OntoME wiki

https://ontome.dataforhistory.org/

User guide

Work in progress!

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.

Manage your account

Create an account

Click on the LOGIN button in the top right corner.

On the LOGIN page, click on “Register”.

Fill the form and accept the terms and conditions of use.

You are automatically logged in after creating your account.

Login/Logout

Click on the LOGIN button in the top right corner to login to OntoME.

On the LOGIN page, enter your credentials.

When you are logged in, click on the LOGOUT button in the top right corner to logout.

Password recovery

If you forgot your password :

Click on “Request new password” on the LOGIN page.

Enter your e-mail and check your mailbox (and your spam folder too) for a message from “ontome@dataforhistory.org”.

Click on the link and enter a new password.

Login to OntoME with your new 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.

Here you can activate the project you want to work on. The current active project is displayed at the top right of the screen. 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.

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

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My comments tab

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Menu overview

Classes menu

Classes list

This list displays all classes created or imported into OntoME with the namespace to which they belong.

Click on a label to open the class details.

Filter this list by using the Search box at the top right. The search is performed on labels and namespaces. For example, try entering “CIDOC”.

Adjust the number of lines displayed by using the drop-down menu at the top left.

Classes tree

The tree structure allows you to graphically display the complete class hierarchy. Please note the display is currently not fully functional.

Class details

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Properties menu

The menu directly displays the list of all properties created or imported into OntoME with their domain and range classes, quantifiers and namespaces to which they belong.

Click on a label to open the details.

Filter this list by using the Search box at the top right. The search is performed on properties labels, domain and range classes labels and namespaces. For example, try entering “CIDOC”.

Adjust the number of lines displayed by using the drop-down menu at the top left.

Property details

[…]

Namespaces menu

The menu directly displays the list of namespaces created or imported into OntoME.

Click on a label to open the namespace details.

Filter this list by using the Search box at the top right. For example, try entering “CIDOC”.

Adjust the number of lines displayed by using the drop-down menu at the top left.

Namespace details

[…]

Projects menu

The menu directly displays the list of projects.

Click on a label to open the project details.

Filter this list by using the Search box at the top right.

Adjust the number of lines displayed by using the drop-down menu at the top left.

Project details

[…]

Profiles menu

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

Click on a label to open the details.

Filter this list by using the Search box at the top right.

Adjust the number of lines displayed by using the drop-down menu at the top left.

Profile details

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User guide menu

This menu links to this page

Creating and aligning entities

Classes

Adding 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.

Identifier in namespace: add the identifier of the class in the namespace. For example, “E99”. Note: in most case, you don't have to add an identifier, OntoME will create it for you with the instructions given by the project.

Label: add the standard label in the language you select in the list just below. English is the default language. You can only add one label when creating the class. You can add more labels (standard labels in other languages, projects labels…) once the class is created.

Scope note: type or copy/paste the scope note in this field. Use only plain text format if you copy/paste a note to clean up all unnecessary tags. You can edit your text using the included rich text editor functions. Select the required language in the list below. English is the default language. You can only add one scope note when creating the class. You can add more scope notes in other languages one the class is created.

If you want to add an example, click on “Add an example” below the form. At the moment, you can only add one example when creating the class. You can add more examples once the class is created.

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

Editing an existing class

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

Definition tab

Click on the small green buttons to edit an existing scope note or example.

Click on the blue buttons to add a new scope note or a new example.

Properties tab

Click on the blue buttons to add a new ongoing or incoming property.

Identification tab

Click on the small green button to edit an existing label.

Click on the blue button to add a new label.

Hierarchy tab

Click on the small green button to edit the hierarchical association (only with a parent class).

Click on the blue button to add a new parent class.

Properties

Adding 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:

Identifier in namespace: add the identifier of the property in the namespace. For example, “P210”. Note: in most case, you don't have to add an identifier, OntoME will create it for you with the instructions given by the project.

Range (for an ongoing property) or Domain (for an ingoing property): select the required class. At the moment, when creating an ingoing property, you can only choose a domain class that is part of the same namespace as the range class.

Quantifiers: four quantifiers are provided: Domain instances min quantifier; Domain instances max quantifier; Range instances min quantifier; Range instances max quantifier.

Label: at the moment, you can only add the ongoing label. Adding the ingoing label will be implemented soon. Select the required language in the list below. English is the default language.

Scope note: type or copy/paste the scope note in this field. Use only plain text format if you copy/paste a note to clean up all unnecessary tags. You can edit your text using the included rich text editor functions. Select the required language in the list below. English is the default language.

If you want to add an example, click on “Add an example” below the form. At the moment, you can only add one example when creating the property. You can add more examples once the property is created.

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

Editing an existing property

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

Definition tab

Click on the small green buttons to edit an existing scope note, example or additional note.

Click on the blue buttons to add a new scope note, a new example or a new additional note.

Identification tab

Click on the pen icon right “Domain and range” to edit the domain, range and quantifiers.

Click on the small green button to edit an existing label.

Click on the blue button to add a new label.

At the moment, you can't edit the domain/range classes.

Hierarchy tab

Click on the small green button to edit the hierarchical association (only with a parent property).

Click on the blue button to add a new parent property.

Hierarchy

Adding 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):

Parent class/property: select the required class/property.

Scope note [Justification]: type or copy/paste the justification note in this field. This note (which can be short) should explain why you chose this hierarchical association. Select the language in the list below. English is the default language. Use only plain text format if you copy/paste a note to clean up all unnecessary tags.

If you want to add an example, click on “Add an example” below the form. At the moment, you can only add one example when creating the association. You can add more examples once the association is created.

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