About SPARQL

A brief introduction to SPARL and information about unsupported SPARQL features on CGE.

SPARQL is an RDF query language developed for executing semantic database queries. SPARQL queries replace the table and schema format of relational SQL queries with RDF triples and ontologies, which define predicates and relationships.

This release of the CGE software supports a subset of SPARQL 1.1. The following SPARQL 1.1 features are not implemented:
  • The SERVICE keyword, for querying remote data.
  • The MD5, SHA1, SHA256, SHA384, and SHA512 encryption functions.
  • The UCASE and LCASE functions, which return a string literal whose lexical form is the upper or lower case of the lexical form of the argument, are implemented for ASCII characters only.
  • The property paths feature, which extends the predicate portion of the query, allowing more extensive search patterns without the overhead of additional OPTIONAL statements.

    Although CGE does not natively support the SPARQL 1.1 property paths feature, it does support certain types of property paths. CGE’s property path support is currently experimental and should be used with care. Contact Cray Support for additional information.