Re: Coordinating XML schema and RDF schema

I've been pondering this for ages now:-

> How can we use vocabulary defined in an XML
> schema and vocabulary defined in an RDF schema
> to describe a resource within one an xml document.

RDF Schemas don't specify any sort of structure. However, XML Schemas don't
specify any form of RDF meaning, so that leads nicely to:-

> Is it possible, therefore, to import both the XML schema
> and the RDF schema as namespaces? Is it possible to
> mix RDF and XML to describe resources?

I already wrote about this a while ago, and what I was trying to imply then
is that there is no standard way of defining structure in RDF, mainly
because XML Schema is an inadequate way of expressing the constraints in
most RDF applications: e.g. RSS. If you constrain RDF to a rigid structure,
you lose the database/element set aspects of it, and the fact that RDF in
different namespaces can and should be easily combined. Note that both
Dublin Core and RSS have *prose* definitions as their core...
I think we should be using only RDF Schemas for RDF, unless you have an RDF
application that requires a very rigid structure and no namespace mixing
(then use XML Schemas as well). I'm not bashing XML Schemas here, rather
asking if RDF is meant to have structural constraints. Open discussion on
this matter is very welcome...

Kindest Regards,
Sean B. Palmer
http://xhtml.waptechinfo.com/swr/
http://www.w3.org/WAI/[ER/GL/PF]
"Perhaps, but let's not get bogged down in semantics."
   - Homer J. Simpson, BABF07.

Received on Tuesday, 28 November 2000 10:13:07 UTC