RE: alt container

> I know the above RDF does not correctly express the
> intent.  That's what the post was about.  The
> question was can we declaratively pick one
> alternative from the list of alternatives ... i.e.
> use the alternatives as an enumerated list.  Your
> suggestion about passing the list to the next layer
>  of processing seems to imply the answer is "can't
> be done in RDF."  Which is ok, it just limits the
> utility of the Alt container.

Not really a limit, being able to say "this object is a set of alternatives,
of which any can be used" is pretty useful in and of itself.

The point of the container is to represent the ability to choose, not the
choice.

Now it is perfectly valid to make some of that decision-making at RDF level.
At the simplest we can do a query for rdf:_1, which would be the best one if
such qualification is valid (i.e. if there *is* a "best one" from the
authors perspective), and that would be appropriate if we are confident that
we can use whatever value we get.

But again it is also valid to pass it to the next layer of processing,
especially if we want to let a human user make the decision.

Really it depends on the application and the predicate.

Received on Monday, 4 November 2002 14:03:49 UTC