GFEAR (Graph-Codify Forensic Extraction and Representation) Language

RDF Collections

RDF defines a number of different collections. The following collections are supported by GFEAR.

rdf:List

When defined as an rdf:List the language will create blank nodes with the required rdf:first and rdf:rest; where the rdf:rest points to another blank node with a rdf:first or to the rdf:nil. The end of the list is defined by the rdf:rest pointing to a rdf:nil object.

rdf:Bag, rdf:Seq, or rdf:Alt

All these collection types are implemented in the same manner. When one of these are used, a blank node is added to the graph. The first item is related to the blank node with the rdf:_1 property, followed by rdf:_2, and so on`.

Creating a collection

To create a collection, the create collection statement is used. At a minimum, the statement must define the type of collection to use (rdf:List, rdf:Bag, rdf:Seq, or rdf:Alt).

create collection myProjects rdf:List;

Typed Collections

Collections can be typed using a Uri. When adding items to the collection the language will ensure that the rdf:a of the item being added matches the defined type of the collection.

To create a collection with a specified type the following syntax is used:

create collection myProjects rdf:List of foaf:Project;