[Left] [Up] [Right] The Second-Generation (Semantic) Web [Left] [Up] [Right]

Simple Example (....for how things will eventually work) [System Rules]

Today's search engines rely on "keywords." Suppose that we could represent facts on the web. 

     Fact 1.  John and Mary are married.
     Fact 2.  Jane's best friend is Mary.

And suppose that the (ontology) conceptualization of this domain tells us: 

     Rule 1.  If "a" is married to "b" then "a and b are friends"
     Rule 2.  If "a" and "b" are "best friends" then "a" then "b" are friends.
     Rule 3.  If "a" is a friend of "b" then "b" is a friend of "a."

With these facts and rules in place, a semantic search engine should be able to accept queries of the type: 

     Query 1.  Who are Mary's friends?

and answer with: 

     Answer.  John and Jane.

Note. Rules place constraints on the "design space" thereby reducing the set of potentially) feasible solutions (c.f., differential equations in engineering).

Section 7-4: April, 2003. [Left] [Up] [Right]