This presentation revisits a specific version of three different Ontology Design Patterns (ODPs): Class as a Property Value (CPV), Value Partition (VP) and Normalisation. The review of the CPV identifies two distinct modelling problems being tangled that prompt to decouple the pattern into two variants: a strict and a coarse CPV pattern. The examination continues with a comparative analysis among the patterns that reveals key alignments and differences at the structural and semantic level. (Related full paper available at: http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-33615-7_16)

1. Alignment
of
Ontology
Design
Pa2erns:
Class
As
Property
Value,
Value
Par::on
and
Normalisa:on
Bene
Rodriguez-­‐Castro,
Mouzhi
Ge
and
Mar6n
Hepp
The
11th
Interna6onal
Conference
on
Ontologies,
DataBases,
and
Applica6ons
of
Seman6cs
(ODBASE)
2012
–
Rome
(Italy)

2. Outline
• Introduc:on
• Revisi:ng
the
Class
as
Property
Value
(CPV)
ODP
• Revisi:ng
the
Value
Par::on
(VP)
ODP
• Revisi:ng
the
Normalisa:on
ODP
• Alignment
of
the
CPV,
VP
and
Normalisa:on
ODPs
• Conclusions
• Future
Work
2
B.
Rodriguez-­‐Castro,
M.
Ge,
M.
Hepp

3. Introduc:on
• Ontology
Design
Pa2erns
(ODPs)
evolved
from
design
pa2ern:
„archetypal
solu.ons
to
design
problems
in
a
certain
context“
• ODPs
are
receiving
significant
a2en:on
due
to
the
success
of
so0ware
DPs
in
soTware
engineering
• Pa2erns
that
may
not
be
applied
consistently,
can
lead
to
interoperability
issues
among
the
ontology
models
involved
• Ideally,
the
outcome
of
this
work
will
reduce
the
opportunity
for
unintended
inconsistencies.
3
B.
Rodriguez-­‐Castro,
M.
Ge,
M.
Hepp

4. Revisi:ng
the
Class
as
Property
Value
(CPV)
ODP
(Noy,
2005)
4
Approach
5:
Use
classes
directly
as
annota:on
property
values
Approach
4:
Create
a
special
restric6on
in
lieu
of
using
a
specific
value
Approach
3:
Create
a
parallel
hierarchy
of
instances
as
property
values
Approach
2:
Create
special
instances
of
the
class
to
be
used
as
property
values
Approach
1:
Use
classes
directly
as
property
values
B.
Rodriguez-­‐Castro,
M.
Ge,
M.
Hepp

5. Approach
4:
Create
a
special
restric:on
in
lieu
of
using
a
specific
value
5
B.
Rodriguez-­‐Castro,
M.
Ge,
M.
Hepp

6. Key
Characteris:cs
of
Approach
4
of
the
CPV
ODP
6
• Compliance
to
OWL
1
DL
profile.
• Automa:c
classifica.on
of
books
based
on
subject
by
a
standard
OWL
DL
reasoner.
• Use
of
anonymous
individuals
to
approximate
the
use
of
a
class
as
a
property
value.
B.
Rodriguez-­‐Castro,
M.
Ge,
M.
Hepp

7. Decoupling
the
Class
as
Property
Value
OPD
7
• Implicit
modica:on
of
the
originally
intended
seman:c
of
the
exis:ng
class
hierarchy
subsumed
by
:Animal
– Any
instance
of
:Animal
represents
originally
an
actual
animal
in
the
real
world
• the
original
seman:cs
of
the
classes
that
provide
the
values
(subsumed
by
:Animal)
– When
an
instance
of
:Animal
is
used
as
the
value
of
the
property
dc:subject,
it
stands
for
an
anonymous
generic
animal
interpreted
as
the
subject
of
a
book
• the
seman:cs
of
the
expected
range
of
dc:subject
• Coupling
inadvertently
two
dis:nct
modelling
problems
into
one
– The
problem
of
using
a
class
as
a
property
value
per
se
(strict-­‐CPV)
– The
issue
of
not
only
using
a
class
as
a
property
value,
but
also,
the
possibility
of
altering
its
original
intended
meaning
in
the
process
as
a
result
(coarse-­‐CPV)
B.
Rodriguez-­‐Castro,
M.
Ge,
M.
Hepp

8. Approach
4:
Changing
the
Target
Domain
from
``Book´´
to
``Zoo´´
8
Animal
Book
About
Animals
“Lions: Life in
the Pride”
Lion
African
Lion
rdfs:subclassOf
Unidentified
Lion(s)
Unidentified
African Lion(s)
“The African
Lion”
rdfs:subclassOf
rdf:type
rdf:type rdf:type
rdf:type
dc:subject
dc:subject
Book
rdfs:subclassOf
Zoo
Zoo With
Animals
London
Zoo
Munich
Zoo
rdfs:subclassOf
rdf:type
rdf:type
:hasAnimal
:hasAnimal
``Book´´
Target
Domain
``Zoo´´
Target
Domain
An
anonymous
instance
of
:Animal
does
not
represent
an
actual
animal
but
the
subject
of
a
book
B.
Rodriguez-­‐Castro,
M.
Ge,
M.
Hepp
2
1

9. Approach
4:
Changing
the
Target
Domain
from
``Book´´
to
``Zoo´´
9
Animal
Lion
African
Lion
rdfs:subclassOf
Unidentified
Lion(s)
Unidentified
African Lion(s)
rdfs:subclassOf
rdf:type
rdf:type
Zoo
Zoo With
Animals
London
Zoo
Munich
Zoo
rdfs:subclassOf
rdf:type
rdf:type
:hasAnimal
:hasAnimal
An
anonymous
instance
of
:Animal
represents
an
actual
animal
B.
Rodriguez-­‐Castro,
M.
Ge,
M.
Hepp

10. Visual
Nota:on
for
ODPs
10
B.
Rodriguez-­‐Castro,
M.
Ge,
M.
Hepp
owl:Thing
|-­‐-­‐
:Class1
|-­‐-­‐
:Class2
|-­‐-­‐
:Person
|-­‐-­‐
(=)
:Male_person
|-­‐-­‐
(v)
:John
|-­‐-­‐
(=)
:Female_person
|-­‐-­‐
(v)
:Mary
|-­‐-­‐
(P)
:Gender
|-­‐-­‐
:Male_gender
|-­‐-­‐
:Female_gender
owl:topObjectProperty
|-­‐-­‐
:has_health_status
(=)
denotes
a
defined
owl:Class
(v)
denotes
a
owl:NamedIndividual
(P)
denotes
a
class
par..on
|-­‐-­‐
denotes
rdfs:subClassOf
|-­‐-­‐
with
(v)
denotes
rdf:type
|-­‐-­‐
denotes
rdfs:subPropertyOf
Nodes
denote
an
owl:Class
by
default

11. Example
of
coarse-­‐
and
strict-­‐
CPV
ODP
11
B.
Rodriguez-­‐Castro,
M.
Ge,
M.
Hepp
coarse-­‐CPV
``Book´´
Target
Domain
strict-­‐CPV
``Zoo´´
Target
Domain

12. strict-­‐CPV
versus
coarse-­‐CPV
ODP
12
• In
the
strict-­‐CPV,
the
natural
range
(rdfs:range)
of
the
property
:hasAnimal
does
align
with
what
the
class
:Animal
originally
represents
• In
the
coarse-­‐CPV,
the
natural
range
of
the
property
dc:subject
in
the
context
of
Approach
4
of
the
CPV
ODP,
does
not
align
with
the
orignal
seman:c
of
the
class
:Animal
• Syntac.cally,
the
implementa:on
of
the
coarse-­‐CPV
and
strict-­‐CPV
ODPs,
is
essen:ally
equivalent
– Elements
placed
at
equivalent
posi:ons
on
the
ontological
structure
of
both
pa2erns,
perform
equivalent
func:ons
and
are
implemented
following
the
same
set
of
OWL
idioms
• Seman.cally,
the
implica:ons
of
each
variant
can
be
par:cularly
different.
B.
Rodriguez-­‐Castro,
M.
Ge,
M.
Hepp

13. Revisi:ng
the
Value
Par::on
(VP)
ODP
(Rector,
2005)
13
Pa2ern
1:
Values
as
sets
of
individuals
Pa2ern
2.
Representa:on
variant
1:
Using
a
fact
about
the
individual
PaQern
2.
Representa6on
using
variant
2:
Placing
an
existen6al
restric6on
on
the
individual
B.
Rodriguez-­‐Castro,
M.
Ge,
M.
Hepp

14. Pa2ern
2.
Representa:on
using
variant
2:
Placing
an
existen:al
restric:on
on
the
individual
14
B.
Rodriguez-­‐Castro,
M.
Ge,
M.
Hepp
An
anonymous
instance
of
:Good_health_value
(e.g.,
:Johns_Health)
does
represent
an
actual
health
value

15. Key
Characteris:cs
of
Pa2ern
2
–
Variant
2
of
the
VP
ODP
15
• Compliance
to
OWL
1
DL
profile.
• The
use
of
classes
instead
of
individuals
to
represent
the
feature
space
(good,
medium,
poor)
of
the
feature
class
(health)
– Use
of
anonymous
individuals
to
represent
the
health
status
of
a
person
(e.g.,
:Johns_Health)
• Automa:c
classifica.on
of
people
based
on
their
health
status
by
a
standard
OWL
DL
reasoner.
B.
Rodriguez-­‐Castro,
M.
Ge,
M.
Hepp

16. Revisi:ng
the
Normalisa:on
ODP
(Egana-­‐Aranguren,
2009)
16
B.
Rodriguez-­‐Castro,
M.
Ge,
M.
Hepp
poly-­‐hierarchy
(tangled
ontology)
Non-­‐normalised
ontology:
the
subsump:on
rela:ons
that
create
the
poly-­‐hierarchies
are
manually
asserted

17. Normalisa:on
ODP
(Asserted)
17
B.
Rodriguez-­‐Castro,
M.
Ge,
M.
Hepp
• the
exis:ng
poly-­‐hierarchies
in
the
structure
of
the
normalized
asserted
ontology
model
are
removed
• the
subsump:on
rela:ons
are
implemented
explicitly
as
restric:ons
single-­‐inheritance
(untangled
ontology)
Normalised
ontology
(asserted):
the
pa2ern
allows
exactly
one
unlabelled
flavour
of
is-­‐a
link,
which
translates
into
a
single-­‐
inheritance
structure
of
the
asserted
subsump:on
rela:ons.

18. Normalisa:on
ODP
(Inferred)
18
B.
Rodriguez-­‐Castro,
M.
Ge,
M.
Hepp
Normalised
ontology
(inferred):
the
implementa:on
of
the
subsump:on
rela:ons
explicitly
as
restric.ons
enables
a
standard
DL
reasoner
to
automa.cally
maintain
the
original
poly-­‐hierarchies
in
the
inferred
ontology
model
poly-­‐hierarchy
(maintained
automa:cally
by
a
standard
DL
reasoner)

19. Key
Characteris:cs
of
the
Normalisa:on
ODP
19
• Compliance
to
OWL
1
DL
profile
• The
use
of
classes
(e.g.,
classes
subsumed
by
:Func:on)
to
represent
explicitly
a
principle
of
division
of
the
ontology
central
domain
concept
(e.g.,
:Cell)
– Use
of
anonymous
individuals
(e.g.,
individuals
subsumed
by
:Func:on)
to
represent
the
func:on
performed
by
a
cell
• Automa:c
classifica.on
and
maintainance
of
the
mul:ple
and
complex
subsump:on
rela:ons
by
a
standard
OWL
DL
reasoner
B.
Rodriguez-­‐Castro,
M.
Ge,
M.
Hepp

20. 20
Alignment
of
the
CPV,
VP
and
Normalisa:on
ODPs
B.
Rodriguez-­‐Castro,
M.
Ge,
M.
Hepp

21. Result:
Common
Func:onal
Groups
in
ODPs
21
• Target
Domain
• Domain
Elements
• Domain
Defined
Classes
• Core
Property
• Range
Subsump:on
Class
Hierarchy
– Range
Anonymous
Individuals
(For
a
defini:on
of
each
common
func:onal
group,
please
see
full
paper
available
at:
h2p://dx.doi.org/10.1007/978-­‐3-­‐642-­‐33615-­‐7_16)
B.
Rodriguez-­‐Castro,
M.
Ge,
M.
Hepp

22. 22
Result:
Example
of
Common
Func:onal
Groups
Domain
Elements
Domain
Defined
Classes
Range
Subsumpt.
Class
Hierar.
Target
Domain
Core
Property
B.
Rodriguez-­‐Castro,
M.
Ge,
M.
Hepp

23. Similari:es
and
Differences
in
ODPs
Func:onal
Groups
23
B.
Rodriguez-­‐Castro,
M.
Ge,
M.
Hepp
ODP
Func6onal
Group
Similar
Func6onality
Different
Func6onality
Target
Domain
All
None
Domain
Elements
coarse-­‐CPV,
strict-­‐CPV,
Normalisa:on
VP(one-­‐to-­‐one
vs.
one-­‐to
many)
Domain
Defined
Classes
All
None
Core
Property
coarse-­‐CPV,
strict-­‐CPV,
Normalisa:on
VP(owl:Func:onalProperty)
Range
Subsump:on
Class
Hierarchy
coarse-­‐CPV,
strict-­‐CPV
Normalisa:on
(disjointness),
VP
(par::on)
Anonymous
Individuals
strict-­‐CPV,
Normalisa:on,
VP
coarse-­‐CPV
(altered
seman:cs)

24. Conclusions
• Approach
4
of
the
CPV
ODP
can
be
decoupled
into
two
• A
comparison
of
all
ODPs,
shows
five
different
func.onal
groups
based
on
the
ontological
structure
of
the
pa2ern
and
the
syntac:c
and
seman:c
func:on
that
each
element
performs
• Nested-­‐doll
effect
-­‐
All
instan:a:ons
of
the
Pa2ern
2
-­‐
Variant
2
of
the
VP
ODP
and
the
Normalisa:on
ODP,
use
implicitly
the
strict-­‐CPV
ODP
• Three
different
modelling
scenarios
are
being
addressed
by
slight
modica:ons
over
the
same
set
of
OWL
idioms
24
B.
Rodriguez-­‐Castro,
M.
Ge,
M.
Hepp

25. Future
Work
• Punning
meta-­‐modelling
capability
available
in
OWL
2
• Scale
-­‐
Increase
number
of
ODPs
that
par:cipate
in
the
compara:ve
analysis
• Evalua:on
framework
extending
the
current
ODPs
evalua:on
and
documenta:on
templates
25
B.
Rodriguez-­‐Castro,
M.
Ge,
M.
Hepp

26. THANK
YOU
Bene
Rodriguez-­‐Castro,
Mouzhi
Ge,
Mar:n
Hepp,
Alignment
of
Ontology
Design
Pa2erns:
Class
As
Property
Value,
Value
Par::on
and
Normalisa:on,
in:
R.
Meersman,
H.
Pane2o,
T.
Dillon,
S.
Rinderle-­‐Ma,
P.
Dadam,
X.
Zhou,
S.
Pearson,
A.
Ferscha,
S.
Bergamaschi,
I.
Cruz
(Eds.),
On
the
Move
to
Meaningful
Internet
Systems:
OTM
2012,
Vol.
7566
of
Lecture
Notes
in
Computer
Science,
Springer
Berlin
Heidelberg,
2012,
pp.
682-­‐699.
doi:10.1007/978-­‐3-­‐642-­‐33615-­‐7_16.
Bene
Rodriguez-­‐Castro
beroca@gmail.com
hQp://purl.org/beroca
Reference:

27. Key
References
1. Noy,
N.F.:
Represen:ng
Classes
As
Property
Values
on
the
Seman:c
Web.
Technical
Report
Note
5,
W3C,
Seman:c
Web
Best
Prac:ces
and
Deployment
Working
Group
(2005),
h2p://www.w3.org/TR/swbp-­‐classes-­‐as-­‐values/
2. Rector,
A.:
Represen:ng
Specied
Values
in
OWL:
„value
par::ons“
and
„value
sets“.
Technical
Report
Note
17,
W3C,
Seman:c
Web
Best
Prac:ces
and
Deployment
Working
Group
(May
2005),
h2p://www.w3.org/TR/swbp-­‐specified-­‐values
3. Egana-­‐Aranguren,
M.:
Role
and
Applica:on
of
Ontology
Design
Pa2erns
in
Bio-­‐ontologies.
Ph.D.
thesis,
School
of
Computer
Science,
University
of
Manchester
(2009),
h2p://mikeleganaaranguren.files.wordpress.com/2010/01/
thesis.pdf
27
B.
Rodriguez-­‐Castro,
M.
Ge,
M.
Hepp