- From: Brian McBride <bwm@hplb.hpl.hp.com>
- Date: Wed, 26 Jun 2002 18:38:20 +0100
- To: RDF Core <w3c-rdfcore-wg@w3.org>
This is a new draft of this message based on feedback recieved. I'd like to approve this for sending at this Friday's telecon. Changes are: o minor change to the INTRODUCTION o explicitly stated B and C must have the same answer o removed angle brackets from around qname representation of uri's o pointed out test cases B and C depend on no range constraints o added deadline for responses 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. Please can we have all responses by 12 July 2002. INTRODUCTION TO DATATYPES ========================= Let's explain the basic ideas behind our approach to datatyping. The aim is to define how datatype values, e.g. integers, dates etc should be represented in RDF. It is important in getting the semantics correct that we distinguish between a datatype value, e.g. the integer 10 and a lexical representation of the value, e.g. the string "10". 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 the string "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? Note that this question only relates to the situation where there are no range constraints. Given compatible range constraints on the properties, there is no difficulty concluding that the answer is yes. 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. Again this question only relates to the situation where there are no range constraints on the properties. Given the appropriate range constraints on the properties, the answer is clearly no. 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. B and C must also have the same answer. 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 (by 12 July 2002) 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 Wednesday, 26 June 2002 13:39:23 UTC