Re: ISSUE: daml:imports as magic syntax

I agree this is necessary, and goes to the old ontology interoperability
use case. Pat states it clearly: this is really a meta-level issue, but
we currently don't have and presumably don't want a meta-level. At least
at this go-round, right? (A bundle of problems we probably don't want to
address until V1.0 is done). This goes to the issue of mapping between
ontologies. "Import" is like the old "include", meaning you want to use
symbols (concepts) from one ontology (think: namespace) but want to get
by without really worrying about the semantic issues of mapping. 

But allowable but unassertable (in the same way) brings its own can of
worms. There will need to be two levels anyway, right, at least
conceptually? You can disallow these meta-level assertions in the object
level, but will have to deal with their semantics somewhere: doesn't a
"magic" syntax require a "magic" semantics?

Leo

Jeff Heflin wrote:
> 
> TITLE: daml:imports as magic syntax
> 
> DESCRIPTION:
> IN DAML+OIL, daml:imports is used to specify resources with additional
> relevant information. A similar feature is needed in OWL to support the
> "Explicit ontology extension" and "Commitment to ontologies"
> requirements. However, if this feature is an RDF property, as in
> DAML+OIL, then it is possible to write axioms that redefine this
> feature. For example, someone can say "Ontology A only imports resources
> of type foo" or "Ontology B imports at least one of the following
> resources." If allowed, such statements would complicate the language
> significantly. As such, it has been suggested in RDF-Logic that special
> syntax be used for this feature, so that it cannot be used in assertions
> in the same way as other RDF properties.
> 
> RAISED BY: Jeff Heflin (heflin@cse.lehigh.edu)
> 
> DATE: 10 May 2002
> 
> STATUS: RAISED
> 
> REFERENCE:
> Drew McDermott, 30 Apr 2002,
> http://lists.w3.org/Archives/Public/www-rdf-logic/2002Apr/0104.html

-- 
_____________________________________________
Dr. Leo Obrst		The MITRE Corporation
mailto:lobrst@mitre.org Intelligent Information Management/Exploitation
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Received on Saturday, 11 May 2002 18:16:08 UTC