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From: jim@se-sd.SanDiego.NCR.COM (Jim Ruehlin, Cognitologist domesticus)
Newsgroups: comp.cog-eng,sci.math
Subject: Re: Formalizing location and distance in file retrieval systems
Message-ID: <3658@se-sd.SanDiego.NCR.COM>
Date: 10 Aug 90 17:33:18 GMT
References: <1801@nvuxr.UUCP> <1129@prlhp1.prl.philips.co.uk> <1990Aug9.094718.5021@sics.se>
Organization: NCR Corporation, Systems Engineering - San Diego
Lines: 13

In article <1990Aug9.094718.5021@sics.se> bjornl@sics.se (Bj|rn Lisper) writes:
>%A file may belong to more than one directory, which would really cause 
>%havoc with the notion of 'distance'.  The 'distance' to a file
>%will vary depending on the route you take.
>
>You could simply define the distance to be the length of the *shortest*
>path.

This could be a subjective issue, depending on the user.  To some, distance
could mean conceptual distance, where a deeply nested subdirectory is
considered closer to it's ancestor than it's ancestor is to its sister.

- Jim Ruehlin