|
XML News;
XTM Version 1.0 Available
On December 4, TopicMaps.org announced the availability of 3 related
specifications that make up the first version of XTM (XML Topic Maps). TopicMaps.org is an
independent, international consortium that focuses on the advancement of
Topic Maps. The purpose of TopicMaps.org "shall be to engage in technical, educational,
and marketing activities to facilitate the creation and use of Topic Maps,
focusing on but not limited to applications on the Web. This will include
leveraging the XML family of specifications as required."
The three specifications that make up XTM, or XML
Topic Maps, include:
- XML Topic Maps (XTM) 1.0 Core Deliverables
[XTM-Core]
represents "portions of the XTM 1.0 Specification that are not subject
to any future change that would invalidate any XTM document or XTM
application that conforms to the syntactic and other constraints [...] are
intended to impose in order to guarantee reliable interchange of Web-based
topic map information in XML." This includes the XTM 1.0 DTD, the XTM
1.0 Published Subject Indicators (an XTM topic map), and the XTM 1.0
Conformance clause.
- XML Topic Maps (XTM) 1.0 [XTM] describes
version 1.0 of XML Topic Maps, an XML grammar for interchanging Web-based
topic maps. This document is in the Authoring Group Review phase of
development. Except for specific parts that appear in Core Deliverables,
"the contents of this document represent portions of the XTM 1.0
Specification that are subject to changes made in the course of an Authoring
Group (AG) Review process."
- XML Topic Maps (XTM) Processing Model 1.0 [XTMP] describes
version 1.0 of XML Topic Maps (XTM) Processing Model 1.0, a processing model
for XTM. This document is in the Authoring Group Review phase of
development. Except for specific parts that appear in Core Deliverables,
"the contents of this document represent portions of the XTM 1.0
Specification that are subject to changes made in the course of an Authoring
Group (AG) Review process."
Editors of the newly released specifications are Michel Biezunski (InfoLoom,
Inc.) and Steven R. Newcomb, both editors of ISO/IEC 13250 Topic Maps.
Associate Editors are Murray Althiem (Sun Microsystems) and Sam Hunting (EComXML).
XTM is a work product of Authoring Group members of TopicMaps.org.
Active authoring group members as of the publication of XTM included Murray
Altheim (Sun Microsystems), Michel Biezunski (InfoLoom, Inc.), Martin Bryan
(Diffuse Project), Jean Delahousse (Mondeca), Patrick Durusau (Society of
Biblical Literature), Eric Freese (Isogen/DataChannel), Sam Hunting (EComXML),
Peter Jones (Wrox Press), Andrius Kulikauskas (Minciu Sodas), Luis Martinez,
Graham Moore (Empolis), Steven R. Newcomb, Nikita Ogievetsky (Cogitech, Inc.),
Jack Park (VerticalNet Solutions), Steve Pepper (Ontopia), Daniel Rivers-Moore (RivCom),
and Bryan Thompson (GlobalWisdom, Inc.). Many other invited guests
provided valuable input as well.
NOTE: "The origins of the topic maps
paradigm itself date back to 1993, when it was first expressed as a working
document in the context of the Davenport Group. The paradigm was more fully
developed thereafter in the context of the GCA Research Institute (now known as
IDEAlliance), in an activity called “Conventions for the Application of HyTime”,
during and after which the paradigm was independently developed, implemented,
and promulgated. Early in 2000, after several years of continuous effort by an
international group of individuals, the topic map paradigm was fully formalized
for the first time as an ISO International Standard, ISO/IEC 13250:2000. Almost
immediately thereafter, TopicMaps.Org was founded in order to develop the
applicability of the paradigm to the World Wide Web, and to realize its enormous
potential to improve the findability and manageability of information."
Return
to TOC
|
