The W3C Data Shapes Working Group has been chartered in September 2014 to "Produce a language for defining structural constraints on RDF graphs and define graph topologies for interface specification, code development, and data verification." It will do for RDF what XML Schema did for XML. This brief was presented as part of the RDF-AP Special Session at DCMI 2014, the Dublin Core Metadata Initiative Conference.

1. David Wood
W3C Invited Expert
Member, Data Activity Coordination Group
Co-Chair, RDF 1.1 Working Group
david@3roundstones.com
@prototypo

2. Data Shapes Working Group
30 Sep 2014 - 1 June 2017
!
Mission:
• Produce a language for defining structural
constraints on RDF graphs.
• Define graph topologies for interface
specification, code development, and data
verification.
“Do for RDF what XML Schema does for XML.”

3. Use Cases
• Data ingestion restrictions/definitions.
!
• Data ingestion validation.
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• Generation of user interfaces.
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• Potential to lead to significant improvements
in the performance of SPARQL engines.

4. Inputs & Alternatives
• OWL
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• SPARQL Inferencing Notation (SPIN)
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• Resource Shapes
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• Shape Expressions

5. SPIN
• W3C Member Submission 22 February 2011
Holger Knublauch, TopQuadrant
James A. Hendler, RPI
Kingsley Idehen, OpenLink Software
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• “Combines concepts from object oriented
languages, query languages, and rule-based
systems to describe object behavior.”

6. Resource Shapes
• W3C Member Submission 11 February 2014
Arthur Ryman, IBM Corporation
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• Provides “both a description of its expected
contents (properties, types) within some
operational context (e.g. GET, POST) and the
integrity constraints that must be satisfied
by the contents in that context.”

7. Shape Expressions
• W3C Member Submission 2 June 2014
Harold Solbrig, Mayo Clinic
Eric Prud'hommeaux, W3C
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• Specifies “formal constraints on the content
of RDF graphs and are intended to be used to
validate RDF documents, communicate
expected graph patterns for interfaces and to
generate forms and validation code.”

8. http://www.w3.org/2013/ShEx/

9. Data Shapes Working Group
Recommendation Track:
• An RDF vocabulary
• Semantics
• OPTIONAL - Compact, human-readable,
non-RDF syntax
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Not Recommendation Track:
• Use cases, Primer, test suite, relationships to
W3C standards (OWL, SPARQL)

10. Data Shapes Working Group
• Just getting started.
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• Chair: Arnaud Le Hors, IBM.
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• Open to all W3C Members.
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• First meeting to be scheduled shortly.

11. This work is Copyright © 2014 David Wood!
Based partially on CC-BY licensed content Copyright © 2014 W3C by Phil Archer. !
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