[Om3] Two more CDBase questions

[James Davenport]

On Mon, May 12, 2008 10:30 pm, Christoph LANGE wrote:
>   as an addendum to the CDBase discussion we had, I accidentally
> discovered
> that in an unexpected place of the OpenMath spec (versions 2 and 3) it
> is actually said that http://www.openmath.org/cd is a default base:
>
>> Content Dictionaries available from the official OpenMath repository
at
>> www.openmath.org need only be referenced by name, other Content
>> Dictionaries
>> should be referenced using the CDBase and the CDName.
>
> (section 5.3, compliance â.. CDs)
Good - I THOUGHT it was there, though, as you say, unexpected place.
> And here's now one more question about a thing that either is not
> specified or
> that I'm too stupid to see. For OpenMath objects we say that if a cdbase
> is not given for a symbol, it is inherited from a parent. But what if there
> is an
> OpenMath object within a CD (say /CD/CDDefinition/FMP/OMOBJ) where no
> cdbase is defined? Does that mean that the default CDBase
> http://www.openmath.org/cd
> applies, or does the CDBase of that content dictionary apply, i.e.
> /CD/CDBase?
> I think the latter would make more sense, but on the other hand it would
> make
> processing easier if we forced CD authors to explicitly specify the
cdbase
> for
> every OpenMath object, if they want it to be different from the default
> one.
No - I think the former would be much easier to use. Otherwise a piece of
OM cxan change its meaning if it is cut/pasted around. I would like to be
able to read a definition of a symbol from a CD without having to check
whether ordinary-looking symbols had been redefined.

James Davenport
Hebron & Medlock Professor of Information Technology
Formerly RAE Coordinator, and still grant-writer
Still Undergraduate Director of Studies, CS Dept
Lecturer on CM30070, 30078, 50209, 50123
Chairman, Powerful Computing WP, University of Bath
OpenMath Content Dictionary Editor