Re: PROV-ISSUE-458: wasInfluencedBy is not irreflexive [prov-dm-constraints]

Done.

Luc


On 02/08/12 16:38, James Cheney wrote:
> Following resolution at today's teleconference, we will remove the 
> constraint and then close this issue.
>
> --James
>
> On Jul 31, 2012, at 5:55 PM, Daniel Garijo wrote:
>
>> Hi,
>> sorry to jump in a bit late, but I would like to agree with Simon.
>> We found that many of the entities defined in Dublin Core behave that 
>> way: if ex:myBook
>> has a creation date and a modified date then both versions are 
>> conflated in 1 entity (ex:myBook),
>> and it would be possible for the ex:myBook to have been derived from 
>> itself.
>>
>> Best,
>> Daniel
>>
>> 2012/7/31 Timothy Lebo <lebot@rpi.edu <mailto:lebot@rpi.edu>>
>>
>>     James, Luc,
>>
>>     I think I'm in line with Paul: better to keep out the irreflexive
>>     constraint than to force it in, but it seems odd that it permits
>>     or encourages lack of details.
>>
>>     Fortunately, we have the specialization dimension that allows us
>>     to frame the degree of details, so it can always be reconciled.
>>
>>     Feel free to close this issue how you see fit.
>>
>>     Regards,
>>     Tim
>>
>>
>>     On Jul 31, 2012, at 7:08 AM, Paul Groth wrote:
>>
>>     > Hi James,
>>     >
>>     > I'm fine with leaving it out because I agree with the "better
>>     to leave
>>     > it out" reasoning.
>>
>>     +1
>>
>>     >
>>     > However, I have to say that the argument from plausibility is
>>     not very
>>     > satisfying. There's lot's of things that may be plausible to
>>     say and
>>     > in some cases be important to say that are incompatible with the
>>     > constraints - but that's  why we have scruffy provenance. The
>>     purpose
>>     > is to give guidance about what is good provenance - indeed we
>>     outside
>>     > comments looking for this sort of guidance.
>>
>>
>>     > I think one important
>>     > piece of that guidance is that you should be specific about the
>>     events
>>     > and states you are referring to.
>>
>>     +1
>>
>>
>>     > I believe the irreflexivity of these
>>     > relations encodes this guidance.
>>     >
>>     > If someone can tell me how the other constraints encode this
>>     guidance
>>     > then I'll be even more happy with my non-objection :-)
>>     >
>>     > thanks
>>     > Paul
>>     >
>>     >
>>     > On Tue, Jul 31, 2012 at 12:43 PM, James Cheney
>>     <jcheney@inf.ed.ac.uk <mailto:jcheney@inf.ed.ac.uk>> wrote:
>>     >> So far (synthesizing comments in this thread and reviews):
>>     >>
>>     >> Tim and Paul don't seem to object to the irreflexivity
>>     constraint, but don't seem to be making a strong case for its
>>     necessity.
>>     >>
>>     >> Paul says:
>>     >>
>>     >>>
>>     >>> I think this come downs what we think the role of the
>>     constraints are.
>>     >>> My impression is to encourage implementers to be both
>>     explicit and
>>     >>> correct in the provenance they create. In terms of the
>>     example given
>>     >>> in the issue, I would expect that if an activity called
>>     itself you
>>     >>> would want to identify that has two independent activities.
>>     Thus, I
>>     >>> think it's irreflexive. Actually, maybe this is suggesting
>>     the need
>>     >>> for a part of relation around activities.
>>     >>
>>     >>
>>     >> Tim says:
>>     >>
>>     >>
>>     >>> I think to be proper, an influence should be irreflexive.
>>     Otherwise, a critical distinction is being abstracted away (and
>>     that's what scruffy provenance is for).
>>     >>
>>     >>
>>     >> Luc has argued that there are plausible situations where it
>>     can be reflexive, and Simon's comments below (and in his review)
>>     also support this view.
>>     >>
>>     >> My proposal to close the issue is to remove the irreflexivity
>>     constraint on influence, as it is better to leave out a
>>     constraint (that we can introduce or refine later) than to add
>>     one that is not well-thought out.  It was introduced to address
>>     potential examples of "strange" influence relations.  To rule
>>     these out, we could introduce more specific irreflexivity
>>     constraints, for example on derivation - however, I believe these
>>     are already ensured by other ordering constraints.
>>     >>
>>     >> Are there any objections?  Tim, you seem to be advocating most
>>     strongly for this constraint.  If you object to its removal,
>>     please respond to Simon or Luc's points or suggest an alternative.
>>     >>
>>     >> --James
>>     >>
>>     >> On Jul 31, 2012, at 10:01 AM, Miles, Simon wrote:
>>     >>
>>     >>> Hello,
>>     >>>
>>     >>> I'm fairly new to the issue, but I would argue that
>>     >>> wasInfluenced(a, a)
>>     >>> and all its subproperties should be reflexive.
>>     >>>
>>     >>> My rationale:
>>     >>> - wasInfluenceBy(x, y) and its subproperties relate two
>>     occurrences that can exist over a period of time (activity,
>>     entity, agent)
>>     >>> - influence is actually between something at one instant and
>>     something else at a later instant, i.e. influence is between
>>     events, as illustrated by Luc's wasInformedBy example
>>     >>> - Something that exists over a period of time can have
>>     multiple events over its lifetime
>>     >>> - So its plausible for anything to influence itself, and it
>>     would be arbitrarily restrictive to prevent people saying it
>>     >>>
>>     >>> I think wasDerivedFrom(a, a) is plausible. For example, I
>>     define entity my:book for a book I'm writing. It changes content
>>     as I write it, but has a consistent identity. At some point, I
>>     finish a complete draft and it is only 5 pages long, so I entitle
>>     it "The short book". One mutable attribute (title) of the entity
>>     has influenced another mutable attribute (length) of the same
>>     entity, so the entity has influenced itself. It may not be
>>     particularly informative to say wasDerivedFrom(my:book, my:book),
>>     but it is still true.
>>     >>>
>>     >>> In general, I don't think wasInformedBy(a, a) will be used or
>>     useful in many settings, but allowing it seems to break nothing
>>     and does not add to the complexity of PROV, so why not allow it?
>>     There may be important application-specific examples that we
>>     haven't considered.
>>     >>>
>>     >>> thanks,
>>     >>> Simon
>>     >>>
>>     >>> Dr Simon Miles
>>     >>> Senior Lecturer, Department of Informatics
>>     >>> Kings College London, WC2R 2LS, UK
>>     >>> +44 (0)20 7848 1166 <tel:%2B44%20%280%2920%207848%201166>
>>     >>>
>>     >>> Efficient Multi-Granularity Service Composition:
>>     >>> http://eprints.dcs.kcl.ac.uk/1396/
>>     >>> ________________________________________
>>     >>> From: Luc Moreau [l.moreau@ecs.soton.ac.uk
>>     <mailto:l.moreau@ecs.soton.ac.uk>]
>>     >>> Sent: 31 July 2012 09:35
>>     >>> To: Timothy Lebo
>>     >>> Cc: James Cheney; Provenance Working Group
>>     >>> Subject: Re: PROV-ISSUE-458: wasInfluencedBy is not
>>     irreflexive  [prov-dm-constraints]
>>     >>>
>>     >>> Hi all,
>>     >>>
>>     >>> It would be good to try and reach consensus on this issue.
>>     >>>
>>     >>> My response to Tim:
>>     >>>
>>     >>> On 23/07/12 13:46, Timothy Lebo wrote:
>>     >>>> Luc, James,
>>     >>>>
>>     >>>> On Jul 20, 2012, at 6:55 AM, James Cheney wrote:
>>     >>>>
>>     >>>>> I added the irreflexivity constraint directly to address
>>     concerns raised in discussion by Tim and Tom on issue 454.  I
>>     haven't heard whether this proposed fix, or Luc's example of a
>>     reflexive communication, addresses their concern.
>>     >>>>>
>>     >>>>> Briefly, I think wasInformedBy(a,a) is a bug,
>>     >>>> +1
>>     >>>
>>     >>> I agree the wasDerivedFrom(e,e) where e is an entity is a bug.
>>     >>>
>>     >>> I think that
>>     >>> wasInfluencedBy(a,a)
>>     >>> wasInformedBy(a,a)
>>     >>> where a is an activity is plausible:
>>     >>>
>>     >>> In a producer/consumer pattern, with a scheduler allocating
>>     "tasks to
>>     >>> perform",  one could imaging an activity
>>     >>> producing a task, and then being the one that consumes it, in
>>     the sense
>>     >>> that
>>     >>>
>>     >>> wasGeneratedBy(task,a) // a produces the task
>>     >>> used(a,task)  // a consumes and executes the task,
>>     >>>
>>     >>>
>>     >>>
>>     >>> I think the case actedOnBehalfOf is not clear cut either.
>>     >>>
>>     >>> actedOnBehalfOf(slave1,uberMaster,a1)
>>     >>> ...
>>     >>> actedOnBehalfOf(slaven,uberMaster,an)
>>     >>>
>>     >>> where slave 1 . ... n are given responsibility for a1 ... an.
>>     >>>
>>     >>> We can imagine that, running out of slave, uberMaster takes
>>     direct
>>     >>> responsibility of activity a_x
>>     >>>
>>     >>> actedOnBehalfOf(uberMaster,uberMaster,a_x)
>>     >>>
>>     >>> This would  imply  wasInfluencedBy(uberMaster,uberMaster)
>>     >>>
>>     >>>
>>     >>>
>>     >>>
>>     >>>>
>>     >>>>
>>     >>>>> and we should fix it by dropping
>>     generation-use-communication, and keeping influence irreflexive.
>>      However, I'm not going to fight for irreflexive influence if
>>     Luc's example convinces everyone else that it may be reflexive.
>>     >>>>
>>     >>>> 1)
>>     >>>>
>>     >>>> prov-constraints is available to distinguish proper
>>     provenance from the scruffy provenance that prov-dm permits.
>>     >>>> A distinguishing characteristic between proper and scruffy
>>     is "precision"; The former has it, and the latter need not.
>>     >>>>
>>     >>>> The statement:
>>     >>>>
>>     >>>>      wasInformedBy(a,a)
>>     >>>>
>>     >>>> is hardly precise, and without some precision it is not
>>     informative.
>>     >>>> Why would one inform oneself? Didn't the one already know it?
>>     >>>> You're implying two parts of oneself, and should thus
>>     distinguish them, describe them separately, and relate them
>>     appropriately.
>>     >>>
>>     >>> We could probably do that for the entity/agent examples above.
>>     >>> I don't think it works for activity.
>>     >>>
>>     >>> Luc
>>     >>>
>>     >>>> Meanwhile, it seems like a perfectly reasonable prov-dm
>>     statement.
>>     >>>
>>     >>>> The same argument applies to the general property
>>     wasInfluencedBy.
>>     >>>>
>>     >>>>
>>     >>>> 2)
>>     >>>>
>>     >>>> In a different topic but related to precision, does the
>>     latest prov-constraints prevent:
>>     >>>>
>>     >>>> :e prov:wasGeneratedBy :a_1, :a_2 .
>>     >>>> :a_1 owl:differentFrom :a_2 .
>>     >>>>
>>     >>>>
>>     >>>> Thanks,
>>     >>>> Tim
>>     >>>>
>>     >>>>
>>     >>>>
>>     >>>>> I am copying my comments from issue 454 for easy reference:
>>     >>>>>> The irreflexivity constraint was an attempt to address Tim
>>     and Tom's concerns, so they should comment on whether your
>>     example persuades them that it is not irreflexive.
>>     >>>>>>
>>     >>>>>> My inclination would be that influence and communication
>>     should be irreflexive, so this is no problem.
>>     >>>>>>
>>     >>>>>> But if we also allow the generation-use-communication
>>     inference, then from the totally reasonable:
>>     >>>>>>
>>     >>>>>> wasGeneratedBy(e,a)
>>     >>>>>> used(a,e)
>>     >>>>>>
>>     >>>>>> we could infer wasInformedBy(a,a) and then
>>     wasInfluencedBy(a,a), which would be invalid if influence has to
>>     be irreflexive.
>>     >>>>>>
>>     >>>>>> Overall, I think this makes a persuasive argument for
>>     dropping generation-use-communication and keeping irreflexivity
>>     of influence (and all this entails).
>>     >>>>> --James
>>     >>>>>
>>     >>>>> On Jul 20, 2012, at 9:07 AM, Provenance Working Group Issue
>>     Tracker wrote:
>>     >>>>>
>>     >>>>>> PROV-ISSUE-458: wasInfluencedBy is not irreflexive
>>      [prov-dm-constraints]
>>     >>>>>>
>>     >>>>>> http://www.w3.org/2011/prov/track/issues/458
>>     >>>>>>
>>     >>>>>> Raised by: Luc Moreau
>>     >>>>>> On product: prov-dm-constraints
>>     >>>>>>
>>     >>>>>> Going back to the definition in prov-dm,
>>     >>>>>>
>>     >>>>>> Communication is the exchange of some unspecified entity
>>     by two activities, one activity using some entity generated by
>>     the other.
>>     >>>>>>
>>     >>>>>> I can imagine a service invoking itself (so effectively,
>>     exchanging an entity with itself).
>>     >>>>>>
>>     >>>>>> So, it would  be fine to write:
>>     >>>>>>
>>     >>>>>> wasInformedBy(a,a)
>>     >>>>>>
>>     >>>>>> Therefore,
>>     >>>>>>
>>     >>>>>> wasInfluencedBy(a,a)
>>     >>>>>>
>>     >>>>>> which contradicts the constraints:
>>     >>>>>>
>>     >>>>>>
>>     http://dvcs.w3.org/hg/prov/raw-file/default/model/prov-constraints.html#impossible-influence-reflexive
>>     >>>>>>
>>     >>>>>>
>>     >>>>>>
>>     >>>>>>
>>     >>>>>>
>>     >>>>>>
>>     >>>>>>
>>     >>>>>
>>     >>>>> --
>>     >>>>> The University of Edinburgh is a charitable body, registered in
>>     >>>>> Scotland, with registration number SC005336.
>>     >>>>>
>>     >>>>>
>>     >>>>>
>>     >>>
>>     >>> --
>>     >>> Professor Luc Moreau
>>     >>> Electronics and Computer Science   tel: +44 23 8059 4487
>>     <tel:%2B44%2023%208059%204487>
>>     >>> University of Southampton          fax: +44 23 8059 2865
>>     <tel:%2B44%2023%208059%202865>
>>     >>> Southampton SO17 1BJ email: l.moreau@ecs.soton.ac.uk
>>     <mailto:l.moreau@ecs.soton.ac.uk>
>>     >>> United Kingdom http://www.ecs.soton.ac.uk/~lavm
>>     <http://www.ecs.soton.ac.uk/%7Elavm>
>>     >>>
>>     >>
>>     >>
>>     >> --
>>     >> The University of Edinburgh is a charitable body, registered in
>>     >> Scotland, with registration number SC005336.
>>     >>
>>     >>
>>     >
>>     >
>>     >
>>     > --
>>     > --
>>     > Dr. Paul Groth (p.t.groth@vu.nl <mailto:p.t.groth@vu.nl>)
>>     > http://www.few.vu.nl/~pgroth/ <http://www.few.vu.nl/%7Epgroth/>
>>     > Assistant Professor
>>     > - Knowledge Representation & Reasoning Group |
>>     >  Artificial Intelligence Section | Department of Computer Science
>>     > - The Network Institute
>>     > VU University Amsterdam
>>     >
>>     >
>>
>>
>>
>
>
>
> The University of Edinburgh is a charitable body, registered in
> Scotland, with registration number SC005336.

-- 
Professor Luc Moreau
Electronics and Computer Science   tel:   +44 23 8059 4487
University of Southampton          fax:   +44 23 8059 2865
Southampton SO17 1BJ               email: l.moreau@ecs.soton.ac.uk
United Kingdom                     http://www.ecs.soton.ac.uk/~lavm

Received on Monday, 6 August 2012 08:48:39 UTC