Re: The AF war diary

Hi Lars and all

To give an example of problems emerging with database solution,
take [1] and alter your database schema to allow merge. Do same for [2] 
and [3]. Then drop out [2] because it isn't nice. Finally, take [4] and 
merge it to the schema. In other words, playing with database schema may 
eventually take very long if you need to alter your schema. You could 
change your database schema to allow this kind of additions/removals but 
I suspect the resulting schema would be very similar to the data model 
of Topic Maps. :)

What I see an important issue in modelling AWD data fields as 
occurrences is trust. With occurrences you can always be sure that the 
information in occurrence is not somehow merged with other topics. Sure 
one can build what ever kind of topic/association realms upon this 
occurence layer but those would really be interpretations of occurrences 
and you might want to trace the original information.

Here is an idea for upcoming TMRA 2011 conference: A competion to build 
best enriching topic map(s) for the original AWD topic map. Hell, it 
could be an annual competition. :)

I would also be interested in seeing Efi's and Benjamin's presentation. 
I hope it will become online afterwards as I won't be able to attend the 
conference.

Kind Regards,
Aki / Wandora Team


[1] http://maiana.topicmapslab.de/u/akivela/tm/awd2004_alchemy_entities
[2] http://maiana.topicmapslab.de/u/akivela/tm/awd2004_yahoo_term_extractor
[3] http://maiana.topicmapslab.de/u/akivela/tm/awd2004_alchemy_keywords
[4] http://maiana.topicmapslab.de/u/akivela/tm/awd2004_opencalais


On 28.1.2011 11:52, Lars Heuer wrote:

> The DB schema of the source for the TM is:
>
>      CREATE TABLE war_diary (ReportKey varchar(255), Date varchar(255),
>      Type varchar(255), Category varchar(255), TrackingNumber
>      varchar(255), Title text, Summary text, Region varchar(255),
>      AttackOn varchar(255), ComplexAttack varchar(255), ReportingUnit
>      varchar(255), UnitName varchar(255), TypeOfUnit varchar(255),
>      FriendlyWIA varchar(255), FriendlyKIA varchar(255), HostNationWIA
>      varchar(255), HostNationKIA varchar(255), CivilianWIA
>      varchar(255), CivilianKIA varchar(255), EnemyWIA varchar(255),
>      EnemyKIA varchar(255), EnemyDetained varchar(255), MGRS
>      varchar(255), Latitude varchar(255), Longitude varchar(255),
>      OriginatorGroup varchar(255), UpdatedByGroup varchar(255), CCIR
>      varchar(255), Sigact varchar(255), Affiliation varchar(255),
>      DColor varchar(255), Classification varchar(255));
>
> Obviously, it is not a well designed schema, though. ;)
>
> Anyway, we already have web interfaces to the DB, i.e.:
> <http://warlogs.owni.fr/>  and<http://213.251.145.96/iraq/diarydig/>.
>
> The latter is also available as Open Source project:
> <https://github.com/yourcelf/afgexplorer>
>
> [...]
>> i would like to compare development time
> [...]
>
> Which development time? The development time to create the AfgExplorer
> or to create the topic map from the above mentioned schema? I don't
> know how long it took to create the explorer, but creating the topic
> map from the RDBMS source would take ca. 15min (see below for a
> comparison of the source and the generated topic map).
>
>> The invention of the automobile added nothing genuinely new to the
>> life of people. Transport and mobility exist since the beginning of
>> mankind and earlier. It is just much more convenient to use an
>> automobile to transport people and goods from place A to place B.
>
> Probably true, but my question was how Der Spiegel could have spend
> less time to analyze the source if the AF war diary topic map would
> have been available. This seems to be the thesis the Emnekart
> presentation.
>
>
> Here the comparison of the report
> "D0C37304-DF34-48F5-B4CE-FABC5429F740" as topic and as DB entry:
>
> Report from the DB:
>
> ReportKey: 'D0C37304-DF34-48F5-B4CE-FABC5429F740',
> Date: '2004-09-25 06:00:00',
> Type: 'Explosive Hazard',
> Category: 'IED Found/Cleared',
> TrackingNumber: '2007-033-005702-0066',
> Title: 'IED FOUND/CLEARED Other',
> Summary: '(S//REL GCTF) CJSOTF REPORTS IED DISCOVERED 9K WEST OF
>           KHOWST. SALT FOLLOWS: S- UNK, A- IED DISCOVERED, L- 42S WB 748 879, T-
>           0600Z. REMARKS: ODA 340 REPORTS KHOWST POLICE FOUND DEVICE AND THEY ARE GOING TO BLOW IT IN PLACE. NFI.',
> Region: 'RC EAST',
> AttackOn: 'ENEMY',
> ComplexAttack: 'FALSE',
> ReportingUnit: 'OTHER',
> UnitName: 'OTHER',
> TypeOfUnit: 'None Selected',
> FriendlyWIA: '0',
> FriendlyKIA: '0',
> HostNationWIA: '0',
> HostNationKIA: '0',
> CivilianWIA: '0',
> CivilianKIA: '0',
> EnemyWIA: '0',
> EnemyKIA: '0',
> EnemyDetained: '0',
> MGRS: '42SWB7479287914',
> Latitude: '33.32778168',
> Longitude: '69.8035965',
> OriginatorGroup: 'UNKNOWN',
> UpdatedByGroup: 'UNKNOWN',
> CCIR: '',
> Sigact: '',
> Affiliation: 'ENEMY',
> DColor: 'RED',
> Classification: 'SECRET'
>
>
> The report in the war diary topic map:
>
> %prefix schema<http://psi.topicmapslab.de/wardiary/schema/>
> %prefix report<http://psi.topicmapslab.de/wardiary/report/>
>
> report:report_D0C37304-DF34-48F5-B4CE-FABC5429F740
>    isa schema:report;
>    isa schema:reporttype_Explosive_Hazard;
>    -  schema:title : "IED FOUND/CLEARED  Other";
>    -<http://psi.topicmaps.org/iso13250/model/topic-name>  : "2004-09-25 06:00:00 : IED FOUND/CLEARED  Other";
>    -  schema:reportkey : "D0C37304-DF34-48F5-B4CE-FABC5429F740";
>    schema:mgrs :  "42SWB7479287914" ;
>    schema:updatedbygroup :  "UNKNOWN" ;
>    schema:civilianwia :  0 ;
>    schema:originatorgroup :  "UNKNOWN" ;
>    schema:title :  "IED FOUND/CLEARED  Other" ;
>    schema:date :  "2004-09-25 06:00:00" ;
>    schema:enemydetained :  0 ;
>    schema:sigact :  "null" ;
>    schema:enemykia :  0 ;
>    schema:friendlykia :  0 ;
>    schema:complexattack :  "FALSE" ;
>    schema:coordinates :  "33.32778168;69.8035965"^^<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Geodetic_System_1984>  ;
>    schema:hostnationkia :  0 ;
>    schema:ccir :  "null" ;
>    schema:hostnationwia :  0 ;
>    schema:classification :  "SECRET" ;
>    schema:summary :  "(S//REL GCTF) CJSOTF REPORTS IED DISCOVERED 9K WEST OF KHOWST. SALT FOLLOWS: S- UNK, A- IED DISCOVERED, L- 42S WB 748 879, T- 0600Z. REMARKS: ODA 340 REPORTS KHOWST POLICE FOUND DEVICE AND THEY ARE GOING TO BLOW IT IN PLACE. NFI." ;
>    schema:enemywia :  0 ;
>    schema:civiliankia :  0 ;
>    schema:trackingnumber :  "2007-033-005702-0066" ;
>    schema:dcolor :  "RED" ;
>    schema:friendlywia :  0 .
>
> schema:reporting_unit(
>     schema:reported_report: report:report_D0C37304-DF34-48F5-B4CE-FABC5429F740,
>     schema:reporting_unit_unit>  :<http://psi.topicmapslab.de/wardiary/unit/unit_OTHER>)
>
> schema:reported_region(
>     schema:reported_report : report:report_D0C37304-DF34-48F5-B4CE-FABC5429F740,
>     schema:reported_region_region : schema:region_RC_EAST)
>
> schema:reported_attackon(
>          schema:reported_report : report:report_D0C37304-DF34-48F5-B4CE-FABC5429F740>,
>          schema:reported_attackon_attackon : schema:involved_party_ENEMY)
>
> schema:reported_affiliation(
>          schema:reported_report : report:report_D0C37304-DF34-48F5-B4CE-FABC5429F740,
>          schema:reported_affiliation_affiliation : schema:involved_party_ENEMY)
>
>
>
> Best regards,
> Lars