Attributed and n-ary relations in OWL for knowledge modeling. (December 2018)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Chebba, Asmaa; Bouabana-Tebibel, Thouraya; Rubin, Stuart H.
• Is Part Of: Computer languages, systems & structures. Volume 54(2018)
• Page Start: 183
• Page End: 198
• Publication Date: 2018-12
• Subjects: Knowledge modeling -- Attributed relation -- N-ary relation -- Ontology -- OWL -- Protégé -- Randomization -- Reuse; Programming languages (Electronic computers) -- Periodicals; Computer networks -- Periodicals; Computer architecture -- Periodicals; Computer systems -- Periodicals; Langage de programmation; Réseau d'ordinateurs; Architecture d'ordinateur; Périodique électronique (Descripteur de forme); Ressource Internet (Descripteur de forme); 005.13
• DOI: 10.1016/j.cl.2018.06.001
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1477-8424

Abstract

Highlights: The representation of attributed and n-ary relations is proposed on the ontology description language, OWL. Reification is impractical and heavy for the aim of knowledge reuse and randomization. The proposed modeling approach avoids the need for reification to model the attributed and n-ary relations using OWL. The extension of OWL relies on the expansion of the syntactic, semantic and reasoning aspects of the basic language. Abstract: Knowledge modeling is the basis for the whole process of conceptual design. We aim, in this paper, at representing knowledge through an efficient model that enables efficient reuse. The knowledge model must be both expressive, so as not to omit any pertinent knowledge, and computable to allow for reasoning and learning. The ontology model, along with its well-known description language OWL (Web Ontology Language), is commonly used for this purpose. However, despite the strong expressiveness of OWL, this ontology language still shows limitations with regard to some modeling needs. We aim at promoting the representation of such aspects. We especially deal with the lack of an adequate representation for attributed relations and n-ary relations. The attributed relation, which is a relation that possesses its own attributes, is introduced into OWL, while preserving the basic semantics. The n-ary relation is also added to OWL by introducing a supplementary representational layer that is defined with a sound semantics, inspired from the DLR logic.