Chapter 3

Describing Web Resources in RDF

Grigoris Antoniou
Frank van Harmelen

Chapter 3

A Semantic Web Primer

Lecture Outline
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.

Basic Ideas of RDF

XML-based Syntax of RDF
Basic Concepts of RDF Schema
he Language of RDF Schema
The Namespaces of RDF and RDF Schema
Axiomatic Semantics for RDF and RDFS
Direct Semantics based on Inference Rules
Querying of RDF/RDFS Documents using SPARQL
Chapter 3

A Semantic Web Primer

Drawbacks of XML

XML is a universal metalanguage for defining

markup
It provides a uniform framework for interchange of
data and metadata between applications
However, XML does not provide any means of
talking about the semantics (meaning) of data
E.g., there is no intended meaning associated with
the nesting of tags

It is up to each application to interpret the nesting.

Chapter 3

A Semantic Web Primer

Nesting of Tags in XML

David Billington is a lecturer of Discrete Maths
<course name="Discrete Maths">
<lecturer>David Billington</lecturer>
</course>
<lecturer name="David Billington">
<teaches>Discrete Maths</teaches>
</lecturer>
Opposite nesting, same information!

Chapter 3

A Semantic Web Primer

Basic Ideas of RDF

Basic

building block: object-attribute-value

triple

RDF has been given a syntax in XML

It is called a statement
Sentence about Billington is such a statement
This syntax inherits the benefits of XML
Other syntactic representations of RDF possible

Chapter 3

A Semantic Web Primer

Basic Ideas of RDF (2)

The

fundamental concepts of RDF are:

resources
properties
statements

Chapter 3

A Semantic Web Primer

Resources
We

can think of a resource as an object, a

thing we want to talk about

E.g. authors, books, publishers, places, people,

hotels

Every

resource has a URI, a Universal

Resource Identifier
A URI can be

a URL (Web address) or

some other kind of unique identifier
Chapter 3

A Semantic Web Primer

Properties
Properties

are a special kind of resources

They describe relations between resources

E.g. written by, age, title, etc.

Properties

are also identified by URIs

Advantages of using URIs:

global, worldwide, unique naming scheme

Reduces the homonym problem of distributed data
representation
Chapter 3

A Semantic Web Primer

Statements
Statements

assert the properties of

resources
A statement is an object-attribute-value triple

It consists of a resource, a property, and a value

Values

can be resources or literals

Literals are atomic values (strings)

Chapter 3

A Semantic Web Primer

Three Views of a Statement

A triple
A piece

of a graph
A piece of XML code
Thus an RDF document can be viewed as:
A set of triples
A graph (semantic net)
An XML document
10

Chapter 3

A Semantic Web Primer

Statements as Triples
([Link]
[Link]
#David Billington)
The

triple (x,P,y) can be considered as a

logical formula P(x,y)

11

Binary predicate P relates object x to object y

RDF offers only binary predicates (properties)

Chapter 3

A Semantic Web Primer

XML Vocabularies

A directed

graph with labeled nodes and arcs

from the resource (the subject of the statement)

to the value (the object of the statement)

Known

in AI as a semantic net
The value of a statement may be a resource

12

t may be linked to other resources

Chapter 3

A Semantic Web Primer

A Set of Triples as a Semantic Net

13

Chapter 3

A Semantic Web Primer

Statements in XML Syntax

Graphs

are a powerful tool for human

understanding but
The Semantic Web vision requires machineaccessible and machine-processable
representations
There is a 3rd representation based on XML

14

But XML is not a part of the RDF data model

E.g. serialisation of XML is irrelevant for RDF
Chapter 3

A Semantic Web Primer

Statements in XML (2)

<rdf:RDF
xmlns:rdf="[Link]
xmlns:mydomain="[Link]
<rdf:Description
rdf:about="[Link]
<mydomain:site-owner
rdf:resource=#David Billington/>
</rdf:Description>
</rdf:RDF>

15

Chapter 3

A Semantic Web Primer

Statements in XML (3)

An RDF document is represented by an XML

element with the tag rdf:RDF
The content of this element is a number of
descriptions, which use rdf:Description tags.
Every description makes a statement about a
resource, identified in 3 ways:

16

an about attribute, referencing an existing resource

an ID attribute, creating a new resource
without a name, creating an anonymous resource
Chapter 3

A Semantic Web Primer

Statements in XML (4)

The

rdf:Description element makes a

statement about the resource
[Link]
Within the description

17

the property is used as a tag

the content is the value of the property

Chapter 3

A Semantic Web Primer

Reification
In

RDF it is possible to make statements

about statements

Grigoris believes that David Billington is the

creator of [Link]

Such

statements can be used to describe

belief or trust in other statements
The solution is to assign a unique identifier to
each statement

18

It can be used to refer to the statement

Chapter 3

A Semantic Web Primer

Reification (2)
Introduce

an auxiliary object (e.g. belief1)

relate it to each of the 3 parts of the original
statement through the properties subject,
predicate and object
In the preceding example

19

subject of belief1 is David Billington

predicate of belief1 is creator
object of belief1 is [Link]
Chapter 3

A Semantic Web Primer

Data Types
Data

types are used in programming languages to

allow interpretation
In RDF, typed literals are used, if necessary
(#David Billington,
[Link]
27^[Link]
ger)

20

Chapter 3

A Semantic Web Primer

Data Types (2)

^^-notation

indicates the type of a literal

In practice, the most widely used data typing
scheme will be the one by XML Schema

But the use of any externally defined data typing

scheme is allowed in RDF documents

XML

Schema predefines a large range of data

types

21

E.g. Booleans, integers, floating-point numbers,

times, dates, etc.
Chapter 3

A Semantic Web Primer

A Critical View of RDF:

Binary Predicates
RDF

uses only binary properties

This is a restriction because often we use

predicates with more than 2 arguments
But binary predicates can simulate these

Example:

22

referee(X,Y,Z)

X is the referee in a chess game between players

Y and Z

Chapter 3

A Semantic Web Primer

A Critical View of RDF:

Binary Predicates (2)
We

a new auxiliary resource chessGame

the binary predicates ref, player1, and player2

We

23

introduce:

can represent referee(X,Y,Z) as:

Chapter 3

A Semantic Web Primer

A Critical View of RDF: Properties

Properties are special kinds of resources

24

Properties can be used as the object in an

object-attribute-value triple (statement)
They are defined independent of resources

This possibility offers flexibility

But it is unusual for modelling languages
and OO programming languages
It can be confusing for modellers
Chapter 3

A Semantic Web Primer

A Critical View of RDF: Reification

25

The reification mechanism is quite powerful

It appears misplaced in a simple language like RDF
Making statements about statements introduces a
level of complexity that is not necessary for a basic
layer of the Semantic Web
Instead, it would have appeared more natural to
include it in more powerful layers, which provide
richer representational capabilities

Chapter 3

A Semantic Web Primer

A Critical View of RDF: Summary

RDF

has its idiosyncrasies and is not an

optimal modeling language but
It is already a de facto standard
It has sufficient expressive power

At least as for more layers to build on top

Using

RDF offers the benefit that information

maps unambiguously to a model

26

Chapter 3

A Semantic Web Primer

Lecture Outline
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.

27

Basic Ideas of RDF

XML-based Syntax of RDF
Basic Concepts of RDF Schema
he Language of RDF Schema
The Namespaces of RDF and RDF Schema
Axiomatic Semantics for RDF and RDFS
Direct Semantics based on Inference Rules
Querying of RDF/RDFS Documents using SPARQL
Chapter 3

A Semantic Web Primer

XML-Based Syntax of RDF

An

RDF document consists of an rdf:RDF

element

The content of that element is a number of

descriptions

A namespace

28

mechanism is used

Disambiguation
Namespaces are expected to be RDF documents
defining resources that can be reused
Large, distributed collections of knowledge
Chapter 3

A Semantic Web Primer

Example of University Courses

<rdf:RDF
xmlns:rdf="[Link]
xmlns:xsd="[Link]
xmlns:uni="[Link]
<rdf:Description rdf:about="949318">
<uni:name>David Billington</uni:name>
<uni:title>Associate Professor</uni:title>
<uni:age rdf:datatype="&xsd:integer">27<uni:age>
</rdf:Description>

29

Chapter 3

A Semantic Web Primer

Example of University Courses (2)

<rdf:Description rdf:about="CIT1111">
<uni:courseName>Discrete Maths</uni:courseName>
<uni:isTaughtBy>David Billington</uni:isTaughtBy>
</rdf:Description>
<rdf:Description rdf:about="CIT2112">
<uni:courseName>Programming III</uni:courseName>
<uni:isTaughtBy>Michael Maher</uni:isTaughtBy>
</rdf:Description>
</rdf:RDF>

30

Chapter 3

A Semantic Web Primer

rdf:about versus rdf:ID

An element rdf:Description has

Formally, there is no such thing as defining an

object in one place and referring to it elsewhere

31

an rdf:about attribute indicating that the resource has been

defined elsewhere
An rdf:ID attribute indicating that the resource is defined

Sometimes is useful (for human readability) to have a

defining location, while other locations state additional
properties

Chapter 3

A Semantic Web Primer

Property Elements
Content

of rdf:Description elements

<rdf:Description rdf:about="CIT3116">
<uni:courseName>Knowledge
Representation</uni:courseName>
<uni:isTaughtBy>Grigoris Antoniou</uni:isTaughtBy>
</rdf:Description>

uni:courseName

and uni:isTaughtBy define

two property-value pairs for CIT3116 (two
RDF statements)

32

read conjunctively
Chapter 3

A Semantic Web Primer

Data Types

The attribute rdf:datatype="&xsd:integer" is used to

indicate the data type of the value of the age property

<rdf:Description rdf:about="949318">
<uni:name>David Billington</uni:name>
<uni:title>Associate Professor</uni:title>
<uni:age rdf:datatype="&xsd:integer">27<uni:age>
</rdf:Description>

33

Chapter 3

A Semantic Web Primer

Data Types (2)

The

age property has been defined to have

"&xsd:integer" as its range

34

It is still required to indicate the type of the value of

this property each time it is used
This is to ensure that an RDF processor can
assign the correct type of the property value even
if it has not "seen" the corresponding RDF
Schema definition before
This scenario is quite likely to occur in the
unrestricted WWW
Chapter 3

A Semantic Web Primer

The rdf:resource Attribute

The

relationships between courses and

lecturers (in the example) were not formally
defined but existed implicitly through the use
of the same name
The use of the same name may just be a
coincidence for a machine
We can denote that two entities are the same
using the rdf:resource attribute
35

Chapter 3

A Semantic Web Primer

The rdf:resource Attribute (2)

<rdf:Description rdf:about="CIT1111">
<uni:courseName>Discrete
Mathematics</uni:courseName>
<uni:isTaughtBy rdf:resource="949318"/>
</rdf:Description>
<rdf:Description rdf:about="949318">
<uni:name>David Billington</uni:name>
<uni:title>Associate Professor</uni:title>
</rdf:Description>

36

Chapter 3

A Semantic Web Primer

Referencing Externally Defined

Resources

37

E.g., to refer the externally defined resource CIT1111:

[Link]
as the value of rdf:about
[Link]/uni-ns is the URI where the
definition of CIT1111 is found
A description with an ID defines a fragment URI, which
can be used to reference the defined description

Chapter 3

A Semantic Web Primer

Nested Descriptions: Example

<rdf:Description rdf:about="CIT1111">
<uni:courseName>Discrete
Maths</uni:courseName>
<uni:isTaughtBy>
<rdf:Description rdf:ID="949318">
<uni:name>David Billington</uni:name>
<uni:title>Associate Professor</uni:title>
</rdf:Description>
</uni:isTaughtBy>
</rdf:Description>

38

Chapter 3

A Semantic Web Primer

Nested Descriptions
Descriptions

may be defined within other

descriptions
Other courses, such as CIT3112, can still
refer to the new resource with ID 949318
Although a description may be defined within
another description, its scope is global

39

Chapter 3

A Semantic Web Primer

Introducing some Structure to RDF

Documents using the rdf:type Element
<rdf:Description rdf:ID="CIT1111">
<rdf:type rdf:resource="[Link]
<uni:courseName>Discrete Maths</uni:courseName>
<uni:isTaughtBy rdf:resource="#949318"/>
</rdf:Description>
<rdf:Description rdf:ID="949318">
<rdf:type rdf:resource="[Link]
<uni:name>David Billington</uni:name>
<uni:title>Associate Professor</uni:title>
</rdf:Description>

40

Chapter 3

A Semantic Web Primer

Abbreviated Syntax

Simplification rules:
1.
2.

These rules create syntactic variations of the same

RDF statement

41

Childless property elements within description elements

may be replaced by XML attributes
For description elements with a typing element we can use
the name specified in the rdf:type element instead of
rdf:Description

They are equivalent according to the RDF data model,

although they have different XML syntax
Chapter 3

A Semantic Web Primer

Abbreviated Syntax: Example

<rdf:Description rdf:ID="CIT1111">
<rdf:type
rdf:resource="[Link]
<uni:courseName>Discrete Maths</uni:courseName>
<uni:isTaughtBy rdf:resource="#949318"/>
</rdf:Description>

42

Chapter 3

A Semantic Web Primer

Application of First Simplification Rule

<rdf:Description rdf:ID="CIT1111"
uni:courseName="Discrete Maths">
<rdf:type rdf:resource="[Link]
<uni:isTaughtBy rdf:resource="#949318"/>
</rdf:Description>

43

Chapter 3

A Semantic Web Primer

Application of 2nd Simplification Rule

<uni:course rdf:ID="CIT1111"
uni:courseName="Discrete Maths">
<uni:isTaughtBy rdf:resource="#949318"/>
</uni:course>

44

Chapter 3

A Semantic Web Primer

Container Elements
Collect

a number of resources or attributes

about which we want to make statements as
a whole
E.g., we may wish to talk about the courses
given by a particular lecturer
The content of container elements are
named rdf:_1, rdf:_2, etc.

45

Alternatively rdf:li
Chapter 3

A Semantic Web Primer

Three Types of Container Elements

rdf:Bag an unordered container, allowing multiple

occurrences

rdf:Seq an ordered container, which may contain

multiple occurrences

E.g. modules of a course, items on an agenda, an

alphabetized list of staff members (order is imposed)

rdf:Alt a set of alternatives

46

E.g. members of the faculty board, documents in a folder

E.g. the document home and mirrors, translations of a

document in various languages

Chapter 3

A Semantic Web Primer

Example for a Bag

<uni:lecturer rdf:ID="949352" uni:name="Grigoris
Antoniou"
uni:title="Professor">
<uni:coursesTaught>
<rdf:Bag>
<rdf:_1 rdf:resource="#CIT1112"/>
<rdf:_2 rdf:resource="#CIT3116"/>
</rdf:Bag>
</uni:coursesTaught>
</uni:lecturer>

47

Chapter 3

A Semantic Web Primer

Example for Alternative

<uni:course rdf:ID="CIT1111"
uni:courseName="Discrete Mathematics">
<uni:lecturer>
<rdf:Alt>
<rdf:li rdf:resource="#949352"/>
<rdf:li rdf:resource="#949318"/>
</rdf:Alt>
</uni:lecturer>
</uni:course>

48

Chapter 3

A Semantic Web Primer

Rdf:ID Attribute for Container

Elements
<uni:lecturer rdf:ID="949318"
uni:name="David Billington">
<uni:coursesTaught>
<rdf:Bag rdf:ID="DBcourses">
<rdf:_1 rdf:resource="#CIT1111"/>
<rdf:_2 rdf:resource="#CIT3112"/>
</rdf:Bag>
</uni:coursesTaught>
</uni:lecturer>

49

Chapter 3

A Semantic Web Primer

RDF Collections

A limitation of these containers is that there is

no way to close them

RDF provides support for describing groups

containing only the specified members, in
the form of RDF collections

50

these are all the members of the container

list structure in the RDF graph

constructed using a predefined collection
vocabulary: rdf:List, rdf:first, rdf:rest and rdf:nil
Chapter 3

A Semantic Web Primer

RDF Collections (2)

Shorthand syntax:

"Collection" value for the rdf:parseType attribute:

<rdf:Description rdf:about="#CIT2112">
<uni:isTaughtBy rdf:parseType="Collection">
<rdf:Description rdf:about="#949111"/>
<rdf:Description rdf:about="#949352"/>
<rdf:Description rdf:about="#949318"/>
</uni:isTaughtBy>
</rdf:Description>

51

Chapter 3

A Semantic Web Primer

Reification

52

Sometimes we wish to make statements

about other statements
We must be able to refer to a statement
using an identifier
RDF allows such reference through a
reification mechanism which turns a
statement into a resource

Chapter 3

A Semantic Web Primer

Reification Example
<rdf:Description rdf:about="#949352">
<uni:name>Grigoris Antoniou</uni:name>
</rdf:Description>

reifies as

<rdf:Statement rdf:ID="StatementAbout949352">
<rdf:subject rdf:resource="#949352"/>
<rdf:predicate rdf:resource="[Link]
uni-ns#name"/>
<rdf:object>Grigoris Antoniou</rdf:object>
</rdf:Statement>

53

Chapter 3

A Semantic Web Primer

Reification (2)

54

rdf:subject, rdf:predicate and rdf:object

allow us to access the parts of a statement
The ID of the statement can be used to refer
to it, as can be done for any description
We write an rdf:Description if we dont want
to talk about a statement further
We write an rdf:Statement if we wish to refer
to a statement
Chapter 3

A Semantic Web Primer

Lecture Outline
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.

55

Basic Ideas of RDF

XML-based Syntax of RDF
Basic Concepts of RDF Schema
he Language of RDF Schema
The Namespaces of RDF and RDF Schema
Axiomatic Semantics for RDF and RDFS
Direct Semantics based on Inference Rules
Querying of RDF/RDFS Documents using SPARQL
Chapter 3

A Semantic Web Primer

Basic Ideas of RDF Schema

RDF is a universal language that lets users

describe resources in their own vocabularies

The user can do so in RDF Schema using:

56

RDF does not assume, nor does it define

semantics of any particular application domain
Classes and Properties
Class Hierarchies and Inheritance
Property Hierarchies
Chapter 3

A Semantic Web Primer

Classes and their Instances

We must distinguish between

57

Concrete things (individual objects) in the

domain: Discrete Maths, David Billington etc.
Sets of individuals sharing properties called
classes: lecturers, students, courses etc.

Individual objects that belong to a class are

referred to as instances of that class
The relationship between instances and
classes in RDF is through rdf:type
Chapter 3

A Semantic Web Primer

Why Classes are Useful

Impose restrictions on what can be stated in

an RDF document using the schema

58

As in programming languages
E.g. A+1, where A is an array
Disallow nonsense from being stated

Chapter 3

A Semantic Web Primer

Nonsensical Statements disallowed

through the Use of Classes

Discrete Maths is taught by Concrete Maths

Room MZH5760 is taught by David Billington

59

We want courses to be taught by lecturers only

Restriction on values of the property is taught by
(range restriction)
Only courses can be taught
This imposes a restriction on the objects to which
the property can be applied (domain restriction)
Chapter 3

A Semantic Web Primer

Class Hierarchies

Classes can be organised in hierarchies

60

A is a subclass of B if every instance of A is also

an instance of B
Then B is a superclass of A

A subclass graph need not be a tree

A class may have multiple superclasses

Chapter 3

A Semantic Web Primer

Class Hierarchy Example

61

Chapter 3

A Semantic Web Primer

Inheritance in Class Hierarchies

Range restriction: Courses must be taught by

academic staff members only
Michael Maher is a professor
He inherits the ability to teach from the class of
academic staff members
This is done in RDF Schema by fixing the semantics
of is a subclass of

62

It is not up to an application (RDF processing software) to

interpret is a subclass of
Chapter 3

A Semantic Web Primer

Property Hierarchies

Hierarchical relationships for properties

The converse is not necessarily true

63

E.g., is taught by is a subproperty of involves

If a course C is taught by an academic staff member A, then
C also involves
E.g., A may be the teacher of the course C, or
a tutor who marks student homework but does not teach C

P is a subproperty of Q, if Q(x,y) is true whenever

P(x,y) is true
Chapter 3

A Semantic Web Primer

RDF Layer vs RDF Schema Layer

Discrete Mathematics is taught by David

Billington
The schema is itself written in a formal
language, RDF Schema, that can express its
ingredients:

64

subClassOf, Class, Property, subPropertyOf,

Resource, etc.

Chapter 3

A Semantic Web Primer

RDF Layer vs RDF Schema Layer (2)

65

Chapter 3

A Semantic Web Primer

Lecture Outline
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.

66

Basic Ideas of RDF

XML-based Syntax of RDF
Basic Concepts of RDF Schema
he Language of RDF Schema
The Namespaces of RDF and RDF Schema
Axiomatic Semantics for RDF and RDFS
Direct Semantics based on Inference Rules
Querying of RDF/RDFS Documents using SPARQL
Chapter 3

A Semantic Web Primer

Lecture Outline
1.
2.
3.

Introduction
Detailed Description of XML
Structuring
a)
b)

4.
5.
6.

67

DTDs
XML Schema

Namespaces
Accessing, querying XML documents: XPath
Transformations: XSLT
Chapter 3

A Semantic Web Primer

RDF Schema in RDF

The modeling primitives of RDF Schema are defined

using resources and properties (RDF itself is used!)
To declare that lecturer is a subclass of academic
staff member

68

Define resources lecturer, academicStaffMember, and

subClassOf
define property subClassOf
Write triple (lecturer,subClassOf,academicStaffMember)

We use the XML-based syntax of RDF

Chapter 3

A Semantic Web Primer

Core Classes

69

rdfs:Resource, the class of all resources

rdfs:Class, the class of all classes
rdfs:Literal, the class of all literals
(strings)
rdf:Property, the class of all properties.
rdf:Statement, the class of all reified
statements

Chapter 3

A Semantic Web Primer

Core Properties

rdf:type, which relates a resource to its class

rdfs:subClassOf, which relates a class to

one of its superclasses

70

The resource is declared to be an instance of that

class

All instances of a class are instances of its

superclass

rdfs:subPropertyOf, relates a property to

one of its superproperties
Chapter 3

A Semantic Web Primer

Core Properties (2)

rdfs:domain, which specifies the domain of a

property P

rdfs:range, which specifies the range of a property P

71

The class of those resources that may appear as subjects in

a triple with predicate P
If the domain is not specified, then any resource can be the
subject
The class of those resources that may appear as values in a
triple with predicate P

Chapter 3

A Semantic Web Primer

Examples
<rdfs:Class rdf:about="#lecturer">
<rdfs:subClassOf rdf:resource="#staffMember"/>
</rdfs:Class>
<rdf:Property rdf:ID="phone">
<rdfs:domain rdf:resource="#staffMember"/>
<rdfs:range rdf:resource="[Link]
2000/01/rdf-schema#Literal"/>
</rdf:Property>

72

Chapter 3

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Relationships Between Core Classes

and Properties

rdfs:subClassOf and rdfs:subPropertyOf are

transitive, by definition
rdfs:Class is a subclass of rdfs:Resource

rdfs:Resource is an instance of rdfs:Class

rdfs:Resource is the class of all resources, so it is a class

Every class is an instance of rdfs:Class

73

Because every class is a resource

For the same reason

Chapter 3

A Semantic Web Primer

Reification and Containers

74

rdf:subject, relates a reified statement to its subject

rdf:predicate, relates a reified statement to its
predicate
rdf:object, relates a reified statement to its object
rdf:Bag, the class of bags
rdf:Seq, the class of sequences
rdf:Alt, the class of alternatives
rdfs:Container, which is a superclass of all
container classes, including the three above
Chapter 3

A Semantic Web Primer

Utility Properties

75

rdfs:seeAlso relates a resource to another

resource that explains it
rdfs:isDefinedBy is a subproperty of rdfs:seeAlso
and relates a resource to the place where its
definition, typically an RDF schema, is found
rdfs:comment. Comments, typically longer text,
can be associated with a resource
rdfs:label. A human-friendly label (name) is
associated with a resource
Chapter 3

A Semantic Web Primer

Example: A University
<rdfs:Class rdf:ID="lecturer">
<rdfs:comment>
The class of lecturers. All lecturers are
academic staff members.
</rdfs:comment>
<rdfs:subClassOf
rdf:resource="#academicStaffMember"/>
</rdfs:Class>

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Chapter 3

A Semantic Web Primer

Example: A University (2)

<rdfs:Class rdf:ID="course">
<rdfs:comment>The class of courses</rdfs:comment>
</rdfs:Class>
<rdf:Property rdf:ID="isTaughtBy">
<rdfs:comment>
Inherits its domain ("course") and range ("lecturer")
from its superproperty "involves"
</rdfs:comment>
<rdfs:subPropertyOf rdf:resource="#involves"/>
</rdf:Property>

77

Chapter 3

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Example: A University (3)

<rdf:Property rdf:ID="phone">
<rdfs:comment>
It is a property of staff members
and takes literals as values.
</rdfs:comment>
<rdfs:domain rdf:resource="#staffMember"/>
<rdfs:range rdf:resource="[Link]
</rdf:Property>

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Class Hierarchy for the Motor Vehicles

Example

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Lecture Outline
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.

80

Basic Ideas of RDF

XML-based Syntax of RDF
Basic Concepts of RDF Schema
he Language of RDF Schema
The Namespaces of RDF and RDF Schema
Axiomatic Semantics for RDF and RDFS
Direct Semantics based on Inference Rules
Querying of RDF/RDFS Documents using SPARQL
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A Semantic Web Primer

The Namespace of RDF

<rdfs:Class rdf:ID="Statement"
rdfs:comment="The class of triples consisting of a
predicate, a subject and an object (that is, a
reified statement)"/>
<rdfs:Class rdf:ID="Property"
rdfs:comment="The class of properties"/>
<rdfs:Class rdf:ID="Bag"
rdfs:comment="The class of unordered collections"/>

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The Namespace of RDF (2)

<rdf:Property rdf:ID="predicate"
rdfs:comment="Identifies the property of a
statementin reified form"/>
<rdfs:domain rdf:resource="#Statement"/>
<rdfs:range rdf:resource="#Property"/>
</rdf:Property>

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The Namespace of RDF Schema

<rdfs:Class rdf:ID="Resource"
rdfs:comment="The most general class"/>
<rdfs:Class rdf:ID="Class"
rdfs:comment="The concept of classes.
All classes are resources"/>
<rdfs:subClassOf rdf:resource="#Resource"/>
</rdfs:Class>

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The Namespace of RDF Schema (2)

<rdf:Property rdf:ID="subPropertyOf">
<rdfs:domain rdf:resource="[Link]
1999/02/22-rdf-syntax-ns#Property"/>
<rdfs:range rdf:resource="[Link]
1999/02/22-rdf-syntax-ns#Property"/>
</rdf:Property>
<rdf:Property rdf:ID="subClassOf">
<rdfs:domain rdf:resource="#Class"/>
<rdfs:range rdf:resource="#Class"/>
</rdf:Property>

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Namespace versus Semantics

Consider

The namespace specifies only that it applies to

classes and has a class as a value
The meaning of being a subclass not expressed

The

meaning cannot be expressed in RDF

If it could RDF Schema would be unnecessary

External definition of semantics required

85

rdfs:subClassOf

Respected by RDF/RDFS processing software

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Lecture Outline
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.

86

Basic Ideas of RDF

XML-based Syntax of RDF
Basic Concepts of RDF Schema
he Language of RDF Schema
The Namespaces of RDF and RDF Schema
Axiomatic Semantics for RDF and RDFS
Direct Semantics based on Inference Rules
Querying of RDF/RDFS Documents using SPARQL
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Axiomatic Semantics

87

We formalize the meaning of the modeling

primitives of RDF and RDF Schema
By translating into first-order logic
We make the semantics unambiguous and
machine accessible
We provide a basis for reasoning support
by automated reasoners manipulating
logical formulas
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The Approach

All language primitives in RDF and RDF Schema are

represented by constants:

88

Resource, Class, Property, subClassOf, etc.

A few predefined predicates are used as a

foundation for expressing relationships between the
constants
We use predicate logic with equality
Variable names begin with ?
All axioms are implicitly universally quantified
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An Auxiliary Axiomatisation of Lists

Function symbols:

Predicate symbols:

89

nil (empty list)

cons(x,l) (adds an element to the front of the list)
first(l) (returns the first element)
rest(l) (returns the rest of the list)
item(x,l) (tests if an element occurs in the list)
list(l) (tests whether l is a list)

Lists are used to represent containers in RDF

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Basic Predicates

PropVal(P,R,V)

Type(R,T)

90

A predicate with 3 arguments, which is used to represent an

RDF statement with resource R, property P and value V
An RDF statement (triple) (P,R,V) is represented as
PropVal(P,R,V).
Short for PropVal(type,R,T)
Specifies that the resource R has the type T

Type(?r,?t) PropVal(type,?r,?t)
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RDF Classes
Constants:

Class, Resource, Property, Literal

All classes are instances of Class

Type(Class,Class)
Type(Resource,Class)
Type(Property,Class)
Type(Literal,Class)

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RDF Classes (2)

Resource is the most general class: every class and

every property is a resource

Type(?p,Property) Type(?p,Resource)
Type(?c,Class) Type(?c,Resource)

92

The predicate in an RDF statement must be a

property

PropVal(?p,?r,?v) Type(?p,Property)
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The type Property

type is a property

PropVal(type,type,Property)

type can be applied to resources (domain) and has a

class as its value (range)

Type(?r,?c) (Type(?r,Resource) Type(?c,Class))

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The Auxiliary FuncProp Property

P is a functional property if, and only if,

it is a property, and
there are no x, y1 and y2 with P(x,y1), P(x,y2 ) and
y1y2

Type(?p, FuncProp)
(Type(?p, Property)
?r ?v1 ?v2
(PropVal(?p,?r,?v1)
PropVal(?p,?r,?v2) ?v1 = ?v2))

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Containers

Containers are lists:

Type(?c,Container) list(?c)

Containers are bags or sequences or alternatives:

Type(?c,Container)
(Type(?c,Bag) Type(?c,Seq) Type(?c,Alt))

Bags and sequences are disjoint:

(Type(?x,Bag) Type(?x,Seq))

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Containers (2)
For every natural number n > 0, there is the selector
_n, which selects the nth element of a container
It is a functional property:
Type(_n,FuncProp)
It applies to containers only:
PropVal(_n,?c,?o) Type(?c,Container)

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Subclass

subClassOf is a property:

Type(subClassOf,Property)

If a class C is a subclass of a class C', then all

instances of C are also instances of C':

PropVal(subClassOf,?c,?c')
(Type(?c,Class) Type(?c',Class)
?x (Type(?x,?c) Type(?x,?c')))

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Subproperty

P is a subproperty of P', if P'(x,y) is true whenever

P(x,y) is true:

Type(subPropertyOf,Property)
PropVal(subPropertyOf,?p,?p')
(Type(?p,Property) Type(?p',Property)
?r ?v (PropVal(?p,?r,?v)
PropVal(?p',?r,?v)))

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Domain and Range

If the domain of P is D, then for every P(x,y), xD

PropVal(domain,?p,?d)
?x ?y (PropVal(?p,?x,?y) Type(?x,?d))

If the range of P is R, then for every P(x,y), yR

PropVal(range,?p,?r)
?x ?y (PropVal(?p,?x,?y) Type(?y,?r))

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Lecture Outline
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.

100

Basic Ideas of RDF

XML-based Syntax of RDF
Basic Concepts of RDF Schema
he Language of RDF Schema
The Namespaces of RDF and RDF Schema
Axiomatic Semantics for RDF and RDFS
Direct Semantics based on Inference Rules
Querying of RDF/RDFS Documents using SPARQL
Chapter 3

A Semantic Web Primer

Semantics based on Inference Rules

Semantics in terms of RDF triples instead of
restating RDF in terms of first-order logic
and sound and complete inference systems
This inference system consists of inference rules of
the form:
IF E contains certain triples
THEN add to E certain additional triples
where E is an arbitrary set of RDF triples

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Examples of Inference Rules

IF E contains the triple (?x,?p,?y)
THEN E also contains (?p,rdf:type,rdf:property)
IF E contains the triples (?u,rdfs:subClassOf,?v) and
(?v,rdfs:subclassOf,?w)
THEN E also contains the triple (?u,rdfs:subClassOf,?
w)
IF E contains the triples (?x,rdf:type,?u) and
(?u,rdfs:subClassOf,?v)
THEN E also contains the triple (?x,rdf:type,?v)

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Examples of Inference Rules (2)

Any resource ?y which appears as the value of a

property ?p can be inferred to be a member of the
range of ?p

This shows that range definitions in RDF Schema are not

used to restrict the range of a property, but rather to infer the
membership of the range

IF E contains the triples (?x,?p,?y) and

(?p,rdfs:range,?u)
THEN E also contains the triple (?y,rdf:type,?u)

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Lecture Outline
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.

104

Basic Ideas of RDF

XML-based Syntax of RDF
Basic Concepts of RDF Schema
he Language of RDF Schema
The Namespaces of RDF and RDF Schema
Axiomatic Semantics for RDF and RDFS
Direct Semantics based on Inference Rules
Querying of RDF/RDFS Documents using SPARQL
Chapter 3

A Semantic Web Primer

Why an RDF Query Language?

Different XML Representations
XML

at a lower level of abstraction than RDF

There are various ways of syntactically
representing an RDF statement in XML
Thus we would require several XPath queries,
e.g.

105

//uni:lecturer/uni:title if uni:title element

//uni:lecturer/@uni:title if uni:title attribute
Both XML representations equivalent!
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SPARQL Basic Queries

SPARQL is based on matching graph patterns
The simplest graph pattern is the triple pattern :
- like an RDF triple, but with the possibility of a
variable instead of an RDF term in the subject,
predicate, or object positions
Combining triple patterns gives a basic graph
pattern, where an exact match to a graph is
needed to fulfill a pattern

Examples
PREFIX rdf: <[Link]
PREFIX rdfs: <[Link]
SELECT ?c
WHERE
{
?c rdf:type rdfs:Class .
}
Retrieves all triple patterns, where:
-the property is rdf:type
-the object is rdfs:Class
Which means that it retrieves all classes

Examples (2)
Get all instances of a particular class (e.g. course) :
(declaration of rdf, rdfs prefixes omitted for brevity)

PREFIX uni: <[Link]

SELECT ?i
WHERE
{
?i rdf:type uni:course .
}

Using select-from-where

As in SQL, SPARQL queries have a SELECT-FROM-WHERE

structure:

109

SELECT specifies the projection: the number and order of retrieved

data
FROM is used to specify the source being queried (optional)
WHERE imposes constraints on possible solutions in the form of
graph pattern templates and boolean constraints

Retrieve all phone numbers of staff members:

SELECT ?x ?y
WHERE
{ ?x uni:phone ?y .}
Here ?x and ?y are variables, and ?x uni:phone ?y represents a
resource-property-value triple pattern
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Implicit Join

Retrieve all lecturers and their phone numbers:

SELECT ?x ?y
WHERE
{ ?x rdf:type uni:Lecturer ;
uni:phone ?y . }

Implicit join: We restrict the second pattern only to those triples,

the resource of which is in the variable ?x

110

Here we use a syntax shorcut as well: a semicolon indicates that the

following triple shares its subject with the previous one

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Implicit join (2)

The

previous query is equivalent to writing:

SELECT ?x ?y
WHERE
{
?x rdf:type uni:Lecturer .
?x uni:phone ?y .
}

Explicit Join

Retrieve the name of all courses taught by the lecturer

with ID 949352

SELECT ?n
WHERE
{
?x rdf:type uni:Course ;
uni:isTaughtBy :949352 .
?c uni:name ?n .
FILTER (?c = ?x) .
}

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Optional Patterns
<uni:lecturer rdf:about=949352>
<uni:name>Grigoris Antoniou</uni:name>
</uni:lecturer>
<uni:professor rdf:about=94318>
<uni:name>David Billington</uni:name>
<uni:email>david@[Link]</uni:email>
</uni:professor>

113

For one lecturer it only lists the name

For the other it also lists the email address
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Optional Patterns (2)

All

lecturers and their email addresses:

SELECT ?name ?email
WHERE
{ ?x rdf:type uni:Lecturer ;
uni:name ?name ;
uni:email ?email .
}
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Optional Patterns (3)

The

result of the previous query would be:

?name

?email

David Billington

david@[Link]

Grigoris

Antoniou is listed as a lecturer,

but he has no e-mail address

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Optional Patterns (4)

As

a solution we can adapt the query to use

an optional pattern:
SELECT ?name ?email
WHERE
{ ?x rdf:type uni:Lecturer ;
uni:name ?name .
OPTIONAL { x? uni:email ?email }
}

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Optional Patterns (5)

The

meaning is roughly give us the names

of lecturers, and if known also their e-mail
address
The result looks like this:
?name

?email

Grigoris Antoniou
David Billington

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david@[Link]

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Summary

RDF provides a foundation for representing and

processing metadata
RDF has a graph-based data model
RDF has an XML-based syntax to support syntactic
interoperability

118

XML and RDF complement each other because RDF

supports semantic interoperability

RDF has a decentralized philosophy and allows

incremental building of knowledge, and its sharing
and reuse
Chapter 3

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Summary (2)

RDF is domain-independent
- RDF Schema provides a mechanism for describing specific
domains

RDF Schema is a primitive ontology language

119

It offers certain modelling primitives with fixed meaning

Key concepts of RDF Schema are class, subclass

relations, property, subproperty relations, and
domain and range restrictions
There exist query languages for RDF and RDFS,
including SPARQL
Chapter 3

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Points for Discussion in Subsequent

Chapters
RDF

Schema is quite primitive as a

modelling language for the Web
Many desirable modelling primitives are
missing
Therefore we need an ontology layer on top
of RDF and RDF Schema

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