A note on the point-countable base question (Q1203829)

This interesting paper is a useful addition to the body of literature discussing the structuring mechanism introduced by \textit{A. W. Roscoe} and the reviewer [Proc. Am. Math. Soc. 90, 631-640 (1984; Zbl 0541.54034)] and which has been used to characterize metrizability and a number of concepts commonly employed in the study of generalized metric spaces. Two properties provided by the mechanism are `\((G)\)' and `open\((G)\)'. The point-countable base question is the question (first raised by \textit{G. M. Reed}, \textit{A. W. Roscoe}, \textit{M. E. Rudin} and the reviewer [ibid. 94, 487-496 (1985; Zbl 0562.54043)]) asking if the possession of open\((G)\) is necessary and sufficient for there to exist a point-countable base. By showing that every \(GO\)-space satisfying \((G)\) has a dense, point- countable, pointed open cover [\textit{P. J. Moody}, \textit{G. M. Reed}, \textit{A. W. Roscoe} and the reviewer, Fundam. Math. 138, No. 2, 69-81 (1991; Zbl 0745.54008)], the author establishes that a subspace \(X\) of a linearly ordered space has a point-countable base if and only if \(X\) satisfies open\((G)\). He further shows that submetacompact \(\beta\)-spaces, which simultaneously generalize semi-stratifiable, paracompact \(p\)- and strong \(\Sigma\)-spaces, are developable and have point-countable bases, provided they satisfy open\((G)\), and deduces that a countably compact Hausdorff space satisfying open\((G)\) is metrizable. For further information about the point-countable base question, the reader is referred to [\textit{G. M. Reed}, \textit{A. W. Roscoe} and the reviewer, The point-countable base problem, in: Open problems in topology, 237--250 (1990; Zbl 0718.54001)].