Mapping language analysis
of comparative
characteristics
Ben De Meester, Pieter Heyvaert,
Ruben Verborgh, and Anastasia Dimou
Ghent University – imec – IDLab, Belgium
ben.demeester@ugent.be – @B_ _DM

AKA the “don’t quote me
on this” presentation
Ben De Meester, Pieter Heyvaert,
Ruben Verborgh, and Anastasia Dimou
Ghent University – imec – IDLab, Belgium

http://bit.ly/kgbmap
Ben De Meester, Pieter Heyvaert,
Ruben Verborgh, and Anastasia Dimou
Ghent University – imec – IDLab, Belgium
AKA the “please (digitally)
interrupt me” presentation

Confession #1
I have a car

Confession #1
I have a car
the best car
in the history
of the world

TODO PICTURE OF CAR

I can only transport one other person?
Where do I put the piano and drums?

It’s a trade-off

Confession #2
I work on RML

Confession #2
I work on RML
not the best mapping language
in the history
of the world

It’s not? How do you know?
1. See Confession #2: I work on RML
2. People say so (see citations [1-24])

It’s a trade-off

Which trade-off?

What we did
Problem
Solution
Fallout
Life after the paper

What we did
Problem
We can’t compare mapping languages
Solution
Fallout
Life after the paper

What we did
Problem
We can’t compare mapping languages
Solution
First attempt: compare existing requirements
Fallout
Life after the paper

Step 1
Take all some mapping languages
RML(+FnO)
xR2RML
FunUL
SPARQL-Generate
YARRRML

Step 2
Check the requirements they put forward

Step 3
Align and categorize
Non-functional requirements
EASY Easy to use
W3C Based on standards
FULL Fully covering the generation process
DS: Data source support (Tabular, Hierarchical, ...)
Functional requirements
F() General functions (M:N relations, data types, graphs, ...)
EXT Extensible
NEST Nesting
[...] Collections and Lists

Step 4
Summarize
Language EASY W3C FULL DS F() EXT NEST [...]
RML(+FnO) RDB, CSV, XML,
JSON, HTML,
RDF
xR2RML RDB, NoSQL
FunUL
~ RDB, CSV
SPARQL-
Generate
CSV, XML,
JSON, HTML,
Binary
YARRRML

What we did
Problem
We can’t compare mapping languages
Solution
First attempt: compare existing requirements
Fallout
We didn’t do everything right
Life after the paper

Lots of questions...
Of which I don’t have the answer to

What we did
Problem
We can’t compare mapping languages
Solution
First attempt: compare existing requirements
Fallout
We didn’t do everything right
Life after the paper
Let’s try and get it right

Let’s disagree
Filling in the document: http://bit.ly/kgbmap
Sending e-mails
Raising and resolving issues

Mapping language analysis
of comparative characteristics
Ben De Meester, Pieter Heyvaert,
Ruben Verborgh, and Anastasia Dimou
Ghent University – imec – IDLab, Belgium
ben.demeester@ugent.be – @B__DM
https://openreview.net/forum?id=HklWL4erv4

You were actually hoping
to see citations?
[1] Debruyne C, McKenna L and O'Sullivan D (2017), "Extending R2RML with Support for RDF Collections and Containers
to Generate MADS-RDF Datasets", In Research and Advanced Technology for Digital Libraries: 21st International
Conference on Theory and Practice of Digital Libraries, TPDL 2017, Thessaloniki, Greece, September 18-21, 2017,
Proceedings. Cham , pp. 531-536. Springer International Publishing.
[2] Debruyne C and O'Sullivan D (2016), "R2RML-F: Towards Sharing and Executing Domain Logic in R2RML Mappings", In
Workshop on Linked Data on the Web. CEUR.
[3] Junior AC, Debruyne C, Brennan R and O'Sullivan D (2017), "An evaluation of uplift mapping languages", International
Journal of Web Information Systems. Vol. 13(4), pp. 405-424.
[4] Lefrançois M, Zimmermann A and Bakerally N (2017), "A SPARQL Extension for Generating RDF from Heterogeneous
Formats", In The Semantic Web 14th International Conference, ESWC 2017, Portorož, Slovenia, May 28 – June 1, 2017,
Proceedings. Portoroz, Slovenia, May, 2017. , pp. 35-50. Springer International Publishing.
[5] Michel F, Djimenou L, Faron-Zucker C and Montagnat J (2015), "Translation of Heterogeneous Databases into RDF, and
Application to the Construction of a SKOS Taxonomical Reference", In International Conference on Web Information
Systems and Technologies. , pp. 275-296.
[6] Michel F, Djimenou L, Faron-Zucker C and Montagnat J (2017), "xR2RML: Relational and Non-Relational Databases
toRDF Mapping Language". Thesis at: CNRS., October, 2017.
[7] Slepicka J, Yin C, Szekely PA and Knoblock CA (2015), "KR2RML: An Alternative Interpretation of R2RML for
Heterogenous Sources.", In Proceedings of the 6th International Workshop on Consuming Linked Data (COLD 2015).
[8] Tennison J, Kellogg G and Herman I (2015), "Generating RDF from Tabular Data on the Web". Thesis at: World Wide
Web Consortium (W3C)., December, 2015.