Re: Expressions versus the value they represent

On Apr 13, 1:51 am, Bob Badour <bbad..._at_pei.sympatico.ca> wrote:

> >>>Anyhow, interpretation is
> >>>orthogonal and therefore irrelevant to both FOL and RM.
>
> >>I agree. However I consider the topic of my post to concern the
> >>problem of how to encode values on a computer, in which case a formal
> >>semantics is required.
>
> > Got it.
>
> >>Perhaps it would be worth discussing whether that is a fundamental
> >>requirement in database theory? I consider "data" to mean "encoded
> >>value".
>
> Data means information represented suitably for mechanical processing.
> The information might be a value or might be something else.

I'm having trouble imagining what information could be if it's not a value. It appears sufficient to me. For example, if information is sent between two parties, isn't it sufficient to assume that a value has been sent? Is the word "information" meant to be informal, as for example when someone receives information through their senses (e.g. smelling their socks), but we cannot hope to formalise the information using a value? Even so, wouldn't information suitable for machine processing necessarily be a value? Received on Tue Apr 13 2010 - 09:21:48 CEST