Re: RDF/XML Syntax - reifying using XML attributes only

On Tue, 21 Aug 2001, Aaron Swartz wrote:

> On Tuesday, August 21, 2001, at 11:21  AM, Dave Beckett wrote:
>
> > Pretty clearly when rdf:type is used as a property attribute, it is
> > defined to take a resource as a value (this is in the grammar).
>
> It is my opinion that since the grammar refers to an unprefixed
> 'type', and we have disallowed that irregularity, this
> irregularity should be removed also. It is likely that
> processors dealing with valid documents (i.e. prefixed with
> rdf:) will already be in line with recent RDF Core decisions. I
> think we should also remove the irregularity that causes type to
> correspond to a resource and not a literal, thus simplifying the
> grammmar, with little impact on backwards compatibility.

Unless "little" = "no" impact, I'd have to disagree here. The propAttr
stuff is there as an abbreviated shorthand; certainly making rdf:type
attributes have a literal interpretation completely removes their
usefulness. Dave's idea of including rdf:subjct and rdf:property makes
some sense in the light of this; I don't think that you can't handle
rdf:object in a similar fashion is too much of a problem (it's a
convenient shorthand, nothing more).

-- 
jan grant, ILRT, University of Bristol. http://www.ilrt.bris.ac.uk/
Tel +44(0)117 9287088 Fax +44 (0)117 9287112 RFC822 jan.grant@bris.ac.uk
Usenet: The separation of content AND presentation - simultaneously.

Received on Tuesday, 21 August 2001 16:31:06 UTC