[topicmapmail] Re: [topicmaps-comment] multilingual thesaurus - language, scope ,and topic naming constraint

[Steven R. Newcomb]

"Bandholtz, Thomas" <thomas.bandholtz@koeln.sema.slb.com> writes:

> 3. A basename is a basename and not an association.

The above remark is both true and false, depending on
how you read it.

It is true that a <basename> element is not an
<association> element.

However, at the most fundamental level of the semantics
of topic maps, a basename (the name indicated by the
content of a <baseNameString>) is itself a subject.
Every <baseName> element makes the assertion that a
specific subject has, as one of its names, a specific
name, which itself is a subject.  At the most
fundamental level, the only difference between such a
"topic-basename" assertion, and any other kind of
assertion (including all the kinds of assertions that
one might make via <association> elements) is the
semantics of the assertion type.

> 4. Back to the roots: The identifier of a topic is ID
> and not basename. 

The deepest roots are not fully visible in the syntax.
Again, the above remark is both true and false,
depending on how you read it.

It is true that the identifier of a <topic> element is
its ID.

It is also true that, in the Standard Application Model
(SAM) of the Topic Maps paradigm, a subject can be
addressed by means of its base names.  In fact, the
primary reason for the Topic Naming Constraint is to
preserve the possibility of unambiguous addressing of
subjects by means of their base names.  (The Topic
Naming Constraint is that no two subjects can have the
same name in the same scope.)

> If you refer to a topic you use IDREF and not the
> basename.

Correct.  The XTM syntax doesn't provide any constructs
that would explicitly support the addressing of a
particular subject by means of one of its basenames.
(Nevertheless, the underlying SAM is designed to
support it, and applications are free to do it.)

-- Steve

Steven R. Newcomb, Consultant
srn@coolheads.com

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