Paul Krill
Editor at Large

Scripting language set for semantic Web

news
Mar 3, 20082 mins

TopQuadrant looks to simplify data-oriented apps development with its visual scripting language

Scripting language technology, which has been the domain of rich Internet application development, will be applied to the concept of the semantic Web by TopQuadrant on Monday.

The company is introducing SparqlMotion, a visual scripting language that allows non-programmers to build semantic Web applications. These applications can integrate data sources, run queries on combined data and enable development of information mashups and reports. Users can leverage such sources as RSS feeds, spreadsheets and databases. Featured in TopQuadrant’s product is a graphical user interface meant to simplify semantic application development.

[ Learn more about the Sparql query language and what it means for the semantic Web. ]

“The semantic Web makes the Web a Web of data,” said Dean Allemang, chief scientist at TopQuadrant. “The Web right now is a Web of documents.”

SparqlMotion will be available in this spring as part of TopQuadrant’s TopBraid Composer Maestro Edition and TopBraid Live software. The TopBraid Composer ontology modeling tool can be used to edit and execute SparqlMotion scripts. TopBraid Live is a semantic Web application deployment platform through which users can publish scripts on the Web.

Using the W3C Sparql query standard for the semantic Web, SparqlMotion enables semantic data processing. Visual scripts can be displayed and edited, and data processing pipelines can be used to merge, search, and query data.

SparqlMotion is based on Adobe’s Flex technology on the client and displays in the Adobe Flash Player. Java is used on the server. 

TopBraid Composer Maestro Edition costs $2,500, while TopBraid Live pricing starts at $16,000.

Paul Krill

Paul Krill is editor at large at InfoWorld. Paul has been covering computer technology as a news and feature reporter for more than 35 years, including 30 years at InfoWorld. He has specialized in coverage of software development tools and technologies since the 1990s, and he continues to lead InfoWorld’s news coverage of software development platforms including Java and .NET and programming languages including JavaScript, TypeScript, PHP, Python, Ruby, Rust, and Go. Long trusted as a reporter who prioritizes accuracy, integrity, and the best interests of readers, Paul is sought out by technology companies and industry organizations who want to reach InfoWorld’s audience of software developers and other information technology professionals. Paul has won a “Best Technology News Coverage” award from IDG.

More from this author