SHACL validation under graph updates (extended paper)
SHACL validation under graph updates (extended paper)
SHACL (SHApe Constraint Language) is a W3C standardized constraint language for RDF graphs. In this paper, we study SHACL validation in RDF graphs under updates. We present a SHACL-based update language that can capture intuitive and realistic modifications on RDF graphs and study the problem of static validation under such updates. This problem asks to verify whether every graph that validates a SHACL specification will still do so after applying a given update sequence. More importantly, it provides a basis for further services for reasoning about evolving RDF graphs. Using a regression technique that embeds the update actions into SHACL constraints, we show that static validation under updates can be reduced to (un)satisfiability of constraints in (a minor extension of) SHACL. We analyze the computational complexity of the static validation problem for SHACL and some key fragments. Finally, we present a prototype implementation that performs static validation and other static analysis tasks on SHACL constraints and demonstrate its behavior through preliminary experiments.
140-157
Ahmetaj, Shqiponja
3e07a5cd-35c2-41cd-963f-ac1fd52f8956
Konstantinidis, George
f174fb99-8434-4485-a7e4-bee0fef39b42
Ortiz, Magdalena
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Pareti, Paolo
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Simkus, Mantas
86b80048-7e07-44f4-9a74-061f7ae26646
Giovanni Nuzzolese, Andrea
Ahmetaj, Shqiponja
3e07a5cd-35c2-41cd-963f-ac1fd52f8956
Konstantinidis, George
f174fb99-8434-4485-a7e4-bee0fef39b42
Ortiz, Magdalena
4f6c1e26-a6ba-4687-a3ef-4245387ec951
Pareti, Paolo
c4337eaa-f206-4639-afd2-3bcbfe734cdb
Simkus, Mantas
86b80048-7e07-44f4-9a74-061f7ae26646
Giovanni Nuzzolese, Andrea
Ahmetaj, Shqiponja, Konstantinidis, George, Ortiz, Magdalena, Pareti, Paolo and Simkus, Mantas
(2025)
SHACL validation under graph updates (extended paper).
Garijo, Daniel, Ferrada, Sabastian, Salatino, Angelo, Shimizu, Cogan, Acosta, Maribel, Giovanni Nuzzolese, Andrea, Ferrada, Sebastián, Soulard, Thibaut, Kozaki, Kouji, Takeda, Hideaki and Gentile, Anna Lisa
(eds.)
In The Semantic Web – ISWC 2025: 24th International Semantic Web Conference, Nara, Japan, November 2–6, 2025, Proceedings, Part I.
vol. 16140,
Springer Cham.
.
(doi:10.1007/978-3-032-09527-5).
Record type:
Conference or Workshop Item
(Paper)
Abstract
SHACL (SHApe Constraint Language) is a W3C standardized constraint language for RDF graphs. In this paper, we study SHACL validation in RDF graphs under updates. We present a SHACL-based update language that can capture intuitive and realistic modifications on RDF graphs and study the problem of static validation under such updates. This problem asks to verify whether every graph that validates a SHACL specification will still do so after applying a given update sequence. More importantly, it provides a basis for further services for reasoning about evolving RDF graphs. Using a regression technique that embeds the update actions into SHACL constraints, we show that static validation under updates can be reduced to (un)satisfiability of constraints in (a minor extension of) SHACL. We analyze the computational complexity of the static validation problem for SHACL and some key fragments. Finally, we present a prototype implementation that performs static validation and other static analysis tasks on SHACL constraints and demonstrate its behavior through preliminary experiments.
Text
2508.00137v1
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Restricted to Repository staff only until 29 October 2026.
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e-pub ahead of print date: 29 October 2025
Venue - Dates:
24th INTERNATIONAL SEMANTIC WEB CONFERENCE 2025: ISWC 2025, , Nara, Japan, 2025-11-02 - 2025-11-06
Identifiers
Local EPrints ID: 511548
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/511548
PURE UUID: 2c347d2f-7886-485d-bdd7-209befbe7353
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Date deposited: 20 May 2026 16:44
Last modified: 21 May 2026 01:53
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Contributors
Author:
Shqiponja Ahmetaj
Author:
George Konstantinidis
Author:
Magdalena Ortiz
Author:
Paolo Pareti
Author:
Mantas Simkus
Editor:
Daniel Garijo
Editor:
Sabastian Ferrada
Editor:
Angelo Salatino
Editor:
Cogan Shimizu
Editor:
Maribel Acosta
Editor:
Andrea Giovanni Nuzzolese
Editor:
Sebastián Ferrada
Editor:
Thibaut Soulard
Editor:
Kouji Kozaki
Editor:
Hideaki Takeda
Editor:
Anna Lisa Gentile
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