Re: [xml-dev] Why does XML call them "attributes" and not name-value pai

On Sat, Jan 15, 2022 at 11:10 AM Dimitre Novatchev <dnovatchev@gmail.com> wrote:

> Is a disease a thing, or an attribute of a thing?

OK, let me try to put it in another way. I think that an attribute contains a "fact", or a "statement" about a particular object.

An attribute's value is not a structured object (although it can contain the serialization of an object as a flat string), and it is meaningless for an attribute to have two separate instances (because they will be stating the same fact or property twice).

So, an attribute is not a structured object but is always a property of an object, which property is not itself an object.

Thanks,
Dimitre

On Sat, Jan 15, 2022 at 10:06 AM Michael Kay <mike@saxonica.com> wrote:
>
> So the color of one's hair is more of an attribute, but the hair itself, or any organ, such as heart, liver or lung, is an "element"
>
> Any objections to this?
>

I'm afraid so. Philosophers have devoted their lives to these questions, and even in the more mundane world of data modelling, many books have been written.

Since you've chosen the human body as your subject area, consider disease. Is a disease a thing, or an attribute of a thing? Is there an absolute answer to this question, or is it an engineering choice in how we model it?

Perhaps every attribute is a relationship of one thing to another. Hence RDF triples.

Michael Kay
Saxonica

--
Cheers,
Dimitre Novatchev
---------------------------------------
Truly great madness cannot be achieved without significant intelligence.
---------------------------------------
To invent, you need a good imagination and a pile of junk
-------------------------------------
Never fight an inanimate object
-------------------------------------
To avoid situations in which you might make mistakes may be the
biggest mistake of all
------------------------------------
Quality means doing it right when no one is looking.
-------------------------------------
You've achieved success in your field when you don't know whether what you're doing is work or play
-------------------------------------
To achieve the impossible dream, try going to sleep.
-------------------------------------
Facts do not cease to exist because they are ignored.
-------------------------------------
Typing monkeys will write all Shakespeare's works in 200yrs.Will they write all patents, too? :)
-------------------------------------
Sanity is madness put to good use.
-------------------------------------
I finally figured out the only reason to be alive is to enjoy it.