section 3
authorLuc Moreau <l.moreau@ecs.soton.ac.uk>
Mon, 19 Sep 2011 10:01:31 +0100
changeset 319 871ece580deb
parent 318 856848efb5b4
child 320 e609ee98d74b
section 3
model/ProvenanceModel.html
--- a/model/ProvenanceModel.html	Mon Sep 19 09:55:57 2011 +0100
+++ b/model/ProvenanceModel.html	Mon Sep 19 10:01:31 2011 +0100
@@ -306,17 +306,17 @@
 
 <p/>The model includes the following fundamental types:
 <ul>
-  <li><strong>Entities</strong>: these are representations of <em>characterized things</em>, as defined informally above.</li> The specific nature of an entity is specified by means of a set of <strong>characterizing attributes</strong>. The
+  <li>An instance of an <strong>Entity</strong> is a representation of a <em>characterized thing</em>, as defined informally above.</li> The specific nature of an entity is specified by means of a set of <strong>characterizing attributes</strong>. The
       <strong>wasComplementOf</strong> relationship is used to denote that two entities <em>complement</em> each other, in the sense that they each represent a partial, but mutually compatible characterization of the same thing.
   
-  <li><strong>Process Execution </strong>: these represent activities that have an effect on entities, namely they either <em>generate</em> or <em>use</em> one or more entities. Use and generation are modelled by means of the <strong>used</strong> and the <strong>wasGeneratedBy</strong> relationships. Additionally, one can use the <strong>hadParticipant</strong> relation to indicate participation of an Entity in a Process Execution.  Activities may include not only computations, but also any other type of activity that can be described in terms of their effect on entities.
+  <li>An instance of a <strong>Process Execution</strong> represents an activity that has an effect on entities, namely it either <em>generates</em> or <em>uses</em> one or more entities. Use and generation are modelled by means of the <strong>used</strong> and the <strong>wasGeneratedBy</strong> relationships. Additionally, one can use the <strong>hadParticipant</strong> relation to indicate participation of an Entity in a Process Execution.  Activities may include not only computations, but also any other type of activity that can be described in terms of their effect on entities.
 Note that multiple Process Executions may <em>use</em> the same entity, and each may use multiple entities. Finally, entities can be derived from other entities, and this is specified using the <strong>wasDerivedFrom</strong> relation.
   
-  <li><strong>Agents</strong>: these represent particular entities that can be associated to activities, meaning they are capable of controlling Process Executions.
+  <li>An instance of <strong>Agent</strong> represent a particular entity that can be associated to activities, meaning it is capable of controlling Process Executions.
   Agents have a rather generic connotation: their  association with an activity, represented by the <strong>controlledBy</strong> relationship, can take up various meanings (attribution, responsibility, supervision, management, etc.), which are not individually specified in the model.
   </ul>
 
-The model includes two additional entity types: <strong>qualifiers</strong> and <strong>annotations</strong>. These are both structured as sets of attribute-value pairs.
+The model includes two additional types: <strong>qualifiers</strong> and <strong>annotations</strong>. These are both structured as sets of attribute-value pairs.
  <ul><li> Qualifiers can be associated to relations, namely <strong>use</strong> and <strong>wasGeneratedBy</strong>, in order to further characterise their nature. <strong>Role</strong> is a standard qualifier.
 <li>  Annotations are used to provide additional, "free-form" information regarding <strong>any</strong> identifiable construct of the model, with no prescribed meaning. The difference between attributes and annotations is further clarified <a href="#expression-annotation">here</a>. 
 </ul>
@@ -324,7 +324,7 @@
 Attributes, qualifiers,  and annotation are the main <strong>extensibility points</strong> in the model: individual interest groups  are expected to extend PROV-DM by introducing new sets of attributes, qualifiers, and annotations as needed to address applications-specific provenance modelling requirements. 
     
 <div class='note'>Note: time is not explicit in the figure.</div>
-<div class='note'>Potentially there is terminology misalignment with section 5. For instance, here the text says entities are representations of characterized things, whereas section 5 says entity expressions are representations of characterized things.</div>
+
 
 <div class='pending'>Conceptual model needs a high level overview <a href="http://www.w3.org/2011/prov/track/issues/86">ISSUE-86</a>.</div>
     </section>