A model-driven approach for using templates in OWL ontologies

Abstract

Integrating model-driven development and semantic web resulted in metamodels and model-driven tools for the semantic web. However, these metamodels or tools do not provide dedicated support for dealing with templates in ontology engineering. Templates are useful for encapsulating knowledge and modeling recurrent sets of axioms like ontology design patterns. We propose an extension of existing metamodels and tools to support ontology engineers in modeling ontology templates. Our approach allows ontology engineers to keep template specifications as first-class citizens, reducing complexity and increasing reusability in ontology engineering. We demonstrate our approach with templates for ontology design patterns and well-known problems like domain closure. © 2010 Springer-Verlag.