- From: Antoine Zimmermann <antoine.zimmermann@emse.fr>
- Date: Tue, 18 Oct 2011 17:25:38 +0200
- To: public-rdf-wg@w3.org
Dear all, I was overloaded with other things and haven't participated in the recent discussions around graph and dataset semantics but I am now catching up and these are some thoughts I have after reading all that was said. I'd like to get your opinion on this. These are some things I expect regarding the semantics of datasets: 1. They should not impact the semantics of RDF; 2. There is no single fit-for-all semantics of datasets so the semantics must be flexible to accomodate use cases and existing implementations; 3. There should exist a way to tell the world what specific semantics one application is using. Item 1 implies that the semantics of datasets are distinct from the semantics of RDF. Item 2 implies that different conformant applications may entail different things. Yet, there should be common requirements to make a semantics "conformant". Item 3 is rather open but I am thinking of something like a description of a dataset that says, e.g., "bnodes are locally scoped" or (following Sandro's proposal) "graph labels are used to RDF-denote the graph containers" or "the default graph is the union of the named graphs" or "the default graph represents shared knowledge, valid in all named graphs", etc... All these statements say something about the semantics of datasets that is used in a system. Regarding the minimal requirements for a semantics of datasets, there is already a proposal [1]. I updated it to make it clearer. That proposal addresses many of the issues that Richard puts forward in a recent email [2]. In particular, it says that what is "true in a graph" (or, in a context) is not necessarily true in a different graph (or context). This minimal semantics does not provide any means of talking about an RDF Graph. This should be addressed by the mechanism that I envision in Item 3 above. [1] Semantics (in TF-Graphs/RDF-Datasets-Proposal). http://www.w3.org/2011/rdf-wg/wiki/TF-Graphs/RDF-Datasets-Proposal#Semantics [2] Datasets and contextual/temporal semantics. http://lists.w3.org/Archives/Public/public-rdf-wg/2011Oct/0212.html -- Antoine Zimmermann ISCOD / LSTI - Institut Henri Fayol École Nationale Supérieure des Mines de Saint-Étienne 158 cours Fauriel 42023 Saint-Étienne Cedex 2 France Tél:+33(0)4 77 42 66 03 Fax:+33(0)4 77 42 66 66 http://zimmer.aprilfoolsreview.com/
Received on Tuesday, 18 October 2011 15:26:08 UTC