Web Science & Technologies

University of Koblenz Landau, Germany

SPARQL

Sergej Sizov

Semantic Web
Semantic Web Language Layer Cake

Existing standards
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SPARQL

SPARQL Protocol and RDF Query Language

W3C Recommendation 15 January 2008

http://www.w3.org/TR/rdf-sparql-query/

Standard query language for RDF

Native RDF knowledge bases
Knowledge bases viewed as RDF via middleware
Language for querying for graph patterns
Includes unions, conjunctions and optional patterns
No support for inserts or updates
Supports extensible testing for values and constraints
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SPARQL Query

Schemas used in query

PREFIX
SELECT Values to be returned

FROM
WHERE { }

Identify source data to query

Triple patterns and other

conditions to match the graph
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SPARQL Query types

SELECT
returns the set of variables bound in a query pattern match

CONSTRUCT
returns an RDF graph constructed by substituting variables
in a set of triple templates

DESCRIBE
returns an RDF graph that describes the resources found

ASK
returns whether a query pattern matches any triples or not
True / False query

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Basic SPARQL patterns

Triple Pattern
Similar to an RDF Triple
subject, predicate, object
Any component can be a query variable
Any combination of variables in the query is allowed

Matching patterns in the WHERE clause

Matching conjunction of Triple Patterns
Matching a triple pattern to a graph
Finding bindings between variables and RDF Terms
Underneath use of reasoners
Infering triples originally not present in the knowledge base

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Simple SPQRQL Query

PREFIX foaf: <http://xmlns.com/foaf/0.1/>

SELECT ?name ?page
WHERE {
?person foaf:page ?page .
?person foaf:name ?name
}

foaf:page ?page

?person

foaf:name
?name

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Query example
@prefix foaf: <http://xmlns.com/foaf/0.1/> .
_:a foaf:name Steffen Staab" .
Data _:a foaf:homepage <http://www.uni-koblenz.de/~staab> .
_:b foaf:name Maciej Janik" .
_:b foaf:homepage <http://www.uni-koblenz.de/~janik> .

PREFIX foaf: <http://xmlns.com/foaf/0.1/>

SELECT ?name ?page
WHERE {
?person foaf:homepage ?page . Query
?person foaf:name ?name
}

name page

Query Result Steffen Staab" <http://www.uni-koblenz.de/~staab>

Maciej Janik" <http://www.uni-koblenz.de/~janik>

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Querying for blank nodes
@prefix foaf: <http://xmlns.com/foaf/0.1/> .
_:a foaf:name Steffen Staab" .
Data _:a foaf:homepage <http://www.uni-koblenz.de/~staab> .
_:b foaf:name Maciej Janik" .
_:b foaf:homepage <http://www.uni-koblenz.de/~janik> .

PREFIX foaf: <http://xmlns.com/foaf/0.1/>

SELECT ?person ?name ?page
WHERE {
?person foaf:homepage ?page . Query
?person foaf:name ?name
}

person name homepage

_:c Steffen Staab" <http://www.uni-koblenz.de/~staab>
Query Result
_:d Maciej Janik" <http://www.uni-koblenz.de/~janik>

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Filters
FILTER
Further constrain graph patterns
Applies to the whole group of triple patterns

FILTER clause
Support for AND and OR logic operators
Extensive applications for testing literals
Support for numerical operations
Support for math equality operators for literals
Less than equal greater than
Use of regular expressions
Support for datatypes defined in XSL
e.g. comparison of dates, time
Possible comparison of resources
Equal or not equal
Even possible user extensions

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Filter Value Constraints
@prefix dc: <http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/> .
@prefix ex: <http://example.org/book/> .
@prefix ns: <http://example.org/ns#> .
ex:book1 dc:title "SPARQL Tutorial" .
Data
ex:book1 ns:price 42 .
ex:book2 dc:title "The Semantic Web" .
ex:book2 ns:price 23 .

PREFIX dc: <http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/>

PREFIX ns: <http://example.org/ns#>
SELECT ?title ?price
Query
WHERE { ?x ns:price ?price .
FILTER ?price < 30 .
?x dc:title ?title }

title price
Query Result
"The Semantic Web" 23

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Scope of filters

Filters are applied to the whole group of patterns where it

appears

{ ?x foaf:name ?name .
?x foaf:homepage ?page .
FILTER regex(?name, Steffen") }

{ ?x foaf:name ?name .
FILTER regex(?name, Steffen") .
?x foaf:homepage ?page }

{ FILTER regex(?name, Steffen") .

?x foaf:name ?name .
?x foaf:homepage ?page }

These patterns are equivalent have the same solution.

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Filter regular expression
@prefix foaf: <http://xmlns.com/foaf/0.1/> .
_:a foaf:name Steffen Staab" .
Data _:a foaf:homepage <http://www.uni-koblenz.de/~staab> .
_:b foaf:name Maciej Janik" .
_:b foaf:homepage <http://www.uni-koblenz.de/~janik> .

PREFIX foaf: <http://xmlns.com/foaf/0.1/>

SELECT ?name ?page
WHERE {
?person foaf:homepage ?page . Query
?person foaf:name ?name .
FILTER regex(?name, Steffen")
}

Query Result name page

Steffen Staab" <http://www.uni-koblenz.de/~staab>

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Filter regular expression
@prefix foaf: <http://xmlns.com/foaf/0.1/> .
_:a foaf:name Steffen Staab" .
Data _:a foaf:homepage <http://www.uni-koblenz.de/~staab> .
_:b foaf:name Maciej Janik" .
_:b foaf:homepage <http://www.uni-koblenz.de/~janik> .

PREFIX foaf: <http://xmlns.com/foaf/0.1/>

SELECT ?name ?page
WHERE {
?person foaf:homepage ?page . Query
?person foaf:name ?name .
FILTER regex(?name, i, janik")
} Case insensitive

Query Result name page

Maciej Janik" <http://www.uni-koblenz.de/~janik>

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Optional patterns

OPTIONAL
Include optional triple patterns to the match
Optional is a pattern itself can include further constraints

SELECT
WHERE {

OPTIONAL { }
}

OPTIONAL is left-associative
pattern OPTIONAL { pattern } OPTIONAL { pattern }
is the same as
{ pattern OPTIONAL { pattern } } OPTIONAL { pattern }

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Query example
@prefix foaf: <http://xmlns.com/foaf/0.1/> .
_:a foaf:name Steffen Staab" .
Data _:a foaf:homepage <http://www.uni-koblenz.de/~staab> .
_:b foaf:name Maciej Janik" .
_:b foaf:mbox <[email protected]> .

PREFIX foaf: <http://xmlns.com/foaf/0.1/>

SELECT ?name ?page
WHERE {
?person foaf:name ?name . Query
?person foaf:homepage ?page
}

name page

Query Result Steffen Staab" <http://www.uni-koblenz.de/~staab>

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Query example - OPTIONAL
@prefix foaf: <http://xmlns.com/foaf/0.1/> .
_:a foaf:name Steffen Staab" .
Data _:a foaf:homepage <http://www.uni-koblenz.de/~staab> .
_:b foaf:name Maciej Janik" .
_:b foaf:mbox <[email protected]> .

PREFIX foaf: <http://xmlns.com/foaf/0.1/>

SELECT ?name ?page
WHERE {
?person foaf:name ?name . Query
OPTIONAL (?person foaf:homepage ?page)
}

name page

Query Result Steffen Staab" <http://www.uni-koblenz.de/~staab>

Maciej Janik"

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Union of graph patterns

UNION
Combining alternative graph patterns
If more than one of the alternatives matches, all the
possible pattern solutions are included in result

SELECT
WHERE {
{ pattern }
UNION
{ pattern }
}

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Union of graph patterns
@prefix dc10: <http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.0/> .
@prefix dc11: <http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/> .
:book1 dc10:title "SPARQL Tutorial" .
:book1 dc10:creator Alice .
Data :book2 dc11:title "The Semantic Web" .
:book2 dc11:creator Robert .

PREFIX dc10: <http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.0/>

PREFIX dc11: <http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/>
SELECT ?title Query
WHERE { { ?x dc10:title ?title }
UNION
{ ?x dc11:title ?title } }

title

Query Result SPARQL Tutorial

"The Semantic Web"
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Modification to the result set

Result of SPARQL query can be further modified

ORDER BY
Sort results alphabetically / numerically by specific variable

LIMIT
Limit number of returned results (only top n results)

OFFSET
Skip n top results, and return the rest

These expressions can be combined in one query

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Sequencing and limiting results

Results 11 to 30 sorted by name

PREFIX foaf: <http://xmlns.com/foaf/0.1/>

SELECT ?name ?page
WHERE {
?person foaf:homepage ?page .
?person foaf:name ?name
}
ORDERBY ?name
LIMIT 20
OFFSET 10

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Bound variables

One of the FILTER expressions

Supports testing if a variable in a query can be bound to an
instance in the knowledge base
Mostly used for negation as failure

PREFIX foaf: < http://xmlns.com/foaf/0.1/>

SELECT ?name
WHERE {
?person foaf:name ?name .
OPTIONAL { ?person foaf:knows ?x . }
FILTER ( ! bound(?x))
}
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Tricky negation

Find people who do not know Steffen

PREFIX foaf: < http://xmlns.com/foaf/0.1/>
SELECT ?name
WHERE {
?person foaf:name ?name .
?person foaf:knows ?x .
FILTER ( ?x != Steffen )
}
we know that
Maciej foaf:knows Steffen
Maciej foaf:knows Sergej
so Maciej is still a valid answer, and we do not want it.

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Negation with bound

Find people who do not know Steffen

now the correct way using bound expression and optional
graph pattern

PREFIX foaf: < http://xmlns.com/foaf/0.1/>

SELECT ?name
WHERE {
?person foaf:name ?name .
OPTIONAL { ?person foaf:knows ?x .
FILTER ( ?x = Steffen ) }
FILTER ( ! bound(?x) ) }
}

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Other SPARQL filter expressions

isBlank
Testing if bounded variable is a blank node
SELECT ?given ?family
annotation
WHERE { ?annot dc:creator ?c .
OPTIONAL { dc:creator
?c foaf:given ?given .
:_
?c foaf:family ?family }. foaf:given
foaf:family
FILTER isBlank(?c) }
Alan Smith
lang
Accessing the language of a literal
SELECT ?name ?mbox
WHERE { ?x foaf:name ?name .
?x foaf:mbox ?mbox .
FILTER ( lang(?name) = DE ) }

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Other SPARQL filter expressions

isLiteral
Testing if bounded variable is a literal (not a resource)
SELECT ?name ?mbox
foaf:name Maciej
WHERE { ?x foaf:name ?name .
?x foaf:mbox ?mbox . :_
FILTER isLiteral(?mbox) }
foaf:mbox janik@

str
Converting resource URI to string for regular expression matching
SELECT ?name ?mbox
WHERE { ?x foaf:name ?name .
?x foaf:mbox ?mbox .
FILTER regex(str(?mbox), "@uni-koblenz.de") }

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Equal terms and same terms
Check if two terms are equal or if they describe the same
entity
Same entity can have even different URIs, but conneced
with owl:sameAs

term1 = term2
or
sameTerm(term1, term2)

Returns true, if
terms are of the same type (URI, literal, blank node)
two terms represent URIs are equivalent
two terms represent literals are equivalent
two terms are bound by the same blank node
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Equal terms

Find people who have the same email address, but use
different names
@prefix foaf: <http://xmlns.com/foaf/0.1/> .
_:a foaf:name "Alice".
_:a foaf:mbox <mailto:[email protected]> .
_:b foaf:name "Ms A. .
_:b foaf:mbox <mailto:[email protected]> .

PREFIX foaf: <http://xmlns.com/foaf/0.1/>

SELECT ?name1 ?name2
WHERE {
?x foaf:name ?name1 .
?x foaf:mbox ?mbox1 .
?y foaf:name ?name2 .
?y foaf:mbox ?mbox2 .
FILTER ( sameTerm(mbox1, ?mbox2) && ?name1 != ?name2) }

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User-defined functions
FILTER enables using user-defined expressions

PREFIX aGeo: <http://example.org/geo#>

SELECT ?neighbor WHERE {
?a aGeo:placeName Koblenz" .
?a aGeo:location ?axLoc .
?a aGeo:location ?ayLoc .
?b aGeo:placeName ?neighbor .
?b aGeo:location ?bxLoc .
?b aGeo:location ?byLoc .
FILTER
( aGeo:distance(?axLoc, ?ayLoc, ?bxLoc, ?byLoc) < 5 )
}

Definition of user function

Geometric distance between two points described by (x, y) coordinates
xsd:double aGeo:distance (numeric x1, numeric y1,
numeric x2, numeric y2)

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Querying for inferred knowledge

SPARQL do not have specific constructs for accessing

inferred knowledge
Underlying knowledge base is responsible for supporting
inference, e.g.
Class hierarchy
Property hierarchy
Transitive or symmetric properties
OWL restrictions
Defining classes by unions and/or intersections
Different knowledge bases can offer different level of
support
Same knowledge in different knowledge bases may return
different results for the same query, depending on
supported entailment

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Query example

ancestorOf ancestorOf

daugherOf sonOf
Alice Bob Clare

ancestorOf

ancestorOf = owl:transitiveProperty + union ( inverse(daugherOf), inverse(sonOf) )

Find ancestors of Alice

Query Result
SELECT ?x Clare
WHERE ?x ancestorOf Alice Bob

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CONSTRUCT queries

Special type of query to construct a new RDF graph from

the existing knowledge base

PREFIX
CONSTRUCT
{
graph pattern
definition of triples
}
WHERE
{
constraint triple patterns, filters, etc
}
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Constructing graphs
Data: Query:
@prefix foaf: PREFIX foaf:
<http://xmlns.com/foaf/0.1/> . <http://xmlns.com/foaf/0.1/>
_:a foaf:givenname "Alice" . PREFIX vcard:
_:a foaf:family_name "Hacker" . <http://www.w3.org/2001/vcard-
_:b foaf:firstname "Bob" . rdf/3.0#>
_:b foaf:surname "Hacker" . CONSTRUCT
{
?x vcard:N _:v .
_:v vcard:givenName ?gname .
_:v vcard:familyName ?fname
}
Result: WHERE
@prefix vcard: {
<http://www.w3.org/2001/vcard-rdf/3.0#> { UNION
?x foaf:firstname ?gname }
_:v1 vcard:N _:x . { ?x foaf:givenname ?gname } .
_:x vcard:givenName "Alice" . { ?x foaf:surname ?fname }
_:x vcard:familyName "Hacker" . UNION
_:v2 vcard:N _:z . { ?x foaf:family_name ?fname }
_:z vcard:givenName "Bob" . }
_:z vcard:familyName "Hacker" .

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ASK queries

True / false queries checks if given set of triple patterns

have at least one match in knowledge base
Does not include ORDER BY, LIMIT or OFFSET
@prefix foaf: <http://xmlns.com/foaf/0.1/> .
_:a foaf:name "Alice" .
_:a foaf:homepage <http://work.example.org/alice/> .
_:b foaf:name "Bob" .
_:b foaf:mbox <mailto:[email protected]>

PREFIX foaf: <http://xmlns.com/foaf/0.1/>

}
ASK { ?x foaf:name "Alice" .
?x foaf:mbox ?y }

YES
Answer: NO
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DESCRIBE queries

Returns a graph that includes description of specific

resources

Results of DESCRIBE query reveal metainformation not

returned by standard SELECT query
Type of bounded resources
Types of relationships used in query pattern

Exact description of resources is determined by the query

service
No common standard of description
Can even include information about related resources

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DESCRIBE query example

PREFIX ent: <http://org.example.com/employees#>

DESCRIBE ?x
WHERE { ?x ent:employeeId "1234" }

@prefix foaf: <http://xmlns.com/foaf/0.1/> .

@prefix vcard: <http://www.w3.org/2001/vcard-rdf/3.0> .
@prefix exOrg: <http://org.example.com/employees#> .
@prefix rdf: <http://www.w3.org/1999/02/22-rdf-syntax-ns#> .
@prefix owl: <http://www.w3.org/2002/07/owl#>

_:a exOrg:employeeId "1234" ;

foaf:mbox_sha1sum "ABCD1234" ;
vcard:N
[ vcard:Family "Smith" ;
vcard:Given "John" ] .

foaf:mbox_sha1sum rdf:type owl:InverseFunctionalProperty

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Named Graphs

RDF data stores may hold multiple RDF graphs:

record information about each graph
queries that involve information from more than one graph
default graph (does not have a name)
multiple named graphs (identified by URI reference)
direct implementation for reification

Accessing named graphs

FROM
access knowledge in default graph
FROM NAMED
access information from specific named graph

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Ad hoc-Reification (direct)

Kant examined Jonas in Introduction to CS and gave him

grade 1.0
s:jonas/#me

s:examinee

s:examiner s:in
s:kant/#me s:exam1 s:introCS

s:grade

1.0

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Named Graph as reification

Kant examined Jonas in Introduction to CS and gave him

grade 1.0

s:JonasGraph

s:jonas/#me

s:examinedIn

s:Stud2Graph
s:kant/#me s:introCS
s:examinedBy

s:grade

1.0

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Named graph examples
# Default graph (http://example.org/friends)
@prefix dc: <http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/> .
<http://example.org/bob> dc:publisher "Bob" .
<http://example.org/alice> dc:publisher "Alice" .
# Graph: http://example.org/bob
@prefix foaf: <http://xmlns.com/foaf/0.1/> .
_:a foaf:name "Bob" .
_:a foaf:mbox <mailto:[email protected]> .
# Graph: http://example.org/alice
@prefix foaf: <http://xmlns.com/foaf/0.1/> .
_:a foaf:name "Alice" .
_:a foaf:mbox <mailto:[email protected]> .

SELECT ...
FROM NAMED <http://example.org/alice>
FROM NAMED <http://example.org/bob>
...
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Relationships between named graphs

# Default graph
@prefix foaf: <http://xmlns.com/foaf/0.1/> .
_:y foaf:name "Alice" .
_:y foaf:mbox <mailto:[email protected]> .
_:y foaf:mbox <mailto:[email protected]> .

# Graph: http://example.org/alice
@prefix foaf: <http://xmlns.com/foaf/0.1/> .
_:a foaf:name Alice" .
_:a foaf:mbox <mailto:[email protected]> .

# Graph: http://example.org/alice_prev
@prefix foaf: <http://xmlns.com/foaf/0.1/> .
_:a foaf:name "Alice" .
_:a foaf:mbox <mailto:[email protected]> .

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Accessing named graphs
# Graph: http://example.org/alice
_:a foaf:name Alice" .
_:a foaf:mbox <mailto:[email protected]> .
# Graph: http://example.org/alice_prev
_:a foaf:name "Alice" .
_:a foaf:mbox <mailto:[email protected]> .

SELECT ?src ?mbox

WHERE {
GRAPH ?src
{ ?x foaf:name Alice .
?x foaf:mbox ?mbox
Result:
}
} src mbox
http://example.org/alice mailto:[email protected]
http://example.org/alice_prev mailto:[email protected]
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Restricting access by graph name
# Graph: http://example.org/alice
_:a foaf:name Alice" .
_:a foaf:mbox <mailto:[email protected]> .
# Graph: http://example.org/alice_prev
_:a foaf:name "Alice" .
_:a foaf:mbox <mailto:[email protected]> .

PREFIX ex: <http://example.org/>

SELECT ?mbox
WHERE {
GRAPH ex:alice
{ ?x foaf:mbox ?mbox }
} Result:

mbox
mailto:[email protected]

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