Re: Fwd: [Linking-open-data] Drupal 7 to be a major linked data client

Boris,
> On 3/11/08, *Kingsley Idehen* <kidehen@openlinksw.com 
> <mailto:kidehen@openlinksw.com>> wrote:
>
>
>     In you message above you use the term RDFization. Please clarify that
>     you mean exposing Drupal's SQL Data as RDF.
>
>
> No. Assertions are made not only at the SQL level (ok, ok, they're 
> stored there). One of the things that we've been saying is "get rid of 
> your developer". You can build a fully functional Drupal site by 
> learning the web gui. Exposing the data should / will be a side effect 
> of *users* creating data types views, and even just entering data (we 
> do lots of things like making a review type that then gets filled out 
> and becomes a review of an album, for instance).
I raised the question because we use RDFization to mean: middleware for 
producing RDF from non RDF sources :-)
>  
> As Dries stated, there are several problems that we are hitting 
> (relations between local data, integration of remote data sources, 
> etc.) that RDF and similar technologies have already solved. We are 
> also believers in standards, so there seems to be a good fit there.
>
>     If this is what you mean
>     then please note that we have produced complete RDFization of Drupal
>     (via Relational Schema to RDF Schema / Ontology Mapping) for a while
>     now.  Our main problem has been locating the right people on the
>     Drupal
>     front re. incorporation into the main Drupal codebase.
>
>
> Right. That would mean a high level of participation in the community, 
> learning community norms, etc. This is hard to do from the outside. 
> Although, I hadn't heard about this at all -- blogging about it and 
> tagging it with "drupal" would be good, or announcing it in the Sem 
> Web group would be good.
Yes, a post will soon be constructed that covers how this is done.

The time is right, I think,  now that there is an Interest Group 
covering RDB2RDF (what we refer to colloquially as SQL-RDF or RDF Views 
of SQL Data Sources).

>
>     In our case we
>     are using Virtuoso where you would normally have MySQL and Apache, and
>     we achieve this by simply making Drupal ODBC compliant (as
>     Virtuoso like
>     other DBMS engines supports ODBC and like Apache supports HTTP).
>
>
> Neat. But not appropriate for running out-of-the-box on any typical 
> run of the mill shared web hosting. The LAMP stack is typically the 
> main target for Drupal core, including the "average joe" that runs it 
> on cheap web hosting.
The EC2 AMI is an out-of-the-box delivery with Amazon Hosting. This 
delivery mode will become even more invisible now that Amazon offers 
infrastructure for Supported (kinda like LAMP & Open Source delivery) 
and Paid AMIs. Anyway, more on that when I write my post etc..

>
>     Ideally, I would like us to have all the Drupal and RDF efforts in one
>     place for reference by others. A nice starting point would be the ESW
>     Wiki [5].
>
>
> Well, we will be working with our community on what is best for moving 
> it forward. References are great, but the Drupal community -- esp. its 
> developers -- must  want to bring Semantic Web concepts into their DNA 
> and believe that it is the right thing.
Data Integration is the thing that everyone seems to understand. 
Arbitrary integration from the perspective of your Web Data Space en 
route to building a large mesh of Data Spaces (or GGG) is something that 
is gradually starting to resonate across many communities.
>
> The Semantic Web group (http://groups.drupal.org/semantic-web) will be 
> one point of of discussion. Other than that, the developer mailing 
> list and the issue queue for Drupal core will be the places where 
> discussion and code happens.
>
> I have suggested that replacing the File API layer in Drupal core with 
> some of the RDF code developed by Arto and Miglius would be a good 
> starting point. The File API is a weak point, so attempting to replace 
> it in the Drupal 7 development cycle -- and walking in the required 
> pieces of the RDF API. The other area is data structures for the 
> "content creation kit" aka CCK. See http://groups.drupal.org/node/9572 
> for a post of mine linking to the discussion.
>
> Lastly, this is technology available today in Drupal 6 -- so anyone 
> can install and kick the tires, and even extend to implement things 
> like MOAT on top of the API. It would be great if folks outside the 
> Drupal community that have much deeper RDF knowledge could jump in and 
> see what works. Plugfests with data being flowed between, e.g. 
> SPARQLPress and Drupal, would be another interesting area.
Yes, also note everything I've mentioned applies to 5 (I believe) and 6 
:-) I think simply making existing Drupal data available in Linked Data 
form, unobtrusively has immense value (to Drupal users and the broader 
Linked Data Web / GGG).
>
> Hope that helps present some context. I could probably close by saying 
> that the Drupal developer community is a meritocracy -- "Talk is 
> silver, code is gold".
We'll we've done the code (last year), so where the vault :-)

Kingsley
>
> Cheers,
>
> --
> Boris Mann
> http://bmannconsulting.com / http://www.raincitystudios.com
>
>


-- 


Regards,

Kingsley Idehen	      Weblog: http://www.openlinksw.com/blog/~kidehen
President & CEO 
OpenLink Software     Web: http://www.openlinksw.com

Received on Tuesday, 11 March 2008 16:12:44 UTC