The Yin/Yang Web: A Unified Model for XML Syntax and RDF Semantics

XML is the W3C standard document format for writing and exchanging information on the Web. RDF is the W3C standard model for describing the semantics and reasoning about information on the Web. Unfortunately, RDF and XML—although very close to each other—are based on two different paradigms. We argue that in order to lead the Semantic Web to its full potential, the syntax and the semantics of information need to work together. To this end, we develop a model theory for the XML XQuery 1.0 and XPath 2.0 Data Model, which provides a unified model for both XML and RDF. This unified model can serve as the basis for Web applications that deal with both data and semantics. We illustrate the use of this model on a concrete information integration scenario. Our approach enables each side of the fence to benefit from the other, notably, we show how the RDF world can take advantage of XML Schema description and XML query languages, and how the XML world can take advantage of the reasoning capabilities available for RDF. Our approach can also serve as a foundation for the next layer of the Semantic Web, the ontology layer, and we present a layering of an ontology language on top of our approach.