¹College of Computer and Information, Hohai University, Nanjing, Jiangsu Province, P.R.China 210098
²Department of Computer and Information Engineering, Huainan Normal University, Huainan, Anhui Province, P.R.China 232038

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Abstract—Semantic Web plays an important role in the Web of future. The RDF data is the key component which establishes the basis of the Semantic Web. In this paper, we conlude the usages and the possible problems of blank nodes of RDF with detailed analyses of the applications and semantics of the blank nodes in RDF graphs. Give special attentions to the inconsistency between RDF semantics and SPARQL semantics of blank nodes. Employ the concept of “lean graph” in the pre-process of the RDF data operation, propose a method of using the entailment relations between RDF graphs and the transformation from blank nodes to the URI references to eliminate the blank nodes in RDF graphs, and give the theoretic background to support the method. Lastly, some referenced methods of transforming the blank nodes to URI references are provided.

Index Terms—blank nodes, RDF, SPARQL, lean graph, entailment

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Cite: Lei Chen, Haifei Zhang, Ying Chen, and Wenping Guo, "Blank Nodes in RDF," Journal of Software vol. 7, no. 9, pp. 1993-1999, 2012.