RE: [xml-dev] Rick Jelliffe quotable quote on the purpose of schemas

["Greg Alvord" <galvord@optimalblue.com>]

Yes, semantics is a branch of metaphysics.

"In the absence of information people make stuff up.  That is why there are
dragons at the edges of maps."

The dragons that be here are caused by people partitioning the issue into
the part they can solve and the part they can't.  Then others act like the
portioning is a property of nature.

There are two schools of thought.  One school (pure semantics) says that
once the relationships and properties are defined you are done,
co-constraints add nothing to the definition.  The other school (business
semantics?) wants a way to express co-constraints with the relationships and
properties.

There are lots of ways to express the schema ( relationships and properties)
There are lots of ways to express the constraints. I still have not found a
coordinated way to do them both. 

Greg

Optimal Blue

972-781-0200

-----Original Message-----
From: Michael Kay [mailto:mike@saxonica.com] 
Sent: Tuesday, December 12, 2006 4:14 PM
To: 'Rick Marshall'; xml-dev@lists.xml.org
Subject: RE: [xml-dev] Rick Jelliffe quotable quote on the purpose of
schemas

> It's more like a classification thing. The structure 
> determines the category or "family" - eg it's a car. The 
> constraints determine the classification - it's a Toyota 
> Camry which can come in these colours only etc .... The 
> conforming instance defines the individual.

Sounds Aristotelian: Essence and accident?

Tricky ground this. We could spend the next 2500 years debating it.
Territory best not entered by those without formal training in metaphysics
(like me, who has read just about enough to know that here be dragons).

Michael Kay
http://www.saxonica.com/


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