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PROV-DM, the PROV data model, is a data model for provenance that describes the entities, people and activities involved in producing a piece of data or thing. PROV-DM is structured in six components, dealing with: (1) entities and activities, and the time at which they were created, used, or ended; (2) agents bearing responsibility for entities that were generated and activities that happened; (3) derivations of entities from entities; (4) properties to link entities that refer to the same thing; (5) collections forming a logical structure for its members; (6) a simple annotation mechanism.
To provide examples of the PROV data model, the PROV notation (PROV-N) is introduced: aimed at human consumption, PROV-N allows serializations of PROV instances to be created in a compact manner. PROV-N facilitates the mapping of the PROV data model to concrete syntax, and is used as the basis for a formal semantics of PROV. The purpose of this document is to define the PROV-N notation.
This section describes the status of this document at the time of its publication. Other documents may supersede this document. A list of current W3C publications and the latest revision of this technical report can be found in the W3C technical reports index at http://www.w3.org/TR/.
This is the first public release of the PROV-N document. Following feedback, the Working Group has decided to reorganize the PROV-DM document substantially, separating the data model, from its constraints, and the notation used to illustrate it. The PROV-N release is synchronized with the release of the PROV-DM, PROV-O, PROV-PRIMER, and PROV-CONSTRAINTS documents.
This document was published by the Provenance Working Group as a First Public Working Draft. This document is intended to become a W3C Recommendation. If you wish to make comments regarding this document, please send them to [email protected] (subscribe, archives). All feedback is welcome.
Publication as a Working Draft does not imply endorsement by the W3C Membership. This is a draft document and may be updated, replaced or obsoleted by other documents at any time. It is inappropriate to cite this document as other than work in progress.
This document was produced by a group operating under the 5 February 2004 W3C Patent Policy. W3C maintains a public list of any patent disclosures made in connection with the deliverables of the group; that page also includes instructions for disclosing a patent. An individual who has actual knowledge of a patent which the individual believes contains Essential Claim(s) must disclose the information in accordance with section 6 of the W3C Patent Policy.
Provenance is defined as a record that describes the people, institutions, entities, and activities, involved in producing, influencing, or delivering a piece of data or a thing in the world. Two companion specifications respectively define PROV-DM, a data model for provenance, allowing provenance descriptions to be expressed [PROV-DM] and a set of constraints that provenance descriptions are expected to satisfy [PROV-CONSTRAINTS].
This document introduces the PROV-N grammar along with examples of its usage.
Its target audience is twofold:
This document defines a grammar using the Extended Backus-Naur Form (EBNF) notation. Its productions correspond to PROV data model types and relations.
It is structured as follows.Section 2 provides the design rationale for the PROV Notation.
Section 3 defines the notation for the Extended Backus-Naur Form (EBNF) grammar used in this specification.
Section 4 presents the grammar of all expressions of the language grouped according to the PROV data model components.
Section 5 defines the grammar of containers, a house-keeping construct of PROV-N capable of packaging up PROV-N expressions and namespace declarations.
Section 6 defines the grammar of accounts.
Section 7 defines media type for the PROV-N notation.
The key words "must", "must not", "required", "shall", "shall not", "should", "should not", "recommended", "may", and "optional" in this document are to be interpreted as described in [RFC2119].
The following namespaces prefixes are used throughout this document.
| prefix | namespace uri | definition |
| prov | http://www.w3.org/ns/prov# | The PROV namespace (see Section 4.7.1) |
| xsd | http://www.w3.org/2000/10/XMLSchema# | XML Schema Namespace [XMLSCHEMA-2] |
| rdf | http://www.w3.org/1999/02/22-rdf-syntax-ns# | The RDF namespace [RDF-CONCEPTS] |
| (others) | (various) | All other namespace prefixes are used in examples only. In particular, URIs starting with "http://example.com" represent some application-dependent URI [URI] |
PROV-N adopts a functional-style syntax consisting of a predicate name and an ordered list of terms. All PROV data model relations involve two primary elements, the subject and the object, in this order. Furthermore, some expressions also admit additional elements that further characterize it.
wasDerivedFrom(e2, e1)
wasDerivedFrom(e2, e1, a, g2, u1) activity(a2, 2011-11-16T16:00:00, 2011-11-16T16:00:01)
The grammar is specified using the Extended Backus-Naur Form (EBNF) notation.
Within the term on the right-hand side of a rule, the following terms are used to match strings of one or more characters:
| expression | ::= |
entityExpression
| activityExpression
| generationExpression
| usageExpression
| startExpression | endExpression | invalidationExpression | communicationExpression | startByActivityExpression | agentExpression | attributionExpression | associationExpression | responsibilityExpression | derivationExpression | revisionExpression | quotationExpression | hadOriginalSourceExpression | traceExpression | alternateExpression | specializationExpression | noteExpression | annotationExpression |
A PROV-N document consists of a collection of expressions, wrapped in an expression container with some namespace declarations, such that the text for an element matches the corresponding expression production of the grammar.
wasDerivedFrom(e2, e1, a, g2, u1) wasDerivedFrom(e2, e1)In a derivation expression, the activity, generation, and usage are optional terms. They are specified in the first derivation, but not in the second.
activity(a2, 2011-11-16T16:00:00, 2011-11-16T16:00:01) activity(a1)The start and end times for Activity a1 are optional. They are specified in the first expression, but not in the second.
The general rule for optionals is that, if none of the optionals are used in the expression, then they are simply omitted, resulting in a simpler expression as in the examples above.
However, it may be the case that only some of the optional terms are omitted. Because the position of the terms in the expression matters, an additional marker must be used to indicate that a particular term is not available. The symbol - is used for this purpose.In the first expression below, all optionals are specified. However in the second, only the last one is specified, forcing the use of the marker for the missing terms. In the last, no marker is necessary because all remaining optionals after a are missing.
wasDerivedFrom(e2, e1, a, g2, u1) wasDerivedFrom(e2, e1, -, -, u1) wasDerivedFrom(e2, e1, a)
activity(a1) activity(a1, -, -)
Most expressions defined in the grammar include the use of two terms: an identifier for the predicate, and a set of attribute-value pairs, delimited by square brackets. Both are optional (unless specified otherwise). By convention, the identifier is the first term in any expression, and the set of attribute-value pairs is the last.
Consistent with the convention on optional terms, the '-' marker can be used when the identifier is not available. Additionally, the grammar rules are defined in such a way that the optional identifier can be omitted altogether with no ambiguity arising.Derivation has an optional identifier. In the first expression, the identifier is not available. It is explicit in the second, and marked by a - in the third.
wasDerivedFrom(e2, e1) wasDerivedFrom(d, e2, e1) wasDerivedFrom(-, e2, e1)
The first activity does not have any attributes. The second has an empty list of attributes. The third activity has two attributes.
activity(ex:a10) activity(ex:a10, []) activity(ex:a10, [ex:param1="a", ex:param2="b"])
entity(tr:WD-prov-dm-20111215, [ prov:type="document" ])Here tr:WD-prov-dm-20111215 is the optional entity identifier, and [ prov:type="document" ] groups the optional attributes with their values.
entity(tr:WD-prov-dm-20111215)Here the optional attributes are not used.
activity(ex:a10, 2011-11-16T16:00:00, 2011-11-16T16:00:01, [prov:type="createFile"])
Here ex:a10 is the optional activity identifier, 2011-11-16T16:00:00 and 2011-11-16T16:00:01 are the optional start and end times for the activity, and [prov:type="createFile"] are optional attributes.
The remaining examples show cases where some of the optionals are omitted.activity(ex:a10) activity(ex:a10, -, -) activity(ex:a10, -, -, [prov:type="edit"]) activity(ex:a10, -, 2011-11-16T16:00:00) activity(ex:a10, 2011-11-16T16:00:00, -) activity(ex:a10, 2011-11-16T16:00:00, -, [prov:type="createFile"]) activity(ex:a10, [prov:type="edit"])
wasGeneratedBy(ex:g1, tr:WD-prov-dm-20111215, ex:edit1, 2011-11-16T16:00:00, [ex:fct="save"])
Here ex:g1 is the optional generation identifier, tr:WD-prov-dm-20111215 is the identifier of the entity being generated, ex:edit1 is the optional identifier of the generating activity, 2011-11-16T16:00:00 is the optional generation time, and [ex:fct="save"] are optional attributes.
The remaining examples show cases where some of the optionals are omitted.wasGeneratedBy(tr:WD-prov-dm-20111215, ex:edit1, -) wasGeneratedBy(tr:WD-prov-dm-20111215, ex:edit1, 2011-11-16T16:00:00) wasGeneratedBy(e2, a1, -, [ex:fct="save"]) wasGeneratedBy(e2, -, -, [ex:fct="save"]) wasGeneratedBy(ex:g1, tr:WD-prov-dm-20111215, ex:edit1, -) wasGeneratedBy(-, tr:WD-prov-dm-20111215, ex:edit1, -)
Even though the production generationExpression allows for expressions wasGeneratedBy(e2, -, -) and wasGeneratedBy(-, e2, -, -), these expressions are not valid in PROV-N, since at least one of activity, time, or attributes must be present.
used(ex:u1, ex:act2, ar3:0111, 2011-11-16T16:00:00, [ex:fct="load"])
Here ex:u1 is the optional usage identifier, ex:act2 is the identifier of the using activity, ar3:0111 is the identifier of the entity being used, 2011-11-16T16:00:00 is the optional usage time, and [ex:fct="load"] are optional attributes.
The remaining examples show cases where some of the optionals are omitted.used(ex:act2, ar3:0111, -) used(ex:act2, ar3:0111, 2011-11-16T16:00:00) used(a1,e1, -, [ex:fct="load"]) used(ex:u1, ex:act2, ar3:0111, -) used(-, ex:act2, ar3:0111, -)
wasStartedBy(s, ex:act2, ar3:0111, 2011-11-16T16:00:00, [ex:param="a"])
Here s is the optional start identifier, ex:act2 is the identifier of the starting activity, ar3:0111 is the identifier of the entity that triggered the activity start, 2011-11-16T16:00:00 is the optional usage time, and [ex:param="a"] are optional attributes.
The remaining examples show cases where some of the optionals are omitted.wasStartedBy(ex:act2, ar3:0111, -) wasStartedBy(ex:act2, ar3:0111, 2011-11-16T16:00:00) wasStartedBy(ex:act2, -, 2011-11-16T16:00:00) wasStartedBy(ex:act2, -, -) wasStartedBy(ex:act2, -, -, [ex:param="a"]) wasStartedBy(s, ex:act2, ar3:0111, 2011-11-16T16:00:00) wasStartedBy(-, ex:act2, ar3:0111, 2011-11-16T16:00:00)
Note: Even though the production startExpression allows for expressions wasStartedBy(e2, -, -) and wasStartedBy(-, e2, -, -), these expressions are not valid in PROV-N, since at least one of trigger, time, or attributes must be present.
wasEndedBy(s, ex:act2, ex:trigger, 2011-11-16T16:00:00, [ex:param="a"])
Here s is the optional start identifier, ex:act2 is the identifier of the ending activity, ex:trigger is the identifier of the entity that triggered the activity end, 2011-11-16T16:00:00 is the optional usage time, and [ex:param="a"] are optional attributes.
The remaining examples show cases where some of the optionals are omitted.wasEndedBy(ex:act2, ex:trigger, -) wasEndedBy(ex:act2, ex:trigger, 2011-11-16T16:00:00) wasEndedBy(ex:act2, -, 2011-11-16T16:00:00) wasEndedBy(ex:act2, -, 2011-11-16T16:00:00, [ex:param="a"]) wasEndedBy(e,ex:act2, -, -) wasEndedBy(e, ex:act2, ex:trigger, 2011-11-16T16:00:00) wasEndedBy(-, ex:act2, ex:trigger, 2011-11-16T16:00:00)
Note:Even though the production endExpression allows for expressions wasEndedBy(e2, -, -) and wasEndedBy(-, e2, -, -), these expressions are not valid in PROV-N, since at least one of trigger, time, and attributes must be present.
wasInvalidatedBy(ex:i1, tr:WD-prov-dm-20111215, ex:edit1, 2011-11-16T16:00:00, [ex:fct="save"])
Here ex:i1 is the optional invalidation identifier, tr:WD-prov-dm-20111215 is the identifier of the entity being invalidated, ex:edit1 is the optional identifier of the invalidating activity, 2011-11-16T16:00:00 is the optional invalidation time, and [ex:fct="save"] are optional attributes.
The remaining examples show cases where some of the optionals are omitted.wasInvalidatedBy(tr:WD-prov-dm-20111215, ex:edit1, -) wasInvalidatedBy(tr:WD-prov-dm-20111215, ex:edit1, 2011-11-16T16:00:00) wasInvalidatedBy(e2, a1, -, [ex:fct="save"]) wasInvalidatedBy(e2, -, -, [ex:fct="save"]) wasInvalidatedBy(ex:i1, tr:WD-prov-dm-20111215, ex:edit1, -) wasInvalidatedBy(-, tr:WD-prov-dm-20111215, ex:edit1, -)
Even though the production invalidationExpression allows for expressions wasInvalidatedBy(e2, -, -) and wasInvalidatedBy(-, e2, -, -), these expressions are not valid in PROV-N, since at least one of activity, time, or attributes must be present.
wasInformedBy(ex:inf1, ex:a1, ex:a2, [ex:param1="a", ex:param2="b"])
Here ex:inf1 is the optional communication identifier, ex:a1 is the identifier of the informed activity, ex:a2 is the identifier of the informant activity, and [ex:param1="a", ex:param2="b"] are optional attributes.
The remaining examples show cases where some of the optionals are omitted.wasInformedBy(ex:a1, ex:a2) wasInformedBy(ex:a1, ex:a2, [ex:param1="a", ex:param2="b"]) wasInformedBy(i, ex:a1, ex:a2) wasInformedBy(i, ex:a1, ex:a2, [ex:param1="a", ex:param2="b"]) wasInformedBy(-, ex:a1, ex:a2) wasInformedBy(-, ex:a1, ex:a2, [ex:param1="a", ex:param2="b"])
wasStartedByActivity(s,ex:a1, ex:a2, [ex:param1="a", ex:param2="b"])
Here s is the optional start-by-activity identifier, ex:a1 is the identifier of the starting activity, ex:a2 is the identifier of the activity that started ex:a1, and [ex:param1="a", ex:param2="b"] are optional attributes.
The remaining examples show cases where some of the optionals are omitted.wasStartedByActivity(ex:a1, ex:a2) wasStartedByActivity(ex:a1, ex:a2, [ex:param1="a", ex:param2="b"]) wasStartedByActivity(s,ex:a1, ex:a2) wasStartedByActivity(-,ex:a1, ex:a2) wasStartedByActivity(-,ex:a1, ex:a2, [ex:param1="a", ex:param2="b"])
agent(ag4, [ prov:type="prov:Person", ex:name="David" ])
Here ag is the agent identifier, and [ prov:type="prov:Person", ex:name="David" ] are optional attributes.
In the next example, the optional attributes are omitted.agent(ag4)
wasAttributedTo(id, e, ag, [ex:license="cc:attributionURL" %% "xsd:QName"])
Here id is the optional attribution identifier, e is an entity identifier, ag is the identifier of the agent to whom the entity is abscribed, and [ex:license="cc:attributionURL" %% "xsd:QName"] are optional attributes.
The remaining examples show cases where some of the optionals are omitted.wasAttributedTo(e, ag) wasAttributedTo(e, ag, [ex:license="cc:attributionURL" %% "xsd:QName"]) wasAttributedTo(-, e, ag, [ex:license="cc:attributionURL" %% "xsd:QName"])
wasAssociatedWith(ex:agas, ex:a1, ex:ag1, ex:e1, [ex:param1="a", ex:param2="b"])
Here ex:agas is the optional attribution identifier, ex:a1 is an activity identifier, ex:ag1 is the optional identifier of the agent associated to the activity, ex:e1 is the optional identifier of the plan used by the agent in the context of the activity, and [ex:param1="a", ex:param2="b"] are optional attributes.
The remaining examples show cases where some of the optionals are omitted.wasAssociatedWith(ex:a1, -, ex:e1) wasAssociatedWith(ex:a1, ex:ag1, -) wasAssociatedWith(ex:a1, ex:ag1, ex:e1) wasAssociatedWith(ex:a1, ex:ag1, ex:e1, [ex:param1="a", ex:param2="b"]) wasAssociatedWith(a, ex:a1, -, ex:e1) wasAssociatedWith(-, ex:a1, -, ex:e1) wasAssociatedWith(-, ex:a1, ex:ag1, -)
Note:The production associationExpression allows for expressions wasAssociatedWith(a, -, -) and wasAssociatiedWith(-, a, -, -). However, these expressions are not valid in PROV-N, because at least one of agent or plan must be present.
actedOnBehalfOf(act1, ag1, ag2, a, [prov:type="contract"])
Here act1 is the optional attribution identifier, ag1 is the identifier for the subordinate agent, ag2 is the identifier of the responsible agent, a is the optional identifier of the activity for which the responsibility link holds, and [prov:type="contract"] are optional attributes.
The remaining examples show cases where some of the optionals are omitted.actedOnBehalfOf(ag1, ag2, -) actedOnBehalfOf(ag1, ag2, a) actedOnBehalfOf(ag1, ag2, -, [prov:type="delegation"]) actedOnBehalfOf(ag2, ag3, a, [prov:type="contract"]) actedOnBehalfOf(r, ag2, ag3, a, [prov:type="contract"]) actedOnBehalfOf(-, ag1, ag2, -)
wasDerivedFrom(d, e2, e1, a, g2, u1, [prov:comment="a righteous derivation"])
Here d is the optional derivation identifier, e2 is the identifier for the entity being derived, e1 is the identifier of the entity from which e2 is derived, a is the optional identifier of the activity which used/generated the entities, g2 is the optional identifier of the generation, u1 is the optional identifier of the usage, and [prov:comment="a righteous derivation"] are optional attributes.
The remaining examples show cases where some of the optionals are omitted.wasDerivedFrom(e2, e1) wasDerivedFrom(e2, e1, a, g2, u1) wasDerivedFrom(e2, e1, -, g2, u1) wasDerivedFrom(e2, e1, a, -, u1) wasDerivedFrom(e2, e1, a, g2, -) wasDerivedFrom(e2, e1, a, -, -) wasDerivedFrom(e2, e1, -, -, u1) wasDerivedFrom(e2, e1, -, -, -) wasDerivedFrom(d, e2, e1, a, g2, u1) wasDerivedFrom(-, e2, e1, a, g2, u1)
wasRevisionOf(rev1, tr:WD-prov-dm-20111215, tr:WD-prov-dm-20111018, w3:Consortium, [prov:comment="??"] )
Here rev1 is the optional revision identifier, tr:WD-prov-dm-20111215 is the identifier of the revised entity, tr:WD-prov-dm-20111018 is the identifier of the original entity, w3:Consortium is the optional identifier of the agent involved in the revision, and [prov:comment="??"] ) are optional attributes.
The remaining examples show cases where some of the optionals are omitted.wasRevisionOf(tr:WD-prov-dm-20111215, tr:WD-prov-dm-20111018, -) wasRevisionOf(tr:WD-prov-dm-20111215, tr:WD-prov-dm-20111018, w3:Consortium) wasRevisionOf(id,tr:WD-prov-dm-20111215, tr:WD-prov-dm-20111018, w3:Consortium) wasRevisionOf(tr:WD-prov-dm-20111215, tr:WD-prov-dm-20111018, -) wasRevisionOf(id,tr:WD-prov-dm-20111215, tr:WD-prov-dm-20111018, -) wasRevisionOf(-,tr:WD-prov-dm-20111215, tr:WD-prov-dm-20111018, -)
wasQuotedFrom(quoteId1, ex:blockQuote,ex:blog,ex:Luc,ex:Paul,[])
Here quoteId1 is the optional revision identifier, ex:blockQuote is the identifier of the entity that represents the quote (the partial copy) ex:blog is the identifier of the original entity being quoted, ex:Luc is the optional identifier of the agent who performs the quoting, ex:Paul is the optional identifier of the agent to whom the original entity is attributed, and [] is the (empty) optional set of attributes.
The remaining examples show cases where some of the optionals are omitted.wasQuotedFrom(ex:blockQuote,ex:blog) wasQuotedFrom(ex:blockQuote,ex:blog,ex:Luc,ex:Paul) wasQuotedFrom(ex:blockQuote,ex:blog,-,ex:Paul) wasQuotedFrom(ex:blockQuote,ex:blog,ex:Luc,ex:Paul,[]) wasQuotedFrom(ex:blockQuote,ex:blog, -, -) wasQuotedFrom(id,ex:blockQuote,ex:blog,ex:Luc,ex:Paul) wasQuotedFrom(-,ex:blockQuote,ex:blog,ex:Luc,-)
hadOriginalSource(src1, ex:e1, ex:e2,[ex:param="a"])
Here src1 is the optional original source identifier, ex:e1 is the identifier of the derived entity, ex:e2 is the identifier of the original source entity, and [ex:param="a"] is the optional set of attributes.
The remaining examples show cases where some of the optionals are omitted.hadOriginalSource(ex:e1, ex:e2) hadOriginalSource(ex:e1, ex:e2,[ex:param="a"]) hadOriginalSource(-,ex:e1, ex:e2,[ex:param="a"]) hadOriginalSource(-,ex:e1, ex:e2)
tracedTo(id,e2,e1,[ex:param="a"])
Here id is the optional trace identifier, e2 is an entity identifier, e1 is the identifier for an ancestor entity that e2 depends on, and [ex:param="a"] is the optional set of attributes.
The remaining examples show cases where some of the optionals are omitted.tracedTo(e2,e1) tracedTo(e2,e1,[ex:param="a"]) tracedTo(-,e2,e1)
alternateOf(tr:WD-prov-dm-20111215,ex:alternate-20111215)Here tr:WD-prov-dm-20111215 is alternate for ex:alternate-20111215.
specializationOf(tr:WD-prov-dm-20111215,tr:prov-dm)Here tr:WD-prov-dm-20111215 is a specialization of tr:prov-dm.
derivedByInsertionFrom(id, c1, c, {("k1", v1), ("k2", v2)}, [])
Here id is the optional insertion identifier, c1 is the identifier for the collection after the insertion, c is the identifier for the collection before the insertion, {("k1", v1), ("k2", v2)} is the set of key-value pairs that have been inserted in c, and [] is the optional (empty) set of attributes.
The remaining examples show cases where some of the optionals are omitted. derivedByInsertionFrom(c1, c, {("k1", v1), ("k2", v2)})
derivedByInsertionFrom(c1, c, {("k1", v1)})
derivedByInsertionFrom(c1, c, {("k1", v1), ("k2", v2)}, [])
derivedByRemovalFrom(id, c3, c, {"k1", "k3"}, [])
Here id is the optional removal identifier, c1 is the identifier for the collection after the removal, c is the identifier for the collection before the removal, {("k1", v1), ("k2", v2)} is the set of key-value pairs that have been removed from c, and [] is the optional (empty) set of attributes.
The remaining examples show cases where some of the optionals are omitted. derivedByRemovalFrom(c3, c1, {"k1", "k3"})
derivedByRemovalFrom(c3, c1, {"k1"})
derivedByRemovalFrom(c3, c1, {"k1", "k3"}, [])
memberOf(mid, c, {("k4", v4), ("k5", v5)}, [])
Here mid is the optional membership identifier, c is the identifier for the collection whose membership is stated, {("k4", v4), ("k5", v5)} is the set of key-value pairs that are members of c, and [] is the optional (empty) set of attributes.
The remaining examples show cases where some of the optionals are omitted. memberOf(c3, {("k4", v4), ("k5", v5)})
memberOf(c3, {("k4", v4)})
memberOf(c3, {("k4", v4), ("k5", v5)},[])
note(ann1,[ex:color="blue", ex:screenX=20, ex:screenY=30])
hasAnnotation(tr:WD-prov-dm-20111215,ex2:n1)Here ex2:n1 is the identifier for a note of the entity identified by (tr:WD-prov-dm-20111215.
In PROV-N, the following prefixes are reserved:
A PROV-N document must not redeclare prefixes prov and xsd.
The following example declares three namespaces, one default, and two with explicit prefixes ex1 and ex2.
container default <http://example.org/0/> prefix ex1 <http://example.org/1/> prefix ex2 <http://example.org/2/> ... end
A qualified name is a name subject to namespace interpretation. It consists of a namespace, denoted by an optional prefix, and a local name. The PROV data model stipulates that a qualified name can be mapped into an IRI by concatenating the IRI associated with the prefix and the local part.
A qualified name's prefix is optional. If a prefix occurs in a qualified name, it refers to a namespace declared in a namespace declaration. In the absence of prefix, the qualified name refers to the default namespace.
A PROV qualified name has a more permissive syntax then XML's QName [XML-NAMES] since it allows any syntax for its local part provided that the concatenation with the namespace results in a valid IRI [IRI].
Examples of articles on the BBC Web site seen as entities.
container prefix bbc <http://www.bbc.co.uk/> prefix bbcNews <http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/> entity(bbc:) // bbc site itself entity(bbc:news/) // bbc news entity(bbc:news/world-asia-17507976) // a given news article entity(bbcNews:) // an alternative way of referring to the bbc news site end
Examples of entities with declared and default namespace.
container default <http://example.org/2/> prefix ex <http://example.org/1/> entity(ex:a) // corresponds to IRI http://example.org/1/a entity(ex:a/) // corresponds to IRI http://example.org/1/a/ entity(ex:a/b) // corresponds to IRI http://example.org/1/a/b entity(b) // corresponds to IRI http://example.org/2/b entity(ex:1234) // corresponds to IRI http://example.org/2/1234 entity(4567) // corresponds to IRI http://example.org/2/4567 end
Note:The productions for qualifiedName and prefix are conflicting. In the context of a namespaceDeclaration, a parser should give precedence to the production for prefix.
The reserved attributes in the PROV namespace are the following.
The non terminals stringLiteral and intLiteral are syntactic sugar for quoted strings with datatype xsd:string and xsd:int, respectively.
In particular, a Literal may be an IRI-typed string (with datatype xsd:anyURI); such IRI has no specific interpretation in the context of PROV.
Note:The productions for qualifiedName and intLiteral are conflicting. In the context of a Literal, a parser should give precedence to the production for intLiteral.
prov:type="ex:Programmer" %% xsd:QNameto indicate that ex:Programmer should be interpreted as qualified name (QName). Instead, we could have a notation such as
prov:type='ex:Programmer'
The reserved type values in the PROV namespace are the following.
The entity ag is a person (type: prov:Person), whereas the entity pl is a plan (type: prov:Plan).
agent(ag,[prov:type="prov:Person" %% xsd:QName]) entity(pl,[prov:type="prov:Plan" %% xsd:QName])
Time instants are defined according to xsd:dateTime [XMLSCHEMA-2].
The third argument in the following usage expression is a time instance, namely 4pm on 2011-11-16.
used(ex:act2, ar3:0111, 2011-11-16T16:00:00)
An expression container is a house-keeping construct of PROV-N capable of packaging up PROV-N expressions and namespace declarations. An expression container forms a self-contained package of provenance descriptions for the purpose of exchanging them. An expression container may be used to package up PROV-N expressions in response to a request for the provenance of something ([PROV-AQ]).
Given its status of house keeping construct for the purpose of exchanging provenance expressions, an expression container is not defined as a PROV-N expression (production expression).
An expression container, written container decls exprs endContainer in PROV-N, contains:
An expression container's text matches the expressionContainer production.
The following container contains expressions related to the provenance of entity e2.
container
prefix ex <http://example.org/>
entity(e2, [ prov:type="File", ex:path="/shared/crime.txt", ex:creator="Alice",
ex:content="There was a lot of crime in London last month."])
activity(a1, 2011-11-16T16:05:00, -,[prov:type="edit"])
wasGeneratedBy(e2, a1, -, [ex:fct="save"])
wasAssociatedWith(a1, ag2, -, [prov:role="author"])
agent(ag2, [ prov:type="prov:Person" %% xsd:QName, ex:name="Bob" ])
endContainer
This container could for instance be returned as the result of a query to a provenance store for the provenance of entity e2 [PROV-AQ].
The PROV data model has introduced a notion of account by which a set of provenance descriptions can be bundled up and named. The PROV data model assumes the existence of mechanisms to implement accounts, but such mechanisms remain outside its scope. It is suggested that specific serializations may offer solutions to name bundles of descriptions.
Given that the primary motivation for PROV-N is to provide a notation aimed at human consumption, it is therefore appropriate to introduce a notation for accounts, which would include an account name and a bundle of expressions.
An account, written account(id, exprs) in PROV-N, contains:
In PROV-N, an account's text matches the accountExpression production of the grammar.
It is also useful to package up one or more account expressions in an expression container, for interchange purpose. Hence, expressionContainer is revised as follows.
The following container
container prefix ex <http://example.org/> account(ex:acc1,...) account(ex:acc2,...) endContainer
illustrates how two accounts with identifiers ex:acc1 and ex:acc2 can be returned in a PROV-N serialization of the provenance of something.
The following container
container
prefix ex <http://example.org/>
...
account(ex:acc1,
entity(tr:WD-prov-dm-20111018, [ prov:type="pr:RecsWD" %% xsd:QName ])
entity(tr:WD-prov-dm-20111215, [ prov:type="pr:RecsWD" %% xsd:QName ])
...
wasAssociatedWith(ex:pub2, w3:Consortium, pr:rec-advance))
account(ex:acc2,
entity(ex:acc1, [prov:type="prov:Account" %% xsd:QName ])
wasAttributedTo(ex1:acc1, w3:Consortium))
endContainer
illustrates a first account, with identifier ex:acc1, containing expressions describing the provenance of the technical report tr:WD-prov-dm-20111215, and a second account ex:acc2, describing the provenance of the first. In account ex:acc2, ex:acc1 is the identifier of an entity of type prov:Account.
The media type of PROV-N is text/prov-n. The content encoding of PROV-N content is UTF-8.
See http://www.w3.org/2002/06/registering-mediatype for Register an Internet Media Type for a W3C Spec.
WG membership to be listed here.