RDF/XML Syntax Specification (Revised) W3C Working Draft published

I'm pleased to announce that a new version of the ongoing work on the
RDF/XML syntax has been published by the W3C RDF Core Working Group,
as part of the Semantic Web Activity.

  RDF/XML Syntax Specification (Revised)
  W3C Working Draft 18 December 2001
  http://www.w3.org/TR/2001/WD-rdf-syntax-grammar-20011218


The most significant changes since the 06 September 2001 working
draft are:

  * Most of the document is new
  * The grammar is now expressed using the XML Infoset to create a
    SAX-like stream of events which is then parsed
  * The grammar was updated to remove rdf:aboutEach
  * Added the mapping to the RDF Model as expressed by N-Triples
  * Added a non-normative RELAX NG schema (plain text and XML)
  * Added a serialisation section
  * Added an introduction to the RDF/XML syntax


The working group in particular want to point out the removal of
rdf:aboutEach from the language and solicit feedback on this.  In
summary it was deleted because:
  - it is not used
  - it is not widely implemented
  - it has confusing interactions with rdf:bagID
  - it does not scale as parsers have to save state
  - this is the wrong layer in which to implemenent such functionality

The background to this will be recorded at
  http://www.w3.org/2000/03/rdf-tracking/#rdfms-abouteach
in due course, but you might also want to look at
  http://www.w3.org/TR/2001/WD-rdf-syntax-grammar-20011218/#rdfms-abouteach
for pointers.  


A RELAX NG schema has been added to the draft and I've had it machine
validate all the RDF/XML test cases.  It is at present a
Non-Normative part of the document which means it is for information
only and not the definitive declaration of the syntax.  However, I
like how it has turned out, feel it should help people and is worth
pursuing.

  RELAX NG Schema (non-XML)
  http://www.w3.org/TR/2001/WD-rdf-syntax-grammar-20011218/rdfxml.rng
  RELAX NG Schema (XML)
  http://www.w3.org/TR/2001/WD-rdf-syntax-grammar-20011218/rdfxml.xml

Dave

Received on Tuesday, 18 December 2001 15:06:10 UTC