What are rules on the Semantic Web?
The term “rules” in the context of the Semantic Web refers to elements of logic programming and rule based systems bound to Semantic Web data. Rules offer a way to express, for example, constraints on the relationships defined by by RDF, or may be used to discover new, implicit relationships. Various rule systems (production rules, Prolog-like systems, etc) are very different from one another, and it is not possible to define one rule language to encompass them all. However, it is possible to define a “core” that is essentially understood by all rule systems. This core is based on restricted kind of rule, called a “Horn” rule, which (like most rules) has the form “if conditions then consequence”, but it places certain restrictions on the kinds of conditions and consequences that can be used. A general example may help. While integrating data coming from different sources, the data may include references to persons, their name, homepage, email addresses, etc. However, the data does not
The term “rules” in the context of the Semantic Web refers to elements of logic programming and rule based systems bound to Semantic Web data. Rules offer a way to express, for example, constraints on the relationships defined by by RDF, or may be used to discover new, implicit relationships. Various rule systems (production rules, Prolog-like systems, etc) are very different from one another, and it is not possible to define one rule language to encompass them all. However, it is possible to define a “core” that is essentially understood by all rule systems. This core is based on restricted kind of rule, called a “Horn” rule, which (like most rules) has the form “if conditions then consequence”, but it places certain restrictions on the kinds of conditions and consequences that can be used. A general example may help. While integrating data coming from different sources, the data may include references to persons, their name, homepage, email addresses, etc. However, the data does not
