Transforming RDF into XML (alternative using ShEx)

I could not attend yesterday's call because I was travelling and was not
sure at what time I would arrive...

I was looking at the minutes and saw that there is interest on transforming
RDF to XML. I wanted to say that one alternative could be Shape Expressions
(ShEx).

Although the primary goal of ShEx is to describe and validate RDF data, it
can also be extended with semantic actions which are similar to parsing
grammar semantic actions and in that way, it can be used to transform the
RDF that has been validated into XML or other languages like Json.

In [1] we describe ShEx and we include an example of how ShEx can be used
to generate XML from RDF.

For more information about ShEx you can visit: http://shex.io

Also, if you have interest on the subject, we have recently given a
tutorial about RDF validation at ESWC. The slides are available online at:
http://weso.github.io/RDFValidation_ESWC16/

[1] *Shape Expressions: An RDF validation and transformation language*, Eric
Prud'hommeaux <http://www.w3.org/People/Eric/>, Jose Emilio Labra Gayo
<http://www.di.uniovi.es/%7Elabra>, Harold Solbrig
<http://www.mayo.edu/research/faculty/solbrig-harold-ralph/bio-20022700>, 10th
International Conference on Semantic Systems <http://www.semantics.cc/>,
Sept. 2014, Leipzig, Germany, PDF
<http://labra.github.io/ShExcala/papers/semantics2014.pdf> (slides
<http://www.slideshare.net/jelabra/semantics-2014>)

Best regards, Jose Labra

On Fri, Jul 8, 2016 at 3:09 PM, Felix Sasaki <fsasaki@w3.org> wrote:

> See
> https://www.w3.org/2016/07/08-rax-minutes.html
> and below as text. I created this wiki page
>
> https://github.com/rax-w3c/draft-material/wiki
>
> for starting editing. But I have trouble adding people to the group - can
> somebody help? Florent?
>
> - Felix
>
>    [1]W3C
>
>       [1] http://www.w3.org/
>
>                                - DRAFT -
>
>                                  RAX CG
>
> 08 Jul 2016
>
>    See also: [2]IRC log
>
>       [2] http://www.w3.org/2016/07/08-rax-irc
>
> Attendees
>
>    Present
>           felix, christian, gerard, john, timea, christoph,
>           quentin
>
>    Regrets
>           rob, phil
>
>    Chair
>           christian:
>
>    Scribe
>           fsasaki
>
> Contents
>
>      * [3]Topics
>          1. [4]new members
>          2. [5]action items
>          3. [6]input from quentin et al.
>          4. [7]mapping XML of dictionary data to RDF
>          5. [8]other sections & topics
>          6. [9]next call in two weeks from now
>      * [10]Summary of Action Items
>      * [11]Summary of Resolutions
>      __________________________________________________________
>
>    <scribe> chair: christian
>
>    <scribe> scribe: fsasaki
>
>    [12]https://lists.w3.org/Archives/Public/public-rax/2016Jul/000
>    4.html
>
>      [12]
> https://lists.w3.org/Archives/Public/public-rax/2016Jul/0004.html
>
> new members
>
>    no new members, skipped
>
> action items
>
>    github link for rax cg is [13]https://github.com/rax-w3c
>
>      [13] https://github.com/rax-w3c
>
> input from quentin et al.
>
>    see
>    [14]https://lists.w3.org/Archives/Public/public-rax/2016Jul/000
>    2.html
>
>      [14]
> https://lists.w3.org/Archives/Public/public-rax/2016Jul/0002.html
>
>    "One solution that we have used is to transform the RDF input
>    (in any supported syntax) to be converted into a XML canonical
>    form prior to applying XSLTs. "
>
>    <clange> help
>
>    processing RDF data in XML / xslt workflows
>
>    christian: also covered by one XML prague scenario
>
>    <quentin> canonical format new to be optimized for performance
>
>    christoph: similar solution is here
>    [15]https://lists.w3.org/Archives/Public/public-rax/2016Jul/000
>    7.html
>    ... has RDF abstraction layer, this is independent of RDF
>    output serialization
>    ... related: what RDF abstract serialization to use
>
>      [15]
> https://lists.w3.org/Archives/Public/public-rax/2016Jul/0007.html
>
>    collection of state of the art canonical representations of RDF
>    in XML
>
>    quentin: you should always optimize canonical format that you
>    are processsing
>
>    <clange> there is, e.g., RXR (Regular XML RDF), there is TriX,
>    and there are more
>
>    quentin: XSLT is generally not enough, one needs libraries on
>    top of XSLT
>
>    christian: "processing RDF data in XML / xslt workflows" -
>    important topic, has several solutions, we need to collect info
>    what works good, what not etc.
>
>    <clange> sources for the canonical formats mentioned above: RXR
>    ([16]https://www.dajobe.org/papers/xmleurope2004/), TriX
>    ([17]https://www.w3.org/2004/03/trix/,
>    [18]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TriX_(syntax) )
>
>      [16] https://www.dajobe.org/papers/xmleurope2004/),
>      [17] https://www.w3.org/2004/03/trix/,
>      [18] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TriX_(syntax)
>
>    <clange> AFAIK there is also a newer approach based on the
>    SPARQL XML results format
>
>    [19]https://github.com/rax-w3c
>
>      [19] https://github.com/rax-w3c
>
>    <clange> @fsasaki my GitHub account is "clange"
>
>    <TimeaT> my GitHub is theRealImy
>
>    <quentin> @fasaki my GitHub is qhreul
>
>    <scribe> ACTION: felix to add people to rax-cg github [recorded
>    in [20]http://www.w3.org/2016/07/08-rax-minutes.html#action01]
>
>      [20] http://www.w3.org/2016/07/08-rax-minutes.html#action01]
>
>    quentin: happy to do the description. won't be able to go
>    through all material that christoph provided
>
>    christoph: happy to help
>
>    <scribe> ACTION: quention to start section on RDF data in XML /
>    xslt workflows topic. christoph to add material [recorded in
>    [21]http://www.w3.org/2016/07/08-rax-minutes.html#action02]
>
>      [21] http://www.w3.org/2016/07/08-rax-minutes.html#action02]
>
>    TimeaT: previous problems, solutions were sent directly per
>    mail. there was also a template, not sure how to send input
>
>    Christian: use the template, send to the list
>
>    <clange> BTW my colleagues will write up their two use cases
>    (AutomationML Industry 4.0 and GATE NLP) by the next telco.
>
> mapping XML of dictionary data to RDF
>
>    timea: dictionary company stores data in XML format, for
>    further publishing. They wanted to bring XML into RDF, to be
>    able to enrich dictionaries
>    ... they can be multi- or monolingual, because language is
>    complex
>    ... need a way to convert XML to RDF
>    ... for working with dictionaries you have to use lemon /
>    ontolex, which may be extended
>    ... solved currently with XSLT
>    ... writing the XSLT proved to be very long and tedious
>    ... not sure if we can achieve a general XSLT
>    ... next step is how to connect words between dictionaries
>    ... we reached very good point with XSLT, just wondering if
>    there is a better way
>
>    felix: so no integration of RDF in XML needed?
>
>    timea: would have been desired, but dropped because XML mapping
>    took a long time
>    ... roundtripping is difficult
>    ... not sure if it is needed
>
>    christoph: for making it easier to create XML / RDF
>    translation, there are solutions
>    ... I have developed something, felix has one
>    ... so this should be a part: write a classification of
>    existing libraries
>    ... e.g. libraries that are based on XSLT. You start with that
>    and it becomes hard to maintain, then people add an abstraction
>    layer
>    ... adding link to my implementation here
>
>    <quentin> for RDF -> XML, an approach could be to use SPARQL
>    and XML templates
>
>    <quentin> ... essentially creating registere queries
>
>    <clange> [22]https://github.com/EIS-Bonn/krextor is a library
>    of XSLT templates and functions for XML to RDF
>
>      [22] https://github.com/EIS-Bonn/krextor
>
>    timea: we used "unified views", etl tool that read the XML and
>    writes all data into virtuoso
>    ... the actual mapping if endepend of unified views
>
>    <clange> @Timea see
>    [23]http://ceur-ws.org/Vol-449/ShortPaper2.pdf for an old,
>    high-level overview
>
>      [23] http://ceur-ws.org/Vol-449/ShortPaper2.pdf
>
>    [24]http://fsasaki.github.io/stuff/feisgiltt2016/
>
>      [24] http://fsasaki.github.io/stuff/feisgiltt2016/
>
>    felix: currently purely XSLT based solution, without an
>    abstraction layer
>
>    timea: classification of existing libraries, describe their
>    drawbacks etc.
>
>    christoph: would contribute to such a section
>
>    <quentin> depending on the complexity of the transformation,
>    you can use XPATH and templates to populate the RDF
>
>    <scribe> ACTION: timea to start section on existing tools &
>    their classification, benefits and drawbacks - others to
>    contribute [recorded in
>    [25]http://www.w3.org/2016/07/08-rax-minutes.html#action03]
>
>      [25] http://www.w3.org/2016/07/08-rax-minutes.html#action03]
>
>    quentin: you can also just use XPath and java @@@ and then are
>    able to keep mappings
>    ... you can do similar things from RDF > XML perspective, using
>    SPARQL templates
>
>    timea: that sounds familiar how the XSLT is built; has a lot of
>    templates
>    ... we transformed the XML in a simple RDF, and then converted
>    RDF into the model needed
>    ... ontolex / lemon + extension
>
>    christioph: I have pointers to further systems, have seen a
>    related paper
>    ... will add a link here
>    ... on roundtripping, let's not forget the XSParql
>    specification
>    ... it combines XQuery and SPARQL
>
>    <clange> SPARQL templates for RDF to XML have actually been
>    implemented as a proper language:
>    [26]https://hal.inria.fr/hal-01150623/document. XSPARQL
>    ([27]http://xsparql.deri.org/) does a similar job but it's IMHO
>    more suited for queries over XML or RDF or both at the same
>    time, rather than transforming whole RDF graphs or whole XML
>    documents.
>
>      [26] https://hal.inria.fr/hal-01150623/document.
>      [27] http://xsparql.deri.org/)
>
>    christioph: it is better for query than complete
>    transformation, but very interesting approaches
>
>    <quentin> there is an overlap between the two use-case in terms
>    of transformation from 1 format to another
>
>    felix: asking john on mark logic support for RDF and how it
>    fits into the picture
>
> other sections & topics
>
>    nothing at the moment
>
> next call in two weeks from now
>
>    same time
>
>    john: we are working on tech. to store RDF in XML
>    ... also to make it easier to work with XML described by RDF
>    graph
>    ... interested to see in problems that people have and finding
>    solutions
>
>    adjourned
>
> Summary of Action Items
>
>    [NEW] ACTION: felix to add people to rax-cg github [recorded in
>    [28]http://www.w3.org/2016/07/08-rax-minutes.html#action01]
>    [NEW] ACTION: quention to start section on RDF data in XML /
>    xslt workflows topic. christoph to add material [recorded in
>    [29]http://www.w3.org/2016/07/08-rax-minutes.html#action02]
>    [NEW] ACTION: timea to start section on existing tools & their
>    classification, benefits and drawbacks - others to contribute
>    [recorded in
>    [30]http://www.w3.org/2016/07/08-rax-minutes.html#action03]
>
>      [28] http://www.w3.org/2016/07/08-rax-minutes.html#action01
>      [29] http://www.w3.org/2016/07/08-rax-minutes.html#action02
>      [30] http://www.w3.org/2016/07/08-rax-minutes.html#action03
>
> Summary of Resolutions
>
>    [End of minutes]
>      __________________________________________________________
>
>
>     Minutes formatted by David Booth's [31]scribe.perl version
>     1.144 ([32]CVS log)
>     $Date: 2016/07/08 12:48:48 $
>      __________________________________________________________
>
>      [31] http://dev.w3.org/cvsweb/~checkout~/2002/scribe/scribedoc.htm
>      [32] http://dev.w3.org/cvsweb/2002/scribe/
>
> Scribe.perl diagnostic output
>
>    [Delete this section before finalizing the minutes.]
> This is scribe.perl Revision: 1.144  of Date: 2015/11/17 08:39:34
> Check for newer version at [33]http://dev.w3.org/cvsweb/~checkout~/2002/
> scribe/
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>      [33] http://dev.w3.org/cvsweb/~checkout~/2002/scribe/
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> Guessing input format: RRSAgent_Text_Format (score 1.00)
>
> Succeeded: s/tempaltes/templates/
> Found Scribe: fsasaki
> Inferring ScribeNick: fsasaki
> Present: felix christian gerard john timea christoph quentin
> Regrets: rob phil
> Got date from IRC log name: 08 Jul 2016
> Guessing minutes URL: [34]http://www.w3.org/2016/07/08-rax-minutes.html
> People with action items: felix quention timea
>
>      [34] http://www.w3.org/2016/07/08-rax-minutes.html
>
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>    [End of [35]scribe.perl diagnostic output]
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>      [35] http://dev.w3.org/cvsweb/~checkout~/2002/scribe/scribedoc.htm
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>


-- 
-- Jose Labra

Received on Saturday, 9 July 2016 06:35:13 UTC