Query language for XML documents marked with DAML tags

I am interested in how DAML will be used by a query
engine. While it is very useful as a language to
communicate ontologies among agents, it is also useful
as a language to communicate the ontologies of Web (read XML)
documents. Thus, DAML can provide an excellent basis upon
which to query Web documents.

It would seem that if XML document authors wish to use DAML tags,
they would still structure their documents according to the W3C XML
Query Data Model  (http://www.w3.org/TR/query-datamodel). Any query
language that would access information on these documents must
ultimately translate to the proposed W3C XML Query Algebra
(http://www.w3.org/TR/query-algebra). At this point, as far as I know,
there is no single proposed W3C XML Query Language standard yet
(although many have been proposed). Whatever the query language will be,
it will be limited by the query data model, which does not contain the
semantic richness of a model specified in DAML. While the future XML
Query Language will be bound to operate on the XML Query Data Model
structure, a DAML Query Language will not have such bounds. Rather,
the DAML Query Language should be bound to the DAML ontology model,
which will allow query formulators to specify their queries in terms
of classes and properties rather than nodes and links. Ultimately, the
DAML query language over XML documents should be transformable to
the XML Query Algebra.

What thought has been given to querying of Web documents marked up with
DAML tags? Are SHOE-like queries the default at this point? Will there
be some effort to ensure compatibility with the W3C XML Query Algebra?

David

=======================================
David Silberberg
Senior Computer Scientist
Johns Hopkins University
Applied Physics Laboratory
11100 Johns Hopkins Road
Laurel, MD  20723-6099
phone: (443)778-6231 (Baltimore  area)
        (240)228-6231 (Wash. D.C. area)
fax:   (443)778-6904 (Baltimore  area)
        (240)228-6904 (Wash. D.C. area)
email: david.silberberg@jhuapl.edu
=======================================

Received on Wednesday, 27 December 2000 16:01:27 UTC