[tinyTiM-discuss] Copying a topic from one topic map to another

[Lars H. <he...@se...>]

Hi all,

Currently I discuss with another user the use case where at least one
topic should be copied from one topic map to another. Neither TMAPI
nor tinyTiM provides such a functionality. If one or a set of topics
is copied from one topic map to another does not matter, the question
is which information should be copied? Let's assume one topic should
be copied; I think at least the following information should be
copied:

- The topic itself incl. its subject identifiers, subject locators,
  and item identifiers
- The occurrences of the topic
- The names of the topic
- All associations (includes the type and the other role players and
  types) where the topic plays a role

That's the minimum set, I think, maybe a reified construct should be
copied as well (incl. the parent, if it's a name, an occurrence or
role or a (heaven forbid!) variant).

That sounds very easy at first sight, but what's about the
associations the "other" topics play? Let's assume we copy a topic B
which plays a role in the same association as the topic A which we
want to copy. Topic B is of course added to the other topic map, but
what's about the other roles topic B plays? Do we should copy the
associations as well? If we do not copy, for example, the
type-instance relationships of topic B we may lose information. Is
this acceptable?

Otherwise the copy algorithm would pretty much the same as the
fragment creation algorithm described here:
<http://www.egovpt.org/fg/CWA_Part_1b#head-ceec82ba78203210581a1a3fb5d667effe1d19a3>

So, tinyTiM-users, what do you think? Would such a copy utility a
useful addition to tinyTiM? And if it would be a useful addition which
information should be copied, which information should the algorithm
ignore?

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