Ontology Export Patterns in OWLGrEd Editor

Abstract

The OWLGrEd ontology editor allows graphical visualization and authoring of OWL 2.0 ontologies using a compact yet intuitive presentation that combines UML class diagram notation with textual Manchester syntax for expressions. For the full use of the graphical ontology tool, it is important to be able to export the ontology in one of OWL textual standards. We describe the OWLGrEd ontology export implementation using patterns that are ascribed to editor diagram abstract syntax elements. The OWLGrEd export patterns show the relationship between editor visual constructions and ontology textual form elements. The pattern-based method allows a tool end-user to define a custom field semantics in OWLGrEd extensions, and it can be generalized also for the model-to-text transformation within other similarly structured tools.