mobilityDCAT-AP

mobilityDCAT-AP Validation Files

Overview

This repository contains validation files for the mobilityDCAT-AP specification. The SHACL shapes file defines constraints for validating RDF data against the mobilityDCAT-AP requirements.

⚠️ SHACL Validation Requirements

Important: The SHACL shapes require additional ontology models to be loaded for proper validation. Most SHACL validators do not perform automatic reasoning, which means class hierarchies (like foaf:Organization being a subclass of foaf:Agent) must be explicitly provided.

Required Ontologies

Before validating your data, ensure you have these ontology files loaded:

Ontology Purpose Download Link
FOAF Friend of a Friend vocabulary foaf.rdf
Organization Ontology Organizational structures org.ttl
DCAT Data Catalog Vocabulary dcat.ttl
Dublin Core Terms Metadata elements dcterms.ttl
SKOS Knowledge organization systems skos.ttl
vCard Contact information vcard.ttl
LOCN Location vocabulary locn.ttl
DQV Data Quality Vocabulary dqv.ttl
DCAT-AP 2.0.1 DCAT Application Profile dcat-ap.ttl
mobilityDCAT-AP Core Main vocabulary mobilitydcat-ap.ttl

Validation Commands

With pyshacl (supports reasoning):

First, install pyshacl:

# Install pyshacl
pip install pyshacl

# Or with conda
conda install -c conda-forge pyshacl

Then download required ontologies and validate:

# Download required ontologies first
wget https://www.w3.org/ns/dcat.ttl
wget http://xmlns.com/foaf/spec/20140114.rdf
wget https://www.w3.org/ns/org.ttl
wget https://www.dublincore.org/specifications/dublin-core/dcmi-terms/dublin_core_terms.ttl
wget https://www.w3.org/2009/08/skos-reference/skos.ttl
wget https://www.w3.org/2006/vcard/ns.ttl
wget https://www.w3.org/ns/locn.ttl
wget https://www.w3.org/ns/dqv.ttl
wget https://raw.githubusercontent.com/SEMICeu/DCAT-AP/master/releases/2.0.1/dcat-ap_2.0.1.ttl
wget https://mobilitydcat-ap.github.io/mobilityDCAT-AP/releases/1.1.0/serialisationFiles/mobilitydcat-ap.ttl

# Validate with reasoning enabled
pyshacl -s mobilitydcat-ap_shacl_shapes.ttl \
        -e dcat.ttl \
        -e foaf.rdf \
        -e org.ttl \
        -e dublin_core_terms.ttl \
        -e skos.ttl \
        -e vcard.ttl \
        -e locn.ttl \
        -e dqv.ttl \
        -e dcat-ap_2.0.1.ttl \
        -e mobilitydcat-ap.ttl \
        -i rdfs \
        your-data.ttl

With Apache Jena:

# Merge all required graphs
riot --validate your-data.ttl mobilitydcat-ap_shacl_shapes.ttl dcat.ttl foaf.rdf

Validator Compatibility

Validator Reasoning Support Notes
pyshacl ✅ With -i rdfs flag Recommended approach
Apache Jena ❌ Manual ontology loading Requires merging graphs
TopBraid ✅ Configurable Commercial tool
SHACL Playground ❌ Manual setup Include ontologies in data

💡 Tip: Always specify which SHACL validator you used when reporting validation results, as different validators may behave differently.

Available Shapes and Examples

Each class in the mobilityDCAT-AP specification has corresponding validation shapes and example files:

Core Components

Class Documentation Shape Definition Example Files
Catalog dcat:Catalog Catalogue_Shape catalogue_shape
Catalog Record dcat:CatalogRecord CatalogRecord_Shape catalog_record_shape
Dataset dcat:Dataset Dataset_Shape dataset_shape
Distribution dcat:Distribution Distribution_Shape distribution_shape

Agents and Contact Information

Class Documentation Shape Definition Example Files
Agent foaf:Agent Agent_Shape agent_shape
Address locn:Address Address_Agent_Shape address_agent
Kind (Contact) vcard:Kind Kind_Shape kind_shape

Metadata and Standards

Class Documentation Shape Definition Example Files
Assessment mobilitydcatap:Assessment Assessment_Shape assessment_shape
Category skos:Concept Category_Shape category_shape
Location dct:Location Location_Shape location_shape
Mobility Data Standard mobilitydcatap:MobilityDataStandard MobilityDataStandard_Shape mobility_data_standard

Rights and Quality Information

Class Documentation Shape Definition Example Files
License Document dct:LicenseDocument LicenseDocument_Shape license_document_shape
Quality Annotation dqv:QualityAnnotation QualityAnnotation_Shape quality_annotation_shape
Rights Statement dct:RightsStatement RightsStatement_Shape rights_statement_shape

How to Use These Files

  1. Documentation: Click on the class name to view the full documentation for each class.
  2. Shape Definition: This is the SHACL shape that defines the validation rules for the class.
  3. Example Files: These contain examples of valid and invalid instances of each class.

All shape definitions are contained in the main SHACL shapes file. The example files provide guidance on how to correctly implement each class in your data.

Common Validation Issues

Class Inheritance Problems

If you see errors like "foaf:Organization not recognized as foaf:Agent", ensure you have loaded the FOAF ontology that defines the class hierarchy.

Missing Controlled Vocabularies

Some properties require values from controlled vocabularies. Ensure your data uses the correct URI patterns as defined in the SHACL shapes.

Future Improvements

We are working with Peter to develop a comprehensive Docker-based validation tool with built-in reasoning support to eliminate the need for manual ontology management.

For more information about the mobilityDCAT-AP specification, please visit the official documentation.

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