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<ul id="navbar" style="font-size: small;">
  <li><a href="#scope">Scope</a></li>
  <li><a href="#deliverables">Deliverables</a></li>
  <li><a href="#coordination">Dependencies</a></li>
  <li><a href="#participation">Participation</a></li>
  <li><a href="#communication">Communication</a></li>
  <li><a href="#decisions">Decision Policy</a></li>
  <li><a href="#patentpolicy">Patent Policy</a></li>
  <li><a href="#about">About this Charter</a></li>
</ul>

<p><a href="http://www.w3.org/"><img alt="W3C" src="/Icons/w3c_home" width="72"
height="48" /></a> <a class="domainlogo" href="http://www.w3.org/TandS/"><img
src="http://www.w3.org/Icons/tands" alt="Technology and Society Domain" /></a>
</p>

<p style="font-size:120%; color:red">This charter is now obsolete, has been superceded by
the <a href="/2011/10/rdb2rdf-charter.html">renewed group charter</a>.</p>

<h1 id="title">RDB2RDF Working Group Charter</h1>

<p class="mission">The <strong>mission</strong> of the <a href="/2001/sw/rdb2rdf/">RDB2RDF Working Group</a>, part of the <a
href="/2001/sw/">Semantic Web Activity</a>, is to standardize a language for
mapping relational data and relational database schemas into RDF and OWL,
tentatively called the RDB2RDF Mapping Language, R2RML.</p>

<p>From the beginning of the deployment of the
Semantic Web there has been increasing interest in
mapping relational data to the Semantic Web. This is to allow relational data
to be combined with other data on the Web, to link semantics directly to relational data
and to aid in enterprise data integration. In October 2007 the W3C organized a
workshop on <a href="/2007/03/RdfRDB/report">RDF Access to Relational
Databases</a>. This led to the formation of the <a
href="/2005/Incubator/rdb2rdf/">RDB2RDF Incubator Group</a> to explore the
area. This Incubator Group concluded its work in February 2009 having produced two
deliverables: a <a
href="/2005/Incubator/rdb2rdf/RDB2RDF_SurveyReport.pdf">Survey of the State of
the Art</a> and a <a href="/2005/Incubator/rdb2rdf/XGR/">RDB2RDF XG Final
Report</a>. The <a href="/2005/Incubator/rdb2rdf/XGR/">RDB2RDF XG Final
Report</a> recommends that the W3C initiates a Working Group to standardize a
language for mapping relational database schemas to RDF and OWL. This charter
is in response to that recommendation.</p>


<p>The mapping language defined by the WG will facilitate the development of
several types of products. It could be used to translate relational data into
RDF which could be stored in a triple store. This is sometimes called
Extract-Transform-Load (ETL). Or it could be used to generate a virtual mapping
that could be queried using SPARQL and the SPARQL translated to SQL queries on
the underlying relational data. Other products could be layered on top of these
capabilities to query and deliver data in different ways as well as to
integrate the data with other kinds of information on the Semantic Web. The <a
href="http://www.w3.org/2005/Incubator/rdb2rdf/XGR/">RDB2RDF XG Final
Report</a> includes several detailed usecases that motivate the mapping
language.</p>

<div class="noprint">
<p class="join"><a href="/2004/01/pp-impl/43889/join">Join the RDB2RDF Working Group</a>.</p>
</div>

<table class="summary-table">
  <tbody>
    <tr id="Duration">
      <th rowspan="1" colspan="1">End date</th>
      <td rowspan="1" colspan="1">30 September 2011</td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
      <th rowspan="1" colspan="1">Confidentiality</th>
      <td rowspan="1" colspan="1">Proceedings are <a
        href="/2005/10/Process-20051014/comm.html#confidentiality-levels">public</a></td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
      <th rowspan="1" colspan="1">Initial Chairs</th>
      <td rowspan="1" colspan="1">Ashok Malhotra (Oracle)<br />
        Michael Hausenblas (DERI)</td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
      <th rowspan="1" colspan="1">Team Contacts<br />
        (FTE %: 15)</th>
      <td rowspan="1" colspan="1">Ivan Herman</td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
      <th rowspan="1" colspan="1">Usual Meeting Schedule</th>
      <td rowspan="1" colspan="1">Teleconferences: Weekly<br />
        Face-to-face: up to 3 per year, as agreed by the participants</td>
    </tr>
  </tbody>
</table>

<div class="scope">
<h2 id="scope">Scope</h2>

<p>Based on the <a href="/2005/Incubator/rdb2rdf/RDB2RDF_SurveyReport.pdf">Survey of
Current Approaches for Mapping of Relational Databases to RDF</a> prepared by
the RDB2RDF XG and the <a
href="http://www.w3.org/2005/Incubator/rdb2rdf/XGR/">RDB2RDF XG Final
Report</a> the scope of R2RML is defined as follows:</p>
<ul>
  <li>The mapping language MUST define the mapping of relational data and
    relational schemas to RDF and OWL.</li>
  <li>The mapping language MUST define the set of relational algebra to be supported in the first release. This set to be supported SHOULD be as complete as possible and be defined as soon as possible after the WG official launch.</li>
  <li>The mapping language SHOULD have a human-readable syntax as well as XML
    and RDF representations of the syntax for purposes of discovery and machine
    generation. </li>
  <li> The mapping language SHOULD use W3C <a href="/2005/rules/wiki/RIF_Working_Group">RIF</a> whenever a rule engine is needed in the mapping language.</li>
  <li>It SHOULD be possible to subset the mapping language for lightweight
    applications such as Web 2.0 applications. This feature of the language
    will be validated by creating a library of mappings for widely used
    applications such as Drupal, Wordpress, or phpBB. </li>
  <li>The mapping language SHOULD be able to support vendor specific SQL data types. </li>
  <li>The mapping language specification SHOULD include guidance with regard to
    mapping relational data to a subset of OWL such as OWL QL or OWL RL. </li>
  <li>The mapping language MUST allow for a mechanism to create identifiers for
    database entities. The generation of identifiers should be designed to
    support the implementation of the <a
    href="/DesignIssues/LinkedData.html">linked data principles</a>. Where
    possible, the language will encourage the reuse of public identifiers for
    long-lived entities such as persons, corporations and geo-locations.</li>
</ul>

<p>The <a href="/2005/Incubator/rdb2rdf/RDB2RDF_SurveyReport.pdf">Survey of the
State of the Art</a> describes several languages and implementations that may
be used as starting points for the work of the WG.</p>

<h3>Success Criteria</h3>
<ul>
  <li>Timely preparation of the deliverables. See below.</li>
  <li>At least two conforming implementations of the mapping language, perhaps
    embedded into products that provide additional functionality.</li>
  <li>Mapping library for applications such as Drupal, Wordpress, or phpBB</li>
</ul>

<h3>Out of Scope</h3>
<ul>
  <li>Mapping from non-relational data to RDF and OWL.</li>
  <li>Updating the relational database based on changes to the RDF or OWL.</li>
</ul>
</div>

<div>
<h2 id="deliverables">Deliverables</h2>
<ul>
  <li>A specification for a language to map relational data and relational
    schemas to RDF and OWL (tentatively called R2RML) as a W3C
  Recommendation.</li>
  <li>A set of test cases to test conformance. It is up to the Working Group to
    decide whether it wishes to publish this document as a W3C Recommendation
    or as a Working Group Note.</li>
</ul>
</div>

<div id="wg-other-deliverables">
<h3>Other Deliverables</h3>

<p>These are deliverables that the group plans to produce, in line with the
scope description above, but only if the time and the available manpower allows
it. The Working Group will have to decide whether these documents will be
published as Working Group Notes or additional Recommendations.</p>
<ul>
  <li>An alternate "human-readable" syntax for R2RML.</li>
  <li>A set of profiles for R2RML sufficient to provide specific, simpler
    functionality.</li>
  <li>An R2RML primer.</li>
</ul>
</div>

<h3>Milestones</h3>

<p><span>Specification transition estimates.</span> (“T” denotes the starting month of the Working Group.)</p>

<table class="roadmap" width="80%">
  <caption>Milestones</caption>
  <tfoot>
    <tr>
      <td colspan="6" rowspan="1">Note: The group will document significant
        changes from this initial schedule on the group home page.</td>
    </tr>
  </tfoot>
  <tbody>
    <tr>
      <th rowspan="1" colspan="1">Specification</th>
      <th rowspan="1" colspan="1"><acronym
        title="First Working Draft">FPWD</acronym></th>
      <th rowspan="1" colspan="1"><acronym
        title="Last Call Working Draft">LC</acronym></th>
      <th rowspan="1" colspan="1"><acronym
        title="Candidate Recommendation">CR</acronym></th>
      <th rowspan="1" colspan="1"><acronym
        title="Proposed Recommendation">PR</acronym></th>
      <th rowspan="1" colspan="1"><acronym title="Recommendation">Rec or WG
        Note</acronym></th>
    </tr>
    <tr>
      <th rowspan="1" colspan="1">R2RML</th>
      <td class="WD1" rowspan="1" colspan="1">T+6</td>
      <td class="LC" rowspan="1" colspan="1">T+18</td>
      <td class="CR" rowspan="1" colspan="1">T+20</td>
      <td class="PR" rowspan="1" colspan="1">T+22</td>
      <td class="REC" rowspan="1" colspan="1">T+24 (Rec)</td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
      <th rowspan="1" colspan="1">R2RML Test cases</th>
      <td class="WD1" rowspan="1" colspan="1">T+14</td>
      <td class="LC" rowspan="1" colspan="1">T+19</td>
      <td class="CR" rowspan="1" colspan="1"> </td>
      <td class="PR" rowspan="1" colspan="1"> </td>
      <td class="REC" rowspan="1" colspan="1">T+24 (Status to be
      decided)</td>
    </tr>
  </tbody>
</table>

<div>
<h3 id="timeline">Timeline View Summary</h3>
	    	<p>“T” denotes the starting month of the Working Group.</p>
<ul>
  <li>T: First teleconference</li>
  <li>T+3: First face-to-face meeting</li>
  <li>T+4: Requirements and Use Cases for the RDB2RDF Mapping Language
    (R2RML)</li>
  <li>T+6: First Public Working Draft for R2RML</li>
  <li>T+14: First Public Working Draft for Test Cases</li>
  <li>T+18: R2RML Syntax - Last Call</li>
  <li>T+19: R2RML Test Cases - Last Call</li>
  <li>T+22: R2RML Syntax - Proposed Recommendation</li>
  <li>T+24: R2RML Syntax - Recommendation</li>
  <li>T+24: R2RML Test Cases - Final Version</li>
</ul>
</div>

<div class="dependencies">
<h2 id="coordination">Dependencies</h2>

<h3>W3C Groups</h3>
<dl>
  <dt><a href="/2001/sw/DataAccess/">SPARQL Working Group</a></dt>
    <dd>Track the evolution of SPARQL (updates, etc.).</dd>
  <dt><a href="/2005/rules/wiki/RIF_Working_Group">RIF WG</a></dt>
    <dd>Possibly define a dialect of RIF for the mapping language.</dd>
  <dt><a href="/html/wg/">HTML WG</a></dt>
    <dd>The HTML 5 spec has a section on possible database access.</dd>
  <dt><a href="http://www.w3.org/2001/sw/hcls/">Health Care and Life Sciences
  IG</a></dt>
    <dd>To gain further use case requirements and communicate with a major user
      community</dd>
</dl>

<div class="should" id="conformance">
<p>Furthermore, RDB2RDF Working Group expects to follow these W3C
Recommendations:</p>
<ul>
  <li><a href="http://www.w3.org/TR/qaframe-spec/" shape="rect">QA Framework:
    Specification Guidelines</a>.</li>
  <li><a href="http://www.w3.org/TR/charmod/" shape="rect">Character Model for
    the World Wide Web 1.0: Fundamentals</a></li>
  <li><a href="http://www.w3.org/TR/webarch/" shape="rect">Architecture of the
    World Wide Web, Volume I</a></li>
</ul>
</div>

<h3>External Groups</h3>
<dl>
  <dt><a href="http://linkeddata.org/">Linked Data community</a></dt>
    <dd>To support the implementation of the linked data principles.</dd>
  <dt><a href="http://www.okkam.org/">The OKKAM Project</a></dt>
    <dd>The ENS System for assigning reusable identifiers to people, locations,
      organizations, events, products, etc.</dd>
  <dt><a href="http://neurocommons.org/page/Common_Naming_Project">Neuro
  Commons Common Naming Project</a></dt>
    <dd>Reusable identifiers for life sciences entities.</dd>
</dl>
</div>

<div class="participation">
<h2 id="participation">Participation</h2>

<p>To be successful, the RDB2RDF Working Group is expected to have 5 or more
active participants for its duration. Effective participation to RDB2RDF
Working Group is expected to consume one work day per week for each
participant; two days per week for editors. The RDB2RDF Working Group will
allocate also the necessary resources for building Test Suites for each
specification.</p>

<p>Participants are reminded of the <a
href="/2005/10/Process-20051014/groups.html#good-standing">Good Standing
requirements</a> of the W3C Process.</p>
</div>

<div class="communication">
<h2 id="communication">Communication</h2>

<p>This group primarily conducts its work on the public mailing list
<a href="http://lists.w3.org/Archives/Public/public-rdb2rdf-wg">public-rdb2rdf-wg@w3.org</a>.</p>

<p>Information about the group (deliverables, participants, face-to-face
meetings, teleconferences, etc.) is available from the RDB2RDF Working Group
home page.</p>
</div>

<div class="decisions">
<h2 id="decisions">Decision Policy</h2>

<p>As explained in the Process Document (<a
href="http://www.w3.org/Consortium/Process/policies#Consensus"
shape="rect">section 3.3</a>), this group will seek to make decisions when
there is consensus. When the Chair puts a question and observes dissent, after
due consideration of different opinions, the Chair should record a decision
(possibly after a formal vote) and any objections, and move on.</p>

<p>This charter is written in accordance with <a
href="http://www.w3.org/Consortium/Process/policies#Votes" shape="rect">Section
3.4, Votes</a> of the W3C Process Document and includes no voting procedures
beyond what the Process Document requires.</p>
</div>

<div class="patent">
<h2 id="patentpolicy">Patent Policy </h2>

<p>This Working Group operates under the <a
href="/Consortium/Patent-Policy-20040205/" shape="rect">W3C Patent Policy</a>
(5 February 2004 Version). To promote the widest adoption of Web standards, W3C
seeks to issue Recommendations that can be implemented, according to this
policy, on a Royalty-Free basis.</p>

<p>For more information about disclosure obligations for this group, please see
the <a href="/2004/01/pp-impl/">W3C Patent Policy Implementation</a>.</p>
</div>

<h2 id="about">About this Charter</h2>

<p>This charter for the RDB2RDF Working Group has been created according to <a
href="http://www.w3.org/Consortium/Process/groups#GAGeneral">section 6.2</a>
of the <a href="http://www.w3.org/Consortium/Process">Process Document</a>. In
the event of a conflict between this document or the provisions of any charter
and the W3C Process, the W3C Process shall take precedence.</p>
<hr />
<address>
   <a href="mailto:ivan@w3.org">Ivan Herman</a>, Staff Contact and Semantic Web Activity Lead
</address>

<p class="copyright"><a rel="Copyright"
href="http://www.w3.org/Consortium/Legal/ipr-notice#Copyright"
shape="rect">Copyright</a><sup>©</sup> 2009 <a href="http://www.w3.org/"
shape="rect"><acronym
title="World Wide Web Consortium">W3C</acronym></a><sup>®</sup> (<a
href="http://www.csail.mit.edu/" shape="rect"><acronym
title="Massachusetts Institute of Technology">MIT</acronym></a> , <a
href="http://www.ercim.org/" shape="rect"><acronym
title="European Research Consortium for Informatics and Mathematics">ERCIM</acronym></a>,
<a href="http://www.keio.ac.jp/" shape="rect">Keio</a>), All Rights
Reserved.</p>

<p>$Date: 2011/11/17 11:34:26 $</p>
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