Re: summarizing proposed changes to charter

Hi Peter,

On 08/13/2014 01:25 PM, Peter F. Patel-Schneider wrote:
> On 08/13/2014 08:45 AM, David Booth wrote:
>> Hi Peter,
>>
>> Here is my main use case for RDF canonicalization.
>>
>> The RDF Pipeline Framework http://rdfpipeline.org/ allows any kind of
>> data to
>> be manipulated in a data production pipeline -- not just RDF. The
>> Framework
>> has regression tests that, when run, are used to validate the
>> correctness of
>> the output of each node in a pipeline.  A test passes if the actual node
>> output exactly matches the expected node output, *after* filtering out
>> ignorable differences.  (For example, differences in dates and times are
>> typically treated as ignorable -- they don't cause a test to fail.)
>> Since a
>> generic comparison tool is used (because the pipeline is permitted to
>> carry
>> *any* kind of data), data serialization must be predictable and
>> canonical.
>> This works great for all kinds of data *except* RDF.
>
> Why?  You could just use RDF graph or dataset isomorphism.  Those are
> already defined by W3C.  Well maybe you need to modify the graphs first
> (e.g., to fudge dates and times), but you are already doing that for
> other data types.
>
>> If a canonical form of RDF were defined, then the exact same tools
>> that are
>> used to compare other kinds of data for differences could also be used
>> for
>> comparing RDF.
>
> What are these tools?  Why should a tool to determine whether two
> strings are the same also work for determining whether two XML documents
> are the same. Oh, maybe you think that you should first canonicalize
> everything and then do string comparison.  However, you are deluding
> yourself that this is using the same tools for comparing different kinds
> of data.  The tool that you are actually using to compare, e.g., XML
> documents, is the composition of the datatype-specific canonicalizer and
> a string comparer.  There is no free lunch---you still need tools
> specific to each datatype.

Not quite.  cmp is used for comparison of *serialized* data, and 
canonicalization is part of the data *serialization* process -- not the 
data *comparison* process.   The serialization process must necessarily 
understand what kind of data it is -- there is no way around that -- so 
that is the logical place to do the canonicalization.  But the 
comparison process does *not* know what kind of data is being compared 
-- nor should it have to.  It's the serializer's job to produce a 
predictable, repeatable serialization of the data.  This works great and 
is trivially easy for everything *except* RDF, because of the 
instability of blank node labels.  In RDF, comparison is embarrassingly 
difficult.

One could argue that my application could use some workaround to solve 
this problem, but that belies the fact that the root cause of the 
problem is *not* some weird thing my application is trying to do, it is 
a weakness of RDF itself -- a gap in the RDF specs.  This gap makes RDF 
harder to use than it needs to be.  If we want RDF to be adopted by a 
wider audience -- and I certainly do -- then we need to fix obvious gaps 
like this.

I hope that helps clarify why I see this as a problem.  Given the above, 
would you be okay with canonicalization being an OPTIONAL deliverable?

Thanks,
David

>
>> I consider this a major deficiency in RDF that really needs to be
>> corrected.
>> Any significant software effort uses regression tests to validate
>> changes.
>> But comparing two documents is currently complicated and difficult
>> with RDF
>> data.  RDF canonicalization would make it as easy as it is for every
>> other
>> data representation.
>
> How so?  Right now you can just use a tool that does RDF graph or
> dataset isomorphism.  Under your proposal you would need a tool that
> does RDF graph or dataset canonicalization, which is no easier than
> isomorphism checking. What's the difference?
>
>> I realize that this is a slightly different -- and more stringent --
>> notion of
>> RDF validation than just looking at the general shape of the data,
>> because it
>> requires that the data not only has the expected shape, but also
>> contains the
>> expected *values*.  Canonicalization would solve this problem.
>
> Canonicalization is a part of a solution to a problem that is already
> solved.
>
>
>> Given this motivation, would you be okay with RDF canonicalization being
>> included as an OPTIONAL deliverable in the charter?
>>
>> Thanks,
>> David
>
>
> peter
>
>> On 08/13/2014 01:11 AM, Peter F. Patel-Schneider wrote:
>>> I'm still not getting this at all.
>>>
>>> How does canonicalization help me determine that I got the RDF data that
>>> I expected (exact or otherwise)?  For example, how does canonicalization
>>> help me determine that I got some RDF data that tells me the phone
>>> numbers of my friends?
>>>
>>> I just can't come up with a use case at all related to RDF data
>>> validation where canonicalization is relevant, except for signing RDF
>>> graphs, and that can just as easily be done at the surface syntax level,
>>> and signing is quite tangential to the WG's purpose, I think.
>>>
>>> peter
>>>
>>>
>>> On 08/12/2014 09:17 PM, David Booth wrote:
>>>> I think "canonicalization" would be a clearer term, as in:
>>>>
>>>>    "OPTIONAL - A Recommendation for canonical serialization
>>>>     of RDF graphs and RDF datasets."
>>>>
>>>> The purpose of this (to me) is to be able to validate that I got the
>>>> *exact*
>>>> RDF data that I expected -- not merely the right classes and
>>>> predicates and
>>>> such.  Would you be okay with including this in the charter?
>>>>
>>>> Thanks,
>>>> David
>>>>
>>>> On 08/12/2014 10:00 PM, Peter F. Patel-Schneider wrote:
>>>>> I'm still not exactly sure just what normalization means in this
>>>>> context
>>>>> or what relationship it has to RDF validation.
>>>>>
>>>>> peter
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> On 08/12/2014 06:55 PM, David Booth wrote:
>>>>>> +1 for all except one item.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> I'd like to make one last ditch attempt to include graph
>>>>>> normalization
>>>>>> as an
>>>>>> OPTIONAL deliverable.  I expect the WG to treat it as low priority,
>>>>>> and would
>>>>>> only anticipate a normalization document being produced if someone
>>>>>> takes the
>>>>>> personal initiative to draft it.  I do not see any significant
>>>>>> harm in
>>>>>> including it in the charter on that basis, but I do see a benefit,
>>>>>> because if
>>>>>> the WG did somehow get to it then it would damn nice to have, so that
>>>>>> we could
>>>>>> finally validate RDF data by having a standard way to compare two RDF
>>>>>> documents for equality, like we can routinely do with every other
>>>>>> data
>>>>>> representation.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Peter, would that be okay with you, to include graph normalization as
>>>>>> OPTIONAL
>>>>>> that way?
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Thanks,
>>>>>> David
>>>>>>
>>>>>> On 08/12/2014 08:55 PM, Eric Prud'hommeaux wrote:
>>>>>>> Hi all, we can have a face-to-face at the W3C Technical Plenary in
>>>>>>> November if we can quickly endorse a good-enough charter.  As it
>>>>>>> stands now, it isn't clear that the group will be able to reach
>>>>>>> consensus within the Working Group, let alone get through the member
>>>>>>> review without objection.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Please review the proposals that I've culled from the list.  I
>>>>>>> encournage compromise on all our parts and we'll have to suppress
>>>>>>> the
>>>>>>> desire to wordsmith. (Given the 3-month evaluation period,
>>>>>>> wordsmithing won't change much anyways.)
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> separate semantics:
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>    "Peter F. Patel-Schneider" <pfpschneider@gmail.com> - Message-ID:
>>>>>>> <53E2AFBD.9050102@gmail.com>
>>>>>>>      A syntax and semantics for shapes specifying how to construct
>>>>>>> shape
>>>>>>> expressions and how shape expressions are evaluated against RDF
>>>>>>> graphs.
>>>>>>>    "Dam, Jesse van" <jesse.vandam@wur.nl> - Message-ID:
>>>>>>> <63CF398D7F09744BA51193F17F5252AB1FD60B24@SCOMP0936.wurnet.nl>
>>>>>>>      defining the the (direct) semantics meaning of shapes and
>>>>>>> defining the
>>>>>>> associated validation process.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>    opposition: Holger Knublauch
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>    proposed resolution: include, noting that if SPARQL is judged
>>>>>>> to be
>>>>>>> useful for the semantics, there's nothing preventing us from
>>>>>>> using it.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> make graph normalization optional or use-case specific:
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>    "Peter F. Patel-Schneider" <pfpschneider@gmail.com> - Message-ID:
>>>>>>> <53E2AFBD.9050102@gmail.com>
>>>>>>>      3 OPTIONAL A specification of how shape verification interacts
>>>>>>> with
>>>>>>> inference.
>>>>>>>    Jeremy J Carroll <jjc@syapse.com> - Message-Id:
>>>>>>> <D954B744-05CD-4E5C-8FC2-C08A9A99BA9F@syapse.com>
>>>>>>>      the WG will consider whether it is necessary, practical or
>>>>>>> desireable
>>>>>>> to normalize a graph...
>>>>>>>      A graph normalization method, suitable for  the use cases
>>>>>>> determined by
>>>>>>> the group....
>>>>>>>    David Booth <david@dbooth.org> - Message-ID:
>>>>>>> <53E28D07.9000804@dbooth.org>
>>>>>>>      OPTIONAL - A Recommendation for normalization/canonicalization
>>>>>>> of RDF
>>>>>>> graphs and RDF datasets that are serialized in N-Triples and
>>>>>>> N-Quads.
>>>>>>> opposition - don't do it at all:
>>>>>>>    "Peter F. Patel-Schneider" <pfpschneider@gmail.com> - Message-ID:
>>>>>>> <53E3A4CB.4040200@gmail.com>
>>>>>>>      the WG should not be working on this.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>    proposed resolution: withdrawn, to go to new light-weight,
>>>>>>> focused
>>>>>>> WG,
>>>>>>> removing this text:
>>>>>>>    [[
>>>>>>>    The WG MAY produce a Recommendation for graph normalization.
>>>>>>>    ]]
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> mandatory human-facing language:
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>    "Dam, Jesse van" <jesse.vandam@wur.nl> - Message-ID:
>>>>>>> <63CF398D7F09744BA51193F17F5252AB1FD60B24@SCOMP0936.wurnet.nl>
>>>>>>>      ShExC mandatory, but potentially as a Note.
>>>>>>>    David Booth <david@dbooth.org> - Message-ID:
>>>>>>> <53E28D07.9000804@dbooth.org>
>>>>>>>      In Section 4 (Deliverables), change "OPTIONAL - Compact,
>>>>>>> human-readable
>>>>>>> syntax" to "Compact, human-readable syntax", i.e., make it required.
>>>>>>>    Jeremy J Carroll <jjc@syapse.com> - Message-Id:
>>>>>>> <54AA894F-F4B4-4877-8806-EB85FB5A42E5@syapse.com>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>    opposition - make it OPTIONAL
>>>>>>>    "Peter F. Patel-Schneider" <pfpschneider@gmail.com> - Message-ID:
>>>>>>> <53E2AFBD.9050102@gmail.com>
>>>>>>>      OPTIONAL A compact, human-readable syntax for expressing
>>>>>>> shapes.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>    proposed resolution: keep as OPTIONAL, not mentioning ShExC, but
>>>>>>> clarifying that it's different from the RDF syntax.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> report formats:
>>>>>>>    Dimitris Kontokostas <kontokostas@informatik.uni-leipzig.de>
>>>>>>>      provide flexible validation execution plans that range from:
>>>>>>>        Success / fail
>>>>>>>        Success / fail per constraint
>>>>>>>        Fails with error counts
>>>>>>>        Individual resources that fail per constraint
>>>>>>>        And enriched failed resources with annotations
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>    proposed resolution: no change, noting that no one seconded this
>>>>>>> proposal.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> test suite/validator:
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>    Dimitris Kontokostas <kontokostas@informatik.uni-leipzig.de>
>>>>>>>      Validation results are very important for the progress of this
>>>>>>> WG and
>>>>>>> should be a standalone deliverable.
>>>>>>>    David Booth <david@dbooth.org> - Message-ID:
>>>>>>> <53E28D07.9000804@dbooth.org>
>>>>>>>      Test Suite, to help ensure interoperability and correct
>>>>>>> implementation.
>>>>>>> The group will chose the location of this deliverable, such as a git
>>>>>>> repository.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>    proposed resolution: leave from charter as WGs usually choose to
>>>>>>> do this
>>>>>>> anyways and it has no impact on IP commitments.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>
>
>
>

Received on Wednesday, 13 August 2014 19:01:16 UTC