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Querying the Semantic Web with RQL

Published: 05 August 2003 Publication History
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  • Abstract

    Real-scale Semantic Web applications, such as Knowledge Portals and E-Marketplaces, require the management of voluminous repositories of resource metadata. The Resource Description Framework (RDF) enables the creation and exchange of metadata as any other Web data. Although large volumes of RDF descriptions are already appearing, sufficiently expressive declarative query languages for RDF are still missing. We propose RQL, a new query language adapting the functionality of semistructured or XML query languages to the peculiarities of RDF but also extending this functionality in order to uniformly query both RDF descriptions and schemas. RQL is a typed language, following a functional approach a la OQL and relies on a formal graph model that permits the interpretation of superimposed resource descriptions created using one or more RDF schemas. We illustrate the syntax, semantics and type system of RQL and report on the performance of RSSDB, our persistent RDF Store, for storing and querying voluminous RDF metadata.

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    Published In

    cover image Computer Networks: The International Journal of Computer and Telecommunications Networking
    Computer Networks: The International Journal of Computer and Telecommunications Networking  Volume 42, Issue 5
    Special issue: The Semantic Web: an evolution for a revolution
    05 August 2003
    140 pages

    Publisher

    Elsevier North-Holland, Inc.

    United States

    Publication History

    Published: 05 August 2003

    Author Tags

    1. RDF description bases
    2. RDF query languages
    3. RDF stores
    4. e-marketplaces
    5. knowledge portals

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    • (2019)An Efficient Index for RDF Query ContainmentProceedings of the 2019 International Conference on Management of Data10.1145/3299869.3319864(1499-1516)Online publication date: 25-Jun-2019
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