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List:       kde-devel
Subject:    Re: Proposal for a new application - GOFAI-WMT
From:       Lotzi Boloni <boloni () cs ! purdue ! edu>
Date:       1999-07-03 23:09:10
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> So the idea is for some uses it has to look like a "normal"  database app
> with records etc and templates for common entities and the relationships
> between them. (eg creating a new "Person" from a template would create a
> single "Name" Entity with a list of common child entities, eg URL,
> Address, DOB etc). Interestingly, even the templates are entities, and
> could be managed the same way as normal entities, but as children of
> Entity "Templates" :). Further, Templates could be further related with an
> "Inherits" relationship so that "Corporation" would inherit from "Person" 
> but add some extra fields. :) 

  I guess that what you are proposing is that we should have basically a
relational database in the last stage of orthogonalization (if I remember
well how this term goes) where you have only one field/ table + tables
which contain exclusively pointers.
  Of course, there is always a possibility to make a query on something
like this an extract a normal table. 
  
> I also had some ideas about the design. To simplify implementation, an
> Entity should not store information about its children or associations
> itself, but in a separate Relationship Manager, which can be queried to
> return relationships for particular objects or search queries (eg: "all
> nodes related to "KDE Project" and "Graphics"). This will sort out some
> object ownership issues, I think, and make it easier to edit
> relationships. Plus it will be easier to store the information in
> configurable backends like an SQL server when the size of the knowledge
> base becomes large. 

  Well, the way I designed this thing is that I am using a data source
object which is queried using simple locate and select-like things. Right
now I am subclassing it to something which saves/loads in binary and
stores things in the memory, but later you can make an ODBC access child. 

  This data is queried to a dataview, which then is displayed as a graph
form. But you are right, we can create different, more traditional views -
for example using the forms in the Katabase stuff. 

  Another thing would be if I am draggging let's say a person there to
create automatically the nodes for address etc. 

   Sincerely speaking, I was thinking of something more simple... But
let's see what develops. 

             Lotzi

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