Concurrent a-box and t-box generation for use in web ontology language (OWL) database and knowledge base construction
View Patent ↗In accordance with one embodiment of the present invention, there are provided mechanisms and methods for implementing concurrent generation of an a-box and a t-box for use in a computing environment comprising a knowledge system. A t-box comprises categories and relationships about the categories and an a-box, comprising assertions of individual instances of the categories of the t-box. With these mechanisms and methods, it is possible to process structured information into a form usable by a knowledge engine.
1. A machine implemented method, comprising:
receiving a set of rules, specifying actions to be taken in response to finding specific types of input data and a format of an output t-box;
receiving a first set of input information, in a format satisfying the rules; wherein the input information has sufficient structure to enable rules to be applied to the input information to determine individual fields therefrom;
generating from the first set of input information and the set of rules a t-box comprising categories and relationships about categories, and an a-box comprising assertions of individual instances of the categories of the t-box, wherein the a-box is generated by applying the set of rules to the first set of input information, and wherein the t-box and the a-box are generated concurrently such that the a-box is generated while the t-box is being generated;
generating a Web Ontology Language (“OWL”) database using the a-box and the t-box; and
generating a knowledge base based on OWL statements of the OWL database,
wherein the method is performed by a computer executing program instructions.
2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
receiving a second set of input information, the second set of input information differing from the first set of input information; and
generating a revised t-box and a revised a-box based upon the second set of input information and the set of rules; wherein the revised t-box includes at least one category or relationship not present in the t-box and correlating to data in the revised a-box.
3. The method of claim 1 , wherein generating from the first set of input information and the set of rules a t-box comprising categories and relationships about categories and an a-box comprising assertions of individual instances of the categories of the t-box comprises:
reading the set of rules;
generating a portion of t-box information from a portion of the set of rules;
reading and parsing the input information to form an internal representation;
analyzing the internal representation against at least one rule of the set of rules to generate a result comprising at least one of an instance, a property instance and a t-box statement; and
outputting the result.
4. The method of claim 3 , wherein analyzing the internal representation comprises at least one of:
walking a Document Object Model (“DOM”) tree and processing a Simple API for XML (“SAX”) event.
5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the first set of input information comprises statements in a markup language.
6. The method of claim 5 , wherein the markup language describes a datacenter.
7. The method of claim 6 , wherein the markup language comprises eXtended Markup Language (“XML”).
8. The method of claim 1 , wherein receiving a first set of input information further comprises:
reading the first set of input information from a database.
9. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
providing the result to a process that writes a Web Ontology Language (“OWL”) statement.
10. The method of claim 1 , wherein the set of rules comprises instructions for processing tags of a markup language.
11. A machine-readable storage medium carrying one or more sequences of instructions for creating a knowledge base, which instructions, when executed by one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to carry out the steps of:
receiving a set of rules, specifying actions to be taken in response to finding specific types of input data and a format of an output t-box;
receiving a first set of input information, in a format satisfying the rules; wherein the input information has sufficient structure to enable rules to be applied to the input information to determine individual fields therefrom;
generating from the first set of input information and the set of rules a t-box comprising categories and relationships about categories, and an a-box comprising assertions of individual instances of the categories of the t-box, wherein the a-box is generated by applying the set of rules to the first set of input information, and wherein the t-box and the a-box are generated concurrently such that the a-box is generated while the t-box is being generated;
generating a Web Ontology Language (“OWL”) database using the a-box and the t-box; and
generating a knowledge base based on OWL statements of the OWL database.
12. The machine-readable storage medium of claim 11 , wherein the instructions for creating a knowledge base further comprise instructions for carrying out the steps of:
receiving a second set of input information, the second set of input information differing from the first set of input information; and
generating a revised t-box and a revised a-box based upon the second set of input information and the set of rules; wherein the revised t-box includes at least one category or relationship not present in the t-box and correlating to data in the revised a-box.
13. The machine-readable storage medium of claim 11 , wherein the instructions for generating from the first set of input information and the set of rules a t-box comprising categories and relationships about categories and an a-box comprising assertions of individual instances of the categories of the t-box comprise instructions for carrying our the steps of:
reading the set of rules;
generating a portion of t-box information from a portion of the set of rules;
reading and parsing the input information to form an internal representation;
analyzing the internal representation against at least one rule of the set of rules to generate a result comprising at least one of an instance, a property instance and a t-box statement; and
outputting the result.
14. The machine readable storage medium of claim 13 , wherein the instructions for analyzing the internal representation comprise instructions for carrying out at least one of the steps of:
walking a Document Object Model (“DOM”) tree and processing a Simple API for XML (“SAX”) event.
15. The machine-readable storage medium of claim 11 , wherein the first set of input information comprises statements in a markup language.
16. The machine-readable storage medium of claim 15 , wherein the markup language describes a datacenter.
17. The machine-readable storage medium of claim 16 , wherein the markup language comprises extended Markup Language (“XML”).
18. The machine-readable storage medium of claim 11 , wherein instructions for receiving a first set of input information further comprise instructions for carrying out the step of:
reading the first set of input information from a database.
19. The machine-readable storage medium of claim 11 , wherein the instructions for creating a knowledge base further comprise instructions for carrying out the steps of:
providing the result to a process that writes a Web Ontology Language (“OWL”) statement.
20. The machine-readable storage medium of claim 11 , wherein the set of rules comprises instructions for processing tags of a markup language.
21. An apparatus, comprising:
means for receiving a set of rules, specifying actions to be taken in response to finding specific types of input data and a format of an output t-box;
means for receiving a first set of input information, in a format satisfying the rules; wherein the input information has sufficient structure to enable rules to be applied to the input information to determine individual fields therefrom;
means for generating from the first set of input information and the set of rules a t-box comprising categories and relationships about categories, and an a-box comprising assertions of individual instances of the categories of the t-box, wherein the a-box is generated by applying the set of rules to the first set of input information, and wherein the t-box and the a-box are generated concurrently such that the a-box is generated while the t-box is being generated;
means for generating a Web Ontology Language (“OWL”) database using the a-box and the t-box; and
means for generating a knowledge base based on OWL statements of the OWL database.
22. An apparatus for generating a knowledge system, comprising:
one or more processors;
a memory; connected to the processors by a bus; and
one or more stored sequences of instructions which, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to carry out the steps of:
receiving a set of rules, specifying actions to be taken in response to finding specific types of input data and a format of an output t-box;
receiving a first set of input information, in a format satisfying the rules; wherein the input information has sufficient structure to enable rules to be applied to the input information to determine individual fields therefrom;
generating from the first set of input information and the set of rules a t-box comprising categories and relationships about categories, and an a-box comprising assertions of individual instances of the categories of the t-box, wherein the a-box is generated by applying the set of rules to the first set of input information, and wherein the t-box and the a-box are generated concurrently such that the a-box is generated while the t-box is being generated;
generating a Web Ontology Language (“OWL”) database using the a-box and the t-box; and
generating a knowledge base based on OWL statements of the OWL database.
23. The apparatus of claim 22 , wherein the one or more stored sequences of instructions further comprise instructions for carrying out the steps of:
receiving a second set of input information, the second set of input information differing from the first set of input information; and
generating a revised t-box and a revised a-box based upon the second set of input information and the set of rules; wherein the revised t-box includes at least one category or relationship not present in the t-box and correlating to data in the revised a-box.
24. The apparatus of claim 22 , wherein the instructions for generating from the first set of input information and the set of rules a t-box comprising categories and relationships about categories and an a-box comprising assertions of individual instances of the categories of the t-box comprise instructions for carrying out the steps of:
reading the set of rules;
generating a portion of t-box information from a portion of the set of rules;
reading and parsing the input information to form an internal representation;
analyzing the internal representation against at least one rule of the set of rules to generate a result comprising at least one of an instance, a property instance and a t-box statement; and
outputting the result.
25. The apparatus of claim 24 , wherein the instructions for analyzing the internal representation comprise instructions for carrying out at least one of the steps of:
walking a Document Object Model (“DOM”) tree and processing a Simple API for XML (“SAX”) event.
26. The apparatus of claim 22 , wherein the first set of input information comprises statements in a markup language.
27. The apparatus of claim 26 , wherein the markup language describes a datacenter.
28. The apparatus of claim 27 , wherein the markup language comprises eXtended Markup Language (“XML”).
29. The apparatus of claim 22 , wherein instructions for receiving a first set of input information further comprise instructions for carrying our the step of:
reading the first set of input information from a database.
30. The apparatus of claim 22 , wherein the instructions for creating a knowledge base further comprise instructions for carrying out the steps of:
providing the result to a process that writes a Web Ontology Language (“OWL”) statement.
31. The apparatus of claim 22 , wherein the set of rules comprises instructions for processing tags of a markup language.