A Translation Approach to Portable Ontology Specifications
T. Gruber. Knowledge Acquisition, 5 (2):
199-220(1993)
Abstract
To support the sharing and reuse of formally represented knowledge
among AI systems, it is useful to define the common vocabulary in
which shared knowledge is represented. A specification of a representational
vocabulary for a shared domain of discourse---definitions of classes,
relations, functions, and other objects---is called an ontology.
This paper describes a mechanism for defining ontologies that are
portable over representation systems. Definitions written in a standard
format for predicate calculus are translated by a system called Ontolingua
into specialized representations, including frame-based systems as
well as relational languages. This allows researchers to share and
reuse ontologies, while retaining the computational benefits of specialized
implementations. We discuss how the translation approach to portability
addresses several technical problems. One problem is how to accommodate
the stylistic and organizational differences among representations
while preserving declarative content. Another is how to translate
from a very expressive language into restricted languages, remaining
system-independent while preserving the computational efficiency
of implemented systems. We describe how these problems are addressed
by basing Ontolingua itself on an ontology of domain-independent,
representational idioms.
This paper is the one usually cited for the definition of Ontology
as a formal specification of a conceptualization. It also describes
the Frame Ontology, which bridged object oriented and relational
knowledge representations, and the Ontolingua system, which translated
among ontologies.
%0 Journal Article
%1 Gruber1993Translation
%A Gruber, Thomas R.
%D 1993
%J Knowledge Acquisition
%K definition ontology
%N 2
%P 199-220
%T A Translation Approach to Portable Ontology Specifications
%U http://tomgruber.org/writing/ontolingua-kaj-1993.htm
%V 5
%X To support the sharing and reuse of formally represented knowledge
among AI systems, it is useful to define the common vocabulary in
which shared knowledge is represented. A specification of a representational
vocabulary for a shared domain of discourse---definitions of classes,
relations, functions, and other objects---is called an ontology.
This paper describes a mechanism for defining ontologies that are
portable over representation systems. Definitions written in a standard
format for predicate calculus are translated by a system called Ontolingua
into specialized representations, including frame-based systems as
well as relational languages. This allows researchers to share and
reuse ontologies, while retaining the computational benefits of specialized
implementations. We discuss how the translation approach to portability
addresses several technical problems. One problem is how to accommodate
the stylistic and organizational differences among representations
while preserving declarative content. Another is how to translate
from a very expressive language into restricted languages, remaining
system-independent while preserving the computational efficiency
of implemented systems. We describe how these problems are addressed
by basing Ontolingua itself on an ontology of domain-independent,
representational idioms.
@article{Gruber1993Translation,
abstract = {To support the sharing and reuse of formally represented knowledge
among AI systems, it is useful to define the common vocabulary in
which shared knowledge is represented. A specification of a representational
vocabulary for a shared domain of discourse---definitions of classes,
relations, functions, and other objects---is called an ontology.
This paper describes a mechanism for defining ontologies that are
portable over representation systems. Definitions written in a standard
format for predicate calculus are translated by a system called Ontolingua
into specialized representations, including frame-based systems as
well as relational languages. This allows researchers to share and
reuse ontologies, while retaining the computational benefits of specialized
implementations. We discuss how the translation approach to portability
addresses several technical problems. One problem is how to accommodate
the stylistic and organizational differences among representations
while preserving declarative content. Another is how to translate
from a very expressive language into restricted languages, remaining
system-independent while preserving the computational efficiency
of implemented systems. We describe how these problems are addressed
by basing Ontolingua itself on an ontology of domain-independent,
representational idioms.},
added-at = {2011-08-25T15:14:59.000+0200},
author = {Gruber, Thomas R.},
biburl = {https://www.bibsonomy.org/bibtex/2d006c62a46af32d2d8d74eccd75c22fa/vipirtti},
description = {Updated base references},
file = {Preprint:1993/Gruber93kaj.pdf:PDF},
interhash = {232576339f9eecc6915dec6a2ee77150},
intrahash = {d006c62a46af32d2d8d74eccd75c22fa},
issn = {0001-2998},
journal = {Knowledge Acquisition},
keywords = {definition ontology},
number = 2,
owner = {flint},
pages = {199-220},
review = {This paper is the one usually cited for the definition of Ontology
as a formal specification of a conceptualization. It also describes
the Frame Ontology, which bridged object oriented and relational
knowledge representations, and the Ontolingua system, which translated
among ontologies.},
timestamp = {2011-08-25T15:14:59.000+0200},
title = {A Translation Approach to Portable Ontology Specifications},
url = {http://tomgruber.org/writing/ontolingua-kaj-1993.htm},
volume = 5,
year = 1993
}