Flavors of KWQL, a keyword query language for a semantic wiki

Abstract

This article introduces KWQL, spoken "quickel", a rule-based query language for a semantic wiki based on the label-keyword query paradigm. KWQL allows for rich combined queries of full text, document structure, and informal to formal semantic annotations. It offers support for continuous queries, that is, queries re-evaluated upon updates to the wiki. KWQL is not restricted to data selection, but also offers database-like views, enabling "construction", the re-shaping of the selected (meta-)data into new (meta-)data. Such views amount to rules that provide a convenient basis for an admittedly simple, yet remarkably powerful form of reasoning. KWQL queries range from simple lists of keywords or label-keyword pairs to conjunctions, disjunctions, or negations of queries. Thus, queries range from elementary and relatively unspecific to complex and fully specified (meta-)data selections. Consequently, in keeping with the "wiki way", KWQL has a low entry barrier, allowing casual users to easily locate and retrieve relevant data, while letting advanced users make use of its full power. © 2010 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg.