Semantic Web Unit-1_Answer Booklet

Unit1 -Questions and Answers

1. A) Define the Semantic Web.

Ans: A Semantic Web is a web of data that can be processed directly or indirectly by
machines.
 The Semantic Web as a logical extension of the current Web instead of a distant possibility.
 The Semantic Web is both achievable and desirable.
 According to the vision of Tim Berners-Lee we can define the Semantic Web as a machine
processable web of smart data.
 We can also further define smart data as data that is application-independent, composable,
classified, and part of a larger information ecosystem (ontology).
 The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) has established an Activity dedicated to
implementing the vision of the Semantic Web. The following diagram shows an example of
Semantic Web with Web of documents and Web of data.

B) Illustrate the need of the Semantic Web.

Ans: The Semantic Web is not just for the World Wide Web.
 It represents a set of technologies that will work equally well on internal corporate
intranets.
 The Semantic Web will resolve several key problems facing current information
technology architectures.
 Information Overload
 Information overload is the most obvious problem in need of a solution, and technology
experts have been warning us about it for 50 years.
 Stovepipe Systems
 A stovepipe system is a system where all the components are hardwired to only work
together.

CSE(AIML) DEPARTMENT@VITS BY M. VENKATESWARLU 1

  Poor Content Aggregation
 Putting together information from disparate sources is a recurring problem in a number
of areas, such as financial account aggregation, portal aggregation, comparison shopping, and
content mining.

C) Demonstrate the smart data continuum with neat diagram.

Ans: The first step is a paradigm shift in the way we think about data. Historically, data has
been locked away in proprietary applications.

 Data was seen as secondary to processing the data. This incorrect attitude gave rise to
the expression “garbage in, garbage out,” or GIGO. GIGO basically reveals the flaw in the
original argument by establishing the dependency between processing and data.

The following Figure displays the progression of data along a continuum of increasing
intelligence and also four stages of the smart data continuum.

CSE(AIML) DEPARTMENT@VITS BY M. VENKATESWARLU 2

  Text and databases (pre-XML).
 The initial stage where most data is proprietary to an application. Thus, the “smarts” are
in the application and not in the data.
 XML documents for a single domain.
 The stage where data achieves application independence within a specific domain. Data
is now smart enough to move between applications in a single domain.
 An example of this would be the XML standards in the healthcare industry, insurance
industry, or real estate industry.
 Taxonomies and documents with mixed vocabularies.
 In this stage, data can be composed from multiple domains and accurately classified in
a hierarchical taxonomy. In fact, the classification can be used for discovery of data.
 Simple relationships between categories in the taxonomy can be used to relate and thus
combine data. Thus, data is now smart enough to be easily discovered and sensibly combined
with other data.
 Ontologies and rules.
 In this stage, new data can be inferred from existing data by following logical rules.
 In essence, data is now smart enough to be described with concrete relationships, and
sophisticated formalisms where logical calculations can be made on this “semantic algebra.”
2. A) How does the XML fit into the Semantic Web.
Ans: XML is the syntactic foundation layer of the Semantic Web. All other technologies
providing features for the Semantic Web will be built on top of XML.

 Requiring other Semantic Web technologies (like the Resource Description

Framework) to be layered on top of XML guarantees a base level of interoperability.
 The technologies that XML is built upon are Unicode characters and Uniform
Resource Identifiers (URIs).
 The Unicode characters allow XML to be authored using international characters.
 URIs are used as unique identifiers for concepts in the Semantic Web.

B) Describe about the Web Services fitness into the Semantic Web.

 Ans: Web services are software services identified by a URI that are described, discovered,
and accessed using Web protocols.
 The important point about Web services is that they consume and produce XML. Thus, the
first way that Web services fit into the Semantic Web is by furthering the adoption of XML,
or more smart data.
 Semantic Web technologies will be necessary to solve the Web service discovery problem.

CSE(AIML) DEPARTMENT@VITS BY M. VENKATESWARLU 3

 The following Figure demonstrates the various convergences that combine to form
Semantic Web services.

C) Demonstrate the uses of Semantic Web in enterprise with neat diagram.

 Ans: Traditional knowledge management techniques have faced new challenges by

today’s Internet: information overload, the inefficiency of keyword searching, the lack of
authoritative (trusted) information, and the lack of natural language-processing
computer systems.
 The Semantic Web can bring structure to information chaos. For us to get our
knowledge, we need to do more than dump information into files and databases.
 The following figure provides a view of how the organization can revolve around the
corporate Semantic Web, impacting virtually every piece of the organization.

 We may have projects that could share lessons learned, provide competitive intelligence
information, and save us a lot of time and work.

CSE(AIML) DEPARTMENT@VITS BY M. VENKATESWARLU 4

 If we had a corporate knowledge base that could be searched and analyzed by software
agents, we could have Web based applications that save us a lot of time and money.

The following are the uses Semantic Web in enterprise.

 Decision Support
 Having knowledge—not just data—at the fingertips allows us to make better decisions.
 Business Development

 It is important for members of the organization to have up-to-the minute information

that could help us win business.
 E-commerce industry experts believe that the Semantic Web can be used in
matchmaking for e-business.
 Matchmaking is a process in which businesses are put in contact with potential business
partners or customers.

 Information Sharing and Knowledge Discovery

 Information sharing and communication are paramount in any organization, but as most
organizations grow and collect more information, this is a major struggle.
 We all understand the importance of not reinventing the wheel, but how many times
have we unintentionally duplicated efforts? When organizations get larger, communication
gaps are inevitable.
 With a little bit of effort, a corporate knowledge base could at least include a registry of
descriptions of projects and what each team is building.
 Imagine how easy it would be for the employees to be able to find relevant information.
Using Semantic Web enabled Web services can allow us to create such a registry.

 Administration and Automation

 A side effect of having such a knowledge base is the ability of software programs to
automate administrative tasks.
 Booking travel, for example, is an example where the Semantic Web and Web services
could aid in making a painful task easy.
 Making travel arrangements can be an administrative nightmare. Everyone has personal
travel preferences and must take items such as the following into consideration:
 Transportation preference (car, train, bus, plane)
 Hotel preference and rewards associated with hotel
 Airline preference and frequent flyer miles
 Hotel proximity to meeting places
 Hotel room preferences (nonsmoking, king, bar, wireless network in lobby)
 Rental car options and associated rewards
 Price (lodging and transportation per diem rates for the company)
3. A) Define XML.

CSE(AIML) DEPARTMENT@VITS BY M. VENKATESWARLU 5

Ans: XML has become the universal syntax and framework for exchanging data between
organizations. By agreeing on a standard schema, organization can produce these text
documents that can be validated, transmitted, and parsed by any application regardless of
hardware or operating system.
 XML provides universal accepted language for creating semantically rich new markup
languages in a particular domain.
 XML stands for Extensible Markup Language.
 We can apply XML to create new markup languages.
 Any language created via the rules of XML, like the Math Markup Language
(MathML), CML (Chemical Markup Language) are called the applications of XML.

B) List the axes of smart data continuum in the Semantic Web.

Ans: Web services complete a platform-neutral processing model for XML.
The step after that is to make both the data and the processing model smarter.
In the “smart-data continuum” semantic web will move along five axes:

1. Logical assertions
2. Classification
3. Formal class models
4. Rules
5. Trust
C) Demonstrate on Well-Formed Document and Valid Document in XML.
Ans: Well Formed XML Documents: A well-formed XML document complies with all the
W3C syntax rules of XML (explicitly called out in the XML specification as well-formedness
constraints) like naming, nesting, and attribute quoting.

An XML document with correct syntax is called "Well Formed".

The syntax rules were given bellow for Well Formed document.
 XML documents must have a root element
 XML elements must have a closing tag
 XML tags are case sensitive
 XML elements must be properly nested
 XML attribute values must be quoted

 Valid XML Documents

A valid XML document references and satisfies either a DTD (Document Type Definition)
or an XML schema.
 A "well formed" XML document is not the same as a "valid" XML document.
 A "valid" XML document must be well formed. In addition, it must conform to a
document type definition or schema.

CSE(AIML) DEPARTMENT@VITS BY M. VENKATESWARLU 6

 There are two different document type definitions that can be used with XML:

 DTD - The original Document Type Definition

 XML Schema - An XML-based alternative to DTD

4. A) Define XML Namespaces.

Ans: Namespaces are a simple mechanism for creating globally unique names for the elements
and attributes of the markup language.
 This is important for two reasons: to deconflict the meaning of identical names in
different markup languages and to allow different markup languages to be mixed together
without ambiguity.
 Unfortunately, namespaces were not fully compatible with DTDs, and therefore their
adoption has been slow.
 The current markup definition languages, like XML Schema, fully support namespaces.
 The actual namespace is a unique Uniform Resource Identifier (URI). Here is a
sample namespace declaration:
<xsd:schema xmlns:xsd=“http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema”>
B) Describe the primitive data types of XML Schema.

Ans: There are many built-in data types defined in the XML Schema specification. The
following Table lists the most common primitive data types.

CSE(AIML) DEPARTMENT@VITS BY M. VENKATESWARLU 7

C) Write an XML Schema and Instance for employee details (Name,
Salary, and Designation).

 Ans: XML Schema for Employee details

The following example shows the employe schema for employee details.

employee.xsd

1. <?xml version="1.0"?>
2. <xsd:schema xmlns:xsd="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema" >
3. <xsd:element name="employee">
4. <xsd:complexType>
5. <xsd:sequence>
6. <xsd:element name="name" type="xsd:string"/>
7. <xsd:element name="salary" type="xsd:float"/>
8. <xsd:element name="Designation" type="xsd:string"/>
9. </xsd:sequence>
10. </xsd:complexType>
11. </xsd:element>
12. </xsd:schema>

5. A) Define a Rule and Inference in Semantic Web.

 Ans: Rule in Semantic Web: In general, a rule specifies an action if certain

conditions are met. The general form is this: if (x) then y.
 An inference rule allows us to derive conclusions from a set of premises. A well-known
logic rule called “modus ponens” states the following:
 If P is TRUE, then Q is TRUE. (Rule)
P is TRUE. Therefore, Q is TRUE. (Inference)
 An example of modus ponens is as follows:

CSE(AIML) DEPARTMENT@VITS BY M. VENKATESWARLU 8

 An apple is tasty if it is not cooked.

This apple is not cooked. Therefore, it is tasty.

Inference in Semantic Web: Inference is the process of inferring or discovering new facts
about the existing data based on a set of rules.
 Applying rules and logic to semantic data requires standard, embeddable inference
engines. These programs will execute a set of rules on a specific instance of data using
an ontology.
 An early example of these types of inferencing engines is the open-source software
Closed World Machine (CWM).
B) Compare DTD and XSD.
Ans:
DTD vs XSD

There are many differences between DTD (Document Type Definition) and XSD (XML Schema
Definition). In short, DTD provides less control on XML structure whereas XSD (XML schema)
provides more control.

The important differences are given below:

No. DTD XSD

1) DTD stands for Document Type XSD stands for XML Schema
Definition. Definition.
2) DTDs are derived from SGML XSDs are written in XML.
syntax.
3) DTD doesn't support datatypes. XSD supports datatypes for elements
and attributes.
4) DTD doesn't support namespace. XSD supports namespace.
5) DTD doesn't define order for child XSD defines order for child elements.
elements.
6) DTD is not extensible. XSD is extensible.
7) DTD is not simple to learn. XSD is simple to learn because you
don't need to learn new language.
8) DTD provides less control on XML XSD provides more control on XML
structure. structure.

CSE(AIML) DEPARTMENT@VITS BY M. VENKATESWARLU 9

C) Demonstrate the impact of XML on enterprise IT.
Ans:

 XML is spreading through the all areas of the enterprise, from the IT department to the
intranet, extranet, Web sites, and databases.
 XML has become integrated with the majority of commercial products on the market,
either as a primary or enabling technology.
 The current and future impact of XML in 10 specific areas are given bellow.
 Data exchange and interoperability.
 XML has become the universal syntax for exchanging data between organizations. By
agreeing on a standard schema, organization can produce these text documents that can be
validated, transmitted, and parsed by any application regardless of hardware or operating
system.
 E-business
 Business-to-business (B2B) transactions have been revolutionized through XML. B2B
revolves around the exchange of business messages to conduct business transactions.
 There are dozens of commercial products supporting numerous business vocabularies
developed by RosettaNet, OASIS, and other organizations.
 Enterprise Application Integration (EAI).
 Enterprise Application Integration is the assembling of legacy applications, databases,
and systems to work together to support integrated Web views, e-commerce, and Enterprise
Resource Planning (ERP).
 Enterprise IT architectures.
 The impact of XML on IT architectures has grown increasingly important as a bridge
between the Java 2 Enterprise Edition (J2EE) platform and Microsoft’s .NET platform.
 Large companies are implementing both architectures and turning to XML Web services
to integrate them.
 Additionally, XML is influencing development on every tier of the N-tier network. On
the client tier, XML is transformed via XSLT to multiple presentation languages like Scalable
Vector Graphics (SVG).

CSE(AIML) DEPARTMENT@VITS BY M. VENKATESWARLU 10

 On the Web tier, XML is used primarily as the integration format of choice and merged
in middleware.
 XML is used to configure and deploy applications on web tier like Java Server Pages
(JSP) and Active Server Pages (ASP).
 In the back-end tier, XML is being stored and queried in relational databases and native
XML databases.
 Content Management Systems (CMS).
 CMS is a Web-based system to manage the production and distribution of content to
intranet and Internet sites.
 XML technologies are central to these systems in order to separate raw content from
its presentation.
 Content can be transformed on the fly via the Extensible Stylesheet Language
Transformation (XSLT) to browsers or wireless clients.
 Knowledge management and e-learning.
 Knowledge management involves the capturing, cataloging, and distribution of
corporate knowledge on intranets.
 The corporate knowledge as an asset.
 Electronic learning (e-learning) is part of the knowledge acquisition for employees
through online training.
 XML is driving the future of knowledge management.
 Portals and data integration
 A portal is a customizable, multipaned view tailored to support a specific community of
users.
 XML is supported via standard transformation portlets that use XSLT to generate
specific presentations of content (as discussed previously under Content Management
Systems), syndication of content, and the integration of Web services.
 A portlet is a dynamically pluggable application that generates content for one pane (or
sub window) in a portal.

CSE(AIML) DEPARTMENT@VITS BY M. VENKATESWARLU 11

 Syndication is the reuse of content from another site. The most popular format for
syndication is an XML-based format called the Resource Description Framework Site
Summary (RSS).
 All the major portal vendors are integrating Web services into their portal products.
 Customer relationship management (CRM)
 CRM systems enable an organization’s sales and marketing staff to understand, track,
inform, and service their customers. CRM involves many of the other systems we have
discussed here, such as portals, content management systems, data integration, and databases
(see next item), where XML is playing a major role. XML is becoming the glue to tie all these
systems together to enable the sales force or customers (directly) to access information when
they want and wherever they are (including wireless).
 Databases and data mining.
 XML has had a greater effect on relational database management systems (DBMS) than
object-oriented programming DBMS (object-oriented database management systems, or
OODBMS).
 XML has a new category of databases called native XML databases exclusively for the
storage and retrieval of XML.
 Collaboration technologies and peer-to-peer (P2P)
 Collaboration technologies allow individuals to interact and participate in joint activities
from disparate locations over computer networks.
 P2P is a specific decentralized collaboration protocol.
 XML is being used for collaboration at the protocol
6. A) Illustrate about RDF in Semantic Web?

 The Resource Description Framework (RDF), which captures these associations

between subjects and objects. The following Diagram shows the components RDF graph with
a RDF Triple (Subject, Predicate, Object).

CSE(AIML) DEPARTMENT@VITS BY M. VENKATESWARLU 12

The following diagram shows the example of RDF graph:

CSE(AIML) DEPARTMENT@VITS BY M. VENKATESWARLU 13

 B) Describe semantic levels in data fidelity with neat diagram.

 Ans: Semantic Levels

o The following figure shows the evolution of data fidelity required for
semantically aware applications.

 Instead of just meta data, we will have an information stack composed of semantic
levels. We are currently at Level 1 with XML Schema, which is represented as
modelling the properties of our data classes.
 We are capturing and processing meta data about isolated data classes like purchase
orders, products, employees, and customers.
 On the left side of the diagram, we associate a simple physical metaphor to the state
of each level.
 Level 1 is analogous to describing singular concepts or objects.
 In Level 2, we will move beyond data modelling (simple meta data properties) to
knowledge modelling. This includes the Resource Description Framework (RDF)
and taxonomies.

CSE(AIML) DEPARTMENT@VITS BY M. VENKATESWARLU 14

  Knowledge modelling enables us to model statements both about the relationships
between Level 1 objects and about how those objects operate. This is diagrammed as
connection between our objects in in the above figure.
 Beyond the knowledge statements of Level 2 are the superstructures or “closed
world modelling” (CWM) of Level 3. The technology that implements these
sophisticated models of systems is called ontologies.

C) What is DOM Parser? Demonstrate on types of DOM levels.

Ans: The Document Object Model (DOM) Parser is a language-neutral data model and
application programming interface (API) for programmatic access and manipulation of
XML and HTML.
 The Document Object Model is an in-memory representation of an XML or HTML
document and methods to manipulate it.
 DOMs can be loaded from XML documents, saved to XML documents, or dynamically
generated by a program.

An XML parser is a software library or package that provides interfaces for client applications to
work with an XML document. The following diagram shows the role of a parser.

CSE(AIML) DEPARTMENT@VITS BY M. VENKATESWARLU 15

DOM is a tree-based parser. The following diagrams shows the DOM as a tree of nodes and
DOM as a Tree of subclasses.

CSE(AIML) DEPARTMENT@VITS BY M. VENKATESWARLU 16

Types of DOM Levels?

The DOM has steadily evolved by increasing the detail of the representation, increasing the
scope of the representation, and adding new manipulation methods. This is accomplished by
dividing the DOM into conformance levels, where each new level adds to the feature set.

There are currently three DOM levels:

 DOM Level 1. This set of classes represents XML 1.0 and HTML 4.0 documents.
 DOM Level 2. This extends Level 1 to add support for namespaces; cascading style
sheets, level 2 (CSS2); alternate views; user interface events; and enhanced tree manipulation
via interfaces for traversal and ranges.
 DOM Level 3. This extends Level 2 by adding support for mixed vocabularies (different
namespaces), XPath expressions, load and save methods, and a representation of abstract
schemas (includes both DTD and XML Schema).
 XPath is a language to select a set of nodes within a document. Load and save methods
specify a standard way to load an XML document into a DOM and a way to save a DOM into
an XML document.

CSE(AIML) DEPARTMENT@VITS BY M. VENKATESWARLU 17