PROV-ISSUE-498: Data Model Table 2 [prov-dm]

PROV-ISSUE-498: Data Model Table 2 [prov-dm]

http://www.w3.org/2011/prov/track/issues/498

Raised by: Luc Moreau
On product: prov-dm


http://www.w3.org/2011/prov/wiki/LC_Feedback#Data_Model_Table_2

ISSUE-463


All of the relations are verbs and therefore readers may consider them to be activities. In fact, the temptation to think of the concepts (e.g., generation, usage, communication) as activities is so strong that I was significantly confused by this for some time. It was only after several hours reading the spec that I was able to start to think of them as stated relationships rather than as activities.

For example, derivation seems to be a type of activity (e.g., In section 2.1.2, example 6 lists four examples, all of which use the verb "transformation". This term is also part of the definition of "activity" (section 2.1.1) so to those that are not intimately familiar with PROV, it seems quite clear that derivation is a type of activity.

It may be helpful to explicitly state (and re-state) the distinction between assertions and activities, and/or select different terms when needed. For example, the actual activity that creates an entity is distinct from the expression of the relationship between them, but the term "generation" could be used to describe both concepts.

Received on Monday, 10 September 2012 08:31:44 UTC