CRMVIZ

Python command line tool and library for visualising RDF triples for datasets mapped to the CIDOC-CRM ontology. This is based on:

• rdflib
• graphviz

Supported CRM versions:

• CRM official: 6.2.1 (default)
• Erlangen CRM: current

Supported formats (from graphviz):

• svg (default)
• png

Command line use

python crmviz.py -v <crm_version> -f <format> [file]

Examples:

python crmviz.py my-triples.rdf

This will run with default options and produce two files: my-triples.gv and my-triples.gv.svg using the labels and URIs from the official CIDOC-CRM (version 6.2.1).

python crmviz.py -v erlangen -f png my-triples.rdf

This will produce two files: my-triples.gv and my-triples.gv.png using the labels and URIs from Erlangen CRM current. If no -f is specified then it will produce svg by default. If no -v is specified, then it will default to forth and the official CRM version is used. It makes sense to use the CRM version also used in your sample.

Python use

Example python use:

from visualise import visualise_graph # import the library
graph = Graph() # create a new graph
graph.add((subject, predicate, object)) # add triples manually 
graph.parse(file.rdf) # or parse an existing file
dot = visualise_graph(graph, 'CRMVIZ graph', 'forth') # run the visualisation
dot.render(exportfile + '.gv',format='svg') # export in default svg

Example

These triples:

@prefix crm: <http://www.cidoc-crm.org/cidoc-crm/> .
@prefix rdfs: <http://www.w3.org/2000/01/rdf-schema#> .
@prefix stcath: <https://data.ligatus.org.uk/stcatherines/ms/> .

stcath:780c99ac-b3ee-4b21-9e48-32b53a721830 a crm:E78_Collection ;
    rdfs:label "Arabic" ;
    crm:P46_is_composed_of stcath:961e50ea-2895-472e-94ae-b69ff8c2e56d .

stcath:5e8ede4e-6a3f-4726-aa8d-504741bb0154 a crm:E42_Identifier ;
    rdfs:label "Arabica 0001 (shelfmark)" .

stcath:961e50ea-2895-472e-94ae-b69ff8c2e56d a crm:E22_Man-Made_Object ;
    rdfs:label "Arabica 0001" ;
    crm:P2_has_type <http://w3id.org/lob/concept/4886> ;
    crm:P48_has_preferred_identifier stcath:5e8ede4e-6a3f-4726-aa8d-504741bb0154 .

will produce this output:

Benefits

The output is useful for explaining CRM modelling. Things to notice:

• box colours follow current conventions in the CRM community
• boxes include instances and classes
• arrows connect instances as opposed to classes
• instances, classes and properties include URIs
• easily expandable to include CRM extensions or different CRM versions