Re: RDB2RDF mapping: Do we really need any alternative to use of SQL queries with conventions and a "trivial" mapping language?

Hi Juan,

On 23 Mar 2010, at 04:24, Juan Sequeda wrote:
> The advantage (IMO) of our triple view approach is that the sparql  
> to sql
> translation is straightforward and we let all the hard stuff to the
> optimizer (hence it needs to be a good optimizer).

Agreed.

> My guess is that if you
> to follow another approach, the sparql to sql translation may be a  
> bit more
> complicated

Agreed.

> (and may not depend on the sql optimizer).

No. If your mapping is expressed as one or more atomic, opaque blobs  
of SQL (such as in the SQL query based approach, no matter if you use  
views or subselects to implement it), then you will always have to  
either rely on the quality of the native SQL optimizer for  
implementing SPARQL-to-SQL, or parse the mapping SQL queries yourself  
and implement your own optimizer to patch over problems with the  
native optimizer.

> However, this shouldn't be part of the WG.

The working group has no business specifying a certain algorithm for  
SPARQL-to-SQL rewriting.

However, one criterion for evaluating competing proposals for  
expressing RDB2RDF mappings has to be their implementability. Thus, WG  
members have to establish the implementability of their proposals.  
This is not too much to ask -- a lot of work on RDB2RDF has been  
already done, both in implementation and in the research literature,  
so the implementability of many things has been already well  
established. And if one proposal has significantly higher  
implementation costs in important scenarios, then this should be  
factored into the WG's decision about which proposal to pursue.

Best,
Richard

Received on Tuesday, 23 March 2010 08:25:04 UTC