RIF Last Call

The W3C Rule Interchange Format (RIF) Working Group this week
published "Last Call" drafts of two of its specifications:

   - "RIF Basic Logic Dialect" (BLD) specifies an XML format for rules
     at an intermediate expressive power.  The language is roughly
     Horn rules with URIs, datatypes, and builtins.  This goes beyond
     datalog (it has function terms), it but does not provide any kind
     of negation.   (Various forms of negation, and other features,
     are expected to be provided by dialects which extend BLD, to be
     published in the future.)
     http://www.w3.org/TR/rif-bld/

   - "RIF RDF and OWL Compatibility" explains and specifies how RIF
     rulesets are to be used in combination with RDF and OWL.
     http://www.w3.org/TR/rif-rdf-owl/

LAST CALL IS THE KEY TIME FOR EXTERNAL REVIEW.  The designs are
essentially complete (the Working Group believes the design work is
done), but things can still be changed in response to external input.
Additionally, input on editorial issues (especially pointing out
ambiguities) is always welcome.

In addition to these Last Call documents, the Working Group has
published four other drafts:

   - RIF Production Rule Dialect (PRD) specifies an XML format for the
     exchange of production rules.  PRD and BLD are expected to be the
     basis of the two main dialect-branches, with RIF Core being the
     things in common between the two.  (We have not yet published a
     document expressing that intersection, but it can be inferred
     from the PRD and BLD specifications.)  This is a first public
     working draft.  This is an exellent time to comment on the
     general direction of the language, and give feedback on all the
     issues mentioned as Editor's Notes in the document.
     http://www.w3.org/TR/rif-prd/

   - RIF Framework for Logic Dialects (FLD) and RIF Datatypes and
     Builtins (DTB) provide common elements for specific dialects to
     use.
     http://www.w3.org/TR/rif-fld/
     http://www.w3.org/TR/rif-dtb/

   - RIF Uses Cases and Requirements (UCR), last published about two
     years ago, has been simplified and now has examples written in
     the PRD and BLD presentation syntaxes.  The examples can be
     hidden or revealed using Javascript controls.
     http://www.w3.org/TR/rif-ucr/

Feedback on all these documents should be sent to:
      public-rif-comments@w3.org
All comments (and responses to them) will be available at the public
archive:
      http://lists.w3.org/Archives/Public/public-rif-comments/

Please comment by 19 September so we have time to address your
comments in incorporate any changes into our next round of
publications.

     -- Sandro Hawke, W3C RIF Staff Contact

Received on Friday, 1 August 2008 12:59:34 UTC