Re: CONSTRUCTing illegal triples should be optional

David,

Thank you for your comment about CONSTRUCT.

SPARQL is defined to work with RDF and CONSTRUCT defined to create RDF 
graphs by receiving an HTTP-carried request and returning the results 
using one of the RDF concrete syntaxes.  The SPARQL specification does 
not say anything about API use.  It is not in the charter of the working 
group to define a new data framework going beyond RDF.  SPARQL builds on 
the work of the RDF working group.

If an implementation wishes to go beyond the specification in some way, 
such as allowing API use to create other forms of triples, it is at 
liberty to do so, accepting responsibility for interoperability issues 
this raises.  Interoperability is an important aspect for a web system.

The working group is not planning to make any changes in this area.

I would be grateful if you reply to this message to confirm that the 
working group has responded to your comment.

Yours, on behalf of the SPARQL Working Group,

Andy


On 20/07/12 17:18, David Booth wrote:
> Regarding this:
> http://www.w3.org/TR/sparql11-query/#construct
> [[
> If any such instantiation produces a triple containing an unbound
> variable or an illegal RDF construct, such as a literal in subject or
> predicate position, then that triple is not included in the output RDF
> graph.
> ]]
>
> This really bothers me, because: (a) it unnecessarily couples SPARQL to
> a controversial decision in the RDF WG that may well change in the
> future, i.e., the prohibition against literals as subjects; and (b) it
> forces a conforming implementation to perform checks that its user may
> not want or need.
>
> If a user chooses to generate invalid RDF then that is his/her business.
> The SPARQL spec should not prohibit it.  If a particular implementation
> offers the feature of performing this check, then that is fine.  But it
> is unnecessarily draconian to require all implementations to do it.
>
> I suggest changing the above to:
> [[
> If any such instantiation produces a triple containing an unbound
> variable then that triple MUST NOT be included in the output RDF graph.
> Otherwise, if any such instantiation produces a triple containing any
> illegal RDF construct, such as a literal in subject or predicate
> position, then that triple MAY be excluded from the output RDF graph.
> ]]
>
>

Received on Tuesday, 31 July 2012 08:07:19 UTC