Redland RDF Application Framework

Dave Beckett
Institute for Learning and Research Technology
University of Bristol

Overview

Redland is a library that provides a high-level interface for the Resource Description Framework (RDF) allowing the RDF graph to be parsed from XML, stored, queried and manipulated. Redland implements each of the RDF concepts in its own class via an object based API, reflected into the language APIs, currently C#, Java, Perl, PHP, Python, Ruby and Tcl. Several classes providing functionality such as for parsers, storage are built as modules that can be loaded at compile or run-time as required.

This is a mature and stable RDF library developed since 2000 used in multiple projects. See the todo list and the FAQS for general information. A summary of the changes can be found in the NEWS file, detailed API changes in the release notes and file-by-file changes in the CVS ChangeLog.

Redland provides:

A modular, object based library written in C
APIs for manipulating the RDF graph and parts - Statements, Resources and Literals
Language Bindings in C#, Java, Perl, PHP, Python, Ruby and Tcl via the Redland Bindings package.
Parsers and Serializers for reading and writing RDF as RDF/XML, N-Triples and Turtle Terse RDF Triple Language syntax via the Raptor RDF Parser Toolkit.
Storage for graphs in memory and on disk with Sleepycat/Berkeley DB, MySQL 3/4, AKT Triplestore library, files or URIs.
Query language support for RDQL using Rasqal.
APIs for accessing the graph by Statement (triples) or by Nodes and Arcs
Redland contexts for managing aggregating graphs and recording provenance.
Statement Streams for efficient construction, parsing and serialisation of graphs
rdfproc RDF processor utility program
No memory leaks.

Sources and Binaries

The packaged sources are available from http://www.redland.opensource.ac.uk/dist/source/ (master site) and also from the SourceForge site. There are nightly snapshots of the development version which is can also be browsed via CVSweb. Binary packages of redland and related libraries are available from the download area.

License

This library is free software / open source software released under the LGPL or MPL licenses. See LICENSE.html for full details.

Installation and Documentation

See INSTALL.html for general installation and configuration information.

Further documentation is available in the documents area including the API reference document and detailed storage modules information.

Mailing Lists

The Redland mailing lists discuss the development and use of Redland and Raptor as well as future plans and announcement of releases.