RE: RDF specifications

At 09:21 AM 12/17/01 -0500, Peter F. Patel-Schneider wrote:
>Also, I don't understand how the interface between RDF and applications is
>considered to be outside of RDF.  If you don't have a standard interface
>then how can anyone consider RDF to be a standard?

That's easy.  Standards are about interoperability between pieces of 
software.  RDF specifies a format for exchange of information between 
applications.  It is quite possible for different applications to have very 
different interfaces to the RDF generation/parsing processes, yet still be 
perfectly well capable of interoperating.

This is not to say that there is no value in having a standard application 
interface for RDF (for such would address another kind of interoperability, 
viz between application code and support libraries), just that a standard 
API is not necessary for RDF to be a standard form of information interchange.

Actually, I think you had it about right when you said (if I recall 
correctly) that the RDF standard should define what constitutes valid 
entailment.

#g


------------
Graham Klyne
GK@NineByNine.org