RDF TUTORIAL

Introduction to RDF
The Resource Description Framework (RDF) is a W3C standard for describing Web resources, such as the
title, author, modification date, content, and copyright information of a Web page.

What You Should Already Know

Before you continue you should have a basic understanding of the following:
HTML
XHTML
XML
XML Namespaces

If you want to study these subjects first, find the tutorials on our Home page.

What is RDF?
RDF stands for Resource Description Framework
RDF is a framework for describing resources on the web
RDF provides a model for data, and a syntax so that independent parties can exchange and use it
RDF is designed to be read and understood by computers
RDF is not designed for being displayed to people
RDF is written in XML
RDF is a part of the W3C's Semantic Web Activity
RDF is a W3C Recommendation

RDF - Examples of Use

Describing properties for shopping items, such as price and availability
Describing time schedules for web events
Describing information about web pages, such as content, author, created and modified date
Describing content and rating for web pictures
Describing content for search engines
Describing electronic libraries
RDF is Designed to be Read by Computers
RDF was designed to provide a common way to describe information so it can be read and understood by
computer applications.
RDF descriptions are not designed to be displayed on the web.
RDF is Written in XML
RDF documents are written in XML. The XML language used by RDF is called RDF/XML.

By using XML, RDF information can easily be exchanged between different types of computers using
different types of operating systems and application languages.
RDF and "The Semantic Web"

The RDF language is a part of the W3C's Semantic Web Activity. W3C's "Semantic Web
Vision" is a future where:
Web information has exact meaning
Web information can be understood and processed by computers
Computers can integrate information from the web

RDF is a W3C Recommendation

RDF became a W3C Recommendation 10. February 2004.

RDF Rules
RDF uses Web identifiers (URIs) to identify resources.
RDF describes resources with properties and property values.
RDF Resource, Property, and Property Value
RDF identifies things using Web identifiers (URIs), and describes resources with properties and property
values.

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 Explanation of Resource, Property, and Property value:
A Resource is anything that can have a URI, such as "http://www.w3schools.com/RDF"
A Property is a Resource that has a name, such as "author" or "homepage"
A Property value is the value of a Property, such as "Jan Egil Refsnes" or "http://www.w3schools.com" (note
that a property value can be another resource)
The following RDF document could describe the resource "http://www.w3schools.com/RDF":

<?xml version="1.0"?>
<RDF>
<Description about="http://www.w3schools.com/RDF">
<author>Jan Egil Refsnes</author>
<homepage>http://www.w3schools.com</homepage>
</Description>
</RDF>
The example above is simplified. Namespaces are omitted.

RDF Statements
The combination of a Resource, a Property, and a Property value forms a Statement (known as the subject,
predicate and object of a Statement).
Let's look at some example statements to get a better understanding:
Statement: "The author of http://www.w3schools.com/RDF is Jan Egil Refsnes".
The subject of the statement above is: http://www.w3schools.com/RDF
The predicate is: author
The object is: Jan Egil Refsnes
Statement: "The homepage of http://www.w3schools.com/RDF is http://www.w3schools.com".
The subject of the statement above is: http://www.w3schools.com/RDF
The predicate is: homepage
The object is: http://www.w3schools.com

RDF Example
This is a few lines from a CD-list:
Title Artist Country Company Price Year
Empire Burlesque Bob Dylan USA Columbia 10.90 1985
Hide your heart Bonnie Tyler UK CBS Records 9.90 1988
...

This is a few lines of an RDF document:

<?xml version="1.0"?>
<rdf:RDF
xmlns:rdf="http://www.w3.org/1999/02/22-rdf-syntax-ns#"
xmlns:cd="http://www.recshop.fake/cd#">
<rdf:Description
rdf:about="http://www.recshop.fake/cd/Empire Burlesque">
<cd:artist>Bob Dylan</cd:artist>
<cd:country>USA</cd:country>
<cd:company>Columbia</cd:company>
<cd:price>10.90</cd:price>
<cd:year>1985</cd:year>
</rdf:Description>
<rdf:Description
rdf:about="http://www.recshop.fake/cd/Hide your heart">
<cd:artist>Bonnie Tyler</cd:artist>
<cd:country>UK</cd:country>
<cd:company>CBS Records</cd:company>
<cd:price>9.90</cd:price>
<cd:year>1988</cd:year>
</rdf:Description>
.
.
.

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 </rdf:RDF>

The first line of the RDF document is the XML declaration. The XML declaration is followed by the root
element of RDF documents: <rdf:RDF>.
The xmlns:rdf namespace, specifies that elements with the rdf prefix are from the namespace
"http://www.w3.org/1999/02/22-rdf-syntax-ns#".
The xmlns:cd namespace, specifies that elements with the cd prefix are from the namespace
"http://www.recshop.fake/cd#".
The <rdf:Description> element contains the description of the resource identified by the rdf:about attribute.

The elements:
<cd:artist>, <cd:country>, <cd:company>, etc. are properties of the resource.

RDF Online Validator

W3C's RDF Validation Service is useful when learning RDF. Here you can experiment with RDF files.
The online RDF Validator parses your RDF document, checks your syntax, and generates tabular and
graphical views of your RDF document.
Copy and paste the example below into W3C's RDF validator:<?xml version="1.0"?>
<rdf:RDF
xmlns:rdf="http://www.w3.org/1999/02/22-rdf-syntax-ns#"
xmlns:si="http://www.recshop.fake/siteinfo#">
<rdf:Description rdf:about="http://www.w3schools.com/RDF">
<si:author>Jan Egil Refsnes</si:author>
<si:homepage>http://www.w3schools.com</si:homepage>
</rdf:Description>
</rdf:RDF>

When you parse the example above, the result will look something like this.

Triples of the Data Model

Subject Predicate Object
http://www.w3schools.com/RDF http://www.recshop.fake/siteinfo#author "Jan Egil Refsnes"
http://www.w3schools.com/RDF http://www.recshop.fake/siteinfo#homepage "http://www.w3schools.com"

The original RDF/XML document

1: <?xml version="1.0"?>
2: <rdf:RDF
3: xmlns:rdf="http://www.w3.org/1999/02/22-rdf-syntax-ns#"
4: xmlns:si="http://www.recshop.fake/siteinfo#">
5: <rdf:Description rdf:about="http://www.w3schools.com/RDF">
6: <si:author>Jan Egil Refsnes</si:author>
7: <si:homepage>http://www.w3schools.com</si:homepage>
8: </rdf:Description>
9: </rdf:RDF>

Graph of the data model

RDF Main Elements

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The main elements of RDF are the root element, <RDF>, and the <Description> element, which identifies a
resource.

The <rdf:RDF> Element

<rdf:RDF> is the root element of an RDF document. It defines the XML document to be an RDF document. It
also contains a reference to the RDF namespace:<?xml version="1.0"?>
<rdf:RDF
xmlns:rdf="http://www.w3.org/1999/02/22-rdf-syntax-ns#">
.
. Description goes here
.
</rdf:RDF>

The <rdf:Description> Element

The <rdf:Description> element identifies a resource with the about attribute.

The <rdf:Description> element contains elements that describe the resource:

<?xml version="1.0"?>
<rdf:RDF
xmlns:rdf="http://www.w3.org/1999/02/22-rdf-syntax-ns#"
xmlns:cd="http://www.recshop.fake/cd#">
<rdf:Description
rdf:about="http://www.recshop.fake/cd/Empire Burlesque">
<cd:artist>Bob Dylan</cd:artist>
<cd:country>USA</cd:country>
<cd:company>Columbia</cd:company>
<cd:price>10.90</cd:price>
<cd:year>1985</cd:year>
</rdf:Description>
</rdf:RDF>

The elements, artist, country, company, price, and year, are defined in the http://www.recshop.fake/cd#
namespace. This namespace is outside RDF (and not a part of RDF). RDF defines only the framework. The
elements, artist, country, company, price, and year, must be defined by someone else (company,
organization, person, etc).
Properties as Attributes

The property elements can also be defined as attributes (instead of elements):

<?xml version="1.0"?>
<rdf:RDF
xmlns:rdf="http://www.w3.org/1999/02/22-rdf-syntax-ns#"
xmlns:cd="http://www.recshop.fake/cd#">
<rdf:Description
rdf:about="http://www.recshop.fake/cd/Empire Burlesque"
cd:artist="Bob Dylan" cd:country="USA"
cd:company="Columbia" cd:price="10.90"
cd:year="1985" />
</rdf:RDF>

Properties as Resources
The property elements can also be defined as resources:<?xml version="1.0"?>
<rdf:RDF
xmlns:rdf="http://www.w3.org/1999/02/22-rdf-syntax-ns#"
xmlns:cd="http://www.recshop.fake/cd#">
<rdf:Description
rdf:about="http://www.recshop.fake/cd/Empire Burlesque">
<cd:artist rdf:resource="http://www.recshop.fake/cd/dylan" />
.
.
.
.
</rdf:Description>

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</rdf:RDF>
In the example above, the property artist does not have a value, but a reference to a resource containing
information about the artist.

RDF Container Elements

RDF containers are used to describe group of things. For example, to list the authors of a book or to list the
members in a band.

The following RDF elements are used to describe such groups:

<Bag>, <Seq>, and <Alt>.

The <rdf:Bag> Element

The <rdf:Bag> element is used to describe a list of values that is intended to be unordered.
The <rdf:Bag> element may contain duplicate values.
Example<?xml version="1.0"?>
<rdf:RDF
xmlns:rdf="http://www.w3.org/1999/02/22-rdf-syntax-ns#"
xmlns:cd="http://www.recshop.fake/cd#">
<rdf:Description
rdf:about="http://www.recshop.fake/cd/Beatles">
<cd:artist>
<rdf:Bag>
<rdf:li>John</rdf:li>
<rdf:li>Paul</rdf:li>
<rdf:li>George</rdf:li>
<rdf:li>Ringo</rdf:li>
</rdf:Bag>
</cd:artist>
</rdf:Description>
</rdf:RDF>

The <rdf:Seq> Element

The <rdf:Seq> element is used to describe a list of values that is intended to be ordered (For example, in
alphabetical order).

The <rdf:Seq> element may contain duplicate values.

Example<?xml version="1.0"?>
<rdf:RDF
xmlns:rdf="http://www.w3.org/1999/02/22-rdf-syntax-ns#"
xmlns:cd="http://www.recshop.fake/cd#">
<rdf:Description
rdf:about="http://www.recshop.fake/cd/Beatles">
<cd:artist>
<rdf:Seq>
<rdf:li>George</rdf:li>
<rdf:li>John</rdf:li>
<rdf:li>Paul</rdf:li>
<rdf:li>Ringo</rdf:li>
</rdf:Seq>
</cd:artist>
</rdf:Description>
</rdf:RDF>

The <rdf:Alt> Element

The <rdf:Alt> element is used to describe a list of alternative values (the user can select only one of the
values).
Example<?xml version="1.0"?>
<rdf:RDF
xmlns:rdf="http://www.w3.org/1999/02/22-rdf-syntax-ns#"

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xmlns:cd="http://www.recshop.fake/cd#">
<rdf:Description
rdf:about="http://www.recshop.fake/cd/Beatles">
<cd:format>
<rdf:Alt>
<rdf:li>CD</rdf:li>
<rdf:li>Record</rdf:li>
<rdf:li>Tape</rdf:li>
</rdf:Alt>
</cd:format>
</rdf:Description>
</rdf:RDF>

RDF Terms
In the examples above we have talked about "list of values" when describing the container elements. In RDF
these "list of values" are called members.

So, we have the following:

A container is a resource that contains things
The contained things are called members (not list of values)

RDF Collections
RDF collections are used to describe groups that contains ONLY the specified members.
The rdf:parseType="Collection" Attribute
As seen in the previous chapter: You cannot close a container. A container says that the containing
resources are members - it does not say that other members are not allowed.
RDF collections are used to describe group that contains ONLY the specified members.

A collection is described by the attribute rdf:parseType="Collection".

Example<?xml version="1.0"?>
<rdf:RDF
xmlns:rdf="http://www.w3.org/1999/02/22-rdf-syntax-ns#"
xmlns:cd="http://recshop.fake/cd#">
<rdf:Description
rdf:about="http://recshop.fake/cd/Beatles">
<cd:artist rdf:parseType="Collection">
<rdf:Description rdf:about="http://recshop.fake/cd/Beatles/George"/>
<rdf:Description rdf:about="http://recshop.fake/cd/Beatles/John"/>
<rdf:Description rdf:about="http://recshop.fake/cd/Beatles/Paul"/>
<rdf:Description rdf:about="http://recshop.fake/cd/Beatles/Ringo"/>
</cd:artist>
</rdf:Description>
</rdf:RDF>

RDF Schema (RDFS)

RDF Schema (RDFS) is an extension to RDF.
RDF Schema and Application Classes
RDF describes resources with classes, properties, and values.
In addition, RDF also need a way to define application-specific classes and properties. Application-specific
classes and properties must be defined using extensions to RDF
One such extension is RDF Schema.

RDF Schema (RDFS)

RDF Schema does not provide actual application-specific classes and properties.
Instead RDF Schema provides the framework to describe application-specific classes and properties
Classes in RDF Schema is much like classes in object oriented programming languages. This allows
resources to be defined as instances of classes, and subclasses of classes.

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RDFS Example
The following example demonstrates some of the RDFS facilities:
<?xml version="1.0"?>
<rdf:RDF
xmlns:rdf= "http://www.w3.org/1999/02/22-rdf-syntax-ns#"
xmlns:rdfs="http://www.w3.org/2000/01/rdf-schema#"
xml:base= "http://www.animals.fake/animals#">
<rdf:Description rdf:ID="animal">
<rdf:type
rdf:resource="http://www.w3.org/2000/01/rdf-schema#Class"/>
</rdf:Description>
<rdf:Description rdf:ID="horse">
<rdf:type
rdf:resource="http://www.w3.org/2000/01/rdf-schema#Class"/>
<rdfs:subClassOf rdf:resource="#animal"/>
</rdf:Description>
</rdf:RDF>

In the example above, the resource "horse" is a subclass of the class "animal".

Example Abbreviated
Since an RDFS class is an RDF resource we can abbreviate the example above by using rdfs:Class instead
of rdf:Description, and drop the rdf:type information:<?xml version="1.0"?>
<rdf:RDF
xmlns:rdf= "http://www.w3.org/1999/02/22-rdf-syntax-ns#"
xmlns:rdfs="http://www.w3.org/2000/01/rdf-schema#"
xml:base= "http://www.animals.fake/animals#">
<rdfs:Class rdf:ID="animal" />
<rdfs:Class rdf:ID="horse">
<rdfs:subClassOf rdf:resource="#animal"/>
</rdfs:Class>
</rdf:RDF>

That's it!

RDF Dublin Core Metadata Initiative

The Dublin Core Metadata Initiative (DCMI) has created some predefined properties for describing
documents.

The Dublin Core

RDF is metadata (data about data). RDF is used to describe information resources.
The Dublin Core is a set of predefined properties for describing documents.
The first Dublin Core properties were defined at the Metadata Workshop in Dublin, Ohio in 1995 and is
currently maintained by the Dublin Core Metadata Initiative.

Property Definition

Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the content of

the resource
Coverage The extent or scope of the content of the resource

Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the content of the

resource
Format The physical or digital manifestation of the resource

Date A date of an event in the lifecycle of the resource

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 Description An account of the content of the resource

Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given

context
Language A language of the intellectual content of the resource

Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available

Relation A reference to a related resource

Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource

Source A Reference to a resource from which the present resource is

derived
Subject A topic of the content of the resource

Title A name given to the resource

Type The nature or genre of the content of the resource

A quick look at the table above indicates that RDF is ideal for representing Dublin Core information.

RDF Example
The following example demonstrates the use of some of the Dublin Core properties in an RDF document:<?
xml version="1.0"?>
<rdf:RDF
xmlns:rdf="http://www.w3.org/1999/02/22-rdf-syntax-ns#"
xmlns:dc= "http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/">
<rdf:Description rdf:about="http://www.w3schools.com">
<dc:title>D-Lib Program</dc:title>
<dc:description>W3Schools - Free tutorials</dc:description>
<dc:publisher>Refsnes Data as</dc:publisher>
<dc:date>1999-09-01</dc:date>
<dc:type>Web Development</dc:type>
<dc:format>text/html</dc:format>
<dc:language>en</dc:language>
</rdf:Description>
</rdf:RDF>

Introduction to OWL
OWL is a language for processing web information.

What You Should Already Know

Before you study OWL you should have a basic understanding of XML, XML Namespaces and RDF.
If you want to study these subjects first, please visit:
W3Schools' XML Tutorial and RDF Tutorial.

What is OWL?
OWL stands for Web Ontology Language
OWL is built on top of RDF
OWL is for processing information on the web
OWL was designed to be interpreted by computers
OWL was not designed for being read by people
OWL is written in XML
OWL has three sublanguages

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OWL is a W3C standard

What is Ontology?
Ontology is about the exact description of things and their relationships.
For the web, ontology is about the exact description of web information and relationships between web
information.

Why OWL?
OWL is a part of the "Semantic Web Vision" - a future where:
Web information has exact meaning
Web information can be processed by computers
Computers can integrate information from the web
OWL was Designed for Processing Information
OWL was designed to provide a common way to process the content of web information (instead of
displaying it).
OWL was designed to be read by computer applications (instead of humans).

OWL is Different from RDF

OWL and RDF are much of the same thing, but OWL is a stronger language with greater machine
interpretability than RDF.
OWL comes with a larger vocabulary and stronger syntax than RDF.

OWL Sublanguages
OWL has three sublanguages:
OWL Lite
OWL DL (includes OWL Lite)
OWL Full (includes OWL DL)
OWL is Written in XML
By using XML, OWL information can easily be exchanged between different types of computers using
different types of operating system and application languages.

OWL Example (Airport)

OWL Resource: http://www.daml.org/2001/10/html/airport-ont

Class: Airport
Properties:
elevation
iataCode
icaoCode
latitude
location
longitude
name
Produced using dumpont2.java

OWL is a Web Standard

OWL became a W3C (World Wide Web Consortium) Recommendation in February 2004.
A W3C Recommendation is understood by the industry and the web community as a web standard. A W3C
Recommendation is a stable specification developed by a W3C Working Group and reviewed by the W3C
Membership.

RDF Reference
The RDF Namespaces

The RDF namespace (xmlns:rdf) is:

http://www.w3.org/1999/02/22-rdf-syntax-ns#

The RDFS namespace (xmlns:rdfs ) is:

http://www.w3.org/2000/01/rdf-schema#

The RDF Extension and Mime Type:

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The recommended extension for RDF files is *.rdf. However, the extension *.xml is often used to provide
compatibility with older xml parsers.
The registered mime type should be "application/rdf+xml".

RDFS / RDF Classes

Element Class of Subclass of
rdfs:Class All classes

rdfs:Datatype Data types Class

rdfs:Resource All resources Class

rdfs:Container Containers Resource

rdfs:Literal Literal values (text and numbers) Resource

rdf:List Lists Resource

rdf:Property Properties Resource
rdf:Statement Statements Resource

rdf:Alt Containers of alternatives Container

rdf:Bag Unordered containers Container
rdf:Seq Ordered containers Container

rdfs:ContainerMembershipProperty Container membership properties Property

rdf:XMLLiteral XML literal values Literal

RDFS / RDF Properties

Element Domain Range Description
rdfs:domain Property Class The domain of the resource
rdfs:range Property Class The range of the resource
rdfs:subPropertyOf Property Property The property is a sub property of a property

rdfs:subClassOf Class Class The resource is a subclass of a class

rdfs:comment Resource Literal The human readable description of the
resource
rdfs:label Resource Literal The human readable label (name) of the
resource
rdfs:isDefinedBy Resource Resource The definition of the resource
rdfs:seeAlso Resource Resource The additional information about the resource
rdfs:member Resource Resource The member of the resource

rdf:first List Resource

rdf:rest List List

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 rdf:subject Statement Resource The subject of the resource in an RDF
Statement
rdf:predicate Statement Resource The predicate of the resource in an RDF
Statement
rdf:object Statement Resource The object of the resource in an RDF
Statement
rdf:value Resource Resource The property used for values
rdf:type Resource Class The resource is an instance of a class

RDF Attributes
Element Domain Range Description

rdf:about Defines the resource being described

rdf:Description Container for the description of a resource
rdf:resource Defines a resource to identify a property
rdf:datatype Defines the data type of an element
rdf:ID Defines the ID of an element
rdf:li Defines a list
rdf:_n Defines a node
rdf:nodeID Defines the ID of an element node
rdf:parseType Defines how an element should be parsed
rdf:RDF The root of an RDF document
xml:base Defines the XML base
xml:lang Defines the language of the element content

rdf:aboutEach (removed)
rdf:aboutEachPrefix (removed)
rdf:bagID (removed)
Element Domain Range Description
Elements described as (removed) are removed from the latest RDF standard.

By: DataIntegratedEntity22592
Source: http://w3schools.com/rdf/default.asp

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