[sc34wg3] TMRM v6.0 comments

[Jan Algermissen]

On Jul 26, 2005, at 2:56 PM, Patrick Durusau wrote:

> The problem arises because proxies in the most abstract sense are  
> representatives of subjects and have no "identifiers."
>
> But, in order to do anything with proxies they have to be  
> represented in an information system, which gives an instance of a  
> proxy an identity vis-as-vis the system in which it is appearing.  
> That identity does not have anything to do with the subject that it  
> represents.

A comment: the reason that proxies need to be 'system addressable' is  
that they may appear in values of properties. This is a fundamental  
characteristic of Topic Maps (TMDM style, too), as opposed to, for  
example, the relational model where tuple to tuple references are  
allways system independent.

This aspect of the relational model is (IIRC) widely seen as a major  
strength. IMHO it is totally unclear what performace/implementation  
penalties have to be paid for Topic Maps not having that characteristic.

Jan

________________________________________________________________________ 
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Jan Algermissen, Consultant & Programmer                         
http://jalgermissen.com
Tugboat Consulting, 'Applying Web technology to enterprise IT'   
http://www.tugboat.de