[XML-DEV Mailing List Archive Home] [By Thread] [By Date] [Recent Entries] [Reply To This Message] RE: Re: XML and Complex Systems ((was Re: Re: An Ar
Now is that pattern emergent or simply "discoverable"? I don't think the term matters. The point is, a real signal source is examined, patterns are detected, named, and documented. In the case of a DTD or Schema, it is a computable document that serves as a means to detect the pattern or deviations from it. All the DTD or Schema is is a control. Now one inquires of the example, is it sufficiently representative of what I expect to apply the control cost-effectively (for some range and type of cost) to? That is, did I find all/sufficient hidden couplers that over time will perturb the data patterns? The question of the DTD or Schema and should I use it is simply, does it do a job that I can afford it to do better than any alternative I can afford. Think of the job SETI does. Given the universe, can you conceive of universal schemata that would automatically detect a well-formed message from an alien culture? If you scope that "in terms of our own understanding", you can and it might look distressingly like the "limerick" designs: it can't detect meaning, but it can find patterns that nature does not produce. Is that useful? If the only fact you need to establish is that it is an artficial signal, yes. If you need more meaningful communication, you may be out of luck unless you can arrange an F2F with a civilization you cannot name and can only locate with regard to a timespace that is larger than you or your heirs life spans. That's the worst case, AFAIK. len -----Original Message----- From: Mike Champion [mailto:mc@x...] 1/14/2002 3:28:56 PM, Nicolas LEHUEN <nicolas.lehuen@u...> wrote: > By restricting this range, you'll define an operational > schema, and implicit or explicit schema that is used to > process incoming data. This schema will certainly > contain "holes", <xsd:all> patterns, or even some more >"fuzzy" patterns (such as 'foo//bar' in XPath, for which I > don't know if there is an equivalent in XML Schema or RELAX > NG), but it will be a schema nonetheless. That's an awfully good point! A "pattern" is indeed a "schema," albeit one at a more abstract level than XML schema languages can probably handle. Likewise your points about "self-documenting" tags; there is some implicit reference to a schema or other shared understanding, and whenever this can be made explicit -- with namespaces, schema, schema adjuncts, etc. -- it is probably best to do so.
|
PURCHASE STYLUS STUDIO ONLINE TODAY!Purchasing Stylus Studio from our online shop is Easy, Secure and Value Priced! Download The World's Best XML IDE!Accelerate XML development with our award-winning XML IDE - Download a free trial today! Subscribe in XML format
|