Learning SPARQL

Bob DuCharme is a solutions architect at TopQuadrant, a provider of software for modeling, developing, and deploying semantic web applications. He came to TopQuadrant from Innodata Isogen, where he did system and architecture analysis and design for a wide range of global publishing clients as well as cochairing the 2008 Linked Data Planet conference in New York City. Earlier in his career, he oversaw SGML and XML development at Moody's Investors Service and then moved on to LexisNexis, where he did data and systems architecture as they made the transition to XML-based systems.

Chapter 1 Jumping Right In: Some Data and Some Queries
The Data to Query
Querying the Data
More Realistic Data and Matching on Multiple Triples
Searching for Strings
What Could Go Wrong?
Querying a Public Data Source
Summary
Chapter 2 The Semantic Web, RDF, and Linked Data (and SPARQL)
What Exactly Is the “Semantic Web”?
URLs, URIs, IRIs, and Namespaces
The Resource Description Framework (RDF)
Reusing and Creating Vocabularies: RDF Schema and OWL
Linked Data
SPARQL’s Past, Present, and Future
The SPARQL Specifications
Summary
Chapter 3 SPARQL Queries: A Deeper Dive
More Readable Query Results
Data That Might Not Be There
Finding Data That Doesn’t Meet Certain Conditions
Searching Further in the Data
Searching with Blank Nodes
Eliminating Redundant Output
Combining Different Search Conditions
FILTERing Data Based on Conditions
Retrieving a Specific Number of Results
Querying Named Graphs
Queries in Your Queries
Combining Values and Assigning Values to Variables
Creating Tables of Values in Your Queries
Sorting, Aggregating, Finding the Biggest and Smallest and...
Querying a Remote SPARQL Service
Federated Queries: Searching Multiple Datasets with One Query
Summary
Chapter 4 Copying, Creating, and Converting Data (and Finding Bad Data)
Query Forms: SELECT, DESCRIBE, ASK, and CONSTRUCT
Copying Data
Creating New Data
Converting Data
Finding Bad Data
Asking for a Description of a Resource
Summary
Chapter 5 Datatypes and Functions
Datatypes and Queries
Functions
Extension Functions
Summary
Chapter 6 Updating Data with SPARQL
Getting Started with Fuseki
Adding Data to a Dataset
Deleting Data
Changing Existing Data
Named Graphs
Summary
Chapter 7 Query Efficiency and Debugging
Efficiency Inside the WHERE Clause
Efficiency Outside the WHERE Clause
Debugging
Summary
Chapter 8 Working with SPARQL Query Result Formats
SPARQL Query Results XML Format
SPARQL Query Results JSON Format
SPARQL Query Results CSV and TSV Formats
Summary
Chapter 9 RDF Schema, OWL, and Inferencing
What Is Inferencing?
SPARQL and RDFS Inferencing
SPARQL and OWL Inferencing
Using SPARQL to Do Your Inferencing
Querying Schemas
Summary
Chapter 10 Building Applications with SPARQL
Applications and Triples
SPARQL and Web Application Development
SPARQL Processors
SPARQL and HTTP
Summary
Chapter 11 A SPARQL Cookbook
Themes and Variations
Exploring the Data
Creating and Updating Data
Summary
Glossary
Colophon