TMF - Terminological Markup Framework Laurent Romary Laboratoire LORIA (CNRS, INRIA, Universités de Nancy) ISO meeting London, 14 August 2000

Background 4 Current work with n382 (MSC), n385 (Geneter) –Defining interoperability conditions Two options –Direct mappings between both –Defining a general framework for terminological representation which may encompass both formats –Second option adopted here In continuity with the work conducted on the meta- model (n380)

Proposal 4 Defining one single standard for the representation of terminological data Taking into account the work achieved within n380, n382 and n385 Identifying shared components Finding consensus on pending issues Guiding the evolution of ISO towards a more formal representation

Definitions 4 TMF: Terminological Mark-up Framework Definition of underlying structures and mechanisms needed for the computer representation of terminological data Independence with regards any specific format 4 TML: Terminological Mark-up Language One specific representation format generated within TMF E.g.: Geneter and MSC are two possible TMLs

Principles 4 Abstract structure cf. meta-model: extension of the notion of core structure (e.g. ‘language section’) –Shared and optional (?) components 4 Data constraint specifications –Mainly based upon a formalised version of –Additional constraints (“free” in n385) 4 Vocabularies (e.g. ‘ldl’ vs. ‘langSet’) 4 Styles (as defined in n382)

External resources 4 Resources closely related to terminological description –Described as a TMF component e.g.: domain hierarchy 4 Resources external to “core” terminological description –External module made available to any specific TML e.g.: bibliographical record, formatting instructions

Technological background 4 Data model –UML specification –XML schema specification Abstract structure defined as general element types One TML: element types derived from abstract structure and combined with data constraints 4 Data constraint specification –RDF definitions of data categories –May comprise vocabularies at this stage

Technical background (cont.) 4 Making full use of the XML background –xml:lang –Character encoding decl. –namespaces –Modularity (external resources, cf. namespaces) –XML schemas More flexible and powerful than classical DTDs –Data typing, Element abstraction, Coherent XML syntax –XML links

XML links 4 Transparency as to the actual location of a resource (internal vs. external) 4 Maybe useful to identify ontologies –External links between concepts entry i entry j entry i entry j

Relation with current work items 4 MSC and Geneter may appear as normative or informative appendices –Resp. blind-TMF and open-TMF 4 Does not change current activities within national, international or industrial projects –Both formats are part of the framework

Relation with interoperability work 4 Interoperability achieved through the abstract model defined by the framework –Kind-of “langage pivot” –Necessity to include, in a coherent way, specificities of both formats  strong involvement of current editors of n382 and n385 (point for discussion: optional components, since implies possible incompatibility)