[sc34wg3] Topic names and occurrences in the TMDM

[Murray Altheim]

Murray Altheim wrote:
> 
> Lars Marius and Kal,
> 
> In looking over this discussion in retrospect, I think I was
> thrown by the idea of Topic names and subject identity being
> considered as Topic Occurrences, but I realized (rather quickly
> upon reading Kal's message) that I've been using Occurrences as
> containers for Topic properties in my own practice for a long
> time, and indeed, have both implemented properties-as-occurrences
> in Ceryle and designed the Facet PSI set and its implementation
> as typed Occurrences.
> 
> So on the subject of using Occurrences (internal or external) as
> a means of ontologically assigning properties to a Topic, I think
> we're on the same page.
> 
> Thanks for the clarification,

Ooops. Then the original question remains:

I wrote:
 > Just a question that came to mind whilst reading the section
 > on Topic names in section 5.4 "Topic name items" of the TMDM:
 >
 >    [...]
 >    Essentially, a base name is a specialized kind of occurrence.
 >
 > To my mind, names are not a specialized kind of occurrence at
 > all -- names, occurrences and roles played in associations are
 > the three kinds of topic characteristics. Topic names and
 > occurrences are peers in that taxonomy; names are not a subclass
 > of occurrence, which would imply that a name is an occurrence of
 > the Topic, not a characteristic of it. That doesn't make sense
 > to me.

Is the TMDM stating that Topic names are a form of occurrence,
or should it state as Kal did that Topic names are a special
construct in the Topic Map model? I think the sentence quoted
may be confusing -- even if "a specialized kind" is only meant
informally, it indicates that names are a subtype of occurrence
in the model, which is not the case AFAIK.

Murray

......................................................................
Murray Altheim                          http://www.altheim.com/murray/
Strategic Services Development Manager
The Open University Library and Learning Resources Centre
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