RE: XSLT transforms application/xml+rdf to RDF database API calls

I cringed somewhat when Eric posted this, because I knew it was a quick hack
and a short-term, between-conference-meetings collaboration between someone
who knows RDF and someone who knows XSLT. Needless to say, a complete
implementation will require someone who knows both :-)

So I'm not ready to volunteer until I learn the RDF syntax. But it certainly
remains on my list of potentially interesting things to hit with my favorite
hammer (after examining prior art, of course). I do tend to be the
"completer-finisher" type when it comes to these things.

Evan

P.S. If I already got a beer for this hack, what would a complete
implementation get me? ;-)

> -----Original Message-----
> From: Dan Brickley [mailto:danbri@w3.org]
> Sent: Saturday, March 16, 2002 1:46 PM
> To: Eric Prud'hommeaux
> Cc: elenz@xyzfind.com; www-rdf-interest@w3.org; w3c-semweb-ad@w3.org
> Subject: Re: XSLT transforms application/xml+rdf to RDF database API
> calls
>
>
>
> <emote:familar_mixed_feelings/>
>
> This *is* *very* cool. But it's also the **4th** (incomplete) XSLT parser
> for RDF that I'm aware of. Without detracting from the hackvalue
> coolness and
> the hard work that went into this, I fear this emphasises a couple of
> concerns about the Semantic Web / RDF developer community.
>
> (i) we tend towards a focus on 'proof of concept' with minimal follow-thru
> to production grade delivery (with increasingly numerous honourable
> exceptions. we need to move beyond this.
>
> (ii) while it's understandable for non-academics to not bother with a trip
> to the library for a full literature review, not doing a Google search
> before coding is rather old fashioned. cf.
> http://www.google.com/search?q=rdf+xslt+parser
>
>
> For those not keeping track, the other partial RDF XSLT parsers being
> Jason Diamond's, Dan Connolly's and Jeremy Caroll's.
>
> So... are there any completer-finisher types out there fancy doing a
> compare and contrast, and making at least one RDF XSLT parser that does
> the whole RDF syntax spec?
>
> See http://www.xmlhack.com/read.php?item=757
>
> 	[[
> 	New XSLT RDF Parser
> 	14:32, 11 Sep 2000 UTC
> 	Dan Brickley, urged the two authors to bring one of these
> tools to completion:
> 	I'd really like to see one of both of these efforts finished to
> 	completion, as part of our attempt to pin down the various
> issues/problems with the spec. [...]
> 	In particular, Bag/Seq/Alt handling seems crucial if the
> XSLT parsers are
> 	ever going to be used in anger.
> 	]]
>
>
> Raw materials:
>
> 	http://www.w3.org/XML/2000/04rdf-parse/
> 	Transforming RDF with XSLT
> 	$Revision: 1.5 $ of $Date: 2001/05/25 13:18:15 $ by
> $Author: connolly $
> 	no support for collections
> 	@@need to report "no endmarker" bug.
> 	no support for quoted (reified) statements
> 	no support for parsetype="literal" nor parsetype="resource"
>
>
>
http://lists.w3.org/Archives/Public/www-rdf-interest/2000Sep/0097.html
	XSLT RDF Parser
	From: Jason Diamond (jason@injektilo.org)
	Date: Mon, Sep 11 2000
	see also http://www.injektilo.org/rdf/rdft.html
	http://www.injektilo.org/rdf/rdft.xsl
	with a slight variation at
	http://www.w3.org/2001/12/rubyrdf/xsltrdf/
	...to support N-Triples (Jason -- did this get folded into copy on your
site?)


	http://www.hpl.hp.co.uk/people/jjc/snail/
	Snail - Excruciatingly Slow RDF Parsing, Jeremy Carroll
	(interestingly different).

	http://www.w3.org/2002/03/11-RDF-XSL/
	The current implementation has no parseType="Literal" or
	parseType="daml:list" or typedNode ID=foo support. We'll get to that.


Getting *at least one* full-featured RDF parser in pure XSLT (whether via
API calls or by transform into an XML or text triple syntax) would be
extremely useful. I want one for my Ruby RDF tools, for example.

So what would it take to get someone to finish this off? Beer? A W3C T-shirt
bribe? These things can be arranged... Maybe this would suit a student
project? I'd be happy to help supervise one if anyone on this list has a
student who'd be interested in production-gradifying some of this stuff.

cheers,

Dan

(your RDF Interest Group chair who thinks its time we shipped Semantic Web
v1.0)


--
mailto:danbri@w3.org
http://www.w3.org/People/DanBri/

Received on Saturday, 16 March 2002 17:13:39 UTC