W3C

– DRAFT –
RDF & SPARQL WG

18 September 2025

Attendees

Present
AndyS, doerthe, enrico, gtw, lisp, niklasl, olaf, pchampin, pfps, Souri, TallTed, tl
Regrets
AZ, ktk, ora
Chair
pchampin
Scribe
olaf

Meeting minutes

<enrico> I am travelling, so I will passively listening today.

olaf: the two WG chairs are not here today

pchampin: Comments about the minutes?

<pfps> last week's minutes look fine to me

Approval of last week’s minutes: 1

pchampin: other comments on the minutes?

<pchampin> PROPOSAL: approve last week minutes at https://www.w3.org/2025/09/11-rdf-star-minutes.html

<niklasl> +1

<pchampin> +1

<gtw> +1

<enrico> +1

<olaf> +1

<lisp> +1

<tl> +1

<TallTed> +1

<pfps> +1

<AndyS> +1

RESOLUTION: approve last week minutes at https://www.w3.org/2025/09/11-rdf-star-minutes.html

pchampin: no open actions?

open actions https://github.com/orgs/w3c/projects/20/views/3

pchampin: any comments on the open actions?
… I have marked mine as 'proposed to close'

<niklasl> w3c/rdf-concepts#238

<gb> Pull Request 238 Further explain abstract data model and abstract syntax (by niklasl) [ms:CR] [spec:editorial]

<pfps> It looks as of #7 and #8 have been done.

Action 172 take a stab at the paragraph differentiating abstract syntax and data model at this stage

niklasl: The mentioned PR addresses action 7

<pfps> And probably number 9

pchampin: the PR for 38 is still open
… I guess we want to keep the action open until the PR is merged
… the PR is approved by all editors
… to close the action, I propose we merge PR 238

<pfps> If the action is completed then it should be either closed or amended to state that getting something merged is part of the action.

pchampin: there are still some points open in this PR, and there are some discussions on the commits
… Maybe the PR is not ripe for merging.
… There are still comments by Dominik and by TallTed

TallTed: I am having trouble figuring out the order of things in this PR

niklasl: As Dominik is not here, I cannot merge the PR now.
… The only thing that the PR does is that it links to a definition.
… The remaining thing for this PR is that Dominik approves the PR.
… I will ping him in the PR

pchampin: I closed my action (which was marked as proposed for closing)

Action 173 try to revise `Replacing Blank Nodes with IRIs`, now in appendix b (on doerthe) due 2025-08-14

pchampin: there was an action for doerthe

doerthe: There was a PR, which is not merged.

pchampin: We should link the PR to the action

<gb> Pull Request 157 Fixed skolem text with simple entailment (by franconi)

pchampin: which one is it?

doerthe: the one in RDF Concepts

<pchampin> w3c/rdf-concepts#236

<gb> Pull Request 236 Issue #143 (Skolemization) (by doerthe)

pchampin: we have approvals on this PR from some of the Concepts editors and from the Semantics editors

TallTed: I have not reviewed this PR yet.
… it is on my TODO list.

<pfps> At some time the process should be to merge and anyone with problems can comment afterwards.

AndyS: All your (TallTed) changes have gone in.

TallTed: I believe you, but there have also been other changes that went in.

Action 174 draft PR replacing `data model` with `abstract syntax` (and vice versa?) to see what happens (on lisp) due 2025-08-14

<pchampin> w3c/rdf-concepts#232

<gb> MERGED Pull Request 232 revise to use "abstract data model" to unify "abstract syntax" and "data model" (by lisp)

pchampin: I believe that this (merged) PR addressed the action.

<pfps> James has done this action a while ago - there is a draft PR (whether or not it has been merged)

lisp: That was the intent last week when it was merged.

<pchampin> close #174

<gb> Closed issue #174

<lisp> andy made the actual merge...

TallTed: Please add a link form the action to the PR

pchampin: okay, done
… any other action that we can address?

Identifying issues to solve before CR 2

<pfps> I added a couple of editorial issues/PRs that should be completed before CR

pchampin: Is there any issue here that is ready for discussion?
… maybe we should start with "that" (?)

Pull Request 238 Further explain abstract data model and abstract syntax (by niklasl) [ms:CR] [spec:editorial]

pchampin: PR 238 (Concepts) has approval from the editors
… ah, that's the one we discussed earlier
… One PR on RDF Concepts by William is open

Pull Request 240 Review sec1.5 wv (by william-vw)

pchampin: it is related to the discussion of reifies
… The PR is reordering the arguments in Sec.1.5
… personally, I am happy with the latest changes in that PR
… Also, it may deprecate my own PR

<tl> I haven't had a look at this (wasn't aware of it)

<gb> Issue 169 definition of reifiers is non-normative and seems vague (by rat10) [needs discussion] [propose closing] [ms:CR]

niklasl: I need to look closely at this PR, but I have the same general impression. Yet, I still need to confirm.

<Zakim> pfps, you wanted to note that we still have w3c/rdf-star-wg#169

niklasl: It is editorial, which means it is not necessarily CR related.

Critical path, issues preventing progress on RDF Semantics

pfps: We still have all these issues that are blocking progress on Semantics

<Zakim> TallTed, you wanted to say this is another that I expect to get to reviewing today, perhaps tomorrow

pfps: That will involve a lot of work, and thus is the critical path.

<enrico> +1 pfps, I have to focus on these issues

TallTed: I haven't reviewed that one either.

AndyS: I don't think there is anything on the substance of Concepts and work on Semantics can continue.

pchampin: Yes, we are talking only about informative content. No proposed normative change around this issue.

<Zakim> TallTed, you wanted to ask that we capture the repo/document dependency order, that will capture the order we should review/attack current issues & PRs

<Souri> +

TallTed: Depenendcy order for the repos should be mapped

pchampin: The dependency is captured by the references from one doc to another.

TallTed: I would like this to be explicit; do this one first because it affects the other, etc.

pchampin: I will try to get us such a dependency graph.

ACTION: pchampin to find a way to extract a dependency graph of our specs

ACTION: pchampin to find a way to extract a dependency graph of our specs

<gb> Created action #179

<pfps> the blocking items that I see are numbers 1, 2, 3, and 4

<Zakim> pfps, you wanted to state that I consider that there are several items in this dashboard that are blocking finalizing semantics

pfps: I see several issues on this list that are blocking Semantics
… these issues have comments that can be interpreted to require changes to how Semantics works

AndyS: which issues do you mean?

pfps: the first four

AndyS: I shuffled them before the telecon
… the second one on the list has been taken over by William's PR

<AndyS> Item 2 is rdf-concepts - 220

pfps: still someone seems to want changes to Semantics

<gb> Pull Request 237 explain the rdf:reifies is deliberately abstract (by pchampin) [ms:CR] [spec:editorial]

<gb> Pull Request 220 Annotations on assserted triples are based on operational semantics (by rat10) [ms:CR]

<gb> Issue 46 Why quoted triples, when we already have named graphs? (by lars-hellstrom) [ms:CR] [wr:pending]

tl: The PR on Semantics can be closed without merging

<gb> Issue 169 definition of reifiers is non-normative and seems vague (by rat10) [needs discussion] [propose closing] [ms:CR]

tl: and the changes need to by done in Concepts or in Schema
… I am not requesting any changes to Semantics.

pchampin: tl's PR on Semantics has indeed been closed
… tl, do you share my impression that the solution will be exclusively in non-normative sections?
… That would make it easier to have the work on Semantics continue.

tl: I am not aware which section is normative.
… There should be a change to Sec.1.5 in Concepts
… There should be a change to Schema
… There is no need to change Semantics

<Zakim> pfps, you wanted to mention even for triple terms implying the truth of the triple

tl: I don't know why it is important whether this is about normative or not.

<TallTed> 1

<TallTed> 2

<TallTed> 3

<TallTed> 4

<gb> Pull Request 220 Annotations on assserted triples are based on operational semantics (by rat10) [ms:CR]

<gb> Issue 169 definition of reifiers is non-normative and seems vague (by rat10) [needs discussion] [propose closing] [ms:CR]

<gb> Pull Request 237 explain the rdf:reifies is deliberately abstract (by pchampin) [ms:CR] [spec:editorial]

<gb> Issue 46 Why quoted triples, when we already have named graphs? (by lars-hellstrom) [ms:CR] [wr:pending]

pfps: There was an illusion to a RDF-star. Going back to that will change Semantics.

<pfps> going back to having the presence of a quoted triple in an RDF graph asserting that triple would be a change to the semantics

AndyS: item 1 in the list has been 'proposed to close' since along time
… for the named graphs issue, it shouldn't be on this list.
… It shouldn't be marked 'cr'

pchampin: Yes, we should be able to close this issue. It is mainly a matter of putting the arguments together and writing a response to the issue.

tl: forgot why I queued

niklasl: Was it about whether you want triple terms to be in entailed (?)

tl: I remember I mentioned RDF-star, but I don't remember in what context.
… We will have a vote for it, and I will have to think what my vote will be.
… I am made to believe that the machinery in Semantics can be used to define rdfs:states

tl: I don't see why pfps is afraid that Semantics would need to be changed.
… neither theoretically nor in practice

pchampin: Going back to the issue raised by AndyS
… Concepts 46 has a long discussion

<enrico> The extension tl is talking about has been defined more than a year ago in https://github.com/w3c/rdf-star-wg/wiki/Extending-the-baseline-with-%22asserted%22-stuff . We decided not to include it in RDF 1.2, but it is a sound extension that tl could consider in the future

pchampin: Do we collectively think that we have provided enough feedback on this issue, or should it be synthesized?

<pchampin> STRAWPOLL: we will close w3c/rdf-concepts#46 as "won't fix"

<gb> Issue 46 Why quoted triples, when we already have named graphs? (by lars-hellstrom) [ms:CR] [wr:pending]

<pfps> adding rdf:states to RDF (entailment) would require re-checking some of the parts of Semantics

<niklasl> +1 but we need to respond

<lisp> +0 it depends on the response

<enrico> +1

<pfps> creating a new semantic extension for xx:states would not (so long as the semantic extension is not in Semantics)

niklasl: Closing the issue without further response, is debatable
… The question will come up again

<niklasl> +1 for removing ms:CR

AndyS: all we need to do now is to remove the CR tag

pchampin: removing the CR tag means we are not intending to make any normative change in the direction of the issue

<pchampin> STRAWPOLL: we will not make any substantive change relative to w3c/rdf-concepts#46 , so we can remove ms:CR and address it later

<gb> Issue 46 Why quoted triples, when we already have named graphs? (by lars-hellstrom) [ms:CR] [wr:pending]

<pfps> +1

<AndyS> +1

<olaf> +1

<lisp> +1

<doerthe> +1

<Souri> +1

<gtw> +1

<tl> +0

<enrico> +1

<niklasl> +1

<TallTed> +1

pchampin: Okay, I will remove the CR tag from the issue

<pfps> +1 to nicklasl

<enrico> +1 to niklasl

AndyS: I will put a link to the strawpoll into the issue, after the meeting

pchampin: Any low-hanging fruit in the list that we can resolve in the remaining minutes
… ?

AndyS: There is a batch of CR-tagged issues about being clear about IRIs
… I didn't have time to address them

pchampin: time to adjourn

<tl> enrico thank you for that hint. maybe I'll have to re-consider if no change sto RDF Semnatics are desired

AndyS: there is a SPARQL TF meeting tomorrow

Summary of action items

  1. pchampin to find a way to extract a dependency graph of our specs
  2. pchampin to find a way to extract a dependency graph of our specs

Summary of resolutions

  1. approve last week minutes at https://www.w3.org/2025/09/11-rdf-star-minutes.html
Minutes manually created (not a transcript), formatted by scribe.perl version 244 (Thu Feb 27 01:23:09 2025 UTC).

Diagnostics

Warning: ‘i/chair: pchampin/agenda: https://www.w3.org/events/meetings/e39fe026-428e-4736-8476-cb179725a892/20250918T120000/’ interpreted as inserting ‘agenda: https://www.w3.org/events/meetings/e39fe026-428e-4736-8476-cb179725a892/20250918T120000’ before ‘chair: pchampin’

Succeeded: i/chair: pchampin/agenda: https://www.w3.org/events/meetings/e39fe026-428e-4736-8476-cb179725a892/20250918T120000/

Succeeded: i|github|subtopic: action #172

Succeeded: s|https://github.com/w3c/rdf-star-wg/issues/173|-> Action 173 try to revise `Replacing Blank Nodes with IRIs`, now in appendix b (on doerthe) due 2025-08-14 https://github.com/w3c/rdf-star-wg/issues/173

Succeeded: s|https://github.com/w3c/rdf-star-wg/issues/174|-> Action 174 draft PR replacing `data model` with `abstract syntax` (and vice versa?) to see what happens (on lisp) due 2025-08-14 https://github.com/w3c/rdf-star-wg/issues/174

Succeeded: s/james:/lisp:

Succeeded: s|https://github.com/w3c/rdf-concepts/pull/238|-> Pull Request 238 Further explain abstract data model and abstract syntax (by niklasl) [ms:CR] [spec:editorial] https://github.com/w3c/rdf-concepts/pull/238

Succeeded: s|https://github.com/w3c/rdf-concepts/pull/240|-> Pull Request 240 Review sec1.5 wv (by william-vw) https://github.com/w3c/rdf-concepts/pull/240

Succeeded: s/highest priority/critical path/

Succeeded: s|1 -> https://github.com/w3c/rdf-star-wg/issues/169, 2 -> https://github.com/w3c/rdf-concepts/pull/220, 3 -> https://github.com/w3c/rdf-concepts/pull/237, 4 -> https://github.com/w3c/rdf-concepts/issues/46||

Succeeded: s/I made/I am made

Succeeded: s/rdf:states/rdfs:states

Succeeded: s/abatch/a batch

Succeeded: i/I will remove the CR/<TallTed> +1

Succeeded: s|subtopic: action #172|subtopic: -> Action 172 take a stab at the paragraph differentiating abstract syntax and data model at this stage https://github.com/w3c/rdf-star-wg/issues/172

Succeeded: s|https://github.com/w3c/rdf-star-wg/issues/7 -> CLOSED Issue 7 test *again* ghurlbot configuration (by ghurlbot)|

Succeeded: s|https://github.com/w3c/rdf-star-wg/issues/8 -> CLOSED Action 8 test *again* ghurlbot configuration (on ) due 13 Jan 2023|

Succeeded: i|We still have all these issues that are blocking|subtopic: Critical path, issues preventing progress on RDF Semantics

All speakers: AndyS, doerthe, lisp, niklasl, olaf, pchampin, pfps, TallTed, tl

Active on IRC: AndyS, doerthe, enrico, gtw, lisp, niklasl, olaf, pchampin, pfps, Souri, TallTed, tl