| [higgins-dev] Identity Relationships |
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Another question:
This time referring to the Identity Relationships http://spwiki.editme.com/DigitalIdentity.
First, I was going to ask if this section was only talking in concepts because there isn't any mention of a mechanism used to form any of the Identity Relationships mentioned. I wondered if there was some specific Identity Attribute used to do this (like seeAlso=<some identifier>), but then I saw it mentioned the relationships being maintained somewhere that seems to be outside of the Digital Identities themselves.
So, later I saw http://spwiki.editme.com/Link. I think this must be the mechanism I was missing. If so, the disconnect I see there is that the Link definition doesn't allow a cross-Context relationship. Maybe the definition is just out of date? Or maybe I'm wrong in associating the two to begin with.
Back to the notion of relationships: Is there the notion of a "type" of relationship? To use the examples on the page, the relationship between the two identities for "Bob Smith" is a kind of "see also" relationship, while the relationships between a group and its members are more like "member" and "member of" (depending on direction). Other types might include organizational hierarchy (subordinate/superior), or lineage (like a pedigree chart).
Further, more 'dynamic' relationships could temporarily exist, based on current claims of other Identities (for example: assuming Bob Smith has a Digital Identity with a claim like favoriteBand=Radiohead, relationships could be produced (directed edges I guess is the API term) to and from all other Digital Identities with the same claim.
Maybe that last example is outside the scope of what Higgins wants to do. The question is really: can I filter the relationships (edges, I think) of an identity? Can I ask the question: Is "bsmith" a "member of" the "US Tennis Team" and not get a false-positive because "bsmith" is "subordinate to" the "US Tennis Team" (both being current relationships)?
Jim |