[XML-DEV Mailing List Archive Home] [By Thread] [By Date] [Recent Entries] [Reply To This Message] Re: ANN: White Paper - "Using OWL to Avoid SyntacticRigor Mort
Dave Pawson wrote: > > Isn't is necessary for the same grouping to agree terminology? OWL provides the semantics of "subclassOf", "equivalentProperty", "sameIndividualAs", etc. Ontology creators must define the terms and their relationships. The idea I espouse is to reach agreement on the logical model and encourage diversity of physical expressions. > I guess this is where the human aspects come in? Those who define the ontology specifies the terms and their semantics. Note that OWL is a "Web" technology. Thus, an Ontology may evolve in a distributed fashion (just like the Web itself!) For example, suppose that when I build my application the Camera Ontology only defines these terms: Camera, aperture, (lens) size I then construct my application to understand physical expressions (XML instance documents) which uses these terms. Now, suppose that time passes and the Camera Ontology evolves to include these additional terms: SLR, f-stop, focal-length Further, these relationships are specified in the Ontology: "SLR is a type of Camera" "f-stop is synonymous with aperture" "focal-length is synonymous with (lens) size" Now, without any modifications to my application, I can process this physical expression: <SLR> <optics> <Lens> <f-stop>...</f-stop> <focal-length>...</focal-length> </Lens> </optics> <shutter-speed>...</shutter-speed> <SLR> How are this be? After all, it is using terms (SLR, f-stop, and focal-length) that my application was not constructed to understand. Well, when my application encounters a term that it does not understand it "consults" the Camera ontology: "What do you know about SLR?" The Ontology returns: "SLR is a subclassOf of Camera" My application understands: - "subclassOf" since it's part of the OWL vocabulary - "Camera" since my application was constructed to understand this So, my application now understands that this physical expression is talking about Cameras. Further, it is talking about a particular type of Camera. Thus, without a-priori agreement my application is able to process a trading partner's document! /Roger
|
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
|