RE: Help with modeling my ontology

Luca,

The W3C data cube approach seems quite simple for what is actually a highly complex problem, in its generality.

If your crop ontology is suitably concrete and specific though, you may be able to avoid all sorts of modelling issues, since they can be compressed into accepted definitions from your value lists.

For reference, the LIDO XML schema is meant to be able to communicate measurements of any physical object (yes, that's ANY physical object... and quite likely some "virtual" objects too...) and it uses the familiar 3-strand structure:

measurementsSetComplexType (complex type)
Definition: The dimensions or other measurements for one aspect of the item.

Sequence:

measurementType ( lido:textComplexType 1-unbounded)
Definition: Indicates what kind of measurement is taken.
How to record: Data values for type: height, width, depth, length, diameter, circumference, stories, count, area, volume, running time, size.Repeat this element only for language variants.

measurementUnit ( lido:textComplexType 1-unbounded)
Definition: The unit of the measurement.
How to record: E.g. cm, mm, m, g, kg, kb, Mb or Gb.Repeat this element only for language variants.

measurementValue ( lido:textComplexType 1)
Definition: The value of the measurement.
How to record: Whole numbers or decimal fractions.

...but added to that you can specify rather a few other aspects...

extentMeasurements (0-unbounded)
Definition: An explanation of the part of the object / work being measured included, when necessary, for clarity.
How to record: Example values: overall, components, sheet, plate mark, chain lines, pattern repeat, lid, base, laid lines, folios, leaves, columns per page, lines per page, tessera, footprint, panel, interior, mat, window of mat, secondary support, frame, and mount
Attribute lido:sortorder

qualifierMeasurements (0-unbounded)
Definition: A word or phrase that elaborates on the nature of the measurements of the object / work when necessary, e.g. when the measurements are approximate.
How to record: Example values: approximate, sight, maximum, larges, smallest, average, variable, assembled, before restoration, before restoration, at corners, rounded, framed, and with base.
Attribute lido:sortorder

formatMeasurements (0-unbounded)
Definition: The configuration of an object / work, including technical formats. Used as necessary.
How to record: Example values: Vignette, VHS, IMAX, and DOS
Attribute lido:sortorder

shapeMeasurements (0-unbounded)
Definition: The shape of an object / work. Used for unusual shapes (e.g., an oval painting).
How to record: Example values: oval, round, square, rectangular, and irregular.
Attribute lido:sortorder

scaleMeasurements (0-unbounded)
Definition: An expression of the ratio between the size of the representation of something and that thing (e.g., the size of the drawn structure and the actual built work).
How to record: Example values for scale: numeric (e.g., 1 inch = 1 foot), full-size, life-size, half size,monumental. and others as recommended in CCO and CDWA. Combine this tag with Measurement Sets for numeric scales. For measurementsSet type for Scale, use "base" for the left side of the equation, and "target" for the right side of the equation).
Notes: Used for studies, record drawings, models, and other representations drawn or constructed to scale.

Attribute lido:sortorder

[ref: http://www.lido-schema.org/schema/v1.0/lido-v1.0-schema-listing.html]




From: Luca Matteis [mailto:lmatteis@gmail.com]
Sent: 27 February 2013 20:59
To: public-lod@w3.org
Subject: Help with modeling my ontology

Hello all,

At http://www.cropontology.org/ I'm trying to make things a little more RDF friendly. For example, we have an ontology about Groundnut here: http://www.cropontology.org/ontology/CO_337/Groundnut/ttl

I'm generating this from a somewhat flat list of names/concepts, so it's still a work in progress. But I'm having issues making sense of it all so that the ontology can be used by people that actually have Groundnut data.

For example, in that Turtle dump, search for "Canopy height". This is a concept that people might use to describe the height of the canopy of their groundnut plant, as the comment describes (this should be a Property not a Class, but like I said, it's still work-in-progress). Let's try with some sample data someone might have about groundnut, and see if I can further explain my issue (I assume co: is a prefix for my cropontology.org<http://cropontology.org> site, also the URIs are different but it's just an example):

    :groundnut1
      a co:Groundnut;
      co:canopyHeight xxx .

Ok here's the issue, we know that `canopyHeight` is measured using different methodologies. For example it might be measured using a methodology that we found to be described as "Measuring the distance from the base to the tip of the main stem", but it might also be some other method. And, funny enough, we also realized that it is measured using centimeters, with a minimum of 0 and a maximum of 10cm.

So how should I make this easier on the people that are using my ontology? Should it be:

    :groundnut1
      a co:Groundnut;
      co:canopyHeight "9.5cm" .

or should it be:

    :groundnut1
      a co:Groundnut;
      co:canopyHeight [
        co:method "Measuring the distance from the base to the tip of the main stem";
        co:scale "9.5cm"
      ] .

Maybe I'm going about this the wrong way and should think more about how this ontology is going to be used by people that have data about it... but I'm not sure. Any advice would be great. And here's the actual browsable list of concepts, in a tree sort of interface: http://www.cropontology.org/terms/CO_337:0000039/

As you can see there's this kind of thing happening all over the ontology where we have the Property->the method it was measured-> and finally the scale. Any help? Thanks!