Re: [dxwg] Defining validation

This might be splitting hairs, but we probably need to differentiate between "a set of validation rules" and "validation", where the latter is the act of applying the former on some kind of data. In PROV-O terms the "validation" would be a `prov:Activity`, whereas the "set of validation rules", the data to be validated and the validation report are all `prov:Entity`s. The "validation" is performed by some kind of `prov:Agent` (a human or software application).

> that is, a SHACL document defines constraints but it also can be used to implement the act validation (checking the instance data against the defined constraints and returning the results). In a sense SHACL can be seen as both documentation and implementation although you could argue that the latter function is its primary function. 

To me a SHACL document is a "set of validation rules" but does not implement the act of validation itself. It's documentation using a specific machine-readable syntax, but it's not validation. The act of validation is performed by the validation software.

Does that make sense?

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Received on Tuesday, 9 October 2018 10:31:32 UTC