BluePrint: HXL

Introduction

​HXL is a shared vocabulary for ​Linked Data for the humanitarian domain.

Linked data use ​URIs to identify data resources, and ​RDF statements (triples) to describe their relationships.

Example:

<?xml version="1.0"?>
  <rdf:RDF xmlns:rdf="http://www.w3.org/1999/02/22-rdf-syntax-ns#"
           xmlns:hxl="http://hxl.humanitarianresponse.info/ns">
  <rdf:Description rdf:about="http://www.example.org/eden/dvr/population/823">
    <rdf:type>hxl:IDP</rdf:type>
    <hxl:personCount>127386</hxl:personCount>
    <hxl:source>http://www.example.org/eden/org/organisation/2</hxl:source>
  </rdf:Description>
  <rdf:Description rdf:about="http://www.example.org/eden/org/organisation/2">
    <rdf:type>hxl:Organisation</rdf:Type>
    <hxl:orgName>Example Organisation</hxl:orgName>
  </rdf:Description>
</rdf:RDF> 

This example encodes the RDF statements:

• The resource at http://www.example.org/eden/dvr/population/823 => is a rdf:type => Internally Displaced Population hxl:IDP
• The resource at http://www.example.org/eden/dvr/population/823 => has a hxl:personCount => 127386
• The resource at http://www.example.org/eden/dvr/population/823 => comes from hxl:source => ​http://www.example.org/eden/org/organisation/2

...where the latter refers to the resource described in the next RDF statements:

• The resource at http://www.example.org/eden/org/organisation/2 => is a rdf:type => rdf:resource hxl:Organisation.
• The resource at http://www.example.org/eden/org/organisation/2 => has orgName => "Example Organisation".

(Note that this RDF/XML example is only one possible notation)

Typically, data-producing EM applications would export such a description of their data resources to a common database (triple store), which can then be queried from consuming applications using standard APIs (e.g. RDF/SPARQL) and export the data into standard formats, e.g. DOC, KML, or XLS.

The purpose of this BluePrint is to define the role of Eden as HXL exporting application, or as triple store with RDF/SPARQL API or as HXL consumer.

The most obvious role for Eden at this point is that of the HXL exporter. A proof-of-concept prototype XSLT template has been implemented for the project_activity resource.

Stakeholders

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User Stories

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Requirements

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Functional

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Non-functional

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Interoperability

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Standards

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System Constraints

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Architecture

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Design

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Data Model

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Workflows

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Technologies

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Current Implementation

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Planned Implementation

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Future Extensions

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Outstanding Questions

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References

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BluePrint