W3C Shapes Constraint Language (SHACL) Vocabulary
This vocabulary defines terms used in SHACL, the W3C Shapes Constraint Language.
Shape
A shape is a collection of constraints that may be targeted for certain nodes.
Node shape
A node shape is a shape that specifies constraints that need to be met with respect to focus nodes.
Property shape
A property shape is a shape that specifies constraints on the values of a focus node for a given property or path.
A shape class is a class that is also a node shape. sh:ShapeClass can be used as rdf:type instead of the combination of rdfs:Class and sh:NodeShape.
Shape class
deactivated
If set to true then all nodes conform to this.
target class
Links a shape to a class, indicating that all instances of the class must conform to the shape.
target node
Links a shape to node expressions, indicating that the output nodes must conform to the shape.
target objects of
Links a shape to a property, indicating that all all objects of triples that have the given property as their predicate must conform to the shape.
target subjects of
Links a shape to a property, indicating that all subjects of triples that have the given property as their predicate must conform to the shape.
target where
Links a (subject) shape to an (object) shape, indicating that all nodes from the data graph that conform to the given (object) shape must conform to the (subject) shape.
message
A human-readable message (possibly with placeholders for variables) explaining the cause of the result.
severity
Defines the severity that validation results produced by a shape or constraint must have. Defaults to sh:Violation.
shape
Links from a node in the data graph to a shape that it is expected to conform to.
Node kind
The class of all node kinds, including sh:BlankNode, sh:IRI, sh:Literal or the combinations of these: sh:BlankNodeOrIRI, sh:BlankNodeOrLiteral, sh:IRIOrLiteral.
Blank node
The node kind of all blank nodes.
Blank node or IRI
The node kind of all blank nodes or IRIs.
Blank node or literal
The node kind of all blank nodes or literals.
IRI
The node kind of all IRIs.
IRI or literal
The node kind of all IRIs or literals.
Literal
The node kind of all literals.
Triple term
The node kind of all triple terms.
Graph
The class of graphs.
Data graph
The class of graphs that typically act in the role of a SHACL data graph.
Shapes graph
The class of graphs that typically act in the role of a SHACL shapes graph.
Validation report
The class of SHACL validation reports.
conforms
True if the validation did not produce any validation results with a severity level of the set of disallowed levels, and false otherwise.
conforms to
The subject conforms to the object if validation did not produce any validation results with a severity level of the set of disallowed levels.
conformance disallows
Severity levels that are evaluated in the conformance check.
validation report
A Validation Report that exists for the subject.
result
The validation results contained in a validation report.
shapes graph well-formed
If true then the validation engine was certain that the shapes graph has passed all SHACL syntax requirements during the validation process.
used shapes graph
The subject Validation Report was generated using the object Shapes Graph.
Abstract result
The base class of validation results, typically not instantiated directly.
Validation result
The class of validation results.
Severity
The class of validation result severity levels, including violation and warning levels.
Trace
The severity for a trace validation result.
Debug
The severity for a debug validation result.
Info
The severity for an informational validation result.
Violation
The severity for a violation validation result.
Warning
The severity for a warning validation result.
detail
Links a result with other results that provide more details, for example to describe violations against nested shapes.
focus node
The focus node that was validated when the result was produced.
result message
Human-readable messages explaining the cause of the result.
result path
The path of a validation result, based on the path of the validated property shape.
result severity
The severity of the result, e.g. warning.
source constraint
The constraint that was validated when the result was produced.
source shape
The shape that is was validated when the result was produced.
source constraint component
The constraint component that is the source of the result.
value
An RDF node that has caused the result.
shapes graph
Shapes graphs that should be used when validating this data graph.
suggested shapes graph
Suggested shapes graphs for this ontology. The values of this property may be used in the absence of specific sh:shapesGraph statements.
entailment
An entailment regime that indicates what kind of inferencing is required by a shapes graph.
path
Specifies the property path of a property shape.
inverse path
The (single) value of this property represents an inverse path (object to subject).
alternative path
The (single) value of this property must be a list of path elements, representing the elements of alternative paths.
zero or more path
The (single) value of this property represents a path that is matched zero or more times.
one or more path
The (single) value of this property represents a path that is matched one or more times.
zero or one path
The (single) value of this property represents a path that is matched zero or one times.
Parameterizable
Superclass of components that can take parameters, especially functions and constraint components.
parameter
The parameters of a function or constraint component.
label template
Outlines how human-readable labels of instances of the associated Parameterizable shall be produced. The values can contain {?paramName} as placeholders for the actual values of the given parameter.
Parameter
The class of parameter declarations, consisting of a path predicate and (possibly) information about allowed value type, cardinality and other characteristics.
optional
Indicates whether a parameter is optional.
Constraint component
The class of constraint components.
validator
The validator(s) used to evaluate constraints of either node or property shapes.
node validator
The validator(s) used to evaluate a constraint in the context of a node shape.
property validator
The validator(s) used to evaluate a constraint in the context of a property shape.
Validator
The class of validators, which provide instructions on how to process a constraint definition. This class serves as base class for the SPARQL-based validators and other possible implementations.
SPARQL ASK validator
The class of validators based on SPARQL ASK queries. The queries are evaluated for each value node and are supposed to return true if the given node conforms.
SPARQL SELECT validator
The class of validators based on SPARQL SELECT queries. The queries are evaluated for each focus node and are supposed to produce bindings for all focus nodes that do not conform.
And constraint component
A constraint component that can be used to test whether a value node conforms to all members of a provided list of shapes.
and
RDF list of shapes to validate the value nodes against.
Class constraint component
A constraint component that can be used to verify that each value node is an instance of a given type.
class
The type that all value nodes must have.
Closed constraint component
A constraint component that can be used to indicate that focus nodes must only have values for those properties that have been explicitly enumerated via sh:property/sh:path.
closed
If set to true then the shape is closed.
ignored properties
An optional RDF list of properties that are also permitted in addition to those explicitly enumerated via sh:property/sh:path.
Datatype constraint component
A constraint component that can be used to restrict the datatype of all value nodes.
datatype
Specifies an RDF datatype that all value nodes must have.
Disjoint constraint component
A constraint component that can be used to verify that the set of value nodes is disjoint with the the set of nodes that can be reached from the focus node via a given property path.
disjoint
Specifies a property path where the set of values must be disjoint with the value nodes.
Equals constraint component
A constraint component that can be used to verify that the set of value nodes is equal to the set of nodes that can be reached from the focus node using a given property path.
equals
Specifies a property path that must have the same values as the value nodes.
Has-value constraint component
A constraint component that can be used to verify that one of the value nodes is a given RDF node.
has value
Specifies a value that must be among the value nodes.
In constraint component
A constraint component that can be used to exclusively enumerate the permitted value nodes.
Specifies a list of allowed values so that each value node must be among the members of the given list.
Language-in constraint component
A constraint component that can be used to enumerate language tags that all value nodes must have.
language in
Specifies a list of language tags that all value nodes must have.
Less-than constraint component
A constraint component that can be used to verify that each value node is smaller than all the nodes that can be reached from the focus node via a given property path.
less than
Specifies a property path that must have smaller values than the value nodes.
Less-than-or-equals constraint component
A constraint component that can be used to verify that every value node is smaller than all the nodes that can be reached from the focus node via a given property path.
less than or equals
Specifies a property path that must have smaller or equal values than the value nodes.
Max-count constraint component
A constraint component that can be used to restrict the maximum number of value nodes.
max count
Specifies the maximum number of values in the set of value nodes.
Max-exclusive constraint component
A constraint component that can be used to restrict the range of value nodes with a maximum exclusive value.
max exclusive
Specifies the maximum exclusive value of each value node.
Max-inclusive constraint component
A constraint component that can be used to restrict the range of value nodes with a maximum inclusive value.
max inclusive
Specifies the maximum inclusive value of each value node.
Max-length constraint component
A constraint component that can be used to restrict the maximum string length of value nodes.
max length
Specifies the maximum string length of each value node.
Min-count constraint component
A constraint component that can be used to restrict the minimum number of value nodes.
min count
Specifies the minimum number of values in the set of value nodes.
Min-exclusive constraint component
A constraint component that can be used to restrict the range of value nodes with a minimum exclusive value.
min exclusive
Specifies the minimum exclusive value of each value node.
Min-inclusive constraint component
A constraint component that can be used to restrict the range of value nodes with a minimum inclusive value.
min inclusive
Specifies the minimum inclusive value of each value node.
Min-length constraint component
A constraint component that can be used to restrict the minimum string length of value nodes.
min length
Specifies the minimum string length of each value node.
Member shape constraint component
Can be used to specify constraints on the members of a given SHACL list. A violation is reported for each member of the list that does not comply with the constraints specified by the given shape. A violation is reported if the value is not a valid SHACL list.
Minimum list length constraint component
Specifies the minimum length of a SHACL list. A violation is reported if the value is not a valid SHACL list.
Maximum list length constraint component
Specifies the maximum length of a SHACL list. A violation is reported if the value is not a valid SHACL list.
Unique list members constraint component
Specifies that all members of a SHACL list must be unique. A violation is reported if the value is not a valid SHACL list.
member shape
Specifies the shape that all members of SHACL lists must conform to.
Minimum list length
Specifies the minimum length that a given SHACL list must have.
Maximum list length
Specifies the maximum length that a given SHACL list must have.
Unique list members
Specifies that all members of a SHACL list must be unique.
Node constraint component
A constraint component that can be used to verify that all value nodes conform to the given node shape.
node
Specifies the node shape that all value nodes must conform to.
Node-kind constraint component
A constraint component that can be used to restrict the RDF node kind of each value node.
node kind
Specifies the node kind (e.g. IRI or literal) each value node.
Not constraint component
A constraint component that can be used to verify that value nodes do not conform to a given shape.
not
Specifies a shape that the value nodes must not conform to.
Or constraint component
A constraint component that can be used to restrict the value nodes so that they conform to at least one out of several provided shapes.
Specifies a list of shapes so that the value nodes must conform to at least one of the shapes.
Pattern constraint component
A constraint component that can be used to verify that every value node matches a given regular expression.
flags
An optional flag to be used with regular expression pattern matching.
pattern
Specifies a regular expression pattern that the string representations of the value nodes must match.
Property constraint component
A constraint component that can be used to verify that all value nodes conform to the given property shape.
property
Links a shape to its property shapes.
Qualified-max-count constraint component
A constraint component that can be used to verify that a specified maximum number of value nodes conforms to a given shape.
Qualified-min-count constraint component
A constraint component that can be used to verify that a specified minimum number of value nodes conforms to a given shape.
qualified max count
The maximum number of value nodes that can conform to the shape.
qualified min count
The minimum number of value nodes that must conform to the shape.
qualified value shape
The shape that a specified number of values must conform to.
qualified value shapes disjoint
Can be used to mark the qualified value shape to be disjoint with its sibling shapes.
ReifierShape constraint component
A constraint component that can be used to verify that the reifier conforms to a given shape.
reifier shape
The shape that the reified triples must conform to.
reification required
Can be used to mark the reification statements required.
Root class constraint component
A constraint component that can be used to verify that each value node is the given class or a (transitive) subclass of that class.
root class
Specifies a class so that each value node must be that class or a (transitive) subclass of that class.
Single line constraint component
A constraint component that can be used to specify that none of the value nodes may contain line breaks.
single line
Specifies whether none of the value nodes may contain a line break.
Some value constraint component
A constraint component that can be used to verify that at least one of the value nodes conform to the given shape.
some value
Specifies the shape that at least one value node must conform to.
Subset-of constraint component
A constraint component that can be used to verify that the set of value nodes is a subset of the set of nodes that can be reached from the focus node using a given property path.
subset of
Specifies a property path where the set of value nodes must be a subset of the values of that property path.
Unique-languages constraint component
A constraint component that can be used to specify that no pair of value nodes may use the same language tag.
unique languages
Specifies whether all node values must have a unique (or no) language tag.
Unique-values-for constraint component
A constraint component that can be used to ensure that no two nodes targeted by the same shape have the same combination of values for a given set of properties.
unique values for
Specifies one or more properties (as a URI or rdf:List of URIs) for which no two nodes targeted by the same shape may have the same combination of values.
Exactly one constraint component
A constraint component that can be used to restrict the value nodes so that they conform to exactly one out of several provided shapes.
exactly one
Specifies a list of shapes so that the value nodes must conform to exactly one of the shapes.
Node expression function
The base (meta) class of node expression functions.
Named parameter expression function
The base class of node expression functions that take named parameters.
key parameter
Set to true for the parameter of a named parameter expression function that uniquely identifies it.
List parameter expression function
The base class of node expression functions that take a list of parameters.
Node expression
The base class of node expression (instances).
Named parameter expression
The base class of node expressions (instances) that take named parameters.
List parameter expression
The base class of node expressions (instances) that take a list of parameters.
body expression
A node expression that is the implementation/body of a custom node expression function.
SPARQL executable
The class of resources that encapsulate a SPARQL query.
SPARQL ASK executable
The class of SPARQL executables that are based on an ASK query.
ask
The SPARQL ASK query to execute.
SPARQL CONSTRUCT executable
The class of SPARQL executables that are based on a CONSTRUCT query.
construct
The SPARQL CONSTRUCT query to execute.
SPARQL DESCRIBE executable
The class of SPARQL executables based on a SPARQL DESCRIBE.
describe
The SPARQL DESCRIBE to execute.
SPARQL SELECT executable
The class of SPARQL executables based on a SELECT query.
select
The SPARQL SELECT query to execute.
SPARQL UPDATE executable
The class of SPARQL executables based on a SPARQL UPDATE.
update
The SPARQL UPDATE to execute.
prefixes
The prefixes that shall be applied before parsing the associated SPARQL query. The objects should define those prefixes using sh:declare.
Prefix declaration
The class of prefix declarations, consisting of pairs of a prefix with a namespace.
declare
Links a resource with its namespace prefix declarations.
prefix
The prefix of a prefix declaration.
namespace
The namespace associated with a prefix in a prefix declaration.
SPARQL constraint component
A constraint component that can be used to define constraints based on SPARQL queries.
constraint (in SPARQL)
Links a shape with SPARQL constraints.
SPARQL constraint
The class of constraints based on SPARQL SELECT queries.
Select expression
The class of node expressions based on SPARQL SELECT queries.
The SELECT query that is executed during evaluation of this node expression. The output nodes are the bindings of the first result variable.
The prefixes that shall be applied before parsing the associated SPARQL query. The object should define those prefixes using sh:declare.
SPARQL expr expression
The class of node expressions based on SPARQL expressions (sh:sparqlExpr).
SPARQL expr
The SPARQL expression that is executed during evaluation of this node expression.
The prefixes that shall be applied before parsing the SPARQL query that gets derived from the sh:sparqlExpr expression. The object should define those prefixes using sh:declare.
The SPARQL expression that is executed during evaluation of a node expression.
result annotation
Links a SPARQL validator with zero or more sh:ResultAnnotation instances, defining how to derive additional result properties based on the variables of the SELECT query.
Result annotation
A class of result annotations, which define the rules to derive the values of a given annotation property as extra values for a validation result.
annotation property
The annotation property that shall be set.
annotation value
The (default) values of the annotation property.
annotation variable name
The name of the SPARQL variable from the SELECT clause that shall be used for the values.
Expression constraint component
A constraint component that can be used to verify that a given node expression produces true for all value nodes.
expression
The node expression that must return true for the value nodes.
Node by expression constraint component
A constraint component that can be used to verify that all value nodes conform to the node shape(s) produced by the given node expression.
node by expression
Links a shape to node expressions, indicating the node shape(s) that all value nodes must conform to.
agent instruction
Can be used to store instructions that shall be sent as input for external agents that understand natural language.
code identifier
A hint on how code generators should represent the associated shape.
default value
A default value for a property, for example for user interface tools to pre-populate input fields.
description
Human-readable descriptions for the property in the context of the surrounding shape.
formalized
Can be used as reification of sh:intent triples to indicate whether the intended interpretation has already been formalized using SHACL in the same shapes graph.
group
Can be used to link to a property group to indicate that a property shape belongs to a group of related property shapes.
intent
Provides human-readable descriptions of one or more intended rules, assumptions, or constraints associated with its subject (e.g., a shape). Can be used as input for external agents that understand natural language.
name
Human-readable labels for the property in the context of the surrounding shape.
order
Specifies the relative order of this compared to its siblings. For example use 0 for the first, 1 for the second.
unit
The code of a unit that the (literal) value nodes should be interpreted with. Recommended values are plain strings from the UCUM and ISO 4217 standards for units of measure and currencies respectively, or unit URIs from QUDT or a similar ontology.
Property group
Instances of this class represent groups of property shapes that belong together.
target
Links a shape to a target specified by an extension language, for example instances of sh:SPARQLTarget.
Target
The base class of targets such as those based on SPARQL queries.
Target type
The (meta) class for parameterizable targets. Instances of this are instantiated as values of the sh:target property.
SPARQL target
The class of targets that are based on SPARQL queries.
SPARQL target type
The (meta) class for parameterizable targets that are based on SPARQL queries.
Function
The class of SHACL functions.
return type
The expected type of values returned by the associated function.
SPARQL function
A function backed by a SPARQL query - either ASK or SELECT.
Deprecated with SHACL 1.2: replaced by shnex:var.
Deprecated with SHACL 1.2: replaced by shnex:filterShape.
Deprecated with SHACL 1.2: replaced by shnex:nodes.
Deprecated with SHACL 1.2: replaced by shnex:intersection.
Deprecated with SHACL 1.2: replaced by shnex:concat.
Deprecated with SHACL 1.2: replaced by shnex:remove.
Rule
The class of SHACL rules. Never instantiated directly.
rule
The rules linked to a shape.
condition
The shapes that the focus nodes need to conform to before a rule is executed on them.
Triple rule
A rule based on triple (subject, predicate, object) pattern.
subject
An expression producing the resources that shall be inferred as subjects.
predicate
An expression producing the properties that shall be inferred as predicates.
object
An expression producing the nodes that shall be inferred as objects.
SPARQL CONSTRUCT rule
The class of SHACL rules based on SPARQL CONSTRUCT queries.