1. NERC DataGrid Vocabulary Server Access Vocabulary Workshop, RAL, February 25, 2009

2. NERC DataGrid Vocabulary Access  There are five ways to access the SeaDataNet vocabularies  Term and list URLs  HTTP-POX interface  SOAP API  BODC client interface  SeaDataNet Vocabulary Portal

3. NERC DataGrid Vocabulary Access  Term and List URLs  User input is a URL  Returns an XML document based on the SKOS standard  List documents include labels and definitions for all terms in the list  Term documents include labels, definition and mappings for the term

4. NERC DataGrid Vocabulary Access  URL syntax  Namespace base (http://vocab.ndg.nerc.ac.uk/)  ‘list’ or ‘term’  List identifier (e.g. P021)  List version or ‘current’  Term identifier for term URL (e.g. TEMP)  Examples  List (SeaDataNet Parameter Discovery Vocabulary)  http://vocab.ndg.nerc.ac.uk/list/P021/current/ http://vocab.ndg.nerc.ac.uk/list/P021/current/  Term (CF Standard Name for sea temperature)  http://vocab.ndg.nerc.ac.uk/term/P071/current/CFSN0335 http://vocab.ndg.nerc.ac.uk/term/P071/current/CFSN0335

5. NERC DataGrid Vocabulary Access - SDN:P071:7:CFSN0335 sea_water_temperature 2008-02-26T10:02:57.564+0000

6. NERC DataGrid Vocabulary Access  In SeaDataNet data and metadata we use URNs, not URLs (in case the server namespace changes)  URN syntax is  Namespace base (SDN)  List identifier (e.g. P021)  List version or null field for ‘current’  Term identifier (e.g. TEMP)  For example the URL http://vocab.ndg.nerc.ac.uk/list/P021/current/TEMP is represented by the URN SDN:P021::TEMP http://vocab.ndg.nerc.ac.uk/list/P021/current/TEMP  URN to URL conversion is simple string slicing

7. NERC DataGrid Vocabulary Access HTTP-POX API  The API is documented at http://www.bodc.ac.uk/products/web_services/vocab/methods.html http://www.bodc.ac.uk/products/web_services/vocab/methods.html  User input is a URL  Returns an XML document based on a BODC-defined schema  Provides access to  List catalogue (names all accessible lists) http://vocab.ndg.nerc.ac.uk/axis2/services/vocab/whatLists  List contents (keys, terms, abbreviations, definitions, mappings) http://vocab.ndg.nerc.ac.uk/axis2/services/vocab/getList?recordKey=http://vocab.n dg.nerc.ac.uk/list/P021/current&earliestRecord=2007-09-01T00:00:00Z  Plaintext searches across lists http://vocab.ndg.nerc.ac.uk/axis2/services/vocab/searchVocab?listKey=http://vocab.ndg.nerc.ac.uk/list/P021/current&searchTerm=*emperature*  Term verification (abbreviation WC_Temp in P021) http://vocab.ndg.nerc.ac.uk/axis2/services/vocab/verifyTerm?listKey=http://vocab.n dg.nerc.ac.uk/list/P021/current/&entryTerm=WC_Temp&termType=short

8. NERC DataGrid Vocabulary Access  Provides access to  Mappings –Complete map between two vocabularies (P031/P021) http://vocab.ndg.nerc.ac.uk/axis2/services/vocab/getMap?subjectList=h ttp://vocab.ndg.nerc.ac.uk/list/P031/current&predicate=2&objectList=htt p://vocab.ndg.nerc.ac.uk/list/P021/current&inference=false –Map of all terms in all vocabularies to one term http://vocab.ndg.nerc.ac.uk/axis2/services/vocab/getRelatedRecordByT erm?subjectTerm=http://vocab.ndg.nerc.ac.uk/term/P021/current/TEMP &predicate=255&inferences=true –Map of all terms in vocabulary (P211) mapped to terms in a vocabulary (P211) again containing a string (air temperature). Too big for PowerPoint. Needs to be copied and pasted http://vocab.ndg.nerc.ac.uk/axis2/services/vocab/getRelatedRecordByC riteria?subjectText=air%20temperature&caseSensitivity=false&partialM atch=true&predicate=255&inferences=false&subjectList=http://vocab.nd g.nerc.ac.uk/list/P211/current&objectList=http://vocab.ndg.nerc.ac.uk/lis t/P211/current

9. NERC DataGrid Vocabulary Access  SOAP API  User input is a programmatic service call from Java, Perl, PHP, Python, etc. application  Returns an XML document based on a BODC-defined schema  Provides access to  List catalogue  List contents (keys, terms, abbreviations, definitions, mappings)  Mappings  Plaintext searches across lists  Term verification  The API is documented at http://www.bodc.ac.uk/products/web_services/vocab/methods.html http://www.bodc.ac.uk/products/web_services/vocab/methods.html  The WSDL is available from http:// vocab.ndg.nerc.ac.uk/ http:// vocab.ndg.nerc.ac.uk/

10. NERC DataGrid Vocabulary Access  BODC Clients  A range of clients are available from http://vocab.ndg.nerc.ac.uk http://vocab.ndg.nerc.ac.uk  vocabServer.jsp –provides a catalogue of all lists available »One or more of these may be selected »‘Get checked lists’ displays these in a table rendering –Allows term labels (full or abbreviated) to be verified against one or more vocabularies –Allows free text searches in labels or definitions of one or more vocabularies

11. NERC DataGrid Vocabulary Access  BODC clients  There are six ‘method call’ clients that give access to specific API method calls and a ‘semantic search’ client  Very basic  Primarily designed as a production system test harness  Some usage tips –listKeys are specified as list or term URLs –termType vocabulary is ‘short’, ‘long’, ‘definition’ –If unsure of required predicate set to 255 –Set inference to ‘true’ to include simple inverse relationships

12. NERC DataGrid Vocabulary Access  SeaDataNet Vocabulary Portal  User input through a web form at http://seadatanet.maris2.nl/v_bodc_vocab/welcome.aspx http://seadatanet.maris2.nl/v_bodc_vocab/welcome.aspx  Returns a human-readable table with key, term, abbreviation, definition and modification date columns  Table may be exported as a semicolon-delimited ‘CSV’ ASCII file  Only includes lists considered to be of interest to SeaDataNet