content, format, ctype, or xtype ?

[Rob Seaman]

Hi Tony,

> I’d disagree, Rob. On the other side are applications, application  
> developers if you will, not end users. The interface has to be such  
> that the astro-devs can deliver the best functionality for the end  
> users.

Even better, if you'd like.  The point is that both the broad issues  
of VO architecture as well as its detailed design foibles ultimately  
trace back to our users and their science use cases.

It isn't as simple as saying that only the apps need be comprehensible  
to astronomers and that all interior VO interfaces belong solely to  
the computer scientists.  Rather, the astronomers will also be  
intimately involved in designing the tables.  In both a humorous and  
factual sense, the astronomers are part of the problem.

The rest of my message focused on apps:

On May 4, 2009, at 11:13 AM, Rob Seaman wrote:

> What specifically will applications do with all these meta-metadata  
> tags?  Assume the DM and representational hooks are indeed carried  
> in some fashion from point A to point B.  To what purpose will they  
> be put?  Or rather, will most of the knowledge of the underlying  
> tables be built into the purpose-built applications anyway?

Rob