Graphol: Ontology Representation Through Diagrams
Marco Console, Domenico Lembo, Valerio Santarelli, Domenico Fabio Savo · IRIS Research product catalog (Sapienza University of Rome) · 2014
Abstract. In this paper we present Graphol, a novel language for the diagram-matic representation of Description Logic (DL) ontologies. Graphol is designed with the aim of offering a completely visual representation to the users (notably, no formulas need to be used in the diagrams), thus helping the understanding of people not skilled in logic. At the same time, it provides designers with simple mechanisms for ontology editing, which free them from having to write down complex textual syntax. Through Graphol we can specify SROIQ(D) ontolo-gies, thus our language essentially captures the OWL 2 standard. In this respect, we developed a basic software tool to translate Graphol ontologies realized with the yEd graph editor into OWL 2 functional syntax specifications. We conducted some initial user evaluation tests, involving designers skilled in conceptual or on-tology modeling and users without specific logic background. From these tests, we obtained promising results about the effectiveness of our language for both visualization and editing of ontologies. 1