From: Richard Fikes ([email protected])
Date: 10/24/01
>>And then we have the query: "is there anything with any color?", or >>RDF(?x, color, ?y). >> >>Do we get back >> >>(a) 1 triple >> >> <patsCar> <color> <blue>. >> >>or (b) 2 triples >> >> <patsCar> <color> <blue>. >> _:b <color> <red>. >> >>(where I've changed the _:a to _:b just to emphasise that it is an >>arbitrary term, and its scope does not carry over from the knowledge >>base to the response). >> >>or (c) 2 triples with genid (skolem constant) >> >> <patsCar> <color> <blue>. >> <reasonerCreatedSymbol79878687> <color> <red>. >> >>If everyone actually is happy with (b), then we were in fact in >>violent agreement. If not, then there's a real issue here. If we accept that we can say in rdf "exists x (RDF(x, color, red))", then I indeed have been arguing for (a) rather than (b) or (c). It seems to me that (b) and (c) are saying that we will allow an answer to a query to contain a binding of a query variable to a constant created to represent an existential variable. As I think Pat is pointing out, that makes sense only if the answer is constructed so that it is clear which constants represent existential variables, and that for query body instances to be entailed by the KB, the constants in the answers that represent existential variables need to be appropriately replaced by existential variables. I am ok with that scheme, and so could agree to query variable bindings in answers that are identified as being gensyms representing existential variables. Just to check, I presume this would apply to cardinality restrictions as well. For example, if the KB says that persons have exactly two values of property "parent" (because of a cardinality restriction), the KB does not identify Pat's parent, and we ask the query RDF(Pat parent ?x), then I presume the complete set of answers would be the triples (Pat parent _:p1) and (Pat parent _:p2) (or the bindings {[?x _:p1]} and {[?x _:p2]}) where _:p1 and _:p2 are noted to be existentials. Richard
This archive was generated by hypermail 2.1.4 : 04/02/02 EST