Virtuoso 7.2 - New Features

Core Database Engine

• Loosely-coupled SSL/TLS -- SSL/TLS version and associated cipher selection is now configurable. Net effect, you can now explicitly disable the use of specific SSL/TLS versions (e.g., SSL/TLS 3.0, which is susceptible to the POODLE exploit).
• Mounting and Umounting 3rd Party Storage Services to WebDAV -- 3rd Party Storage Services (e.g., Dropbox, Amazon S3, Microsoft OneDrive, Google Drive, Box, Rackspace, etc.) are mountable and un-mountable using an asynchronous operation (in prior releases, this was a synchronous operation). Once mounted, these 3rd party folders function like any other WebDAV resource. This kind of WebDAV collection (a "Dynamic Extension Resource Type" or "DET" for short) can also be designated as an LDP Container, making Virtuoso WebDAV a powerful LDP proxy mechanism for storage services that do not currently support LDP.

Virtual Database

• Load Service Data ROLE -- Adds SPARQL endpoint deduction capability to SPARQL-FED. Usage requires granting a new ROLE to SPARQL user account. Once granted, Virtuoso makes a best-attempt to determine the capabilities of a SPARQL endpoint by looking up its SPARQL Service Description Document, if available, and/or executing a series of SPARQL test queries (e.g., testing whether SPARQL Query results may be returned in all formats outlined by the W3C SPARQL spec).
• Filesystem Hosted Virtual Tables -- Enables Virtuoso instances to attach to CSV documents hosted by the File System. Once attached, VIEWs of these documents can be represented as SQL Relational Tables (by default) and/or RDF Property/Predicate graphs (via RDF Views functionality). This includes enhanced support for composite and compound primary keys which can be generated manually (as part of declaration) or automcatically based on document content analysis.

Linked Data Deployment

• Improved LDP Support -- Linked Data Platform protocol support has been enhanced, as an extension to existing WebDAV protocol support. You can now designate specific WebDAV folders as LDP Containers, and once this designation has been made, LDP-aware user agents will be able to deductively interact with WebDAV Folders and the documents they contain, using entity relations embedded in both header and body of HTTP responses.
• In-built Nanotation Processor -- Enables automatic transformation of TURTLE statements embedded in Email Messages, Online Discussion Posts, Tweets, Social Media Posts (Facebook, LinkedIn, Google+), HTML Body, and Plain Text documents into RDF-based Linked Open Data, which is then stored in the host Virtuoso instance. You now have the freedom, power, and flexibility to create data wherever and whenever -- as long as the target destination in a content input control that supports plain/text.
• Loosely-Coupled Sponger Middleware Services -- Built-in RDF document transformation middleware is now loosely-coupled to its host Virtuoso database server instance. As a result, you can now use the POST method to request asynchronous data transformation services from a Sponger instance, with the transformed data returned as part of an HTTP response payload.

SPARQL

• Geo-Spatial SPARQL Extensions -- Enhanced Geo-Spatial extensions to SPARQL enable high-performance and scalable query of data constructed using spatially-oriented relations. New supported geometric datatypes include polygons, polygons with holes, multi-polygons, geometric collections, multi-points, line strings, multi-line strings, and various geometric functions.
• SPARQL Query Processing Parallelism Enhancements -- 10x throughput gain for multi-user applications and services that utilize complex lookup queries in SPARQL query patterns.

Virtuoso 7.0 - New Features

Core Database Engine

• Column-wise Data Storage -- data is stored column-wise inline with DBMS technology advances aimed at large scale analytics and decision support
• Vectored Execution -- parallel execution of multiple query commands with fined-grained scoping to CPU cores i.e., for a given core that are massive numbers of parallel command execution per threads handled by said core
• Data Compression - enables much more compact working sets in hot cache and an overall more compact database
• Elastic Cluster -- no need for wholesale data reloads following evolution of cluster configuration e.g., moving from a 4-node cluster to an 8-node cluster

Virtual Database

• Faster generation of RDF based Linked Data views over ODBC/JDBC accessible RDBMS data sources.

Linked Data Middleware ("Sponger")

• New extractor cartridges: HTML (and variants), USA.GOV, BioPortal, DP.LA, Certificates, Bitbucket, We The People, Shodan, Xing, License, Code Google, Federal Register, CVE Security, Hotels.com, yfrog, Mail Signature, JRD, CKAN, Factual, W3C Issue Tracker Cartridge, GoPollGo, Image-Net, Yahoo Query Language (YQL), OPML, Twitpic, EML, OMIM
• New meta cartridges: Shodan, Influence Explorer, Hotels, Scoop.it, CityGrid Media, Factual, GlassPockets, Twitter Handles, Spaziodati, Hashtags, MapIt, Disqus

Virtuoso 6.4 - New Features

Core Database Engine

• Additional support for SPARQL 1.1 Functions, Update, WITH, USING, NAMED and Macro Library syntax.
• Support for SELECT scalar_expression subqueries without FROM clause to avoid extra lock on fake subqueries

Virtual Database

• R2RML mapping language support for generating Linked Data Views over ODBC- or ODBC-Bridge-accessible 3rd party relational data sources and/or native Virtuoso RDBMS data
• Linked Data Views wizard includes option for importing and exporting R2RML scripts
• Tighter integration of SQL and Linked Data such that any Web resource (be it LOD cloud or beyond) is now a bona fide ODBC, JDBC, ADO.NET, OLE-DB, or XMLA accessible data source accessible to any compliant application across Windows, Mac OS X, Linux, FreeBSD, Solaris, and many other Unix variants.
• ODBC, JDBC, ADO.NET, OLE-DB, and XMLA access to SPARQL SELECT, DESCRIBE, and CONSTRUCT queries
• SPARQL virtualization via SPARQL-FED that deductively understands non Virtuoso SPARQL endpoints
• SPARQL endpoint description graph for all Virtuoso SPARQL endpoints
• SPARQL Graph Update protocol which provides another RESTful interface to Virtuoso's quad store.

Linked Data Middleware ("Sponger")

• New extractor cartridges: LinkedIn, Google+, Google Knowledge Graph, Instagr.am Photos, Flattr, CLF (webserver logs), GovTrack.US, Freebase Query Editor, BBC Music, Yahoo! Weather, Disqus, Google KML, Google Fusion Tables, Github, Wolfram Alpha, Stack Overflow, AngelList, New York Times Article Search, HTML Table
• New meta cartridges: DBpedia Spotlight, Alchemy, Pingar, Flattr, Google Places, L.E.D., National Digital Forecast Database, Yahoo Music, Wolfram Alpha, Yahoo Content Analysis

Security & Access Control

• WebID? authentication and verification protocol integration into SQL DBMS realm such that SQL user accounts can now be associated with WebIDs?. Net effect, Virtuoso's lower level SQL access for row level and label security now leverage basic or advanced ACLs via SPARQL.

New Client & Server Protocols

• CalDAV support enabling a Virtuoso instance act as a server to CalDAV clients (e.g., iPad, iPhone, and other devices) with regards to calendar data access and management
• CardDAV support enabling a Virtuoso instance act as a server to CardDAV clients (e.g., iPad, iPhone, Android, and other devices) with regards to AddressBook? data access and management
• SyncML protocol update enabling a Virtuoso instance act as a server to SyncML clients (e.g., iPad, iPhone, Android, and other devices).

Virtuoso 6.2 -- New Features

Virtuoso 6.2 introduces a major number of enhancements to areas including:

• Linked Data Deployment
• Linked Data Middleware
• Data Virtualization
• Dynamic Data Exchange & Data Replication
• Security

Linked Data Deployment

Linked Data Middleware

Data Virtualization

Dynamic Data Exchange & Data Replication

Security

Virtuoso 6.1 - New Features

Virtuoso 6.1 introduces a powerful standards compliant platform for accessing, integrating, and managing disparately shaped data, across intranets, extranets, and public networks such as the World Wide Web. In line with emerging industry trends, it provides a cost-effective route for creating concrete conceptual model (W3C Resource Description Framework or Microsoft .NET Entity Frameworks) views atop logical model oriented data sources such as those associated with relational (SQL) or hierarchical XML (XQuery/XPath) or document oriented database management systems. Thus, rather than querying across obscure relational tables, xml trees, and free text patterns, it enables you explicitly target and query across real world objects (entities) relationship graphs that include: people (customer contacts, employees, managers, co-workers), places (countries, provinces), documents (product offers, orders, invoices, balance sheets etc.), and many other abstract real world things.

Database Engine (general)

• Transitivity Options for performing powerful Transitive Closures queries
• Cluster and Failsafe functionality
• Anytime Query that enables partial results for queries based on configurable query response times (applies to basic and complex aggregate queries across single instances or clusters)
  

RDF Database Engine

• 2 full +3 partial Index Scheme
• In-lined String Table
• Enhanced Cost Optimizer
• Engine hosted Faceted Browser

SPARQL

• Inference Rules capabilities that include: owl:inverseOf, owl:SymmetricalProperty, and owl:TransitiveProperty
• Automatic handling of preferred language locale via new BEST_LANGMATCH() and BIF_LANGMATCHES_PCT_HTTP() functions
• Initial support for federated query handling via SPARQL-FED extensions
• Initial support for SERVICE { ... } clause for delegating queries to 3rd party endpoints
• Expressions support for LIMIT and OFFSET clauses for constructing sophisticated data paging windows
• IsRef() magic predicate/function
• SPARQL 1.1 syntax for INSERT DATA / DELETE DATA
• SPARQL 1.1 HAVING clause for filtering on GROUP BY
• HTML+RDFa representation as additional data representation and serialization format for SPARQL CONSTRUCT and DESCRIBE queries.

RDFizer Middleware (Sponger)

Meta Cartridges that enhance Linked Data meshes created by basic extractor cartridges, by providing powerful lookups and joins across a plethora of Linked Data Spaces such as:

• Linked Open Data Cloud (DBpedia, Freebase, BBC, New York Times, Geonames, Bio2RDF, NeuroCommons, and many others)
• 30+ Web 2.0 data spaces via their data access APIs (e.g. Zillow, O'Reilly, Amazon, Googlebase, BestBuy, CNET, Crunchbase, Disqus, Twitter, Last.FM, Discogs, SalesForce.com, and many others)
• Web accessible Resources beyond HTML pages (e.g. Google Spreadsheet, Google Documents, Microsoft Office Docs (Excel, PowerPoint etc), OpenOffice, CSV, Text files).

RDBMS to RDF Middleware (RDF Views)

Wizard for generating RDF based Linked Data Views atop single or multiple ODBC or JDBC accessible data sources (e.g. Oracle, Microsoft SQL Server, DB2. Sybase, Informix, Ingres, Progress (OpenEdge), MySQL, PosgreSQL, Firebird, and others.

Web Services (SOAP or RESTful interaction)

• Sponger Middleware for obtaining negotiated RDF representations of non RDF based resource descriptions
• Faceted Search & Find that enables the use of Full Text search patterns and/or pivot style filtering by Entity Types and/or Properties
• Powerful Entity lookups by Label or Generic HTTP URI
• Powerful Data Reconciliation that leverages in-built Reasoner for identifying and projected data from co-referenced entities and/or those deemed equivalent by custom rules.

Data Access Drivers

• Entity Frameworks compatible ADO.NET provider that provides access to Native RDBMS and RDF Quad Store
• Entity Frameworks compatible ADO.NET provider for Virtual Database Engine that works with a broad range of 3rd party ODBC or JDBC accessible data sources
• Native Provider for RDF model oriented frameworks such as: Sesame, Jena, and Redland
• JDBC 4.0 Driver with support for Native RDF data
• ODBC 3.5 Driver with support for Native RDF data.