Re: Blank Nodes Re: Toward easier RDF: a proposal

> Hi, yes, using a blank node is not like a record in a DB without a
> primary key. Say you have a Turtle document:
> 
> :ID123 :name "John" ; :location [ :country :USA ] .
> 
> Which might as well be a table row:
> 
> PersonLocations
> | PersonID | Country |
> | 123      | USA     |

> The intention most probably was to express "John is at*a*  location in
> USA" (which someone might want to refer to or expand on later), not
> "There exists one or more locations in USA where John is located", the
> latter being what the the Turtle document is actually expressing.
> I think blank nodes are misused in overwhelming majority of cases.

Not that it matters much here, but I don't see a distinction that leads 
to "using a blank node is not like a record in a DB without a primary 
key".  In a well-named table, the table name will express something 
about the purpose of the relations in the table.  This will, (or 
*might*) reduce the guessing ("the intention most probably was ..."). 
You could bring that intention to a blank node by giving it an 
appropriate type, but still it wouldn't need an id assigned.

Received on Sunday, 25 November 2018 18:12:15 UTC