Create new db spatial option but not enabled

Stardog Studio
1

I noticed that when you go to create a new database Studio gives you the option to set the spatial precision under "advanced options" which is a little odd because there is no option to set the spatial indexing and the default is that it's not enabled. Also the spatial.enabled option is listed twice under the "properties" tab, once under "Properties" and again under "advanced properties"

It would make sense if the spatial precision needed to be set at database creation time and couldn't be changed but the index can be added or removed after offlining the db but I wasn't aware that was the case. I thought that the precision could be changed by disabling the spatial index, changing the precision and reenabling the database and the index would be rebuilt.

2

Hi Zach,

Thanks for the feedback. A few thoughts:

• Note that the DB properties UX has been updated in the most recent Studio release (1.12), which resolves the duplication issue you mentioned, but the other ones are still in play. Which version of Studio are you on and which OS are you running it on? We were looking into some issues with auto-updating and I suspect you may be running into that problem as well.

• I’ve confirmed there is not a way to change the precision once you’ve made a DB. Perhaps this was the case in a previous version, but as of now it is definitely a creation-only setting.

• With that in mind, I agree it’s odd UX that you can change the precision in the creation dialog but not have the option to turn it on. The properties we show on creation are only the immutable ones, but I agree that doesn’t quite make sense here. We are planning continued work on the DB setup/prop and will add this as feedback.

Simon

3

I'll check the version but I'm fairly sure it's 1.11 on Ubuntu. I also have it running on OSX so I'll check if it's auto updating when I get home tonight.

Good to know about that setting. I don't know if it has changed or not. It's not a setting I typically twiddle with but it's definitely something to be aware of before you create a large db. Thanks.

4

I see the updates in 1.12. Much clearer now that it says "Options editable only at database creation". I might suggest changing it to something like "Options available only at database creation" since they're not really editable. I know it's nit picking but that's what UI/UX feedback is about right? :slight_smile:

I really like the new database properties layout much better. I was going to say something about the two sections with regular properties and the expandable advance properties. Looks great.

I've been using Stardog for a while and didn't know exactly which properties could only be selected at db creation.

One other observation that I'm sure you already know about. Under schema I often get

The following RDFS schema query returned no results:

# RDFS Schema
CONSTRUCT {
    ?sub rdfs:subClassOf ?sup .
    ?domain ?prop ?range
}
WHERE {
    { 
        ?sub rdfs:subClassOf ?sup 
        FILTER (?sub != ?sup && isIRI(?sup)) . 
    }
    UNION
    {
        ?prop rdfs:domain ?domain .
        ?prop rdfs:range ?range
    }
}

I get what's happening but it looks like a accident rather than something you actually wanted to return to the user.

I'd also love to talk about alternative ways to visualize the ontology or data that avoided the hairball effect. I know everyone loves those things but they've got some serious usability problems.

5

Hi Zach,

  • Glad you like the new properties UX! Thanks for the wording suggestion as well, I'll float that one around the team.
  • Yes, putting the query there was a bit of a stop-gap. The intention was that if a user says "What's my schema?" and we say "You don't have a schema!" that they don't have to say "Wait, what do you mean?" and they can see the specific query we're running under the hood. We are planning to make this query more robust (and do things like add support for the multi-schema functionality added in 7.0), so hopefully users will see this less and less.
  • In terms of alternate ways to visualize, I and others on the team would be happy to chat. We too would like to avoid hairballs*. If it's easier to talk over the phone, shoot me an email (simon@stardog.com) and we can get something on the calendar. Or if there are some examples of systems / formats you use that you could share, that would be great as well!

Simon

  • There's a (Star)dog vs. cat joke in here somewhere but I can't quite get it right in my head...
6

Ha! Totally unintentional but I love it.

I have absolutely no expertise in this area. I look at things and have options but that's about it but I love talking about this stuff so there's that. I'll do what I usually do and start a github page on the subject to collect research and thoughts. I maintain GitHub - semantalytics/awesome-semantic-web: A curated list of various semantic web and linked data resources. which would be a good place for the rdf specific stuff but I'd like to include inspiration from other fields so I'm starting a separate page at GitHub - semantalytics/rdf-visualization-research for that. I already shared the Linked Data Maps stuff that I think is cool. Who doesn't like Gosper maps? Hexagons everywhere!

I have a couple of other things that I like that I'll email to you to see if you'd like them as well or be able to use them for inspiration.

1 Like