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The PROV Namespace
Ivan Herman, W3C Team Contact for the Provenance Working Group
The PROV Namespace
W3C Document
- Editor:
- Provenance Working Group
Copyright © 2013 W3C® (MIT, ERCIM, Keio, Beihang), All Rights Reserved. W3C liability, trademark and document use rules apply.
1. Introduction
The namespace name https://www.w3.org/ns/prov# is intended
for use with the PROV
family of documents that support the interchange of provenance on the
web. Please
read the overview first. The terms within this namespace
are defined in these specifications:
- PROV-DM: The PROV Data Model
- PROV-O: The PROV Ontology
- PROV-N: The Provenance Notation
- PROV-AQ: Provenance Access and Query
- PROV-XML: The PROV XML Schema
- PROV-Dictionary: Modeling Provenance for Dictionary Data Structures
- PROV-Links: Linking Across Provenance Bundles
- PROV-DC: Dublin Core to PROV Mapping
The index below provides links directly to the definition of the terms within the above specifications. English language definitions are provided. However, in some cases we omit the definition when the context of a document is needed for understanding. In all cases, the specifications above are the definitive source. For machine interpretable definitions, content negotiation is supported for multiple formats including:
- Turtle
curl -sH "Accept: text/turtle" -L https://www.w3.org/ns/prov
- RDF/XML
curl -sH "Accept: application/rdf+xml" -L https://www.w3.org/ns/prov
- XSD
curl -sH "Accept: application/xml" -L https://www.w3.org/ns/prov
The OWL ontology can also be accessed directly in RDF/XML and in Turtle
formats using the URIs https://www.w3.org/ns/prov.owl
and https://www.w3.org/ns/prov.ttl,
respectively.
This document is intended to comply with W3C policy for XML namespace names.
We suggest the use of prov as a prefix for this
namespace.
2. Index
A | B | C | D | E | G | H | I | K | L | M | N | O | P | Q | R | S | T | U | V | WA
Accept
| PROV-DC: | Accept |
actedOnBehalfOf
Delegation is the assignment of
authority and responsibility to an agent (by itself or by another
agent) to carry out a specific activity as a delegate or
representative, while the agent it acts on behalf of retains some
responsibility for the outcome of the delegated work.
| PROV-O: | actedOnBehalfOf |
| PROV-XML: | actedOnBehalfOf |
| PROV-DM: | actedOnBehalfOf |
| PROV-N: | delegationExpression |
Activity
An activity
is something that occurs over a period of time and acts upon or with
entities; it may include consuming, processing, transforming,
modifying, relocating, using, or generating entities.
| PROV-O: | Activity |
| PROV-XML: | Activity |
| PROV-DM: | Activity |
| PROV-N: | activityExpression |
activity
The prov:activity property in
PROV-O references a prov:Activity which influenced a resource. This
property applies to a prov:ActivityInfluence, which is given by a
sub-property of prov:qualifiedInfluence from the influenced
prov:Entity, prov:Activity or prov:Agent. In PROV-XML, prov:activity
is used as an element name for the complex type, prov:Activity.
| PROV-O: | activity |
| PROV-XML: | activity |
ActivityInfluence
ActivityInfluence is the capacity
of an activity to have an effect on the character, development, or
behavior of another by means of generation, invalidation,
communication, or other.
| PROV-O: | ActivityInfluence |
Agent
An agent
is something that bears some form of responsibility for an activity
taking place, for the existence of an entity, or for another agent's
activity.
| PROV-O: | Agent |
| PROV-XML: | Agent |
| PROV-DM: | Agent |
| PROV-N: | agentExpression |
agent
The prov:agent property, in
PROV-O, references a prov:Agent which influenced a resource. This
property applies to a prov:AgentInfluence, which is given by a
subproperty of prov:qualifiedInfluence from the influenced
prov:Entity, prov:Activity or prov:Agent. In PROV-XML, prov:agent is
used as an element name for the complex type, prov:Agent
| PROV-O: | agent |
| PROV-XML: | agent |
AgentInfluence
AgentInfluence is the capacity of
an agent to have an effect on the character, development, or behavior
of another by means of attribution, association, delegation, or other.
| PROV-O: | AgentInfluence |
Alternate
Two alternate
entities present aspects of the same thing. These aspects may be the
same or different, and the alternate entities may or may not overlap
in time.
| PROV-XML: | Alternate |
| PROV-DM: | Alternate |
alternateOf
Two alternate
entities present aspects of the same thing. These aspects may be the
same or different, and the alternate entities may or may not overlap
in time.
| PROV-O: | alternateOf |
| PROV-XML: | alternateOf |
| PROV-DM: | alternateOf |
| PROV-N: | alternateExpression |
asInBundle
prov:asInBundle is used to specify
which bundle the general entity of a prov:mentionOf property is
described.
| PROV-Links: | asInBundle |
Association
An activity association
is an assignment of responsibility to an agent for an activity,
indicating that the agent had a role in the activity. It further
allows for a plan to be specified, which is the plan intended by the
agent to achieve some goals in the context of this activity.
| PROV-O: | Association |
| PROV-XML: | Association |
| PROV-DM: | Association |
| PROV-N: | associationExpression |
Attribution
Attribution
is the ascribing of an entity to an agent.
| PROV-O: | Attribution |
| PROV-XML: | Attribution |
| PROV-DM: | Attribution |
| PROV-N: | attributionExpression |
B
Bundle
A bundle
is a named set of provenance descriptions, and is itself an entity, so
allowing provenance of provenance to be expressed.
| PROV-O: | Bundle |
| PROV-XML: | Bundle |
| PROV-DM: | Bundle |
| PROV-N: | bundle |
C
Collection / collection
A collection
is an entity that provides a structure to some constituents that must
themselves be entities. These constituents are said to be member
of the collections.
| PROV-O: | Collection |
| PROV-XML: | Collection / collection |
| PROV-DM: | Collection |
| PROV-N: | Collection |
Communication
Communication
is the exchange of some unspecified entity by two activities, one
activity using some entity generated by the other.
| PROV-O: | Communication |
| PROV-XML: | Communication |
| PROV-DM: | Communication |
| PROV-N: | communicationExpression |
D
Delegation
Delegation
is the assignment of authority and responsibility to an agent (by
itself or by another agent) to carry out a specific activity as a
delegate or representative, while the agent it acts on behalf of
retains some responsibility for the outcome of the delegated work.
| PROV-O: | Delegation |
| PROV-XML: | Delegation |
| PROV-DM: | Delegation |
| PROV-N: | delegationExpression |
Derivation
A derivation
is a transformation of an entity into another, an update of an entity
resulting in a new one, or the construction of a new entity based on a
pre-existing entity.
| PROV-O: | Derivation |
| PROV-XML: | Derivation |
| PROV-DM: | Derivation |
| PROV-N: | derivationExpression |
derivedByInsertionFrom
The dictionary was derived from the other by
insertion.
| PROV-Dictionary: | derivedByInsertionFrom |
derivedByRemovalFrom
The dictionary was derived from the other by
removal.
| PROV-Dictionary: | derivedByRemovalFrom |
describesService
describesService relates a generic
provenance query service resource (type prov:ServiceDescription)
to a specific query service description (e.g. a prov:DirectQueryService
or a sd:Service).
| PROV-AQ: | describesService |
Dictionary
A dictionary is an entity that
provides a structure to some constituents, which are themselves
entities. These constituents are said to be members of the dictionary.
| PROV-Dictionary: | Dictionary |
dictionary
The property used by a prov:Insertion and
prov:Removal to cite the prov:Dictionary that was
prov:derivedByInsertionFrom or prov:derivedByRemovalFrom another
dictionary.
| PROV-Dictionary: | dictionary |
DictionaryMembership
The members of a dictionary are specified by
listing key-entity pairs inside a prov:DictionaryMembership element.
| PROV-Dictionary: | DictionaryMembership |
DirectQueryService
Type for a direct HTTP query service
description. Mainly for use in RDF provenance query service
descriptions, to distinguish direct HTTP query service descriptions
from other query service descriptions.
| PROV-AQ: | DirectQueryService |
E
EmptyCollection / emptyCollection
An empty collection is a collection without
members.
| PROV-O: | EmptyCollection |
| PROV-XML: | EmptyCollection / emptyCollection |
| PROV-DM: | EmptyCollection |
| PROV-N: | EmptyCollection |
EmptyDictionary / emptyDictionary
An empty dictionary is a dictionary that has
no members.
| PROV-Dictionary: | EmptyDictionary / emptyDictionary |
End
End is when an
activity is deemed to have been ended by an entity, known as trigger. The activity no longer exists
after its end. Any usage, generation, or invalidation involving an
activity precedes the activity's end. An end may refer to a trigger
entity that terminated the activity, or to an activity, known as ender that generated the trigger.
| PROV-O: | End |
| PROV-XML: | End |
| PROV-DM: | End |
| PROV-N: | endExpression |
Entity
An entity
is a physical, digital, conceptual, or other kind of thing with some
fixed aspects; entities may be real or imaginary.
| PROV-O: | Entity |
| PROV-XML: | Entity |
| PROV-DM: | Entity |
| PROV-N: | entityExpression |
entity
In PROV-O, the prov:entity property references
an prov:Entity which influenced a resource. This property applies to
an prov:EntityInfluence, which is given by a subproperty of
prov:qualifiedInfluence from the influenced prov:Entity, prov:Activity
or prov:Agent. In PROV-XML, prov:entity is used as an element name for
the complex type prov:Entity.
| PROV-O: | entity |
| PROV-XML: | entity |
EntityInfluence
EntityInfluence is the capacity of an entity
to have an effect on the character, development, or behavior of
another by means of usage, start, end, derivation, or other.
| PROV-O: | EntityInfluence |
G
generated
Generation is the completion of production of
a new entity by an activity. This entity did not exist before
generation and becomes available for usage after this generation.
| PROV-O: | generated |
Generation
Generation is the completion of
production of a new entity by an activity. This entity did not exist
before generation and becomes available for usage after this
generation.
| PROV-O: | Generation |
| PROV-XML: | Generation |
| PROV-DM: | Generation |
| PROV-N: | generationExpression |
H
hadDictionaryMember
Describes the key-entity pair that was member
of a prov:Dictionary. A dictionary can have multiple members.
| PROV-Dictionary: | hadDictionaryMember |
hadMember
Membership is the belonging of an
entity to a collection.
| PROV-O: | hadMember |
| PROV-XML: | hadMember |
| PROV-DM: | hadMember |
| PROV-N: | membershipExpression |
hadPrimarySource
| PROV-O: | hadPrimarySource |
| PROV-XML: | hadPrimarySource |
| PROV-DM: | PrimarySource |
| PROV-N: | PrimarySource |
has_anchor
Indicates a target-URI for an resource, used
by an associated provenance record.
| PROV-AQ: | has_anchor |
has_provenance
Indicates a provenance-URI for a resource; the
resource identified by this property presents a provenance record
about its subject or anchor resource.
| PROV-AQ: | has_provenance |
has_query_service
Indicates a provenance query service that can
access provenance related to its subject or anchor resource.
| PROV-AQ: | has_query_service |
I
id
In PROV-XML, the xml-attribute used to
identify an instances of a prov-"type" or prov-"relation".
| PROV-XML: | id |
Influence
Influence is the capacity of an
entity, activity, or agent to have an effect on the character,
development, or behavior of another by means of usage, start, end,
generation, invalidation, communication, derivation, attribution,
association, or delegation.
| PROV-O: | Influence |
| PROV-XML: | Influence |
| PROV-DM: | Influence |
| PROV-N: | influenceExpression |
insertedKeyEntityPair
An object property to refer to the
prov:KeyEntityPair inserted into a prov:Dictionary.
| PROV-Dictionary: | insertedKeyEntityPair |
Insertion
Insertion is a derivation that describes the
transformation of a dictionary into another, by insertion of one or
more key-entity pairs.
| PROV-Dictionary: | Insertion |
InstantaneousEvent
The PROV data model is implicitly based on a
notion of instantaneous events (or just events), that mark transitions
in the world. Events include generation, usage, or invalidation of
entities, as well as starting or ending of activities. This notion of
event is not first-class in the data model, but it is useful for
explaining its other concepts and its semantics.
| PROV-O: | InstantaneousEvent |
Invalidation
Invalidation is the start of the
destruction, cessation, or expiry of an existing entity by an
activity. The entity is no longer available for use (or further
invalidation) after invalidation. Any generation or usage of an entity
precedes its invalidation.
| PROV-O: | Invalidation |
| PROV-XML: | Invalidation |
| PROV-DM: | Invalidation |
| PROV-N: | invalidationExpression |
K
L
location
A location can be an identifiable
geographic place (ISO 19112), but it can also be a non-geographic
place such as a directory, row, or column. As such, there are numerous
ways in which location can be expressed, such as by a coordinate,
address, landmark, and so forth.
| PROV-O: | Location |
| PROV-XML: | location |
| PROV-DM: | location |
| PROV-N: | location |
M
Membership
Membership is the belonging of an entity to a
collection.
| PROV-DM: | Membership |
| PROV-XML: | Membership |
Mention
The mention of an entity in a
bundle (containing a description of this entity) is another entity
that is a specialization of the former and that presents at least the
bundle as a further additional aspect.
| PROV-Links: | Mention |
mentionOf
prov:mentionOf is used to specialize an entity
as described in another bundle. It is to be used in conjunction with
prov:asInBundle.
| PROV-Links: | mentionOf |
N
O
Organization
An organization is a social or
legal institution such as a company, society, etc.
| PROV-O: | Organization |
| PROV-XML: | Organization |
| PROV-DM: | Organization |
| PROV-N: | Organization |
other
In PROV-XML, the prov:other XML element
provides a place to include non-PROV XML elements inside a
prov:document or prov:bundleContent.
| PROV-XML: | other |
P
pairEntity
The entity of a prov:KeyEntityPair, which is
an element of a prov:Dictionary.
| PROV-Dictionary: | pairEntity |
pairKey
The key of a prov:KeyEntityPair, which is an
element of a prov:Dictionary.
| PROV-Dictionary: | pairKey |
pingback
Relates a resource to a provenance pingback
service that may receive additional provenance links about the
resource.
| PROV-AQ: | pingback |
Plan/plan
A plan
is an entity that represents a set of actions or steps intended by one
or more agents to achieve some goals.
| PROV-O: | Plan |
| PROV-XML: | Plan/plan |
| PROV-DM: | Plan |
| PROV-N: | Plan |
PrimarySource
A primary source for a topic
refers to something produced by some agent with direct experience and
knowledge about the topic, at the time of the topic's study, without
benefit from hindsight. Because of the directness of primary sources,
they 'speak for themselves' in ways that cannot be captured through
the filter of secondary sources. As such, it is important for
secondary sources to reference those primary sources from which they
were derived, so that their reliability can be investigated. A primary
source relation is a particular case of derivation of secondary
materials from their primary sources. It is recognized that the
determination of primary sources can be up to interpretation, and
should be done according to conventions accepted within the
application's domain.
| PROV-O: | PrimarySource |
| PROV-XML: | PrimarySource |
| PROV-DM: | PrimarySource |
| PROV-N: | PrimarySource |
provenanceUriTemplate
Indicates a URI template string for
constructing provenance-URIs
| PROV-AQ: | provenanceUriTemplate |
Q
qualifiedInsertion
prov:qualifiedInsertion shows the details of
an insertion, in particular the inserted key-entity pairs.
| PROV-O: | qualifiedInsertion |
qualifiedRemoval
prov:qualifiedRemoval shows the details of a
removal, in particular the removed keys.
| PROV-Dictionary: | qualifiedRemoval |
Quotation
A quotation
is the repeat of (some or all of) an entity, such as text or image, by
someone who may or may not be its original author.
| PROV-O: | Quotation |
| PROV-XML: | Quotation |
| PROV-DM: | Quotation |
| PROV-N: | Quotation |
R
ref
In PROV-XML, a xml-attribute that denotes a
reference-by-id to an instance of a prov-"type" or prov-"relation".
| PROV-XML: | ref |
Removal
Removal is a derivation that describes the
transformation of a dictionary into another, by removing one or more
keys.
| PROV-Dictionary: | Removal |
Revision
A revision
is a derivation for which the resulting entity is a revised version of
some original.
| PROV-O: | Revision |
| PROV-XML: | Revision |
| PROV-DM: | Revision |
| PROV-N: | Revision |
role
A role is the function of an
entity or agent with respect to an activity, in the context of a
usage, generation, invalidation, association, start, and end.
| PROV-O: | Role |
| PROV-XML: | role |
| PROV-DM: | role |
| PROV-N: | role |
S
ServiceDescription
Type for a generic provenance query service.
Mainly for use in RDF provenance query service descriptions, to
facilitate discovery of provenance services in linked data
environments.
| PROV-AQ: | ServiceDescription |
SoftwareAgent
A software agent is running software.
| PROV-O: | SoftwareAgent |
| PROV-XML: | SoftwareAgent |
| PROV-DM: | SoftwareAgent |
| PROV-N: | SoftwareAgent |
Specialization
An entity that is a specialization
of another shares all aspects of the latter, and additionally presents
more specific aspects of the same thing as the latter. In particular,
the lifetime of the entity being specialized contains that of any
specialization.
| PROV-DM: | specializationOf |
| PROV-XML: | specializationOf |
specializationOf
An entity that is a specialization
of another shares all aspects of the latter, and additionally presents
more specific aspects of the same thing as the latter. In particular,
the lifetime of the entity being specialized contains that of any
specialization.
| PROV-O: | specializationOf |
| PROV-XML: | specializationOf |
| PROV-DM: | specializationOf |
| PROV-N: | specializationExpression |
Start
Start is when
an activity is deemed to have been started by an entity, known as trigger. The
activity did not exist before its start. Any usage, generation, or
invalidation involving an activity follows the activity's start. A
start may refer to a trigger entity that set off the activity, or to
an activity, known as starter,
that generated the trigger.
| PROV-O: | Start |
| PROV-XML: | Start |
| PROV-DM: | Start |
| PROV-N: | startExpression |
T
U
Usage
Usage is the
beginning of utilizing an entity by an activity. Before usage, the
activity had not begun to utilize this entity and could not have been
affected by the entity.
| PROV-O: | Usage |
| PROV-XML: | Usage |
| PROV-DM: | Usage |
| PROV-N: | usageExpression |
used
Usage is the beginning of
utilizing an entity by an activity. Before usage, the activity had not
begun to utilize this entity and could not have been affected by the
entity.
| PROV-O: | used |
| PROV-XML: | used |
| PROV-DM: | used |
| PROV-N: | usageExpression |
V
value
A value
is a constant such as a string, number, time, qualified name, IRI, and
encoded binary data, whose interpretation is outside the scope of
PROV.
| PROV-O: | value |
| PROV-XML: | value |
| PROV-DM: | value |
| PROV-N: | value |
W
wasAssociatedWith
An activity association is an
assignment of responsibility to an agent for an activity, indicating
that the agent had a role in the activity. It further allows for a
plan to be specified, which is the plan intended by the agent to
achieve some goals in the context of this activity.
| PROV-O: | wasAssociatedWith |
| PROV-XML: | wasAssociatedWith |
| PROV-DM: | wasAssociatedWith |
| PROV-N: | associationExpression |
wasAttributedTo
Attribution is the ascribing of
an entity to an agent.
| PROV-O: | wasAttributedTo |
| PROV-XML: | wasAttributedTo |
| PROV-DM: | wasAttributedTo |
| PROV-N: | attributionExpression |
wasDerivedFrom
A derivation is a transformation
of an entity into another, an update of an entity resulting in a new
one, or the construction of a new entity based on a pre-existing
entity.
| PROV-O: | wasDerivedFrom |
| PROV-XML: | wasDerivedFrom |
| PROV-DM: | wasDerivedFrom |
| PROV-N: | derivationExpression |
wasEndedBy
End is when an activity is deemed
to have been ended by an entity, known as trigger. The
activity no longer exists after its end. Any usage, generation, or
invalidation involving an activity precedes the activity's end. An end
may refer to a trigger entity that terminated the activity, or to an
activity, known as ender that generated the trigger.
| PROV-O: | wasEndedBy |
| PROV-XML: | wasEndedBy |
| PROV-DM: | wasEndedBy |
| PROV-N: | endExpression |
wasGeneratedBy
Generation is the completion of
production of a new entity by an activity. This entity did not exist
before generation and becomes available for usage after this
generation.
| PROV-O: | wasGeneratedBy |
| PROV-XML: | wasGeneratedBy |
| PROV-DM: | wasGeneratedBy |
| PROV-N: | generationExpression |
wasInfluencedBy
Influence is the capacity of an
entity, activity, or agent to have an effect on the character,
development, or behavior of another by means of usage, start, end,
generation, invalidation, communication, derivation, attribution,
association, or delegation.
| PROV-O: | wasInfluencedBy |
| PROV-XML: | wasInfluencedBy |
| PROV-DM: | wasInfluencedBy |
| PROV-N: | influenceExpression |
wasInformedBy
Communication is the exchange of
some unspecified entity by two activities, one activity using some
entity generated by the other.
| PROV-O: | wasInformedBy |
| PROV-XML: | wasInformedBy |
| PROV-DM: | wasInformedBy |
| PROV-N: | communicationExpression |
wasInvalidatedBy
Invalidation is the start of the
destruction, cessation, or expiry of an existing entity by an
activity. The entity is no longer available for use (or further
invalidation) after invalidation. Any generation or usage of an entity
precedes its invalidation.
| PROV-O: | wasInvalidatedBy |
| PROV-XML: | wasInvalidatedBy |
| PROV-DM: | wasInvalidatedBy |
| PROV-N: | invalidationExpression |
wasQuotedFrom
A quotation is the repeat of
(some or all of) an entity, such as text or image, by someone who may
or may not be its original author.
| PROV-O: | wasQuotedFrom |
| PROV-XML: | wasQuotedFrom |
| PROV-DM: | Quotation |
| PROV-N: | Quotation |
wasRevisionOf
A revision is a derivation for
which the resulting entity is a revised version of some original.
| PROV-O: | wasRevisionOf |
| PROV-XML: | wasRevisionOf |
| PROV-DM: | Revision |
| PROV-N: | Revision |
wasStartedBy
Start is when an activity is
deemed to have been started by an entity, known as trigger.
The activity did not exist before its start. Any usage, generation, or
invalidation involving an activity follows the activity's start. A
start may refer to a trigger entity that set off the activity, or to
an activity, known as starter, that generated the trigger.
| PROV-O: | wasStartedBy |
| PROV-XML: | wasStartedBy |
| PROV-DM: | wasStartedBy |
| PROV-N: | startExpression |
Ivan Herman, W3C Team Contact for the Provenance Working Group
<ivan@w3.org>