RE: RDF Model vs Serialization (Language)

Hi Dan:

Thanks for the comments.

> Can you confirm that it's the recent last call draft
> that you were reading? http://www.w3.org/TR/2007/WD-grddl-20070302/

Yes. It was specifically the March 2, "Last Call" draft I commented on.

> (This reply is incomplete; I think I'll send it anyway
> rather than waiting until it's complete. Please do stay
> tuned for a more complete response...)

Will do. (And looking forward to it.)

Meantime I still think I need to respond to a couple of your comments.
If the draft remains as stands then I fear it will do little to help
folks like me get their head around what RDF really is - data model or a
somewhat verbose XML specification for talking about thingy. (The XML
markup is quite straightforward once one takes on board namespaces,
striping, abreviate forms, ... Oh well, maybe it really is a little too
much to ask for.)

> > 1. "There are dialects of XHTML, XML and RDF that are used ..."

For me the red flag here is the juxtaposed "L" and "F" - the first two
refer to "languages", the third to a "framework".

> Is it too much of a stretch to look at RDFS and OWL
> as dialects of RDF?

I would say yes. RDFS and OWL are profiles (or schemas) of RDF (a data
model). Nothing to do with languages per so, although as you point out
there is a "recommended" XML serialization for RDF.

> > 2. "Here's the information contained in the XML fragments 
> above, this 
> > time expressed as RDF:"
> > 
> > Well, no. "expressed as RDF/XML". (This one, I am sure is correct.)
> 
> The RDF/XML given in that example is notation for an RDF 
> graph; so it seems reasonable to say that this information is 
> expressed as RDF, i.e. expressed in the Resource Description 
> Framework.
> 
> "RDF/XML" might also be correct, but it would suggest 
> irrelevant details.

Well, I kind of know that RDF/XML is a "notation for an RDF graph", as
are all serializations or pictorializations of RDF. I also know that it
expresses a *serialization* of the "Resource Description Framework". I
also know that it is *not* in itself RDF, but rather a representation of
an RDF graph.

Don't mean to get too picky, but I would suggest that this kind of
lackadaisical approach is at best confusing to those who are not "in the
know", myself included.

Best close it out here. :)

Cheers,

Tony 

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Received on Monday, 19 March 2007 13:55:44 UTC