BRITISH COMPUTER SOCIETY - FORTRAN SPECIALIST GROUP.


MINUTES of a Meeting held on Monday 5th February 1979 at BCS Headquarters.


PRESENT:


P A Clarke (Chairman)                   Rothamsted Experimental Station

M J Appleford                                Ove Arup & Partners, London

R Bentley                                     Institute of Oceanographic Sciences

M R Dolbear                                  British Petroleum Co Ltd

D J Holmes                                   Rolls Royce Ltd

J Jaworski                                     British Broadcasting Corporation

B Meek                                         Queen Elizabeth College, London

J Murchland                                  University College, London

M Newton                                     Open University

K Normington                               Lanchester Polytechnic, Coventry

T Sankey                                      Institute of Oceanographic Sciences

A W Stewart                                 Geisco

C Warner                                      Open University

J D Wilson                                    Leicester University

J M Roberts-Jones (Secretary)        Liverpool City Council


APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE:


P Loftus (Marconi Avionics) and D T Muxworthy (Edinburgh R C C)


APPROVAL OF MINUTES:


The minutes of the meeting held on 2nd October 1978 were circulated and

approved.


FORTRAN FORUM 78 - ACCOUNTS:


The Secretary presented interim accounts; see appendix A. Registration

fees totalling £1009.34 had been paid by 91 delegates. There were 16 speakers

and panellists and 4 overseas observers; the total attendance was therefore 111.

Expenditure to date amounted to £461.64, so that there was an apparent surplus

of £547.90. Claims for expenses had not been received from some of the speakers

and the final surplus might thus be smaller.


A number of subsidies had been received. Many of the speakers had

declined to submit any claim for reimbursement of expenses. The organisers and

their employing organisations had contributed various services, including

printing and stationery, postages, use of equipment and secretarial assistance.


Because of the short notice at which the meeting was arranged, the BCS

Meetings Committee had not felt able either to approve or to disapprove the

event, and its status was therefore uncertain.


RESOLVED that the objects of expenditure as shown in the submitted interim

accounts.be approved, and that the Secretary be refunded the sum of £58.34 in

respect of petty cash payments.


FiNANCIAL REVIEW:


The Secretary presented an estimate of the financial position at the end

of the current year. Apart from Fortran Forum, there was predicted expenditure,

on accommodation and postages, of £128 and predicted income, from subscriptions

and BCS grants, of £189. There would then be a deficit on the year's normal

transactions of £19 and the balance brought forward, £23.64, effectively

extinguished.


FORTRAN FORUM 78 - DISPOSAL OF SURPLUS:


There was prolonged and lively debate as to the purposes to which the

unexpectedly large surplus likely to result from Fortran Forum should be applied.


Murchland and Dolbear spoke of the need for the Group to maintain an

adequate working balance.


Meek could not agree that such a balance should represent several years'

gross expenditure. He urged that a reserve of at most £100-£150 be set up,

the remainder of the surplus being scent on promotion of the same ends to which

Fortran Forum had been directed. In particular, serious consideration should be

given to holding a second meeting in the North of England or in Scotland in

order to expose Fortran developments to a wider audience.


The Secretary reported that he had discussed with BCS Headquarters the

question of disposal of the surplus. The position was considerably confused by

the uncertainty as to whether BCS or FSG had staged the meeting, and by the fact

that BCS policy was currently changing. There was a real possibility that some,

or indeed all, of the surplus would be required to be surrendered to the

Specialist Groups Committee.


Clarke felt that the surplus should be used directly to further the

development of Fortran. The Group should provide some financial assistance to

U.K. observers at X3J3 meetings.


Meek reported that the BCS Standards Committee had been considering how to

achieve greater U.K. involvement with X3J3. It would be desirable to have a

U.K. delegate regularly attending meetings. This would clearly be welcomed by

X3J3, who wished to avoid any possibility of the United States drifting apart

from world opinion and were seeking to take (and to be seen to take) greater

account of views from other countries. But there were obvious difficulties.

Apart from the problem of finance, who could afford to devote a minimum of

five weeks a year?


There was some further discussion, mainly as to the qualities to be

required of a regular delegate. Wilson said that a most important function

would be in reporting back in order to assess U.K. reaction. Clarke felt that

it would he very important to avoid bias and that any delegate must be relied

upon to express the spectrum of views.


The Chairman summarised the sense of the meeting. There were several

potential uses for the surplus. Some could be held as a reserve. Meetings

outside London could be held. Financial assistance could be given on an ad-hoc

basis to U.K. observers at X3J3 meetings. A contribution could be made to any

fund that might be established to support a regular delegate to X3J3. It was

felt premature to make a decision until the position was clearer; and the views

of absent members should be sought.


APPOINTMENT OF TREASURER:


It was reported that the BCS rules for financial control were being

revised. Responsibility for the financial conduct of a Specialist Group would

vest in a Treasurer instead of in the Steering Committee.


RESOLVED that the requirement to appoint a Treasurer be noted.


REPORT ON ISO MEETING OF FORTRAN EXPERTS:


The Chairman described the format of the meeting. Submissions had been

made by various bodies, including ANSI, BSI, ECMA, and Dutch and Canadian groups.

In all there were three dozen working documents, some of them being quite

voluminous. It was believed that Loren Meissner was attempting a summary.


There was clearly a problem of acceptability of the core-plus-modules

approach, but X3J3 had rejected production of a technical report on this topic

as it would have caused some years' delay in development of the next standard.

It was essential that this Group should consider its attitude to the proposal as

soon as possible.


Of those present at the ISO meeting and at this meeting, three (Clarke,

Murchland, Wilson) were against the core-plus-modules proposal and one (Meek)

was in favour. Unfortunately there was insufficient time for discussion of

the topic.


DATABASE:


Alan Clarke gave a talk on experience at Rothamsted with the Codasyl

Fortran interface.


[The next meeting was held on 2 April 1979.]




APPENDIX A


INTERIM ACCOUNTS OF FORTRAN FORUM 78 AS AT 31ST JANUARY 1979.


** SUBJECT TO AUDIT **


  PROJECT ACCOUNT


INCOME:


55 BCS Members @ 9.26                                                509.30

36 Non-members @ 13.89                                              500.04

1009.34


EXPENDITURE:


Promotion                                                                      29.26

Administration                                                                41.54

Purchase of Badges                                                         10.14

Refreshments                                                               335.50

Accommodation                                                              45.00


 461.44


SURPLUS:                                                                              547.90


    BALANCE SHEET


ASSETS:


Cash at Bank                                                                644.25

Cash in hands of Secretary                                              15.00

Debtors (Registration fees unpaid)                                   45.00


 704.25

LIABILITIES:


Creditor - Imperial College (Accommodation)                    45.00

Net Value Added Tax collected                                          53.01

Cash due to Secretary                                                     58.34


Surplus                                                                        547.90


 704.25