Re: PROV-ISSUE-30 (name-for-bob): What name do we use for the BOB construct? [Conceptual Model]

First, for the record Khalid was the person suggesting Snapshot :)

The way I've seen snapshot used commercially, it's fairly consistent with the 
current definition of BOB.  There is some murkiness on both sides (how 
"snapshot" is used commercially and I think we're still iterating here on the 
definition of BOB, but may be that's close to be finalized).  However, I think 
they are close enough.  What I liked about "Snapshot" is that its intuitive and 
is used in several domains that I know of (content management, legal, 
configuration systems, and I've also seen use-cases in microfilm production by 
old-school librarians).  Also, I think "Snapshot" offers a huge advantage that 
it's neither explicitly linked to the entity nor its state.  And I know the 
distinction between entity vs. entity's state and how that's articulated has 
been in a lot of the discussions.  Using "Snapshot" sort of obsoletes that 
discussion.

On 7/24/11 12:57 PM, Stephan Zednik wrote:
> I am not partial to snapshot, partially because of the extensive functional usage of the term.  I have always associated a snapshot with a point in time, not a duration - but this may be an incorrect association.
>
> I am open to discussing it, but my initial inclination was negative towards it.
>
> Will we use the same definition as we have been using for BOB?
>
> --Stephan
>
> On Jul 24, 2011, at 9:52 AM, "Reza B'Far"<reza.bfar@oracle.com>  wrote:
>
>> I second the term "Snapshot".  This term also has functional usage in several commercial application categories used within roughly the same meaning.
>>
>> On 7/24/11 3:45 AM, Khalid Belhajjame wrote:
>>> Hi Stephan,
>>>
>>> Given the example you gave in your previous email, I think that "EntitySpanshot" or "Snapshot" should be fine, given that it reflect the fact that it is a description of an entity that holds for some period of time.
>>>
>>> Do you agree?
>>>
>>> khalid
>>>
>>> On 23/07/2011 20:24, Stephan Zednik wrote:
>>>> I do not feel that EntityInstance, EntityInstantiation, or InstantiatedEntity make sense for the book ownership scenario, or any scenario modeling the provenance of changes in characteristics of a physical object.
>>>>
>>>> To reiterate the example since I haven't committed it to a wiki page yet.  Book X is an entity that represents a real world object.  It can be put on a shelf, loaned to friends, damaged, and/or destroyed.  It has important characteristics (condition, ownership, location, etc) that may change over the life of the book.  We may want to represent the provenance of the book as a chain of ownership.
>>>>
>>>> |<----------------------------------------------------- Book X ----------------------------------------------------------------->|
>>>> |<!------ Book X with owner A ---->|<----Book X with owner B ---->|<---- Book X with owner A --------->|
>>>>
>>>> If a book changes ownership, is the "book with changed ownership" a different EntityInstance?  A different InstantiatedEntity?  I don't think what we current call a BOB is an 'instance of' anything.  I think of it as a description of an entity that holds for some time period (not necessarily given) for which contextually important mutable characteristics of the the entity are held to be known.
>>>>
>>>> --Stephan
>>>>
>>>> On 7/22/2011 5:29 AM, Curt Tilmes wrote:
>>>>> On 07/22/2011 03:43 AM, Khalid Belhajjame wrote:
>>>>>> The term "Snapshot" was suggested some time ago, and it seems that
>>>>>> several people did like it.
>>>>>> We can also use the term "EntitySnapshot".
>>>>> Following from snapshot:
>>>>>
>>>>> EntityInstance
>>>>> EntityInstantiation
>>>>> InstantiatedEntity
>>>>>
>>>>> Curt
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>
>>

Received on Sunday, 24 July 2011 22:43:50 UTC