modeling relationships - attribute/agent sets vs. links

stepping back into Tinderbox mode for the moment (I'm wearing other hats
until Saturday), i've been thinking about how you model relationships in
Tinderbox and what this means.

Reflecting on the simularities and differences between attribute/agent use
and links. both can model relationships, although in different ways:

An attribute is a property of a note. Agents can gather, and potentially
modify, sets of notes that have common properties. In that sense an agent
represents a dynamic one-level relationship among its notes.

However, it seems to me that links provide a way of visualing complex sets
of multi-level interacting relationships that attribute/agent sets don't.
With links one can build maps that show multiple link types and how they
relate to their notes and to each other.

With links you can build trails; with links and agents you can build
complex conditional trails.

Please bear in mind that I'm just re-entering the Tinderbox world after
having been away for nearly a year, so much of what I say may be obvious
to you who have been working with it all along.

Comments?

Rosemary
Received on Thu Jan 5 14:39:53 2006