xml-dev - Re: "RDF + Topic Maps" = The Future

[Jonathan Borden <jborden@mediaone.net>]

Nikita Ogievetsky wrote:
>
> But as far as I know (I might be wrong, please correct me if this is the
> case)
> RDF has no STANDARD! way to carry forward the origin of opinion.
>

RDF does have a standard way to declare the origin of a statement (presume
an opinion is derived from a statement). This is the distinction between a
statement and stating and is the point of statement "reification". The point
is that since everything is a resource, one can make statements about
statements which is how I assume one might make a statement regarding the
origin of a statement.

suppose:

<RDF>
<Statement ID="S1">
    <subject resource="#peppers"/>
    <predicate resource="#are" />
    <object resource="#hot" />
</Statement>

<Statement ID="S2">
    <subject resource="#jon">
    <predicate resource="#believes"/>
    <object resource="#S1">
</Statement>

<Statement ID="S3>
    <subject resource="#fred" />
   <predicate resource="#asserts"/>
    <object resource="#xpointer(//Statement[2])">
</Statement>
</RDF>

Which yeilds the following English statements:

"Peppers are hot."
"Jon believes that peppers are hot."
"Fred asserts that Jon believes that peppers are hot."

Jonathan Borden
The Open Healthcare Group
http://www.openhealth.org