RDFLib

7.6.0 · active · verified Thu Apr 09

RDFLib is a Python library for working with RDF (Resource Description Framework), a simple yet powerful language for representing information. It provides a Graph data structure, parsers and serializers for various RDF formats (e.g., Turtle, N-Triples, RDF/XML, JSON-LD), and SPARQL query capabilities. RDFLib is actively maintained with frequent minor releases and major versions typically every 1-2 years.

Warnings

breaking The handling of the `publicID` parameter in `Graph.parse` and `Dataset.parse` methods changed in version 7.0.0. It now explicitly sets the base URI for parsing, potentially altering how relative URIs are resolved in some cases.
Fix: Review calls to `Graph.parse` or `Dataset.parse` that use `publicID`. If your data contains relative URIs, ensure the `publicID` is correctly set to define the base URI, or use `base` parameter explicitly if appropriate.
deprecated Several methods and attributes of the `Dataset` class have been deprecated in version 7.3.0 and are scheduled for removal in the next major release (likely 8.0.0). This aims to improve consistency and align `Dataset` more closely with RDF specifications.
Fix: Consult the RDFLib documentation for `Dataset` to identify deprecated methods and their recommended alternatives. Update your code to use the newer, more consistent API to avoid breakage in future major versions.
gotcha Many parsers, serializers, and advanced features (e.g., SPARQL, JSON-LD, HTML5 parsing, specific datatype handling) rely on optional dependencies that are not installed by default. Without them, you might encounter `ImportError` or incomplete functionality.
Fix: Install RDFLib with the necessary extras, e.g., `pip install "rdflib[json-ld,sparql,isodate,lxml,rdf4j,graphdb]"`, or install individual missing packages as needed (e.g., `pip install isodate`). Refer to the documentation for specific feature requirements.
gotcha Python 3.8 support was temporarily removed in version 7.1.2 and then re-added in 7.1.3 due to a typing-related regression. Users on specific patch versions of 7.1.x might experience unexpected behavior or installation issues on Python 3.8.
Fix: Ensure you are using RDFLib >= 7.1.3 if you target Python 3.8. It's generally recommended to use the latest patch release for your major version.

Install

pip install rdflib Basic installation
pip install "rdflib[json-ld,sparql,rdf4j,graphdb]" Installation with common extras

Imports

Graph
```
from rdflib import Graph
```
Namespace
```
from rdflib import Namespace
```
URIRef
```
from rdflib import URIRef
```
BNode
```
from rdflib import BNode
```
Literal
```
from rdflib import Literal
```
FOAF
```
from rdflib.namespace import FOAF
```
Commonly used namespaces like FOAF, RDFS, RDF, XSD are found in `rdflib.namespace`.

Quickstart

This quickstart demonstrates how to create an RDF Graph, define namespaces, add triples using URIRef, BNode, and Literal, and serialize the graph to the Turtle format. It's a fundamental example of how to represent and manage RDF data programmatically.

from rdflib import Graph, Literal, Namespace, URIRef
from rdflib.namespace import FOAF, XSD

# Create a Graph
g = Graph()

# Define a custom namespace
EX = Namespace("http://example.org/people/")

# Create URIs for resources
john = EX.johnDoe
jane = EX.janeDoe

# Add triples to the graph
g.add((john, FOAF.name, Literal("John Doe")))
g.add((john, FOAF.mbox, URIRef("mailto:john.doe@example.org")))
g.add((john, FOAF.age, Literal(30, datatype=XSD.integer)))

g.add((jane, FOAF.name, Literal("Jane Doe")))
g.add((jane, FOAF.age, Literal(25, datatype=XSD.integer)))

# Serialize the graph to Turtle format and print it
print(g.serialize(format="turtle"))

# You can also parse from a file or string
# g.parse("path/to/my_data.ttl", format="turtle")

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