Re: RDF for metadata

From: Drew McDermott <drew.mcdermott@yale.edu>
Subject: RDF for metadata
Date: Mon, 15 Oct 2001 11:04:20 -0400 (EDT)

> 
> One suggested role for RDF is as metadata for XML.  (The "semantics"
> of XML as some have imprecisely said.)  The idea is that RDF (or
> RDF+rules, or RDF+DAML+OIL) would be used to make assertions that
> constrain the meaning of XML tags.  E.g., if there is a 'family' tag
> in some XML vocabulary, so we could write
> 
>    <family>
>       <father><person> ...</person></father>
>       <mother><person> ...</person></mother>
>       <children>
>           <person> ...</person>
>           <person> ...</person>
>       </children>
>    </family>
> 
> then we could give constraints on these symbols.  (No child has more
> than one mother, or the like.)
> 
> Has anyone actully done this for any existing XML vocabulary?  Are
> there pointers to such efforts?  I'm having trouble visualizing
> exactly how RDF would do this job.
> 
>                                              -- Drew McDermott

I'm not aware of any.  The problem is that (most) XML is not valid RDF.

My current efforts are an attempt to provide a model theory for XML that is
compatible with RDF.  Stay tuned.

peter