[topicmapmail] Topincs - Topic Maps authoring and storing

[Robert Cerny]

As Lars Heuer already mentioned on this list, my solution for authoring 
and storing Topic Maps, called Topincs is available since a couple of 
weeks. It's biggest asset is, that a group of people can collaboratively 
create a Topic Map over a set of computers that are able to communicate 
over HTTP, one of them acting as a server. It makes excessive use of 
technologies, now popular under the buzzword AJAX. The "web page" is 
loaded only once, all other communication with the server is invisible.  
It uses a database with a schema according to the Topic Maps Data Model 
for storage and uses a format, i call JTM for (JSON Topic Maps), which 
is perfect in a web browser environment and basically just an object 
notation of the TMDM. For more on JSON, the fat-free alternative to XML, 
visit json.org. Topincs uses the HTTP protocol how it was originally 
intended in a RESTful way, thus taking advantage of the free goodies, 
authorization/authentication, caching and the optional security.

In a similar way people create huge amounts of information in a WIKI, 
where most of the information is only processable by humans, with the 
additional boundary of language, Topincs can be used to store  the same 
information with the additional benefit that  the information is 
processable by computers and the language problem can be solved with 
less effort, by translating names of Topics  on the conceptual level. 
But i do not really need to convince readers of this list of the 
benefits of Topic Maps :-)

The WIKI approach is only one use case for Topincs. It can be used as a 
Content Management System or one can use it to as a tool for Personal or 
Group Knowledge Management.

My hope is that people will start using Topincs to publish information  
on the Internet corresponding to Topic Map paradigm and thus joining the 
benefits of these two great technologies. I think it opens up the 
possibility for a "semantic web". It does expose Item identifiers as 
network retrievable URLs, interpreting each item in the Topic Map Data 
Model as a resource in HTTP, which can be retrieved in different 
representations (XTM 1.1 or JTM 1.0, XHTML or WAP (so one can browser 
his Topic Map on the mobile phone, yet to come :-) ).

Topincs is available for download at http://www.cerny-online.com/topincs.

Kind regards and see you at TMRA 06,
Robert Cerny

-- 
Robert Cerny
Software Development

Web:      http://www.cerny-online.com
Email:    robert at cerny-online.com
Phone:    +49 (0) 160 960 55 113
Address:  In der Klauer 27, 55128 Mainz, Germany