RDFBeans framework

RDFBeans is an object-RDF mapping library for the Java language, providing a framework for mapping an object-oriented domain model to RDF resource descriptions.

RDFBeans is built upon RDF2Go high-level abstract model layer to provide object persistence with a number of existing RDF triple stores.

RDFBeans framework supports two basic techniques for mapping the data from Java applications to RDF:

  • Persistence functionality to store and retrieve the state of class instances to/from a RDF model
  • Dynamic proxy mechanism to access RDF data via Java interfaces mapped directly to the model

RDFBeans uses Java Annotations mechanism for all framework-related sourcecode markup. No use of special interfaces and superclasses is required, that guarantees minimum modifications of existing codebase and compatibility with other JavaBean-oriented frameworks.

Features (version 2.0)

  • Does not depend on specific triplestore implementation: any supported by RDF2Go API can be used
  • Cascade databinding to reduce development time and ensure referential integrity of complex object data structures
  • Modular RDFBeans annotations: can be inherited from superclasses and interfaces
  • No predefined ontologies and RDF-schemas are required for RDF data.
  • Transactions support (triplestore-specific)
  • Extensible mechanism of mapping Java data types to RDF literals
  • Support of basic Java Collections, optionally represented with RDF containers
  • Support of indexed JavaBean properties
  • Support of RDF namespaces