User is not authenticated
ODS FAQ
This is the informal "Frequently Asked Questions" (FAQs) Wiki Page for OpenLink Data Spaces (ODS)
You are very strongly encouraged to add your own questions, we won't bite.
This page is maintained by DanielLewis (Technology Evangelist for OpenLink Software).
User Friendly Questions
ODS seems to be an implementation of a lot of acronyms, but what does it actually do from a user perspective?
From a user point of view ODS is simply a Social Networking tool similar to Facebook, Orkut, Bebo and LinkedIn?. However after a bit more of a look around you actually notice that you can have your own blog, your own wiki, your own address book and your own mail application (amongst other things) all with the same login. This is because you have your own Personal space for your Data.
What is the difference between "Data Spaces" and "OpenLink Data Spaces"?
A "Data Space" is a container for data, but it is a bit more than a standard container because it provides both a human user view and a machine reader view (for things like Spiders/Crawlers to "understand"). The idea is that a space contains objects that are semantically relative to that space, for example, if you have a blog then its space will contain the posts, all of the tag information and all of the authorship details.
"OpenLink Data Spaces" or "ODS" is the first true implementation of the "Data Space" philosophy. It takes advanced technologies and places them in the users realm in an easy to understand way through the Data Spaces philosophy.
Another website is asking for the URL/URI of my FOAF file, which address do I give them?
A FOAF file is file for your profile information (i.e. as in you have profile information on LinkedIn? or Facebook). It is a widely used standard format. If another service asks you to put your FOAF file URL/URI then It is simply:
http://server:port/dataspace/your-username/foaf.rdf
For example, my FOAF file is available through myopenlink.net:
http://myopenlink.net/dataspace/danieljohnlewis/foaf.rdf
Business Orientated Questions
Why would a web user want to use ODS?
ODS provides a user with their own personal space for their information. The user can build up profiles, have their own wiki, blog and/or address book and can be safe in the knowledge that their data is their data.
How could I generate revenue from using ODS?
There are many ways, but here are some ideas:
- ODS provides access measures in several different ways, so ODS could be set up for "Standard Content" and "Premier Content" for example.
- Advertisements could be put into the installation.
What options are there available for installing/maintaining ODS?
It can be:
- Installed on any server using Virtuoso Universal Server.
- Hosted through OpenLink Software.
- Hosted on Amazon EC2 as we have a .ami instance ready for use. (Amazon EC2 installation information on Virtuoso Doc Wiki: "ODS & EC2 Installation Guide")
Technical Questions
If you are in the technical industry then you must know that the computer science field, and in particular the web sub-field is (unfortunately) full of acronyms and abbreviations! As OpenLink Data Spaces is a very advanced system it will contain quite a few acronyms and abbreviations, unfortunately we can't do much about this but we will try our best to translate what we've done into a coherent mesh of information for you to read.
OpenLink Software supports the work of the DataPortability.org project. Which DataPortability? standards does ODS support?
| Standard | What its used for | Online Examples and/or Documentation |
|---|---|---|
| OpenID? | ODS is also an OpenID? server and client, therefore OpenIDs? are generated by ODS and OpenIDs? are accepted for Sign-ups and Sign-ins | Virtuoso Wiki Word: ODSOpenID |
| OAuth | OAuth can be used in ODS to retrieve objects through Authentication Measures | |
| Yadis | Yadis is available in ODS for the automatic discovery of identity/authentication methods | Virtuoso Wiki Word ODSYadis |
| APML | APML in ODS provides all attention profile information across the personal data space | |
| OPML | OPML is available in ODS Weblog and Feed Manager for Syndication | Virtuoso Wiki Words: OdsBlog and OdsFeedManager provide more information |
| RSS | RSS feeds are available throughout ODS, with the Weblog and Feed manager in particular | Virtuoso Wiki Words: OdsBlog and OdsFeedManager provide more information |
| FOAF | Friend of a Friend Profile information is available for every Personal Data Space | Virtuoso Wiki Word: ODSFOAFRef |
| SIOC | SIOC information is provided through your Personal Data Space for each instantiated application | Virtuoso Wiki Word: ODSSIOCRef |
Which Semantic Web standards/systems does ODS support?
| Standard | What its used for | Online Examples and/or Documentation |
|---|---|---|
| RDF | Every object and space in ODS is available in RDF format if requested | e.g. the SIOC for this Wiki |
| URIs | Well formed URIs are provided for each and every Data Space and Objects | e.g. http://myopenlink.net/dataspace/danieljohnlewis/wiki/InformalODSWiki/FrequentlyAskedQuestions this pages URI actually makes sense: "the dataspace of danieljohnlewis contains a wiki called InformalODSWiki which has a page called FrequentlyAskedQuestions" |
| SPARQL | The Semantic Web Query Language SPARQL can be used to query every object in ODS, it is all available through the /sparql endpoint | Virtuoso Wiki Word: VOSODSSparqlSamples |
| SPARUL (aka SPARQL/Update) | The Semantic Web Update Language SPARUl can be used to update data in ODS | Virtuoso Wiki Word: VirtSPARUL |
| SKOS | SKOS is a standard which assists the ODS internal representation of tags | Virtuoso Wiki Word: ODSSKOSRef |
| Annotea | ODS is hooked into the Annotea web annotation service | Virtuoso Wiki Word: ODSAnnoteaRef |
(FOAF, SIOC and RDF Site Summary are considered both Semantic Web and DataPortability? Standards, they have been placed in the DataPortability? section above)
Are there any other standards/systems worth noting?
| Standard | What its used for | Online Examples and/or Documentation |
|---|---|---|
| Atom | For publication and syndication of blog posts, wiki posts and other feeds | Virtuoso Wiki Word: ODSAtomOWLRef |
| GData | GData a Google Data Protocol which ODS implements to provide a means for: Full Text Querying, Content CRUD, Authentication and Atom Syndication | Virtuoso Wiki Words: GData and OdsGData |
| JSON | All ODS Query Endpoints can output JSON, this can be done by changing the format parameter to json | e.g. Find all predicates and objects for danieljohnlewis#this |
| REST | GData and SPARQL endpoints are "RESTful" | Some information is available through Virtuoso Wiki Word VOSRDF |
| MOAT | MOAT is quite a new system which establishes a (semantic) link to the particular meaning of a tag | This feature was released in Virtuoso 5.0.5 |
| SCOT | A RDF representation of the cloud of tags is provided for a particular Data Space | e.g. Kingsley Idehen - Blog Space Tag Cloud is an example which can be identified via Kingsley Idehen - SIOC file |
Can I use ODS in a mashup?
Yes, of course you can. The easiest way to do this is by beaming a SPARQL or SQL query into ODS and you can request the response in RDF or JSON.
The SPARQL endpoint is available through:
http://server:port/sparql
So for example, the SPARQL endpoint for myopenlink.net is:
http://myopenlink.net/sparql
On some systems there is a publicly available SPARQL Query Builder which we have called iSPARQL?. This is available on your server:
http://server:port/isparql
There are examples SPARQL ODS queries available through the " SPARQL Sample Queries using Live Demonstration Data " on the Virtuoso Documentation Wiki .
How do I install ODS on Amazon EC2?
There is a tutorial available on the Virtuoso Documentation Wiki which is called " ODS & EC2 Installation Guide ". That should answer that question entirely.
--
Number of hits:
