Virtuoso Sponger
What Is It?
The Virtuoso Sponger is a middleware component of Virtuoso that generates RDF Linked Data from a variety of data sources. The sponger is transparently integrated into Virtuoso's SPARQL Query Processor, where it delivers URI de-referencing functionality and data caching services. Optionally, it can be used by the Virtuoso Content Crawler to periodically build and replenish local RDF graphs.
The sponger is a fully fledged HTTP proxy service that is also directly accessible via SOAP or REST interfaces.
How Does It Work?
Designed with a pluggable architecture, the Sponger's core functionality is provided by Cartridges. Each cartridge includes Data Extractors which extract data from one or more data sources, and Ontology Mappers which map the extracted data to one or more ontologies/schemas, en route to producing RDF Linked Data.
(See an animation of the concept, if the embed above fails in your browser.)
The Sponger also includes a pluggable name resolution mechanism that enables the development of Custom Resolvers for naming schemes (e.g., URNs) associated with protocols beyond HTTP. Examples of custom resolvers include:
Supported Data Sources
Click here for a complete list of supported Data Sources.
RDF Cartridges Use Cases
Click here for a complete list of live Sponger Cartridges Use Case demonstration links.
Sponger Cartridge based Dynamic Linked Data Cloud
Click the image for a full-size, clickable version!
Related
- Sponger Cartridges
- Technical White Paper
- SPARQL Sponger
- Sponger Cartridge RDF Extractor
- Extending SPARQL IRI Dereferencing with RDF Mappers
- RDF Cartridge Programmer Guide
- Create RDF Custom Cartridge Tutorial
- RDF Cartridges Use Cases
- Virtuoso Authentication Server
- Virtuoso SPARQL OAuth Tutorial
- Virtuoso FOAF+SSL ACLs Tutorial
