book

Practical RDF

by Shelley Powers

July 2003

Intermediate to advanced

350 pages

9h 45m

English

O'Reilly Media, Inc.

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AudienceStructure of This BookConventions Used in This BookHow to Contact UsAcknowledgments
1.1. The Semantic Web and RDF: A Brief History1.2. The Specifications1.3. When to Use and Not Use RDF1.4. Some Uses of RDF/XML1.5. Related Technologies1.6. Going Forward
2.1. The Search for Knowledge2.2. The RDF Triple2.3. The Basic RDF Data Model and the RDF Graph2.4. URIs2.5. RDF Serialization: N3 and N-Triples2.5.1. A Brief Look at N32.5.2. N-Triples2.6. Talking RDF: Lingo and Vocabulary2.6.1. Graphs and Subgraphs2.6.2. Ground and Not Graph2.6.3. Entailment
3.1. Serializing RDF to XML3.1.1. Striped Syntax3.1.2. Predicates3.1.3. Namespaces and QNames3.2. RDF Blank Nodes3.3. URI References3.3.1. Resolving Relative URIs and xml:base3.3.2. Resolving References with rdf:ID3.4. Representing Structured Data with rdf:value3.5. The rdf:type Property3.6. RDF/XML Shortcuts3.7. More on RDF Data Types3.8. RDF/XML: Separate Documents or Embedded Blocks
4.1. Containers4.1.1. Containers as Covered Within the Initial Specification Release4.1.2. Containers as Typed Nodes4.1.3. Containers Today4.2. Collections4.3. Reification: The RDF Big Ugly4.3.1. Reified Statements4.3.2. The Necessity of Reification and Metastatements4.3.3. A Shorthand Reification Syntax4.3.4. What Reification Solves4.3.4.1. Implying trust4.3.4.2. Metadata about statements
5.1. RDF Vocabulary: Describing the Data5.1.1. Metadata’s Role in Existing Applications5.1.2. RDF Schema: Metadata Repository5.2. Core RDF Schema Elements5.2.1. Overview of the RDF Classes5.2.2. Demonstrations of the RDF Schema Properties5.3. Refining RDF Vocabularies with Constraints5.4. RDF Schema Alternatives
6.1. How RDF Vocabularies Differ from XML Vocabularies6.2. Defining the Vocabulary: Business and Scope6.3. Defining the Vocabulary: Elements6.3.1. The PostCon Domain Elements6.3.2. Prototyping the Vocabulary6.3.3. Adding Repeating Values6.3.4. Adding a Container6.3.5. Adding in a Value6.4. Formalizing the Vocabulary with RDFS6.4.1. What Is a Class and What Is a Property?6.4.2. Defining the Vocabulary Classes6.4.3. Defining the Properties6.5. Integrating the Dublin Core6.5.1. An Overview of the Dublic Core MetaData Element Set6.5.2. Dublin Core in RDF/XML6.5.3. Qualified Dublin Core6.5.4. Mixing Vocabularies6.5.5. Using DC-dot to Generate DC RDF
7.1. BrownSauce7.2. Parsers7.2.1. ARP27.2.2. ICS-FORTH Validating RDF Parser7.3. Editors7.3.1. IsaViz7.3.2. RDF Editor in Java
8.1. Overview of the Classes8.1.1. The Underlying Parser8.1.2. The Model8.1.3. The Query8.1.4. DAML+OIL8.2. Creating and Serializing an RDF Model8.2.1. Very Quick Simple Look8.2.2. Encapsulating the Vocabulary in a Java Wrapper Class8.2.3. Adding More Complex Structures8.2.4. Creating a Typed Node8.2.5. Creating a Container8.3. Parsing and Querying an RDF Document8.3.1. Just Doing a Basic Dump8.3.2. Accessing Specific Values8.4. In-Memory Versus Persistent Model Storage

9.1. RDF/XML and Perl9.1.1. Ginger Alliance PerlRDF9.1.2. Model Persistence and Basic Querying9.1.3. Building an RDF Model9.1.4. Parsing RDF/XML Documents9.1.5. Querying RDF with RDF::Core9.2. RDF API for PHP9.2.1. Basic Building Blocks9.2.2. Building an RDF Model9.3. RDF and Python: RDFLib
10.1. RDF and the Relational Data Model10.2. Roots: rdfDB QL10.3. Inkling and SquishQL10.4. RDQL10.4.1. Jena’s RDQL and the Query-O-Matic10.4.1.1. The Query-O-Matic10.4.1.2. Trying out the Query-O-Matic10.4.2. PHP Query-O-Matic Lite10.5. Sesame
11.1. RDF and C#11.2. Wilbur — RDF API CLOS11.3. Overview of Redland—a Multilanguage-Based RDF Framework11.3.1. Working with the Online Tools11.3.2. Working with the Redland Framework11.3.3. A Quick Demo11.4. Redfoot
12.1. Why Ontology?12.2. Brief History of the Ontology Movement12.3. OWL Use Cases and Requirements12.4. OWL Specifications12.4.1. OWL Guide 1.012.4.2. OWL Reference 1.012.4.3. OWL Abstract Syntax and Semantics12.4.4. Feature Synopsis for OWL Lite and OWL12.5. Basic Constructs of OWL12.5.1. OWL Header12.5.2. OWL Classes and Individuals12.5.3. OWL Simple Properties and Complex Data Types12.6. Bits of Knowledge: More Complex OWL Constructs12.6.1. Increasing the Power of the Property12.6.1.1. Property characteristics12.6.1.2. Property restrictions12.6.2. Complex Classes12.6.2.1. Intersection12.6.2.2. Union12.6.2.3. Complement12.6.2.4. Enumeration12.6.2.5. Disjoint12.7. The Complementary Nature of RDF and OWL12.8. Ontology Tools: Editors12.8.1. SMORE—Semantic Markup, Ontology, and RDF Editor12.8.2. Protégé
13.1. RSS: Quick History13.2. RSS 1.0: A Quick Introduction13.3. A Detailed Look at the Specification13.3.1. channel13.3.2. title, link, and description13.3.3. items13.3.4. image13.3.5. textinput13.3.6. item13.4. Extending the Specification Through Modules13.5. The RSS Modules13.5.1. Core: Syndication, Content, and Dublin Core13.5.2. Extended Modules13.6. RSS Aggregators13.6.1. RSS Autodiscovery13.6.2. AmphetaDesk13.6.2.1. Using AmphetaDesk13.6.2.2. More advanced customization13.6.3. Meerkat13.6.4. NetNewsWire and NetNewsWire Lite13.7. Creating Your Own RSS Content13.8. Build Your Own RSS Consumer13.9. Merging RDF/RSS Files
14.1. Mozilla14.1.1. XUL Briefly14.1.2. XUL Templates14.2. Creative Commons License14.3. MIT’s DSpace System Documentation14.4. FOAF: Friend-of-a-Friend14.4.1. The FOAF-A-Matic14.4.2. FOAF Technologies
15.1. Chandler: RDF Within an Open Source PIM15.2. RDF Gateway, a Commercial RDF Database15.3. Siderean Software’s Seamark15.4. Plugged In Software’s Tucana Knowledge Store15.5. RDF and Adobe: XMP15.6. What’s It All Mean?

Overview

The Resource Description Framework (RDF) is a structure for describing and interchanging metadata on the Web--anything from library catalogs and worldwide directories to bioinformatics, Mozilla internal data structures, and knowledge bases for artificial intelligence projects. RDF provides a consistent framework and syntax for describing and querying data, making it possible to share website descriptions more easily. RDF's capabilities, however, have long been shrouded by its reputation for complexity and a difficult family of specifications. Practical RDF breaks through this reputation with immediate and solvable problems to help you understand, master, and implement RDF solutions.Practical RDF explains RDF from the ground up, providing real-world examples and descriptions of how the technology is being used in applications like Mozilla, FOAF, and Chandler, as well as infrastructure you can use to build your own applications. This book cuts to the heart of the W3C's often obscure specifications, giving you tools to apply RDF successfully in your own projects.The first part of the book focuses on the RDF specifications. After an introduction to RDF, the book covers the RDF specification documents themselves, including RDF Semantics and Concepts and Abstract Model specifications, RDF constructs, and the RDF Schema. The second section focuses on programming language support, and the tools and utilities that allow developers to review, edit, parse, store, and manipulate RDF/XML. Subsequent sections focus on RDF's data roots, programming and framework support, and practical implementation and use of RDF and RDF/XML.If you want to know how to apply RDF to information processing, Practical RDF is for you. Whether your interests lie in large-scale information aggregation and analysis or in smaller-scale projects like weblog syndication, this book will provide you with a solid foundation for working with RDF.