[data-shapes] [PROF] Add Profile of SHACL for a certain desired validation result quality (#850)

ajnelson-nist has just created a new issue for https://github.com/w3c/data-shapes:

== [PROF] Add Profile of SHACL for a certain desired validation result quality ==
This came out of a discussion from last week's profiling task force call.

A certain profile of SHACL can be created to enable "Pretty validation."  (Term c/o someone else on the call.  It lines up conceptually well with "pretty printing.")  What the profile requires is:

1. All property shapes must be IRI-identified.
2. All SPARQL constraints must be IRI-identified.
3. `sh:targetObjectsOf` is forbidden.

Those might not seem related, but they have a few compacting effects on validation reports.  What is sought, and possibly achieved (there might be some foiling cases from complex `sh:path` values---some experimenting is needed), is every validation result gets a compact IRI---perhaps even URL!---a user can see for the full shape definition causing the result; AND, a user gains enough information from focus node, value node, and path to find the triple (or at least, path connecting first subject and last object) triggering the result.

Anti-use cases this profile helps mitigate:

* A shape written using targetOjectsOf against a datatype can lead to a truly strange-looking validation result of "the focus node triggering this shape is the number 2."
* A detailed property shape spelled out in a blank node can produce a whelming `sh:sourceShape` line.
* Most SPARQL constraints produce a whelming `sh:sourceConstraint` line.

Please view or discuss this issue at https://github.com/w3c/data-shapes/issues/850 using your GitHub account


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Received on Friday, 3 April 2026 22:33:39 UTC