These are not formal definitions - just phrases to help you get the hang
of what these things mean. The definition terms are linked back to more
information where available.
Darpa Agent Markup Langauge. This is DARPA's name for the US
govenment funded projects which led to, among other things, OWL. The DAML site has useful pointers and
registries of useful ontologies and data in RDF.
(From: Closed world machine; valley.) A bit of code for playing with
this stuff, as grep is for regular expressions. Sucks in RDF in XML or
N3, processes rules, and spits it out again.
A term in a language (such as N3) which stands in place of a normal
symbol, allowing one to consider a formula being true for some symbol
being put consistently in place of the variable.
A set of statements, with a list of
universally quanitified variables and a list of existentially
quantified variables. In N3, a literal formula if representated by
braces {}.
Of the three parts of a statement, the object is one of the two
things related by the predicate. Often, it is the value of some
property, such as the color of a car. See also: subject, predicate.
Of the three parts of a statement, the predicate, or verb, is the
resource, specifically the Property, which defines what the statement
means. See also: subject, object.
A loose term for a Statement that an engine has been programmed to
process. Different engines have different sets of rules. cwm rules are statements whose
verb is log:implies.
Of the three parts of a statement, the subject is one of the two
things related by the predicate. Often, it indicates the thing being
described, such as a car whos color and length are being given. See
also: object, predicate
In OWL, a generic name for anything - abstract, animate, inanimate,
whatever. The class which anything is in. (In RDF parlance,
confusingly, rdf:Resource.) Identified by a URI with or without a "#"
in it. Tip: Saying something is a Thing doesn't tell
anyone anything, which is why you don't see it much.
A term in a language (such as N3) which stands in place of a normal
symbol, allowing one to consider a formula being true for any symbol
being put consistently in place of the variable.
Universal Resource Identifier. The way of identifying anything
(including Classes, Properties or individual things of any sort). Not
everything has a URI, as you can talk about something by just using its
properties. But using a URI allows other documents and systems to
easily reuse your information.