XML Schema Revision Policy

There are two types of changes to the XML schema: "additions" and "changes." Additions are modifications to the schema that involve adding new submission elements, or other elements that do not impact the presence of elements previously used by our users, while changes are modifications to the schema that affect previously-used elements, and will impact our users. These changes can also include certain additions, such as adding a required attribute to a previously-used XML element.

In general, we expect most future releases of the XML schema to be additive and backwards compatible, not requiring our users to make any modifications unless they want to submit the new types of data that were added to the schema. We will not expect or require users who have previously submitted data to re-submit that data if it has previously been successfully imported into PharmGKB.

We plan to have new releases of the XML schema no more frequently than four times per year, approximately quarterly (except for minor releases that may need to be made to correct errors). Furthermore, releases that are changes (rather than additions) to the XML schema will happen no more frequently than every 6 months.

Our users will be notified of new releases via email. We will give our users at least 4 weeks advance notice of any changes to the XML prior to the date that the new XML schema is to be released.

At any time, users can view any proposed/impending changes to the schema at the PharmGKB Preview Site. These are made available so users can comment on them and prepare for the release.

The current released version of the XML schema can always be found at http://www.pharmgkb.org/schema/, and the beta version can always be found at http://preview.pharmgkb.org/schema/.