Schema for a generic (data) provenance annotation
This schema builds on the Thing
schema, and diversifies it to capture
the key provenance concepts Agent, Activity,
Entity, and their relationships. It does that by drawing on (a
subset) of the PROV data model PROV-DM.
Central paradigm of the schema is the qualified relation
pattern.
The three Thing derived key concepts Agent, Activity, and
Entity build on the Thing slot relations (symmetric property) for
inline declaration of related things, and extend the basic means of
qualifying a relationship via characterized_by
and with provenance specific slots, and
qualified_relations for declaring the roles of
related things.
Specifically the latter approach takes the place of all of the various
qualified* properties defined in PROV. Rather than supporting association
classes like prov:Derivation or prov:Generation, such relationships are
annotated by linking to things via slots like
derived_from or
generated_by, and characterizing the relationship
via qualified_relations, and a (custom)
Role declaration.
The schema is entity-centric, meaning that entity properties are preferred
over activity properties expressing the same (inverse) relationship. For
example, an entity's generated_by is implemented,
but not an activity's generated.
This schema also incorporates the schemas
The schema definition is available as
URI: https://concepts.datalad.org/s/prov/unreleased
Name: prov-schema
Schema Diagram
erDiagram
Agent {
uriorcurie id
uriorcurieList broad_mappings
uriorcurieList close_mappings
string description
uriorcurieList exact_mappings
uriorcurieList narrow_mappings
uriorcurieList related_mappings
NodeUriOrCurie schema_type
}
Activity {
W3CISO8601 ended_at
W3CISO8601 started_at
uriorcurie id
uriorcurieList broad_mappings
uriorcurieList close_mappings
string description
uriorcurieList exact_mappings
uriorcurieList narrow_mappings
uriorcurieList related_mappings
NodeUriOrCurie schema_type
}
Entity {
uriorcurie id
uriorcurieList broad_mappings
uriorcurieList close_mappings
string description
uriorcurieList exact_mappings
uriorcurieList narrow_mappings
uriorcurieList related_mappings
NodeUriOrCurie schema_type
}
SoftwareAgent {
uriorcurie id
uriorcurieList broad_mappings
uriorcurieList close_mappings
string description
uriorcurieList exact_mappings
uriorcurieList narrow_mappings
uriorcurieList related_mappings
NodeUriOrCurie schema_type
}
ThingMixin {
uriorcurieList broad_mappings
uriorcurieList close_mappings
string description
uriorcurieList exact_mappings
uriorcurieList narrow_mappings
uriorcurieList related_mappings
NodeUriOrCurie schema_type
}
ValueSpecificationMixin {
uriorcurie range
string value
}
AttributeSpecification {
uriorcurieList broad_mappings
uriorcurieList close_mappings
string description
uriorcurieList exact_mappings
uriorcurieList narrow_mappings
uriorcurieList related_mappings
NodeUriOrCurie schema_type
uriorcurie range
string value
}
Property {
uriorcurie id
uriorcurieList broad_mappings
uriorcurieList close_mappings
string description
uriorcurieList exact_mappings
uriorcurieList narrow_mappings
uriorcurieList related_mappings
NodeUriOrCurie schema_type
}
Statement {
uriorcurie object
}
Thing {
uriorcurie id
uriorcurieList broad_mappings
uriorcurieList close_mappings
string description
uriorcurieList exact_mappings
uriorcurieList narrow_mappings
uriorcurieList related_mappings
NodeUriOrCurie schema_type
}
ValueSpecification {
uriorcurie range
string value
uriorcurie id
uriorcurieList broad_mappings
uriorcurieList close_mappings
string description
uriorcurieList exact_mappings
uriorcurieList narrow_mappings
uriorcurieList related_mappings
NodeUriOrCurie schema_type
}
Annotation {
uriorcurie annotation_tag
string annotation_value
}
Identifier {
uriorcurie creator
string notation
NodeUriOrCurie schema_type
}
IssuedIdentifier {
string schema_agency
uriorcurie creator
string notation
NodeUriOrCurie schema_type
}
ComputedIdentifier {
uriorcurie creator
string notation
NodeUriOrCurie schema_type
}
Checksum {
uriorcurie creator
HexBinary notation
NodeUriOrCurie schema_type
}
DOI {
string schema_agency
uriorcurie creator
string notation
NodeUriOrCurie schema_type
}
Role {
uriorcurie id
uriorcurieList broad_mappings
uriorcurieList close_mappings
string description
uriorcurieList exact_mappings
uriorcurieList narrow_mappings
uriorcurieList related_mappings
NodeUriOrCurie schema_type
}
Relationship {
uriorcurie object
}
Location {
uriorcurie id
uriorcurieList broad_mappings
uriorcurieList close_mappings
string description
uriorcurieList exact_mappings
uriorcurieList narrow_mappings
uriorcurieList related_mappings
NodeUriOrCurie schema_type
}
InstantaneousEvent {
W3CISO8601 at_time
uriorcurie id
uriorcurieList broad_mappings
uriorcurieList close_mappings
string description
uriorcurieList exact_mappings
uriorcurieList narrow_mappings
uriorcurieList related_mappings
NodeUriOrCurie schema_type
}
Agent ||--}o Agent : "acted_on_behalf_of"
Agent ||--|o Location : "at_location"
Agent ||--}o Identifier : "identifiers"
Agent ||--}o Relationship : "qualified_relations"
Agent ||--}o Thing : "relations"
Agent ||--}o Annotation : "annotations"
Agent ||--}o AttributeSpecification : "attributes"
Agent ||--}o Statement : "characterized_by"
Activity ||--|o Location : "at_location"
Activity ||--}o Identifier : "identifiers"
Activity ||--}o Relationship : "qualified_relations"
Activity ||--}o Agent : "associated_with"
Activity ||--}o Activity : "informed_by"
Activity ||--}o Thing : "relations"
Activity ||--}o Annotation : "annotations"
Activity ||--}o AttributeSpecification : "attributes"
Activity ||--}o Statement : "characterized_by"
Entity ||--}o Identifier : "identifiers"
Entity ||--}o Relationship : "qualified_relations"
Entity ||--}o Agent : "attributed_to"
Entity ||--}o Entity : "derived_from"
Entity ||--}o Activity : "generated_by"
Entity ||--}o Thing : "relations"
Entity ||--}o Annotation : "annotations"
Entity ||--}o AttributeSpecification : "attributes"
Entity ||--}o Statement : "characterized_by"
SoftwareAgent ||--}o Agent : "acted_on_behalf_of"
SoftwareAgent ||--|o Location : "at_location"
SoftwareAgent ||--}o Identifier : "identifiers"
SoftwareAgent ||--}o Relationship : "qualified_relations"
SoftwareAgent ||--}o Thing : "relations"
SoftwareAgent ||--}o Annotation : "annotations"
SoftwareAgent ||--}o AttributeSpecification : "attributes"
SoftwareAgent ||--}o Statement : "characterized_by"
ThingMixin ||--}o Annotation : "annotations"
ThingMixin ||--}o AttributeSpecification : "attributes"
ThingMixin ||--}o Statement : "characterized_by"
AttributeSpecification ||--|| Property : "predicate"
AttributeSpecification ||--}o Annotation : "annotations"
AttributeSpecification ||--}o AttributeSpecification : "attributes"
AttributeSpecification ||--}o Statement : "characterized_by"
Property ||--}o Thing : "relations"
Property ||--}o Annotation : "annotations"
Property ||--}o AttributeSpecification : "attributes"
Property ||--}o Statement : "characterized_by"
Statement ||--|| Property : "predicate"
Thing ||--}o Thing : "relations"
Thing ||--}o Annotation : "annotations"
Thing ||--}o AttributeSpecification : "attributes"
Thing ||--}o Statement : "characterized_by"
ValueSpecification ||--}o Thing : "relations"
ValueSpecification ||--}o Annotation : "annotations"
ValueSpecification ||--}o AttributeSpecification : "attributes"
ValueSpecification ||--}o Statement : "characterized_by"
Role ||--}o Thing : "relations"
Role ||--}o Annotation : "annotations"
Role ||--}o AttributeSpecification : "attributes"
Role ||--}o Statement : "characterized_by"
Relationship ||--}| Role : "roles"
Location ||--}o Identifier : "identifiers"
Location ||--}o Relationship : "qualified_relations"
Location ||--}o Thing : "relations"
Location ||--}o Annotation : "annotations"
Location ||--}o AttributeSpecification : "attributes"
Location ||--}o Statement : "characterized_by"
InstantaneousEvent ||--}o Identifier : "identifiers"
InstantaneousEvent ||--}o Relationship : "qualified_relations"
InstantaneousEvent ||--}o Thing : "relations"
InstantaneousEvent ||--}o Annotation : "annotations"
InstantaneousEvent ||--}o AttributeSpecification : "attributes"
InstantaneousEvent ||--}o Statement : "characterized_by"
Classes
| Class | Description |
|---|---|
| Annotation | A tag/value pair with the semantics of OWL Annotation. |
| AttributeSpecification | An attribute is conceptually a thing, but it requires no dedicated identifier (id). Instead, it is linked to a Thing via its attributes slot and declares a predicate on the nature of the relationship. |
| Identifier | An identifier is a label that uniquely identifies an item in a particular context. Some identifiers are globally unique. All identifiers are unique within their individual scope. |
| ComputedIdentifier | An identifier that has been derived from information on the identified entity. |
| Checksum | A Checksum is a value that allows to check the integrity of the contents of a file. Even small changes to the content of the file will change its checksum. This class allows the results of a variety of checksum and cryptographic message digest algorithms to be represented. |
| IssuedIdentifier | An identifier that was issued by a particular agent with a notation that has no (or an undefined) relation to the nature of the identified entity. |
| DOI | Digital Object Identifier (DOI; ISO 26324), an identifier system governed by the DOI Foundation, where individual identifiers are issued by one of several registration agencies. |
| Relationship | An association class for characterizing the relation between two things with the role(s) the object had with respect to the subject. A relationship is always between two things only, but can be annotated with multiple roles (for example, a person having both an author role with respect to a dataset, and also being the person who is legally responsible contact for it). |
| Statement | An RDF statement that links a predicate (a Property) with an object (a Thing) to the subject to form a triple. A Statement is used to qualify a relation to a Thing referenced by its identifier. For specifying a qualified relation to an attribute that has no dedicated identifier, use an AttributeSpecification. |
| Thing | The most basic, identifiable item. In addition to the slots that are common between a Thing and an AttributeSpecification (see ThingMixin), two additional slots are provided. The id slot takes the required identifier for a Thing. The relation slot allows for the inline specification of other Thing instances. Such a relation is unqualified (and symmetric), and should be further characterized via a Statement (see characterized_by). From a schema perspective, the relation slots allows for building self-contained, structured documents (e.g., a JSON object) with arbitrarily complex information on a Thing. |
| Activity | An activity is something that occurs over a period of time and acts upon or with entities; it may include consuming, processing, transforming, modifying, relocating, using, or generating entities. |
| Agent | Something that bears some form of responsibility for an activity taking place, for the existence of an entity, or for another agent's activity. |
| SoftwareAgent | Running software. |
| Entity | A physical, digital, conceptual, or other kind of thing with some fixed aspects; entities may be real or imaginary. |
| InstantaneousEvent | A moment of a transition from one particular state of the world to another. |
| Location | A location can be an identifiable geographic place (ISO 19112), but it can also be a non-geographic place such as a directory, row, or column. As such, there are numerous ways in which location can be expressed, such as by a coordinate, address, landmark, and so forth. |
| Property | An RDF property, a Thing used to define a predicate, for example in a Statement. |
| Role | A role is the function of a resource or agent with respect to a subject, in the context of resource attribution or relationships. |
| ValueSpecification | A Thing that is a value of some kind. This class can be used to describe an outcome of a measurement, a factual value or constant, or other qualitative or quantitative information with an associated identifier. If no identifier is available, an AttributeSpecification can be used within the context of an associated Thing (attributes). |
| ThingMixin | Mix-in with the common interface of Thing and AttributeSpecification. This interface enables type specifications (rdf:type) for things and attributes via a type designator slot to indicate specialized schema classes for validation where a slot's range is too generic. A thing or attribute can be further describe with statements on qualified relations to other things (characterized_by), or inline attributes (attributes). A set of mappings slots enables the alignment for arbitrary external schemas and terminologies. |
| ValueSpecificationMixin | Mix-in for a (structured) value specification. Two slots are provided to define a (literal) value (value) and its type (range). |
Slots
| Slot | Description |
|---|---|
| acted_on_behalf_of | Assign the authority and responsibility for carrying out a specific activity ... |
| annotation_tag | A tag identifying an annotation |
| annotation_value | The actual annotation |
| annotations | A record of properties of the metadata record on a subject, a collection of t... |
| associated_with | An activity association is an assignment of responsibility to an agent for an... |
| at_location | Associate the subject with a location |
| at_time | Time at which an instanteneous event takes place or took place |
| attributed_to | Attribution is the ascribing of an entity to an agent |
| attributes | Declares a relation that associates a Thing (or another attribute) with an ... |
| broad_mappings | A list of terms from different schemas or terminology systems that have broad... |
| characterized_by | Qualifies relationships between a subject Thing and an object Thing with ... |
| close_mappings | A list of terms from different schemas or terminology systems that have close... |
| creator | An agent responsible for making an entity |
| date_modified | Timepoint at which the subject was (last) changed, updated or modified |
| date_published | Timepoint at which the subject was (last) published |
| derived_from | Derivation is a transformation of an entity into another, an update of an ent... |
| description | A free-text account of the subject |
| ended_at | End is when an activity is deemed to have been ended by some trigger |
| exact_mappings | A list of terms from different schemas or terminology systems that have ident... |
| generated_by | Generation is the completion of production of a new entity by an activity |
| id | Persistent and globally unique identifier of a Thing |
| identifiers | An unambiguous reference to the subject within a given context |
| informed_by | Communication is the exchange of an entity by two activities, one activity us... |
| mappings | A list of terms from different schemas or terminology systems that have compa... |
| narrow_mappings | A list of terms from different schemas or terminology systems that have narro... |
| notation | String of characters such as "T58:5" or "30:4833" used to uniquely identify a... |
| object | Reference to a Thing within a Statement |
| predicate | Reference to a Property within a Statement |
| qualified_relations | Characterizes the relationship or role of an entity with respect to the subje... |
| range | Declares that the value of a Thing or AttributeSpecification are instance... |
| related_mappings | A list of terms from different schemas or terminology systems that have relat... |
| relations | Declares an unqualified relation of the subject Thing to another Thing |
| roles | Describes the function of an entity or agent (object) within the scope of a `... |
| schema_agency | Name of the agency that issued an identifier |
| schema_type | State that the subject is an instance of a particular schema class |
| started_at | Start is when an activity is deemed to have been started by some trigger |
| value | Value of a thing |
Enumerations
| Enumeration | Description |
|---|---|
Types
| Type | Description |
|---|---|
| Boolean | A binary (true or false) value |
| Curie | a compact URI |
| Date | a date (year, month and day) in an idealized calendar |
| DateOrDatetime | Either a date or a datetime |
| Datetime | The combination of a date and time |
| Decimal | A real number with arbitrary precision that conforms to the xsd:decimal speci... |
| Double | A real number that conforms to the xsd:double specification |
| EmailAddress | RFC 5322 compliant email address |
| Float | A real number that conforms to the xsd:float specification |
| HexBinary | hex-encoded binary data |
| Integer | An integer |
| Jsonpath | A string encoding a JSON Path |
| Jsonpointer | A string encoding a JSON Pointer |
| Ncname | Prefix part of CURIE |
| Nodeidentifier | A URI, CURIE or BNODE that represents a node in a model |
| NodeUriOrCurie | A type referencing an graph node |
| NonNegativeInteger | An integer |
| Objectidentifier | A URI or CURIE that represents an object in the model |
| Sparqlpath | A string encoding a SPARQL Property Path |
| String | A character string |
| Time | A time object represents a (local) time of day, independent of any particular... |
| Uri | a complete URI |
| Uriorcurie | a URI or a CURIE |
| W3CISO8601 | W3C variant/subset of IS08601 for specifying date(times) |
Subsets
| Subset | Description |
|---|---|