Re: ISSUE-76: If we fixed namespaces, does RDFa still have problems?

Ennals, Robert wrote:
> <div about="_:bnode" vocab="whatever">
>   <span property="name">Rob</span>
>   <div rel="knows" typeof="Person">
>     <span property="name">Manu</span>
>     <span property="special-power">RDFa wizardry</span>
>   </div>
> </div>
> 
> ... then it doesn't work, the link between me and 
> Manu isn't made, and we need the indirection node again.
> 
> RDFa makes my head hurt...

I've always found that slamming my forehead repeatedly into my monitor
can numb the pain of learning RDFa. :) <--- joking

Here's something that might help:
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Almost everything in RDFa happens in this order -

  subject - predicate - object

In order to do anything in RDFa - you must have a subject. Use @about or
@typeof on an element to set the subject.

In order to link two things together, you must have a predicate. Use
@rel/@rev or @property on an element to set the predicate.

The final piece is the object. If you want to link to another URL, use
@rel/@rev for the predicate and @href or @resource for the object. If
you want text, use @property on an element and the text contents of the
element for the object.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

That's the basics of RDFa in roughly two paragraphs of text. So, let's
apply this to your markup. The reason that you're probably expecting
_:bnode to link with foaf:knows to _:bnode (typeof: Person) is because
you think that the @rel applies before the @typeof.

> <div about="_:bnode" vocab="whatever">
>   <span property="name">Rob</span>
>   <div rel="knows" typeof="Person">

So, you think the order of processing in the above snippet is this:

@vocab, @about, @property, "Rob", @rel, @typeof

when in reality it is this:

@vocab, @about, @property, "Rob", @typeof, @rel

and that is because "Almost everything in RDFa happens in this order -
subject - predicate - object". So, to reformulate a bit, you think this
is happening:

vocab, subject, predicate, object, predicate, subject

when in reality, this is happening:

vocab, subject, predicate, object, subject, predicate

Since subject is almost always processed first, then @about and @typeof
will always be processed before @rel, @rev and @property (which are used
to set predicates).

I realize that this is a somewhat strange way to explain this, so if
you'd like it explained in a different way, we can try something different.

The core of the issue, though, is that you may think that RDFa's
processing order is more complicated than it is.

-- manu

-- 
Manu Sporny (skype: msporny, twitter: manusporny)
President/CEO - Digital Bazaar, Inc.
blog: Bitmunk 3.2 Launched - The Legal P2P Music Network
http://blog.digitalbazaar.com/2009/11/30/bitmunk-3-2-launched/

Received on Monday, 14 December 2009 03:22:28 UTC