Ontotext's GraphDB 9.2 Supports RDF* to Match the Expressivity of Property Graphs

RDF* enables the more efficient representation of scores, weights, temporal aspects and provenance in Knowledge Graphs

SOFIA, Bulgaria, April 30, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Ontotext has released the 9.2 version of GraphDB – the most powerful RDF database for creating and maintaining knowledge graphs. In addition to the anticipated support for RDF*/SPARQL*, it brings improvements in the plug-ins for semantic similarity and versioning. The new Proof plug-in provides inference explanation.

Knowledge graphs are the next generation tool for helping businesses make critical decisions based on harmonized knowledge models derived from siloed source systems. For this reason, more and more organizations are turning to knowledge graphs for better enterprise knowledge management, data and content analytics.

GraphDB 9.2 upgrades the modeling expressivity of the database with RDF*/SPARQL* - the most widely supported extension of those standards, which will be part of RDF 1.2. In RDF* one can make statements about statements, formally called statement-level annotations. For example, one can provide time span for an employment relationship like this: (Joe works-for BigBucks) from 1/1/2018 to 30/3/2020. This mechanism goes beyond the expressivity of the Property Graphs, where one can attach key-value pairs to relationships. The statement-level annotations enable a more efficient representation of scores, weights, temporal restrictions and provenance information.

Ontotext invested substantial time and effort to develop comprehensive and efficient support for RDF* and SPARQL* in GraphDB. We made extensions to GraphDB's indices to make sure SPARQL* queries are handled in a fast and predictable manner. We also took care to handle properly specific cases like nested statement annotations and annotations on deleted statements. To guarantee backward and forward format compatibility, GraphDB introduces "embedded triple" (a reference to a triple) as a new RDF type. As a result, GraphDB reduces by more than 40% the number of RDF statements needed to model graphs with a complex meta-data like Wikidata, the loading time and the required storage space. The development of RDF*/SPARQL* data format and corresponding changes to the parsers are contributed to the RDF4J open-source community.

In addition, the 9.2 release includes important plugin improvements. Now, the semantic similarity plugin, while refreshing the similarity indexes, remains online. This feature will support all production installations using graph or text embedding similarity indexes, so all indexes remain functional even during a rebuild.

Another substantial improvement is that now the data history and versioning plugin takes much less resource when comparing the current state with a previous period. GraphDB 9.2 features a new plugin to trace back all rules to generate a particular implicit statement.

The GraphDB team stays up-to-date with the latest known security warnings reported by all major vulnerabilities databases. GraphDB 9.2 database and all integrated third party software are free from any publicly known security vulnerabilities.

Get the latest GraphDB now.

About Ontotext Information

For over two decades Ontotext has brought together knowledge, data and analytics transforming how organizations identify meaning across diverse databases and massive amounts of unstructured data through knowledge graphs.

Ontotext makes tailor-made solutions across multiple sectors: media and publishing, healthcare and life sciences, government and cultural heritage, financial services and more. Their client list includes news and media agencies like the BBC and Financial Times, top Academic publishers like Elsevier, Springer Nature and Wiley, leading pharmacological companies such as AstraZeneca, public institutions including the UK Parliament, Kadastr.NL and US Department of Defense, and cultural institutions like the British Museum, The National Gallery of USA and Getty Trust.

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