Session Date/Time: 06 Dec 2022 20:00

CELLAR

Summary

The CELLAR Working Group met to discuss the proposed 2023 virtual interim meeting schedule, which was accepted. The group also reviewed the status of documents in the publication pipeline (Matroska, FLAC) and discussed the next technical focus for the working group, prioritizing parallel work on the Matroska codec and tag documents. Progress on an EBML errata document was also discussed, with an action to add a milestone.

Key Discussion Points

2023 Virtual Interim Meeting Schedule: The proposed schedule included moving the March meeting to April 4th (due to IETF 116 in Japan time zone), cancelling the July meeting, moving the November meeting to December 5th, and cancelling the December meeting. This proposal was circulated on November 29th and received initial positive feedback.
In-Person "No Time To Wait" Meetings: There are no concrete dates yet for an in-person "No Time To Wait" meeting in 2023, though October/November was mentioned as a possibility, which could impact virtual meeting plans.
Working Group Document Status:
- Several working group drafts that were expiring have been updated and resubmitted, maintaining their active status.
- The FLAC draft has completed Working Group Last Call (WGLC), and the chair (Spencer Dawkins) needs to complete the shepherd write-up. There are two minor pull requests against the FLAC specification on GitHub; the chair advised holding off on publishing a new document until after the shepherd report to potentially consolidate changes.
- The Matroska draft is awaiting evaluation by the Area Director (Murray).
Next Technical Focus: With Matroska and FLAC nearing publication, the working group discussed its next technical priorities.
- There was a discussion between focusing on the Matroska Codec document or the Matroska Tag document. While the Codec document was considered more important, the Tag document might be faster to complete due to its nature (primarily documentation changes for existing tags).
- A sense of those present indicated that working on both the Matroska codec and tag documents in parallel, similar to previous successful parallel efforts, would be feasible.
- FFV1 v4: While FFV1 version 3 is stable and widely used, work on version 4 remains a long-term goal, though not an immediate priority.
EBML Errata Document (RFC 8794 bis):
- There are 5 reported errata for EBML, including 6 technical points, with proposed text for 9 errata items.
- The chairs' previous suggestion was to begin working on an errata document without rushing.
- It was noted that, with the Matroska document nearing completion and initial implementations/reviews having happened, the likelihood of uncovering significant new errata for EBML is lower.
Matroska Issue 682: An issue regarding the time code example in the "additional mappings" document (which integrates into the codec document) was raised. This issue requires review but is not blocking the publication of the main Matroska specification.

Decisions and Action Items

Decision: The proposed 2023 virtual interim meeting schedule (moving March to April 4, canceling July, moving November to December 5, canceling December) was accepted.
- Action Item: Spencer Dawkins (Chair) will submit the requests for the 2023 virtual interim meetings.
Decision (Implicit): The working group will focus on the Matroska codec and tag documents in parallel for its next major technical work. FFV1 v4 remains a longer-term objective.
Action Item: Spencer Dawkins (Chair) will discuss adding a milestone for the EBML errata (RFC 8794 bis) document with Michael and the Area Director (Murray).
Action Item: Steve to review Matroska issue 682 related to the time code example in the additional mappings. This is not a blocker for the main Matroska spec publication but is desirable to resolve before the codec document.
Action Item: The timing for updating the FLAC document with minor pull request changes will be after the shepherd report is completed and any related discussions are resolved.

Next Steps

The chairs will coordinate by email with the AD to update the target dates for the Matroska codec and tag documents.
Await the Area Director's evaluation for the Matroska draft.
Spencer Dawkins will complete the shepherd write-up for the FLAC draft.
The working group will commence formal work on the Matroska codec and tag documents.
Discussion on impressions from any in-person "No Time To Wait" meetings will be deferred until Michael (co-chair) is available.