[topicmapmail] Merging associations

[Joril Andersen]

Hi (shouldn't be thinking about topic maps on a sunday, but.... : )),


>Since TMAPI is a collection of Java interfaces you have the freedom to
>implement anything you want (as long as you fullfil the interface
>contracts). If you want a TopicMap.mergeIn(Association) method: add it.
>As said, it would be strange to have something like that in TMAPI.
>That's implementation specific.

Yea, I am fully aware of this... I never meant an implementation, merely an 
added method in the Association interface, like the mergin() method in the 
Topic class. To indicate that this method should be realized..


>I assume that tinyTiM adds the associations because it is costly to
>check for duplicates. Names and Occurrences are also simply added,
>with no duplicate suppression.

Yes I see, one needs to set a limit for how detailed the merging process 
should be. The method will take very much time/resources the bigger the 
topics maps are..
Yes, one should implement the TopicMustmergeException to avoid duplicates, 
but agaian this presupposes the mergeByTopicName feature to be true..


>Maybe it would be nice if tinyTiM provides a utility that removes
>duplicates, but in "runtime mode" it is too expensive to check for
>duplicates.

Yes , I agree, this is also true for the MTV implementation that runs on 
mobile phones. The question is; should it be checked at startup or shutdown?

Do you know if other implementations merge associations?

>Feel free to ask TMAPI-related questions here:
>https://sourceforge.net/mail/?group_id=39237

Thanks for the tip :) I appreciate every tip and ideas/experiences on this 
mailinglist :)

Joril

Joril Andersen
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0553 Oslo
Mobil: 95256088