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owl protege how can I describe a class that has just some properties?


Is it possible in protege (Thus in owl) to describe a class depending if it has some properties?

For example

I have a class Home, and I want to say that every instance that has property1 and property2 and property2 is considered an instance of that class?


Solution

  • Suppose you have a class Duck and you want to say that if something walks like a Duck, and talks like a Duck, then it is a Duck. You can do that with a class axiom:

            ((walksLike some Duck) and (talksLike some Duck)) SubClassOf Duck

    A subclass axiom like this, where the left hand side is not just a class name, but is a complex class expression, is called a General Class Axiom. You can enter these in Protégé, under the Active Ontology tab:

    General Class Axiom in Protege

    For more about general class axioms, you may find Being complex on the left-hand-side: General Concept Inclusions useful.