Re: [GRAPHS] g-box, g-snap, and g-text

Sandro / Ivan,

AIUI, a g-box is a "box" which contains triples, the contents of the box 
can change over time, and the contents of the box at a particular point 
in time form a Set of Triples, a g-snap (a snapshot of the contents, the 
value of the box at time t, the state of the box at time t), g-snaps can 
be represented lexically in a data format so that they can be 
transferred over the wire, these serialized g-snaps are called g-texts.

some clarifications to sandro's text following my understanding:

Sandro Hawke wrote:
> On Fri, 2011-02-25 at 17:30 +0100, Ivan Herman wrote:
>> Another way of putting it is that a g-text is a special form of a
>> g-box, which has the peculiarity of representing a g-snap in a text
>> file. 
> 
> No, a g-text is not a special form of a g-box.  A g-text is a fixed
> sequence of characters or bytes; a g-box is a potentially-mutable
> collection.   If two g-texts are the same sequence, they are the same
> g-text; that's not at all true of g-boxes.
> 
> In a low-level language, like assembly or C, g-box would be some area of
> memory, while a g-text would be some values that might be stored in that
> memory.

a g-box would be some area of memory, a g-snap would be the set of 
values stored in that memory at a point in time, and a g-text would be a 
serialization of that set of values.

> Computer files are boxes, not texts, in this terminology -- they can
> change, and they have an identity separate from their contents.

Indeed, and g-texts have their own identity separate to both the 
contents of the box, and the box it self.

Relating to real life, let's say it's an apple box a-box:

An a-box contains apples, the contents of the a-box at a particular 
point in time is an a-snap, a written list or photo of the contents at 
that point in time is an a-snap.

Sorry to be a bit pedantic here, but I feel it's critical to keep clear 
distinctions between the three concepts

box: a container
snap: contents of the box at a point in time (or, the state of the box, 
or, the set of things in the box - set in the mathematical sense)
text: a representation of a snap

Best,

Nathan

Received on Friday, 25 February 2011 17:39:56 UTC