[sc34wg3] CTM: Semicolons, dots and other assorted syntax issues

[Lars Heuer]

Hi all,

Since the input for the existing proposals is near zero I try to
summarize the existing proposals and their impacts on CTM. I'll
use the same example through the proposal-tour so it should be easier
to compare these even without being deeply in the CTM spec. The
example could have been shorter but a more long-tongued example may
help also those who are not familiar with CTM.


1. Semicolons everywhere
========================
Every directive and statement needs a semicolon

%prefix ex http://psi.example.org;

# Template definition that uses the "is-member-of" template
def is-beatle($person)
    is-member-of($person, The-Beatles);
end;

# Template definition
def is-member-of($member, $group)
    ex:member-of(member: $member, group: $group);
end;

# Template invocation
is-beatle(ex:john);

# Topic declaration
paul isa person;
     - "Paul McCartney";
     website: <http://www.paulmccartney.com/>;
     is-beatle().


# Topic declaration
ringo
     - "Ringo Starr";
     - nickname: "Ringo";
     http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ringo_Starr;
     is-member-of(The-Beatles).

# Stand-alone association
ex:member-of(member: George, group: The-Beatles);


Possible changes:
a) The scope-syntax could be changed that it does not need a comma ','
   between the themes (this wasn't possible previously since the
   association didn't require a delimiter). Due to the lack of a good
   scoped association example, I provide a name example:

   The-Beatles
      - "Fab Four" @nickname, english.

   becomes:

   The-Beatles
      - "Fab Four" @nickname english.   
   


2. Semicolons as directive / statement delimiter
================================================
Every directive and statements *within* a topic-block needs a
semicolon.

%prefix ex http://psi.example.org;

def is-beatle($person)
    is-member-of($person, The-Beatles)
end

def is-member-of($member, $group)
    ex:member-of(member: $member, group: $group)
end

is-beatle(ex:john)

paul isa person;
     - "Paul McCartney";
     website: <http://www.paulmccartney.com/>;
     is-beatle().


ringo
     - "Ringo Starr";
     - nickname: "Ringo";
     http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ringo_Starr;
     is-member-of(The-Beatles).

ex:member-of(member: George, group: The-Beatles)


Possible changes:
a) Directives are delimited by a dot '.'
b) Directives do not need any delimiter if the mergemap-directive is
   changed, c.f.
   <http://www.isotopicmaps.org/pipermail/sc34wg3/2009-February/003948.html>




3. The dot proposal
===================
Statements *within* a topic-block require a semicolon, everything
outside a topic-block is delimited by a dot:

%prefix ex http://psi.example.org .

def is-beatle($person)
    is-member-of($person, The-Beatles).
end

def is-member-of($member, $group)
    ex:member-of(member: $member, group: $group).
end

is-beatle(ex:john).

paul isa person;
     - "Paul McCartney";
     website: <http://www.paulmccartney.com/>;
     is-beatle().


ringo
     - "Ringo Starr";
     - nickname: "Ringo";
     http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ringo_Starr;
     is-member-of(The-Beatles).

ex:member-of(member: George, group: The-Beatles).


Possible changes / impacts on CTM:
a) The brackets for template invocations could be optional, i.e.

   is-beatle john. # <----------- No brackets here.

   ringo
     - "Ringo Starr";
     - nickname: "Ringo";
     http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ringo_Starr;
     is-member-of The-Beatles.  # <----------- No brackets here.

b) The scope-syntax could be changed that it does not need a comma ','
   between the themes. C.f. the reason and example in 1. a).



Okay, these are the proposals and I hope I didn't forget anything. Any
opinion on these? Preferences? Other proposals (maybe a mixture of the
existing ones)? We really need to settle this issue soon (better:
*now*).


Best regards,
Lars
-- 
Semagia 
<http://www.semagia.com>