Interoperability of XML schema applications with OWL domain knowledge and Semantic Web tools

Abstract

Several standards are expressed using XML Schema syntax, since the XML is the default standard for data exchange in the Internet. However, several applications need semantic support offered by domain ontologies and semantic Web tools like logic-based reasoners. Thus, there is a strong need for interoperability between XML Schema and OWL. This can be achieved if the XML schema constructs are expressed in OWL, where the enrichment with OWL domain ontologies and further semantic processing are possible. After semantic processing, the derived OWL constructs should be converted back to instances of the original schema. We present in this paper XS2OWL, a model and a system that allow the transformation of XML Schemas to OWL-DL constructs. These constructs can be used to drive the automatic creation of OWL domain ontologies and individuals. The XS2OWL transformation model allows the correct conversion of the derived knowledge from OWL-DL back to XML constructs valid according to the original XML Schemas, in order to be used transparently by the applications that follow XML Schema syntax of the standards. © Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2007.