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Profiling Introduction #489

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what is & scope sections
nicholascar Aug 8, 2025
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applying Ted's grammar changes
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SHACL Specifications section; use of "specification", not "document",…
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48 changes: 46 additions & 2 deletions shacl12-profiling/index.html
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<body>
<section id="abstract">
<p>
This document defines extensions of the SHACL Shapes Constraint Language created to allow for the profiling of specifications.
This document defines extensions of the SHACL Shapes Constraint Language created to allow for profiling.
</p>
<p>
SHACL is a language for validating RDF graphs against a set of conditions, so this document's scope is limited to the profiling of RDF graph models, including SHACL-defined models.
SHACL is a language for validating RDF graphs against a set of conditions, so this document's scope is limited to profiling of RDF graph models, including SHACL-defined models.
</p>

<p style="text-indent: 100px;">
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<section id="introduction">
<h2>Introduction</h2>
<section id="what-is">
<h3>What is profiling?</h3>
<p>
Profiling is the act of creating a "profile" of something.
</p>
<p>
Generically, in English, a "profile" of something is:
</p>
<p style="padding: 0 50px 0 50px;">
The outline of a physical object or feature, or a representation of this
<br /><br />- Oxford English dictionary, use of the word "profile" since the 17th century
</p>
<p>
Within the world of data, a derived definition of "profile" consistent with the above is:
</p>
<p>
A summary or an extraction
</p>
<p>
In this definition, the essence of the English word is retained since a summary or extraction of/from a data object <em>may</em> be an outline of it, for example a 2D representation of a 3D spatial object or a statistical summary of a dataset with lots of parts.
</p>
<p>
SHACL, by definition, constrains (RDF) data, and thus any data valid according to a shapes graph will be a profile of the data graph that was validated. In the case of a shapes graph validating all elements of a data graph, the valid data will be a "null" profile of the data graph, that is identical to it.
</p>
<p>
The W3C's <em>Profiles Vocabulary</em> [[dx-prof]] has defined "data profiling" profiling in the context of <em>specifications</em> or <em>data specifications</em>:
</p>
<p style="padding: 0 50px 0 50px;">
<em>A data specification that constrains, extends, combines, or provides guidance or explanation about the usage of other data specifications.</em>
</p>
<p>
If a shapes graph is taken to be a "data specification", and it can sensibly be, then in addition to data valid according to a shapes graph being a profile of the data graph validated, the shapes graph itself is a profile of the data model used for a data graph.
</p>
</section>
<section id="scope">
<h3>Scope</h3>
<p>
With the above section's concepts in mind, this document defines:
</p>
<ol>
<li>profiles of SHACL</li>
<li>how to make profiles with SHACL</li>
</ol>
</section>
<p>SHACL Profiling is the act of creating
a <a href="https://www.w3.org/TR/dx-prof/#dfn-profile">profile</a>
of an <a href="https://www.w3.org/TR/shacl/#dfn-rdf-graph">RDF graph</a>
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