[topicmapmail] subject proxies and subject maps

[Johannes Schmidt]

Hi all,

while thinking about how (and where) to implement a simple dereferencing 
mechanism for proxies (label -> proxy) I came across the question if 
subject proxies can exist independently from any subject map (both 
according to TMRM), e.g. in an application (context).

TMDM is explicit through the UML diagram in TMDM clause 5.2 [1] which 
shows a composition relationship between topic map (parent) and topic. I 
could not find explicit "prose" in TMDM describing this dependence 
relationship.

TMAPI reflects this dependence. Creating a topic requires a topic map 
(object). The TMAPI guide expresses:
"There are no methods to remove a TopicMapObject instance from its 
parent. An instance can only be removed by calling the remove() method 
which not only removes the instance from the parent, but also destroys 
it. You must not attempt to access a TopicMapObject after calling the 
remove method on it." [2]

However, what about the relationship between subject proxies and subject 
maps (TMRM)? I can not find the answer - an explicit statement - in TMRM 
clause 4 [3] (maybe my mistake).
(Apart from any technology/model/paradigm subjects "exist" independently 
from any clustering strategy, of course.)

Any hints or thoughts?

Best regards,
Johannes


[1]: http://www.isotopicmaps.org/sam/sam-model/#d0e654
[2]: http://tmapi.org/guide/ar01s05s02.html
[3]: http://www.isotopicmaps.org/TMRM/TMRM-7.0/tmrm7.pdf