Semantic web queries/Interrogation du web sémantique in areas (2024-03-15)

The content of experiments must be semantically described. This topic has already been largely covered. However, some neglected benefits of such an approach provide more arguments in favour of scientific knowledge graphs. Beyond being searchable through flat metadata, a knowledge graph of experiment descriptions may be able to provide answers to scientific and methodological questions. This includes identifying non experimented conditions or retrieving specific techniques used in experiments. In turn, this is useful for researchers as this information can be used for repurposing experiments, checking claimed results or performing meta-analyses.

Query transformations are ubiquitous in semantic web query processing. For any situation in which transformations are not proved correct by construction, the quality of these transformations has to be evaluated. Usual evaluation measures are either overly syntactic and not very informative ---the result being: correct or incorrect--- or dependent from the evaluation sources. Moreover, both approaches do not necessarily yield the same result. We suggest that grounding the evaluation on query containment allows for a data-independent evaluation that is more informative than the usual syntactic evaluation. In addition, such evaluation modalities may take into account ontologies, alignments or different query languages as soon as they are relevant to query evaluation.

Query containment is defined as the problem of determining if the result of a query is included in the result of another query for any dataset. It has major applications in query optimization and knowledge base verification. The main objective of this work is to provide sound and complete procedures to determine containment of SPARQL queries under expressive description logic schema axioms. Beyond that, these procedures are experimentally evaluated. To date, testing query containment has been performed using different techniques: containment mapping, canonical databases, automata theory techniques and through a reduction to the validity problem in logic. In this work, we use the latter technique to test containment of SPARQL queries using an expressive modal logic called mu-calculus. For that purpose, we define an RDF graph encoding as a transition system which preserves its characteristics. In addition, queries and schema axioms are encoded as mu-calculus formulae. Thereby, query containment can be reduced to testing validity in the logic. We identify various fragments of SPARQL and description logic schema languages for which containment is decidable. Additionally, we provide theoretically and experimentally proven procedures to check containment of these decidable fragments. Finally, we propose a benchmark for containment solvers which is used to test and compare the current state-of-the-art containment solvers.

The standard SPARQL query language is currently defined for querying RDF graphs without RDFS semantics. Several extensions of SPARQL to RDFS semantics have been proposed. In this paper, we discuss extensions of SPARQL that use regular expressions to navigate RDF graphs and may be used to answer queries considering RDFS semantics. In particular, we present and compare nSPARQL and our proposal CPSPARQL. We show that CPSPARQL is expressive enough to answer full SPARQL queries modulo RDFS. Finally, we compare the expressiveness and complexity of both nSPARQL and the corresponding fragment of CPSPARQL, that we call cpSPARQL. We show that both languages have the same complexity through cpSPARQL, being a proper extension of SPARQL graph patterns, is more expressive than nSPARQL.

SPARQL is the standard query language for RDF graphs. In its strict instantiation, it only offers querying according to the RDF semantics and would thus ignore the semantics of data expressed with respect to (RDF) schemas or (OWL) ontologies. Several extensions to SPARQL have been proposed to query RDF data modulo RDFS, i.e., interpreting the query with RDFS semantics and/or considering external ontologies. We introduce a general framework which allows for expressing query answering modulo a particular semantics in an homogeneous way. In this paper, we discuss extensions of SPARQL that use regular expressions to navigate RDF graphs and may be used to answer queries considering RDFS semantics. We also consider their embedding as extensions of SPARQL. These SPARQL extensions are interpreted within the proposed framework and their drawbacks are presented. In particular, we show that the PSPARQL query language, a strict extension of SPARQL offering transitive closure, allows for answering SPARQL queries modulo RDFS graphs with the same complexity as SPARQL through a simple transformation of the queries. We also consider languages which, in addition to paths, provide constraints. In particular, we present and compare nSPARQL and our proposal CPSPARQL. We show that CPSPARQL is expressive enough to answer full SPARQL queries modulo RDFS. Finally, we compare the expressiveness and complexity of both nSPARQL and the corresponding fragment of CPSPARQL, that we call cpSPARQL. We show that both languages have the same complexity through cpSPARQL, being a proper extension of SPARQL graph patterns, is more expressive than nSPARQL.

Query containment is the problem of deciding if the answers to a query are included in those of another query for any queried database. This problem is very important for query optimization purposes. In the SPARQL context, it can be equally useful. This problem has recently been investigated theoretically and some query containment solvers are available. Yet, there were no benchmarks to compare theses systems and foster their improvement. In order to experimentally assess implementation strengths and limitations, we provide a first SPARQL containment test benchmark. It has been designed with respect to both the capabilities of existing solvers and the study of typical queries. Some solvers support optional constructs and cycles, while other solvers support projection, union of conjunctive queries and RDF Schemas. No solver currently supports all these features or OWL entailment regimes. The study of query demographics on DBPedia logs shows that the vast majority of queries are acyclic and a significant part of them uses UNION or projection. We thus test available solvers on their domain of applicability on three different benchmark suites. These experiments show that (i) tested solutions are overall functionally correct, (ii) in spite of its complexity, SPARQL query containment is practicable for acyclic queries, (iii) state-of-the-art solvers are at an early stage both in terms of capability and implementation.

This chapter provides an introduction to the RDF language as well as surveys the languages that can be used for querying RDF graphs. Then it reviews some of the languages that can be used for querying RDF and provides a comparison between these query languages.

The problem of SPARQL query containment is defined as determining if the result of one query is included in the result of another one for any RDF graph. Query containment is important in many areas, including information integration, query optimization, and reasoning about Entity-Relationship diagrams. We encode this problem into an expressive logic called the mu-calculus where RDF graphs become transition systems, queries and schema axioms become formulas. Thus, the containment problem is reduced to formula satisfiability. Beyond the logic's expressive power, satisfiability solvers are available for it. Hence, this study allows to exploit these advantages.

SPARQL query containment under schema axioms is the problem of determining whether, for any RDF graph satisfying a given set of schema axioms, the answers to a query are contained in the answers of another query. This problem has major applications for verification and optimization of queries. In order to solve it, we rely on the mu-calculus. Firstly, we provide a mapping from RDF graphs into transition systems. Secondly, SPARQL queries and RDFS and SHI axioms are encoded into mu-calculus formulas. This allows us to reduce query containment and equivalence to satisfiability in the mu-calculus. Finally, we prove a double exponential upper bound for containment under SHI schema axioms.

The problem of SPARQL query containment has recently attracted a lot of attention due to its fundamental purpose in query optimization and information integration. New approaches to this problem, have been put forth, that can be implemented in practice. However, these approaches suffer from various limitations: coverage (size and type of queries), response time (how long it takes to determine containment), and the technique applied to encode the problem. In order to experimentally assess implementation limitations, we designed a benchmark suite offering different experimental settings depending on the type of queries, projection and reasoning (RDFS). We have applied this benchmark to three available systems using different techniques highlighting the strengths and weaknesses of such systems.

Querying the semantic web is mainly done through SPARQL. This language has been studied from different perspectives such as optimization and extension. One of its extensions, PSPARQL (Path SPARQL) provides queries with paths of arbitrary length. We study the static analysis of queries written in this language, in particular, containment of queries: determining whether, for any graph, the answers to a query are contained in those of another query. Our approach consists in encoding RDF graphs as transition systems and queries as mu-calculus formulas and then reducing the containment problem to testing satisfiability in the logic. We establish complexity bounds and report experimental results.

Querying the semantic web is mainly done through SPARQL. This language has been studied from different perspectives such as optimization and extension. One of its extensions, PSPARQL (Path SPARQL) provides queries with paths of arbitrary length. We study the static analysis of queries written in this language, in particular, containment of queries: determining whether, for any graph, the answers to a query are contained in those of another query. Our approach consists in encoding RDF graphs as transition systems and queries as mu-calculus formulas and then reducing the containment problem to testing satisfiability in the logic.

RDF is a knowledge representation language dedicated to the annotation of resources within the framework of the semantic web. Among the query languages for RDF, SPARQL allows querying RDF through graph patterns, i.e., RDF graphs involving variables. Other languages, inspired by the work in databases, use regular expressions for searching paths in RDF graphs. Each approach can express queries that are out of reach of the other one. Hence, we aim at combining these two approaches. For that purpose, we define a language, called PRDF (for "Path RDF") which extends RDF such that the arcs of a graph can be labeled by regular expression patterns. We provide PRDF with a semantics extending that of RDF, and propose a correct and complete algorithm which, by computing a particular graph homomorphism, decides the consequence between an RDF graph and a PRDF graph. We then define the PSPARQL query language, extending SPARQL with PRDF graph patterns and complying with RDF model theoretic semantics. PRDF thus offers both graph patterns and path expressions. We show that this extension does not increase the computational complexity of SPARQL and, based on the proposed algorithm, we have implemented a correct and complete PSPARQL query engine.

We have proposed an extension of SPARQL, called PSPARQL, to characterize paths of variable lengths in an RDF knowledge base (e.g. "Does there exists a trip from town A to town B?"). However, PSPARQL queries do not allow expressing constraints on internal nodes (e.g. "Moreover, one of the stops must provide a wireless access."). This paper proposes an extension of PSPARQL, called CPSPARQL, that allows expressing constraints on paths. For this extension, we provide an abstract syntax, semantics as well as a sound and complete inference mechanism for answering CPSPARQL queries.

RDF is a knowledge representation language dedicated to the annotation of resources within the framework of the semantic web. Among the query languages for querying an RDF knowledge base, some, such as SPARQL, are based on the formal semantics of RDF and the concept of semantic consequence, others, inspired by the work in databases, use regular expressions making it possible to search the paths in the graph associated with the knowledge base. In order to combine the expressivity of these two approaches, we define a mixed language, called PRDF (for "Paths RDF") in which the arcs of a graph can be labeled by regular expressions. We define the syntax and the semantics of these objects, and propose a correct and complete algorithm which, by a kind of homomorphism, calculates the semantic consequence between an RDF graph and a PRDF graph. This algorithm is the heart of query answering for the PSPARQL query language, the extension of the SPARQL query language which we propose and have implemented: a PSPARQL query allows to query an RDF knowledge base using graph patterns whose predicates are regular expressions.

RDF is a knowledge representation language dedicated to the annotation of resources within the Semantic Web. Though RDF itself can be used as a query language for an RDF knowledge base (using RDF consequence), the need for added expressivity in queries has led to the definition of the SPARQL query language. SPARQL queries are defined on top of graph patterns that are basically RDF (and more precisely GRDF) graphs. To be able to characterize paths of arbitrary length in a query (e.g., "does there exist a trip from town A to town B using only trains and buses?"), we have already proposed the PRDF (for Path RDF) language, effectively mixing RDF reasonings with database-inspired regular paths. However, these queries do not allow expressing constraints on the internal nodes (e.g., "Moreover, one of the stops must provide a wireless connection."). To express these constraints, we present here an extension of RDF, called CPRDF (for Constrained paths RDF). For this extension of RDF, we provide an abstract syntax and an extension of RDF semantics. We characterize query answering (the query is a CPRDF graph, the knowledge base is an RDF graph) as a particular case of CPRDF entailment that can be computed using some kind of graph homomorphism. Finally, we use CPRDF graphs to generalize SPARQL graph patterns, defining the CPSPARQL extension of that query language, and prove that the problem of query answering using only CPRDF graphs is an NP-hard problem, and query answering thus remains a PSPACE-complete problem for CPSPARQL.