| [Ontology] Ensuring reusability of the railML ontology [message #3460] |
Wed, 12 February 2025 11:08  |
Andreas Nakkerud
Messages: 2
Registered: October 2024
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Junior Member |
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First time poster! My name is Andreas Nakkerud, and I am Tech Lead for Optimization at Bane NOR (the Norwegian IM). I hold a Master's degree in ontology-based data access and a PhD in mathematical optimization (rail and transportation domain).
I want to point out that the current use of rdfs:domain hinders the reusability of the railML ontology. Before going into detail, I want to point out that the arguments I will be making depend on the assumption that the railML ontology should be reusable in a very broad sense. There are two directions we could go:
- The railML ontology has one fully supported purpose: to mimic the structure of railML
- The railML ontology should be able to model the same information as railML while being reusable by other ontologies and for other purposes
For the remainder, I will assume the second option.
I have uploaded a presentation explaining the details of rdfs:domain and some finer points regarding reusability. I recommend reading this presentation before continuing.
When using rdfs:domain, we are stating universal truths that no ontology should every challenge.
- Good: :hasChild rdfs:domain :Parent (Anything that has a child is a parent)
- Bad: :hasChild rdfs:domain :Person (Anything that has a child is a person)
The good example is a proper part of the definition of a parent, the bad example prevents the ontology from being used for animals.
In the current version (0.6) of the ontology, rdfs:domain is used in a way that frequently prevent reuse without alteration. If the user of an ontology is forces to alter the ontology, then we no longer agree on the definitions of the terms in the ontology and interoperability is lost.
The core of the problem is that ontologies are a limited modelling framework that is highly specialized for Open-World modeling, and the current demands being put on rdfs:domain are not really supported in ontological modeling. I initially suggest two options:
- Avoid the use of rdfs:domain as much as possible
- Use a technique similar to the one proposed in the presentation to allow reusability while keeping the current use of rdfs:domain
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Andreas Nakkerud
Tech Lead Optimization, Bane NOR
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