RE: Object Role Modelling (ORM) or UML or ?? for designing Schema s

[Danny Ayers <danny@panlanka.net>]

<- > If I order pizza, I expect pizza.
<-
<- Of course if you order pizza in e.g. New Haven CT, it may not
<- automatically
<- come with red sauce.
<-
<- A major benefit of using a URI to refer to something is that you can
<- dereference it to get a definition.

I reckon that's the key - you don't have to explicitly setup concept
mappings if you don't want to, if there's a reference at the end of the
chain somewhere then you've got something you can make use of mechanically.

The infrastructure doesn't need conceptual models, they are merely an option
at the nodes.

How the information is handled will be node-specific : completely
pass-through, using predicate logic, fuzzy mappings or whatever - there's no
reason not to do conceptual mapping if you want to, to a large extent these
processes would be independent of the communication. The only potential
problem comes when your looking for a pizza and call on NLU mapping x which
in turn calls on ANN mapping y before the order is interpreted as an order
and passed to dog food outlet z. I'm afraid the old trust issue comes into
play. Having said that, it's not that much better in human terms - order a
pizza in Sri Lanka and all you can be sure of is bread with a red-hot chili
on top.

Cheers,
Danny.