Sematic MediaWiki

Semantic MediaWiki (SMW) adds semantic capabilities, allowing users to annotate the wiki's content with explicit, machine-readable information.

Features

1. Semantic annotations: Users can add structured data using special syntax, such as property-value pairs. This turns the unstructured text into structured, machine-readable data.

2. Semantic search: With semantic annotations, the wiki can be queried using the added structured data, enabling more precise and targeted searches.

3. Semantic browsing: SMW automatically generates lists, tables, and other views based on the semantic annotations, facilitating data exploration and discovery.

4. Data integration: SMW allows data to be imported from and exported to external sources using formats like RDF and CSV, enabling data integration with other systems.

5. Inference: SMW can infer new facts based on the existing semantic annotations using logical reasoning, enriching the knowledge base.

6. Reusable data: The structured data added to the wiki can be reused across multiple pages and queries, promoting data consistency and reducing duplication.

Examples

Cargo, Page Forms and Semantic Drilldown extension are all extensions built on top of Semantic MediaWiki (SMW) to provide additional functionality. However, they serve different purposes and have some key differences:

1. Cargo:

   - Cargo is a standalone extension that provides a way to store and query structured data within MediaWiki.

   - It defines data structures using templates and stores the data in separate database tables, rather than using SMW's approach of annotating wiki pages.

   - Cargo has its own query language and can be used independently of SMW.

   - It is designed to handle large amounts of data more efficiently compared to SMW.

   - Cargo provides a simple interface for creating and managing database tables.

2. Page Forms (formerly Semantic Forms):

   - Page Forms is an extension that allows users to create and edit wiki pages using predefined forms.

   - It integrates with SMW, enabling users to add structured data to pages through form input fields.

   - Page Forms simplifies the process of creating and maintaining templates and forms for structured data entry.

   - It provides a user-friendly interface for users to input and edit data without needing to know the underlying wiki syntax.

3. Semantic Drilldown:

   - Semantic Drilldown is an extension that provides a drill-down interface for exploring and filtering data stored in SMW.

   - It allows users to navigate through the data by applying filters based on the semantic properties and categories.

   - Semantic Drilldown dynamically generates navigation pages based on the available data and its semantic annotations.

   - It enhances the browsing and discovery of information within the wiki by providing a faceted search experience.

Use case for cargo and semantic wiki to map MW pages to ontology servers

Using Cargo or Semantic MediaWiki to map data for building an ontology server involves leveraging their structured data capabilities to represent and organize the ontology concepts, properties, and relationships. Here's a high-level overview of how you can use these extensions for ontology development:

1. Ontology Modeling:

   - Identify the main concepts, classes, and properties of your ontology.

   - Determine the hierarchical relationships between the concepts (subclass-superclass relations).

   - Define the properties and their domain and range.

   - Map the ontology structure to Cargo tables or Semantic MediaWiki properties and categories.

2. Data Storage:

   - Create Cargo tables or Semantic MediaWiki templates to represent the ontology classes and properties.

   - Define the appropriate data types for each property (e.g., text, number, date, page).

   - Use templates or forms to input data instances that conform to the ontology structure.

   - Populate the wiki pages with the ontology data using the defined templates or forms.

3. Semantic Annotation:

   - Use Semantic MediaWiki's semantic annotations to add machine-readable metadata to the wiki pages.

   - Annotate the pages with the appropriate properties and categories based on the ontology.

   - Establish relationships between pages using semantic properties to represent ontological relations.

   - Utilize Semantic MediaWiki's built-in properties like `Has subclass`, `Has type`, `Has domain`, and `Has range` to define ontological axioms.

4. Querying and Reasoning:

   - Use Cargo queries or Semantic MediaWiki's ask queries to retrieve and filter data based on the ontology structure.

   - Leverage the querying capabilities to perform reasoning and inference over the ontology data.

   - Utilize Semantic MediaWiki's `Special:Ask` page or embed queries within wiki pages to fetch and display ontology information.

   - Implement custom reasoning rules or integrate with external reasoning engines if required.

5. Data Export and Integration:

   - Use Cargo's data export functionality or Semantic MediaWiki's RDF export to extract the ontology data from the wiki.

   - Convert the exported data into ontology formats like OWL (Web Ontology Language) or RDF (Resource Description Framework).

   - Integrate the exported ontology data with other ontology tools, reasoners, or knowledge management systems.

   - Utilize the exported data to build an ontology server or knowledge base outside of the MediaWiki environment.

6. Ontology Maintenance and Evolution:

   - Regularly update and maintain the ontology data within the wiki using Cargo or Semantic MediaWiki.

   - Make necessary changes to the ontology structure, add new concepts, properties, or relationships as required.

   - Ensure data consistency and integrity by validating the ontology data against the defined structure.

   - Collaborate with domain experts and ontology engineers to refine and evolve the ontology over time.

By using Cargo or Semantic MediaWiki as a foundation, you can create a structured representation of your ontology within the wiki environment. The extensions provide the necessary tools for data storage, semantic annotation, querying, and export, enabling you to build and manage the ontology collaboratively.

However, it's important to note that while these extensions can serve as a starting point for ontology development, they may have limitations compared to dedicated ontology editors and reasoners. For complex ontologies or advanced reasoning tasks, you may need to integrate with specialized ontology tools or platforms.