Table des matières

OntoME wiki

https://ontome.net/

For any feedback, bug report: https://github.com/orgs/geovistory/discussions

User guide

Work in progress!

:!: We apologise for the fact that this guide is not up to date. If you need any help, please do not hesitate to contact us:

What is OntoME?

OntoME is an online ontology management environment. Designed for any object-oriented structured data model, OntoME makes it easy to build, manage and align your ontology and is made to allow you to work collaboratively on the same project.

You can create a project, manage it by adding members and rights.
You can create your own namespace and then the classes and properties you need.
You can align classes and properties with the CIDOC CRM or any other ontology to make them interoperable.
You can create an application profile containing classes and properties from different namespaces and connect it to your favourite virtual research environment or your home made database.

The concept of namespaces is at the core of OntoME. A namespace refers to a set of classes and properties designed to accommodate terms from the same domain. It ensures that all the identifiers within it have unique names so that they can be easily identified.

General overview

OntoME is organised between menus and tabs. You can select an entity in a menu and then discover its details in the different tabs with each time a “summary” tab that summarizes the main points.

OntoME is provided with the last published version of CIDOC CRM and its extensions. Without creating an account, you can browse and learn the CIDOC CRM through the application.

You can access other classes and properties from the namespaces menu but if you want to display them in your lists or create you own classes and properties you need to create an account.

How to?

Manage your account

Create an account

You are automatically logged in after creating your account.

Login/Logout

Password recovery

If you forgot your password :

Dashboard menu

Once logged in, you'll see an additional menu appearing : “Dashboard”. This menu displays your account and application preferences. It contains several tabs.

My account tab

In this tab, you can check and edit your personal information. Click on the pen icon to the right to open the edit form.

My projects tab

This tab lists the projects you have created or of which you are a member.
By default you're a member of the Public Project which displays the classes and properties of the CIDOC CRM and its extensions.

Create a new project

Click on “Create” to create a new project.
Once a project is created, it is automatically activated. As no namespace is associated with this new project, the list of classes and properties and the class tree will appear empty.
Manage the namespaces you wish to display in relation to your project in the My current namespaces tab.

Activate a project

Activating a project allows you to automatically select namespaces associated with that project.
:!: You can only create classes, properties and relations or modify those that exist in the ongoing namespace managed by the project you have activated.
The current active project is displayed at the top right of the screen.

My current namespaces tab

In this tab, you can manage the namespaces you want to display in the application.

As OntoME hosts multiple namespaces, you may not want to display all of them. By default, the application automatically selects the namespaces managed and referenced by your current active project and its associated profiles.
You can deselect any of them or select others. Only one version of a single root namespace can be selected. The classes and properties of the namespaces selected in this tab are displayed in the class and property lists and in the class tree.
You can return to the default selection by clicking on the reset button.

Note: selected namespaces are stored in your user configuration and are retained from one session to the next.

My profiles tab

This tab lists the profiles created as part of the projects of which you are a member.

My comments tab

This tab lists the comments you have posted, sorted by entity and section commented on.

Menu overview

Classes menu

Classes list

By default, this list displays all classes belonging to the namespaces selected in the “my current namespaces” tab of your dashboard.
Display all the classes contained in OntoME by clicking on “Show all classes” on the top right. Clicking on “Hide all classes” will return to the default display.

Classes tree

The tree structure allows you to graphically display the complete class hierarchy from the namespaces selected in the “my current namespaces” tab of your dashboard.

Properties menu

This menu directly displays the list of properties. By default, this list displays all properties belonging to the namespaces selected in the “my current namespaces” tab of your dashboard.
Display all the properties contained in OntoME by clicking on “Show all classes” on the top right. Clicking on “Hide all classes” will return to the default display.

Namespaces menu

This menu directly displays the list of root namespaces.

Projects menu

This menu directly displays the list of projects.

Profiles menu

This menu directly displays the list of profiles with their project to which they belong.

User guide menu

This menu links to this page ;-)

Section details

Class

What is a class?

A class is a category of items that share one or more common traits serving as criteria to identify the items belonging to the class.

Version

A class is belonging to a namespace whose version is displayed on the drop-down menu at the top right.
Change the version by using this menu.

Summary tab

This tab presents all the information of the class in a compact display.

Identification tab

This tab gathers the information allowing the identification of the class:

Definition tab

This tab gathers the information to define a class:

Properties tab

This tab lists all the properties of the class. A class may be the domain or range of none, one or more properties formally defined in a model. A property serves to define a relationship of a specific kind between two classes.

Namespaces tab

This tab lists the namespace versions in which the class is defined. Different versions of the same class can only exist in different versions of a single root namespace.
The current namespace is displayed in green.

Hierarchy tab

This tab lists the hierarchical relations of a class.
A class can be a superclass or a subclass of another. A superclass is a class that is a generalisation of one or more other classes, its subclasses. A subclass is a class that is a specialisation of an another class, its superclass. The subclass inherits the definition of all of the properties declared for its superclass without exceptions.

Relation tab

This tab lists the non-hierarchical relations of a class.

Profiles tab

This tab lists the profiles using the class.

Graph tab

This tab is under development.

Comments tab

This tab lists the general comments posted on a class. If you have created an account, you can also post a new comment or reply to an existing one.

Property

What is a property?

A property serves to define a relationship of a specific kind between two classes. A property plays a role analogous to a grammatical verb, in that it must be defined with reference to both its domain and range, which are analogous to the subject and object in grammar.

Version

A property is belonging to a namespace whose version is displayed on the drop-down menu at the top right.
Change the version by using this menu.

Summary tab

This tab presents all the information of the property in a compact display.

Identification tab

This tab gathers the information allowing the identification of the property:

Definition tab

This tab gathers the information to define a property:

Namespaces tab

This tab lists the namespace versions in which the property is defined. Different versions of the same property can only exist in different versions of a single root namespace.
The current namespace is displayed in green.

Hierarchy tab

This tab lists the hierarchical relations of the property.
A property can be a superproperty or a subproperty of another. A superproperty is a property that is a generalisation of one or more other properties, its subproperties. A subproperty is a property that is a specialisation of an another property, its superproperty.

Relations tab

This tab lists the non-hierarchical relations of the property.

Profiles tab

This tab lists the profiles using the property.

Comments tab

This tab lists the general comments posted on the property. If you have created an account, you can also post a new comment or reply to an existing one.

Namespace

What is a namespace?

The concept of namespaces is at the core of OntoME. A namespace refers to a set of classes and properties designed to accommodate terms from the same domain. It ensures that all the identifiers within it have unique names so that they can be easily identified.
In OntoME, a namespace includes a root namespace and versions. The root namespace does not contain any classes or properties, it serves to bring together its different versions in which classes and properties are defined, as well as relationships.

Summary tab

This tab presents all the information about the namespace in a compact display.

Identification tab

This tab gathers the information allowing the identification of the namespace:

Root namespace

Versions

Definition tab

This tab gathers the information to define a namespace:

Root namespace

Version

Versions tab

Classes tab

Only for a version of a namespace.

This tab lists the classes in the namespace. For an ongoing namespace, the column “Validation status” indicates the class status (candidate/validation request/validated/denied).

Properties tab

Only for a version of a namespace.

This tab lists the properties in the namespace. For an ongoing namespace, the column “Validation status” indicates the class status (candidate/validation request/validated/denied).

Relations tab

Only for a version of a namespace.

This tab lists the relations in the namespace. You can filter the display by relations type.

Graph tab

Only for a version of a namespace.

This tab displays the namespace graph dynamically.

Comments tab

This tab lists the general comments posted on the namespace. If you created an account, you can also post a new comment or reply to an existing one.

Project

What is a project?

A “project” is a set that will allow you to create a namespace, one or more profiles and associate users (members) with different rights.
A project also allows you to configure the view and namespaces you wish to display in the application.
You can be a member of several projects, but you can only activate one project at a time to delimit the namespaces you wish to work on in each case.

Summary tab

This tab presents all the information about the project in a compact display.

Identification tab

This tab gathers the information allowing the identification of the project:

Definition tab

This tab gathers the information to define a class:

Hierarchy tab

This tab lists the hierarchical relations of the project.
A master project may have one or more subprojects linked to it. A subproject cannot have a subproject in turn.

Namespaces tab

This tab lists the versions of the root namespace - if it exists - managed by the project. A project can only manage one root namespace.

If the project does not manage any namespaces, “There is currently no namespace managed by this project” is displayed and you can create a new one.

Profiles tab

[…]

Members tab

This tab list the members of the project with their institution and role.
To add a member and define their role, switch to edit mode by clicking the large green button on the upper right.

Profile

What is a profile?

[…]

Summary tab

This tab presents all the information about the profile in a compact display.

Identification tab

This tab gathers the information allowing the identification of the project:
[…]

Definition tab

[…]

Namespaces tab

[…]

Classes tab

[…]

Properties tab

[…]

Projects tab

[…]

Graph tab

[…]

Create a new namespace

Creating a namespace means creating a root namespace, which will host all versions of your namespace, and an ongoing namespace where you can create new classes and properties.

Click on the “Create” button to open the creation form:

Adding external namespaces to which this namespace refers

If you want your classes and properties to refer to classes or properties in other namespaces (in a hierarchy or equivalence sense), you can add the relevant external namespace or namespaces as follows:

The classes and properties of all the activated namespaces will now appear in your project and you can use them to refer to them from your own classes and properties.

Creating and aligning entities

Classes

Add a new class

After login, select the ongoing namespace to which you want to add a class.

In the “Classes” tab of the ongoing namespace, check first the class you want to create does not already exist. If this is the case, click on the blue “Add” button to open the add form.

Click on the “Save” button, your class is created!

Edit an existing class

Select a class and switch to edit mode by clicking the large green button on the upper right.

Properties

Add a new property

Check first the property you want to create does not already exist by searching the property list.

If this is the case, select the class to which you want to add a property. Note: you can only add a property to a class that is part of a namespace managed by a project you're belonging to.

In the “Properties” tab, switch to edit mode by clicking the green button on the upper right.

Click on the required blue “Add” button to open the add form for an ongoing property or an incoming one:

Click on the “Save” button, your property is created!

Edit an existing property

Select a property and switch to edit mode by clicking the large green button on the upper right.

Hierarchy

Add a new parent entity

Select the class/property to which you want to add an existing parent class/property. Note: you can only add a hierarchical association to a parent class/property that is part of a namespace managed by a project you're belonging to.

In the “Hierarchy” tab, switch to edit mode by clicking the green button on the upper right.

Click on the blue “Add” button to open the hierarchical association form with a parent entity (corresponds to rdfs:subclassOf/subpropertyOf):

Click on the “Save” button, your hierarchical association is created!