Shyam Peri wrote:
> Dear Sir,
> Though, being a neophyte in the world of topic maps.
>
> Plz correct me if I am wrong.
>
> Isn't it that all the discussion about making a PSI registry & repository
> making the usage of topic maps, restricted to certain environment ie web.
>
> Can't it be used for the desktop or distribute applications.
>
> Just 'am curious to get more information, the constraint that have been
> established for the usage of topic maps.
Shyam,
There are no restrictions on topic map use based on PSIs.
The discussion of PSI registry and repositories regards the sharing of
concepts, identifiers of concepts, or definitions of concepts. Without
such sharing it is difficult for people to communicate, and impossible
for machines to "reason". Now, there are many barriers to effective and
accurate communication even given definitions (i.e, we all live with
dictionaries around us but still have disagreements).
The point of PSIs for applications is so that if you and I want to talk
about a specific concept, we have at least an unambiguous identifier we
can both use.
Now, anything that can be used on the Web can also be used in local,
desktop, as well as intranet applications as well. The availability of
PSIs for such applications may only be pertinent to the software
developers, or it may be part of the user experience (probably hidden
from view).
My own application is a desktop tool designed for use by a single
person, and the way that I keep track of things within the application
is via PSIs (identifiers), many of which are described in XTM documents.
For example, in my graph visualization, edge direction for specific
topics playing roles in associations is set by a PSI in a topic map,
so that rather than hardwire this into my Java code I merely modify
an XTM document.
The nice thing is that documents produced by my users could be
compared with other documents as topic maps, and where they use the
same identifiers we can make inferences about meanings (though this
assumes all users have the same understanding of the identifiers,
which even given a definition obviously isn't always true).
Murray
...........................................................................
Murray Altheim http://kmi.open.ac.uk/people/murray/
Knowledge Media Institute
The Open University, Milton Keynes, Bucks, MK7 6AA, UK .
"The parties themselves, working with the Arab nations, have to find a
way to co-operate to fight terror, without putting American forces in
an area where they will become targets."
-- White House Press Secretary Ari Fleischer.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/2989154.stm
Why haven't they adopted this policy in Afghanistan or Iraq?