- From: Brian McBride <bwm@hplb.hpl.hp.com>
- Date: Fri, 21 Jun 2002 15:12:54 +0100
- To: RDF Core <w3c-rdfcore-wg@w3.org>
This is first draft of the datatypes message I agreed to produce at the f2f. Brian ============================================================================= The RDFCore WG is producing a proposal for how XML Schema datatypes should be used in RDF. We would like some guidance on a particular tradeoff we have to make. The WG requests that you send your considered answers to www-rdf-comment@w3.org, along with any comments, thoughts or questions you may have. INTRODUCTION TO DATATYPES ========================= Let's explain the basic ideas behind our approach to datatyping. We are proposing two principal idioms for representing datatyped information. The first looks like this: <Jenny> <age> _:a . _:a <xsdr:decimal> "10" . This can be written in RDF/XML like this. <rdf:Description rdf:about="Jenny"> <foo:age xsdr:decimal="10"/> </rdf:Description> Here the b-node _:a denotes the integer 10 which can be represented in decimal form as "10". The WG believes that this distinction between numbers, e.g. 10 and numerals (which are strings) e.g. "10" is important if we are to precisely define the semantics, e.g. 10 # "10". This idiom treats an XML datatype as a mapping from a value to a lexical representation of the value; this mapping is represented in RDF by a property. We believe this idiom to be quite straightforward, but not sufficient on its own because it is common practise to write things like: <jenny> <age> "10" . where the author of this fragment of RDF means to represent the fact that Jenny's age is the number 10. This is the second idiom, which is where we need some guidance. SOME TEST CASES =============== It is here that we need some advice, because we have a choice to make in the way we define the formal semantics. A few simple test cases: Test A: <Jenny> <ageInYears> "10" . <John> <ageInYears> "10" . Should an RDF processor conclude that the value of the ageInYears properties for Jenny and John are the same? Test B: <Jenny> <ageInYears> "10" . <Jenny> <testScore> "10" . Should an RDF processor conclude that the value of Jenny's ageInYears property is the same as the value of Jenny's testScore property? Test C: <Jenny> <ageInYears> "10" . <Film> <title> "10" . Should an RDF processor conclude that the value of Jenny's age property is the same as the value of the Film's title property? If the value the <ageInYears> property is an integer, and the value of the <title> property is a string, they are not the same thing and are thus not equal. Test D: <Jenny> <ageInYears> "10" . <ageInYears> <rdfs:range> <xsd:decimal> . <John> <ageInYears> _:a . _:a <xsdr:decimal> "10" . Should an RDF processor conclude that Jenny and John have the same age? [Note: in this example the range constraint is expressed using rdfs:range. We may have to introduce a special datatyping range property, but that is an independent detail for now.] It is not possible to have the answers to Test B, Test C and Test D all be yes. Either B and C can be yes or D can be yes. We have to decide which of these is the most important to have; (B and C) or D. WHY THESE TEST CASES MATTER =========================== The formal semantics can define the meaning of a literal in one of two ways: tidy) the <ageInYears> property takes a value which is a numeral, i.e. a string untidy) the <ageInYears> property takes a value which is some datatype value whose string representation is "10", but without further information, such as a range constraint, we can't tell exactly what the value is, e.g. the string might be in octal. If we choose the tidy option, the object of the statement is always a string, which means that in: <Jenny> <ageInYears> "10" . <Film> <title> "10" . the values of the two properties are the same; they are both the STRING "10". If we choose the untidy option, the value of the object object of the statement is unknown from this statement alone; a range constraint is required to determine the value from the literal string: <jenny> <ageInYears> "10" . <ageInYears> <rdfs:range> <xsd:decimal> . With a range constraint, we can know that the object of the property is the integer 10. CONCLUSION ========== To end then, please send a message to www-rdf-comments@w3.org indicating whether you believe its more important to have the answer to test case B be yes, or test case D be yes: Test B: <Jenny> <ageInYears> "10" . <Jenny> <testScore> "10" . Test D: <Jenny> <ageInYears> "10" . <ageInYears> <rdfs:range> <xsd:decimal> . <John> <ageInYears> _:a . _:a <xsdr:decimal> "10" . We would also like to know the reasons for this preference. Brian McBride on behalf of the RDFCore WG
Received on Friday, 21 June 2002 10:13:24 UTC