and end times to be specified
        independently these new parameters allow time to be specified (as opposed to
        only a date). See the service help for details.

        2) The service has been updated to the latest StationXML schema:
        http://www.data.scec.org/xml/station/20120307/station.xsd

        The relavent changes for ws-station users are as follows:

        A) The SEED "site name" is now placed in the <Name> element inside the
        <Site> tag.
        before:
        <Site>
        <Country>Ankober, Ethiopia (near Debra Birhan)</Country>
        </Site>

        after:
        <Site>
        <Name>Ankober, Ethiopia (near Debra Birhan)</Name>
        </Site>

        This rearrangement also removes the <Name> element previously found inside
        of a the Channel <Epoch> tag.

        B) Removed the swap_order attributes from the Station <Epoch> tag
        <StationEpoch> instead of <StationEpoch swap_order_16="BIG_ENDIAN"
        swap_order_32="BIG_ENDIAN">

        C) Removed stage 0 response structure, this is replaced by the 'Channel'
        'InstrumentSensitivity structure'.

        D) Added new elements describing <PolesZeros> and <Coefficients>:
        <PzTransferFunctionType> and <CfTransferFunctionType>

        E) Replaced <GainUnits> with <SensitivityUnits> inside of
        <StageSensitivity> tag of a response cascade.

        _______________________________________________
        webservices mailing list
        webservices<at>iris.washington.edu
        http://www.iris.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/webservices



        _______________________________________________
        webservices mailing list
        webservices<at>iris.washington.edu
        http://www.iris.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/webservices


        _______________________________________________
        webservices mailing list
        webservices<at>iris.washington.edu
        http://www.iris.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/webservices




    • Hi John,

      OK, new release target is Tuesday, April 10th.

      Hopefully this gives you enough time to recover from exams, update EMERALD and test.

      Good luck! (with exams, updating EMERALD should be a snap)

      Chad

      On Mar 8, 2012, at 6:05 PM, John D. West wrote:

      Hi.

      I don't like to be the one to slow down progress, but I have oral exams on April 2 and have no time before them to test the beta or update EMERALD to handle the new schema. Is there any chance we can put this one off for a week or two?

      Many thanks,

      -- John


      On Wed, Mar 7, 2012 at 6:04 PM, Yazan Suleiman <yazan<at>iris.washington.edu> wrote:
      Hello webservice users,

      The DMC has released a beta version of our ws-station service and would appreciate any level of feedback. The changes in this release include an update to the StationXML schema making the results NOT backwards compatible with the current service (more details below). Also introduced are new time range selection parameters.

      http://www.iris.edu/wsbeta/station/

      We anticipate this version replacing the current service on April 2nd. After which any clients depending on the (few) changes in the schema will not work correctly. In particular, the beta Java IRIS-WS Library (and the related MATLAB support) will stop working properly. We plan on releasing new versions of the IRIS-WS Library at the same time to match this update in the ws-station service.

      regards,
      Web services team


      Details of the changes include:

      1) New starttime and endtime parameters, the timewindow parameter is now deprecated as these two parameters provide the same and much more functionality. In addition to allowing start and end times to be specified independently these new parameters allow time to be specified (as opposed to only a date). See the service help for details.

      2) The service has been updated to the latest StationXML schema:
      http://www.data.scec.org/xml/station/20120307/station.xsd

      The relavent changes for ws-station users are as follows:

      A) The SEED "site name" is now placed in the <Name> element inside the <Site> tag.
      before:
      <Site>
      <Country>Ankober, Ethiopia (near Debra Birhan)</Country>
      </Site>

      after:
      <Site>
      <Name>Ankober, Ethiopia (near Debra Birhan)</Name>
      </Site>

      This rearrangement also removes the <Name> element previously found inside of a the Channel <Epoch> tag.

      B) Removed the swap_order attributes from the Station <Epoch> tag
      <StationEpoch> instead of <StationEpoch swap_order_16="BIG_ENDIAN" swap_order_32="BIG_ENDIAN">

      C) Removed stage 0 response structure, this is replaced by the 'Channel' 'InstrumentSensitivity structure'.

      D) Added new elements describing <PolesZeros> and <Coefficients>: <PzTransferFunctionType> and <CfTransferFunctionType>

      E) Replaced <GainUnits> with <SensitivityUnits> inside of <StageSensitivity> tag of a response cascade.

      _______________________________________________
      webservices mailing list
      webservices<at>iris.washington.edu
      http://www.iris.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/webservices


      _______________________________________________
      webservices mailing list
      webservices<at>iris.washington.edu
      http://www.iris.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/webservices


08:39:10 v.22510d55