Re: Deep copy

On 9/26/16 5:11 PM, Holger Knublauch wrote:
> There is a fine line between being sufficiently precise for
> implementers, and still being readable by humans. It is easy to
> overreach in one direction or the other. There has already been a lot of
> criticism on the spec being too formal. As an editor, I cannot make
> every viewpoint perfectly happy. While some of your comments make sense,
> others go IMHO too far into the formal spectrum.

I'm not aware of any criticism of the spec being "too formal". Instead, 
what I have heard is that it is unclear - and that is from people who 
are experienced at reading formal specs. I'm willing to do a 
read-through to point out areas that I see that are unclear, or at least 
to point out some examples that would help make this issue more concrete.

kc

>
> Holger
>
>
> On 27/09/2016 9:58, Peter F. Patel-Schneider wrote:
>> On 09/26/2016 04:16 PM, Holger Knublauch wrote:
>>> On 27/09/2016 1:46, Peter F. Patel-Schneider wrote:
>>>> Equivalent is undefined here.
>>> Equivalent is an English word. We could apply the same process to
>>> basically
>>> every term that is used in the spec. Where would this stop? At some
>>> stage, I
>>> assume, the reader is able to infer certain things and apply common
>>> sense.
>> Every English word is an English word, including "equivalent".  In
>> specification documents, however, there are many words that generally
>> require
>> a formal definition so that their precise meaning in the specification
>> can be
>> determined, either because the common English meaning of the word is
>> vague or
>> ambiguous or because the word signals a significant relationship in the
>> specification.  "Equivalent" has both of these characteristics.
>>
>> There is no way that a reader could determine with any certainty what
>> equivalent means here.  For example, can the order of elements in an
>> alternatives list be changed?  If a node in a list that forms part of
>> the path
>> is an IRI, can that node be replaced by a different node if there
>> would be no
>> change to the results of the SPARQL queries generated?  What if this
>> node is
>> blank node?  Can it then be changed?  What about links from nodes in
>> the path
>> that don't contribute to the path?  Do these links need to show up in
>> the new
>> path?
>>
>> Understanding what things need to be defined in a specification is a
>> basic
>> part of the skills needed to create a viable specification.
>>
>>>> I'm assuming that the idea is to copy the list structure that makes
>>>> up the
>>>> SHACL path, but not other structure.  However, at this time it is
>>>> not possible
>>>> to define what this should be because the definition of SHACL paths
>>>> has gaping
>>>> holes.
>>> What gaping holes are you referring to? I cannot fix things if I
>>> don't know
>>> what needs to be fixed.
>> I suggest reading the recent messages to the comments mailing list, in
>> particular
>> https://lists.w3.org/Archives/Public/public-rdf-shapes/2016Sep/0035.html
>>
>>> Thanks,
>>> Holger
>> Peter F. Patel-Schneider
>> Nuance Communications
>>
>>
>>>> It is up to the working group to come up with workable definitions
>>>> for such
>>>> important parts of SHACL.
>>>>
>>>> Peter F. Patel-Schneider
>>>> Nuance Communications
>>>>
>>>> On 09/25/2016 11:59 PM, Holger Knublauch wrote:
>>>>> I have made another attempt at this sentence:
>>>>>
>>>>> The value of <code>sh:path</code> of each validation result must
>>>>> point to a
>>>>> <a>SHACL property path</a> that <a
>>>>> href="#path-syntax">represents</a> an
>>>>> equivalent path like the one provided in the constraint.
>>>>>
>>>>> Is that any better? If not, can you suggest better wording?
>>>>>
>>>>> Holger
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> On 25/09/2016 7:35, Peter F. Patel-Schneider wrote:
>>>>>> I'm assuming that you mean
>>>>>>
>>>>>> The value of sh:path of each validation result must point to a
>>>>>> SHACL property
>>>>>> path that is identical to the path provided in the constraint.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> This is actually worse.  Identical is not defined at all in the SHACL
>>>>>> document
>>>>>> and there is no pointer to an external meaning.  There is no
>>>>>> useful guidance
>>>>>> to be found in the RDF documents either.  Falling back on general
>>>>>> principles
>>>>>> would result in either identical nodes or identical graphs, both
>>>>>> of which
>>>>>> make
>>>>>> sense in an RDF setting, but neither of which are what is wanted
>>>>>> here, I
>>>>>> think.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> The solution that is needed is to define a notion of
>>>>>> equivalence/identicalness
>>>>>> for SHACL property paths.  The section on property paths needs a
>>>>>> complete
>>>>>> rewrite anyway so defining identical/equivalent SHACL property
>>>>>> paths can be
>>>>>> part of this needed change.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> peter
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>> On 09/24/2016 07:29 AM, Dimitris Kontokostas wrote:
>>>>>>> Thank you Peter,
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> can you check if the latest version has any issues?
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Best,
>>>>>>> Dimitris
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> On Fri, Sep 23, 2016 at 8:36 PM, Peter F. Patel-Schneider
>>>>>>> <pfpschneider@gmail.com <mailto:pfpschneider@gmail.com>> wrote:
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>        Your reasoning is incorrect.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>        It appears that what you mean by "deep copy" is somewhat
>>>>>>> related to
>>>>>>> its
>>>>>>>        meaning in LISP.  The meaning of "deep copy" that most
>>>>>>> readers will
>>>>>>> know of is
>>>>>>>        is meaning in current object-oriented languages, where all
>>>>>>> objects
>>>>>>> reachable
>>>>>>>        by inter-object links are copied.  This would end up
>>>>>>> copying the
>>>>>>> entire
>>>>>>>        portion of the RDF graph reachable from the head list
>>>>>>> node, which is
>>>>>>> not what
>>>>>>>        is desired here.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>        Peter F. Patel-Schneider
>>>>>>>        Nuance Communications
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>        On 09/22/2016 10:38 PM, Holger Knublauch wrote:
>>>>>>>        > On 23/09/2016 11:36, Peter F. Patel-Schneider wrote:
>>>>>>>        >>
>>>>>>>        >>> Deep copy
>>>>>>>        >>>
>>>>>>>        >>> "a deep copy of sh:path as its sh:path" What is "deep
>>>>>>> copy" in
>>>>>>> this
>>>>>>>        >> context?
>>>>>>>        >>>      Comment (HK): I have attempted to clarify this here:
>>>>>>>        >>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> https://github.com/w3c/data-shapes/commit/d3f8f858f95b010d1f2a0e4681da203bcbfbc217
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> <https://github.com/w3c/data-shapes/commit/d3f8f858f95b010d1f2a0e4681da203bcbfbc217>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>        >>
>>>>>>>        >>>      Comment (kc): Unless "deep copy" has some
>>>>>>> pre-defined meaning
>>>>>>> that I
>>>>>>>        >> am unaware of, I would suggest dropping it and saying:
>>>>>>> The value of
>>>>>>> sh:path
>>>>>>>        >> of each validation result must copy all triples that
>>>>>>> are required
>>>>>>> by the <a
>>>>>>>        >> href="#path-syntax">SHACL well-formed path syntax
>>>>>>> rules</a>from the
>>>>>>>        >> <a>shapes graph</a> into the graph containing the
>>>>>>> validation
>>>>>>> results.
>>>>>>>        >>>      Comment (HK): The first google match of "deep
>>>>>>> copy" is pretty
>>>>>>>        close to
>>>>>>>        >> what I wanted to express, so I believe the term should
>>>>>>> be familiar
>>>>>>> to many
>>>>>>>        >> people and may be helpful for implementers. Also I had
>>>>>>> surrounded
>>>>>>> the term
>>>>>>>        >> with "...". Anyway, I have no strong opinion and let
>>>>>>> others decide.
>>>>>>>        >>
>>>>>>>        >> The extra wording is helpful.  However, "deep copy" in
>>>>>>>        >> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Object_copying#Deep_copy
>>>>>>>        <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Object_copying#Deep_copy> is
>>>>>>> different.  Either
>>>>>>>        >> drop "deep copy" or point to an appropriate definition.
>>>>>>>        >
>>>>>>>        > Almost every English word is somehow overloaded with
>>>>>>> multiple
>>>>>>> meanings. I
>>>>>>>        > believe your linked deep copy is quite appropriate for
>>>>>>> what I am
>>>>>>> trying to
>>>>>>>        > express. If anyone has a suggestion on how to explain
>>>>>>> this better,
>>>>>>> please
>>>>>>>        > provide a complete replacement of the sentence - just
>>>>>>> dropping the
>>>>>>> term does
>>>>>>>        > not work.
>>>>>>>        >
>>>>>>>        > Thanks,
>>>>>>>        > Holger
>>>>>>>        >
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> --
>>>>>>> Dimitris Kontokostas
>>>>>>> Department of Computer Science, University of Leipzig & DBpedia
>>>>>>> Association
>>>>>>> Projects: http://dbpedia.org, http://rdfunit.aksw.org,
>>>>>>> http://aligned-project.eu
>>>>>>> Homepage: http://aksw.org/DimitrisKontokostas
>>>>>>> Research Group: AKSW/KILT http://aksw.org/Groups/KILT
>>>>>>>
>>>
>
>
>

-- 
Karen Coyle
kcoyle@kcoyle.net http://kcoyle.net
m: 1-510-435-8234
skype: kcoylenet/+1-510-984-3600

Received on Tuesday, 27 September 2016 13:31:26 UTC