[xtm-wg] Re: XTM-ISS Important XLink difference in DTDs

["Ronald Poell" <rapoell@notionsystem.com>]

<dale>
I would like to second Graham's concern, or raise one of my own if  I 
am not echoing his concern correctly. There is a feeling when reading 
all the material on topic Maps that it is a great benefit that 
everything is a topic, and on one level that is true. On another 
level, though, if everything is a topic, but there are many different 
flavors of topics, processing of topics will rightfully ignore their 
topic-ness and focus on their flavors. Sometimes it is better to have 
different entities for different purposes, even though they may *also* 
have some part of their nature in common.
</dale>

I would like to express my practical experience that completely 
follows Dale's ideas.
In Notion System it seemed "logical" to distinguish the following 
types of entities which are structurally (implementation technically) 
all, in terms of TM, topics:
	Topics: general contents entities
	Classes of topics: allowing a grouping of similar topics (e.g. 
man)
	Superclasses of topics: allowing grouping of classes (e.g. 
person)
	Associations: meaning and content bearing entities (e.g. is 
born: to a place and with date and time)
	Languages: Because they play a particular role in specifying 
the names of topics
	Language families: allowing grouping of languages
	Messages: General text based entities used in interface 
localization
	Metadata: Used for maintenance aspects of the essential 
information
This specialization is naturally grown from practical use and the need 
to be able to execute a particular action on blocks of topics, 
associations, etc.

===================
Ronald Poell
Consultant Knowledge Management
TNO-FEL
Oude Waalsdorperweg 63
P.O. Box 96864
NL-2509 JG The Hague
Netherlands

T: +31 70 374 02 00
F: +31 70 374 06 52
Email: poell@fel.tno.nl

Notion System: www.notionsystem.com
Email: rapoell@notionsystem.com



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