Re: PROV-ISSUE-4 (define-agent): Definition for Concept 'Agent' [Provenance Terminology]

On 07/06/11 23:02, Satya Sahoo wrote:
> Hi Luc, Khalid, all,
>  > Can an agent be defined independently of processes?
> I agree with Khalid here.

+1. I agree that an agent could exist without having actually initiated 
an execution, even though it should have the ability to do it.

>
>  > agent   is linked to       process execution (Satya)
> I would actually put it the other way:
> process (execution) has participant agent
>
> where "has participant" corresponds to the provenance concept (property)
> "participation" - http://www.w3.org/2011/prov/wiki/ConceptParticipation
>
> The participation notion is more generic than control, since an agent
> may also be participating in a process without controlling it. For
> example, temperature/precipitation sensor.


My "is involved in" is more lax than Khalid's "controls". I thought it 
is similar to Satya's "is linked to", but he emphasizes the direction of 
the relationship, which puzzled me and I cannot further clarify it.

I think I can almost read

agent          is involved in              process execution

as

agent          participates in             process execution

IMO, in some situations "participates in" should be more generic than 
"performs", which is more generic than "controls". I might participate 
in a WG telcom, but I am not the one who performs the telcom, the chairs 
should be. But if I participates in a play, it's very likely that I am 
one of the agents performing the play.

In the telcom example, one performs the telcom should also be the one 
controlling the telcom. But if I perform in the play, I don't control 
the play (well, somehow); the director should be the one more having the 
control role than me.

So, in conclusion, I think my general rule applies, but they might be 
interchangeable in certain circumstances.

cheers,

Jun

>
> Thanks.
>
> Best,
> Satya
>
> On Tue, Jun 7, 2011 at 5:48 PM, Khalid Belhajjame
> <Khalid.Belhajjame@cs.man.ac.uk <mailto:Khalid.Belhajjame@cs.man.ac.uk>>
> wrote:
>
>     Hi Luc,
>
>
>         1. Can an agent be defined independently of processes?
>
>
>     Yes. In principle, an agent can be associated with zero or multiple
>     process executions.
>
>         2. You are using various verbs relating agents to process execution:
>
>         agent   controls            process execution  (Khalid)
>
>     When I used the verb "control", I guess I was thinking of situations
>     in which the agent:
>     - initiates a process execution and/or
>     - terminates a process execution
>
>
>         agent   is involved in    process execution (Jun)
>
>     Jun also used the verb perform, which I guess refer to situations in
>     which the process is manual, and it is the responsibility of the
>     agent to perform it, e.g., baking bread.
>
>     Thanks, khalid
>
>
>         agent   is linked to       process execution (Satya)
>
>         Can these verbs be clarified further and distinguished?
>
>         Cheers,
>         Luc
>
>
>         On 06/06/11 19:38, Khalid Belhajjame wrote:
>
>
>             Hi,
>
>             I added a definition of the concept "agent".
>
>             Definition: An agent is a (physical or digital) entity that
>             controls one or multiple process executions
>
>             - The newspaper, the blogger and the government portal are
>             examples of agents
>
>             I would prefer to use the term “controller” instead of
>             “agent”. To me, the term “agent” is a bit vague.
>
>             Thanks, khalid
>
>             On 20/05/2011 08:04, Provenance Working Group Issue Tracker
>             wrote:
>
>                 PROV-ISSUE-4 (define-agent): Definition for Concept
>                 'Agent' [Provenance Terminology]
>
>                 http://www.w3.org/2011/prov/track/issues/4
>
>                 Raised by: Luc Moreau
>                 On product: Provenance Terminology
>
>                 The Provenance WG charter identifies the concept 'Agent'
>                 as a core concept of the provenance interchange language
>                 to be standardized (see
>                 http://www.w3.org/2011/01/prov-wg-charter).
>
>                 What term do we adopt for the concept 'Agent'?
>                 How do we define the concept 'Agent'?
>                 Where does concept 'Agent' appear in ProvenanceExample?
>                 Which provenance query requires the concept 'Agent'?
>
>                 Wiki page: http://www.w3.org/2011/prov/wiki/ConceptAgent
>
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Received on Tuesday, 14 June 2011 15:16:33 UTC