[topicmapmail] Any design guidelines for roletyping?

[Thomas B. Passin]

[Robert Barta]
>...
> Well, user interfaces might be a short-term motivation of building a
> map, but maybe in 2 years this map will be part of a, say, CRM "big
> brother" and will use the information for something else than
> displaying. I think (guilty myself) it is a dangerous path to look at
> a possible usage.
>

I think that good modeling is very important. A data modeling background
helps, but there can be more to it (I am not very knowlegable about
knowledge modeling, and I am learning all the time).

> I think it is better to avoid it, although in some places it is
> EXTREMELY difficult to come up with a good role name. Types are an
> easy way out.
>
Agreed, but it is still a naming issue rather than a fundamental modeling
one.  I have started to make all my role topics types have lower-case names
, and topic type names  (that is, topics I expect to be used primarily as
types) as upper case.  Then I can distinguish them at once (and avoid
name-based merging) even if the core word is the same.  This practice seems
to be working well so far.

Cheers,

Tom P