ISSUE-536: Notation Section 2.3

Notation Section 2.3

State:
CLOSED
Product:
prov-n
Raised by:
Paolo Missier
Opened on:
2012-09-10
Description:
Is the use of "-" to indicate a missing term a standard convention? It seems unintuitive and potentially error-prone. NULL might be better if positional attributes are used (this issue is moot if named attributes are used; see issue 533 regarding "notation of attributes":
https://www.w3.org/2011/prov/track/issues/533


There seems to be ambiguity in the syntax when the first parameter is option. For example, if both "wasDerivedFrom(e2, e1, a)" and "wasDerivedFrom(d, e2, e1)" are valid expressions, how can they be differentiated?

Example 1: (e2, e1, a) is an acceptable form of (e2, e1, a, -, -) Example 2: (d, e2, e1) is an acceptable form of (d, e2, e1, -, -, -)

Without named attributes, it is not possible to unambiguously determine how to parse "wasDerivedFrom(1, 2, 3)". Is it in the form of Example 1 or Example 2?
Related Actions Items:
No related actions
Related emails:
  1. Re: PROV-N responses (from l.moreau@ecs.soton.ac.uk on 2012-11-01)
  2. RE: PROV-N responses (from Freimuth.Robert@mayo.edu on 2012-10-31)
  3. PROV-N responses (from p.t.groth@vu.nl on 2012-10-27)
  4. prov-n proposed responses to comments (deadline Thursday 12noon GMT) (from l.moreau@ecs.soton.ac.uk on 2012-10-15)
  5. Re: PROV-ISSUE-536: Notation Section 2.3 [prov-n] (from l.moreau@ecs.soton.ac.uk on 2012-10-15)
  6. PROV-ISSUE-536: Notation Section 2.3 [prov-n] (from sysbot+tracker@w3.org on 2012-09-10)

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