RDF Editor

A modern web-based RDF data editor with powerful graph visualization capabilities. Built with Rust (Actix Web) backend and vanilla JavaScript frontend with Cytoscape.js for interactive graph exploration.

Features

Core Functionality

🔍 SPARQL Query Execution - Execute SELECT, CONSTRUCT, ASK, and DESCRIBE queries
📝 Triple Editing - Full CRUD operations on RDF triples
📊 Interactive Graph Visualization - Explore RDF data as an interactive node-link diagram
🏷️ Namespace Management - Define and use custom namespace prefixes
🔄 Transaction History - Track changes with undo capabilities
📦 Import/Export - Support for multiple RDF formats
⚡ Performance Caching - Intelligent caching for queries and graph data

Graph Visualization (New!)

Dynamic Graph Building - Start with a single node and expand connections
Multiple Layouts - Force-directed, hierarchical, concentric, and grid layouts
Smart Node Styling - Visual distinction between classes, properties, and instances
Bulk Visualization - Send query results or entire graphs to the visualization
Path Finding - Discover connections between nodes (coming in Phase 3)

Quick Start

Prerequisites

Rust 1.70+ and Cargo
A SPARQL endpoint (Stardog, Fuseki, GraphDB, Virtuoso, etc.)

Installation

Clone the repository

git clone https://github.com/yourusername/rdf-editor.git
cd rdf-editor

Set up environment

cp .env.example .env
# Edit .env with your SPARQL endpoint details

Build and run

cargo run

Open in browser

http://localhost:8080

Configuration

Basic Configuration

# Required
SPARQL_ENDPOINT=https://localhost:5820/myDatabase/query

# Authentication (if needed)
SPARQL_USERNAME=admin
SPARQL_PASSWORD=admin

# Server
PORT=8080
HOST=127.0.0.1

Graph Visualization Settings

# Control graph complexity
GRAPH_MAX_NODES=500         # Maximum nodes to display
GRAPH_MAX_EDGES=1000        # Maximum edges to display
GRAPH_EXPANSION_LIMIT=50    # Nodes added per expansion
GRAPH_SEARCH_LIMIT=10       # Search result limit

Advanced Options

See .env.example for all configuration options including:

SSL verification settings
Cache configuration
CORS settings
API authentication
Request timeouts and retries

Usage Guide

Query Tab

Execute SPARQL queries with namespace support:

Define prefixes in the Namespaces tab
Write your query (prefixes are auto-prepended)
Click "Execute Query"
Use "Visualize" button to see results as a graph

Browse & Edit Tab

Browse and modify RDF data:

Select a graph from the dropdown
Filter by resource type (Classes, Properties, Instances)
Enable editing mode to modify triples
Click "Visualize Graph" to see the entire graph

Graph Tab (New!)

Interactive graph exploration:

Search - Find nodes by URI or label
Expand - Click nodes to show their connections
Layout - Choose from multiple layout algorithms
Visualize - Send data from Query/Browse tabs

Keyboard Shortcuts

Ctrl/Cmd + Enter - Execute query
Alt + 1/2/3/4/5 - Switch tabs
Escape - Close dialogs

API Reference

Core Endpoints

Query Operations

POST /api/query
Content-Type: application/json

{
  "query": "SELECT * WHERE { ?s ?p ?o } LIMIT 10",
  "graph": "http://example.com/graph" // optional
}

Triple Operations

# Get triples
GET /api/graph/{graph_name}/triples

# Add triple
POST /api/graph/{graph_name}/triple
{
  "subject": "http://example.com/subject",
  "predicate": "http://example.com/predicate", 
  "object": {
    "type": "uri",
    "value": "http://example.com/object"
  }
}

# Delete triple
DELETE /api/graph/{graph_name}/triple

# Replace triple
PUT /api/graph/{graph_name}/triple/replace

Graph Visualization Endpoints

Search Nodes

POST /api/graph/search
{
  "query": "Person",
  "limit": 10
}

Expand Node

POST /api/graph/expand
{
  "uri": "http://example.com/Person",
  "limit": 50
}

Get Node Info

GET /api/graph/node/{encoded_uri}

Find Path (Coming Soon)

POST /api/graph/path
{
  "from": "http://example.com/nodeA",
  "to": "http://example.com/nodeB",
  "max_depth": 5
}

Architecture

Backend (Rust)

Framework: Actix Web 4
SPARQL Client: Custom implementation with retry logic
Caching: In-memory caching with TTL
Validation: Input sanitization and SPARQL injection prevention

Frontend (JavaScript)

Graph Visualization: Cytoscape.js
UI: Vanilla JavaScript with modern ES6+
Styling: Custom CSS with responsive design

Data Flow

Browser ←→ Actix Web Server ←→ SPARQL Endpoint
   ↓             ↓                    ↓
   UI         Cache Layer         Triple Store

Development

Project Structure

rdf-editor/
├── src/
│   ├── main.rs              # Application entry
│   ├── config.rs            # Configuration management
│   ├── handlers/            # HTTP request handlers
│   │   ├── query.rs         # Query & graph endpoints
│   │   ├── update.rs        # Triple modifications
│   │   └── ...
│   ├── models.rs            # Data structures
│   └── cache.rs             # Caching system
├── static/
│   ├── index.html           # Main UI
│   ├── app.js               # Frontend logic
│   └── style.css            # Styling
└── Cargo.toml               # Dependencies

Adding New Features

Backend: Add handler in src/handlers/, update main.rs routes
Frontend: Update static/app.js and index.html
Models: Define structures in src/models.rs
Caching: Extend src/cache.rs for new data types

Testing

# Run tests
cargo test

# Run with debug logging
RUST_LOG=debug cargo run

# Check code
cargo clippy
cargo fmt

Troubleshooting

Connection Issues

Verify SPARQL endpoint URL format
Check authentication credentials
For SSL issues, set VERIFY_SSL=false (dev only)

Performance

Adjust cache settings (CACHE_TTL, CACHE_MAX_ENTRIES)
Limit graph visualization (GRAPH_MAX_NODES, GRAPH_MAX_EDGES)
Use pagination for large datasets

Common Errors

404 on queries: Check if update endpoint differs from query endpoint
Graph too large: Reduce expansion limits
Timeout errors: Increase SPARQL_TIMEOUT

Roadmap

Phase 1 ✅ - Basic Graph Visualization

Node search and expansion
Multiple layout algorithms
Integration with Query/Browse tabs

Phase 2 (In Progress) - Enhanced Interaction

Right-click context menus
Advanced filtering
Node grouping/clustering

Phase 3 (Planned) - Advanced Features

Path highlighting between nodes
Multi-class instance styling
Inferred vs asserted relationship visualization
Warning indicators for data quality issues

Phase 4 (Future) - Power User Features

Debug mode for ontology validation
Graph statistics and analytics
Export visualizations (PNG, SVG, GraphML)
Save/load graph states
Minimap for large graphs

Performance Considerations

Graph Visualization

Initial Load: Graphs start empty, nodes added on demand
Expansion Limits: Configurable limits prevent UI overload
Layout Performance: Force-directed best for <100 nodes, hierarchical for trees
Caching: Node information cached to reduce SPARQL queries

Large Datasets

Use pagination in Browse tab
Apply filters before visualizing
Consider using graph sampling queries
Increase server resources if needed

Security

Authentication

Basic Auth support for SPARQL endpoints
Optional API key authentication
Password hashing for secure storage

Input Validation

URI validation prevents injection
Literal values properly escaped
Query size limits enforced

CORS Configuration

Configurable allowed origins
Credentials support for authenticated endpoints

Examples

Example 1: Visualizing an Ontology

# Query to get class hierarchy
SELECT ?class ?superclass WHERE {
  ?class rdfs:subClassOf ?superclass .
}

Click "Visualize" to see the class hierarchy as a graph.

Example 2: Exploring Instance Data

Go to Browse tab
Select your data graph
Filter to show only instances
Click "Visualize Graph"
Click on nodes to explore connections

Example 3: Finding Connections

Go to Graph tab
Search for "Person"
Click on the Person node
Continue clicking to explore relationships
Change layout to "Hierarchical" for better organization

Contributing

We welcome contributions! Please see CONTRIBUTING.md for guidelines.

Development Setup

# Install development dependencies
cargo install cargo-watch

# Run with auto-reload
cargo watch -x run

# Format code
cargo fmt

# Run linter
cargo clippy -- -D warnings

Submitting Changes

Fork the repository
Create a feature branch
Make your changes with tests
Submit a pull request

License

This project is licensed under the MIT License - see LICENSE file for details.

Acknowledgments

Cytoscape.js for graph visualization
Actix Web for the web framework
The RDF and Semantic Web community

Support

Documentation: See /docs folder
Issues: GitHub Issues
Discussions: GitHub Discussions
Email: support@example.com

Appendix: Supported SPARQL Endpoints

Tested With

Stardog 7.x, 8.x
Apache Jena Fuseki 3.x, 4.x
GraphDB 9.x, 10.x
Virtuoso 7.x
Amazon Neptune
Blazegraph

Endpoint URL Formats

Stardog

Query: https://localhost:5820/{database}/query
Update: https://localhost:5820/{database}/update

Fuseki

Query: http://localhost:3030/{dataset}/query
Update: http://localhost:3030/{dataset}/update

GraphDB

Query: http://localhost:7200/repositories/{repository}
Update: http://localhost:7200/repositories/{repository}/statements

Virtuoso

Query/Update: http://localhost:8890/sparql

Appendix: Troubleshooting Graph Visualization

Issue: Graph is too cluttered

Solutions:

Use filters to show only specific node types
Adjust layout algorithm (try Hierarchical)
Reduce expansion limit in settings
Use the search to focus on specific nodes

Issue: Nodes overlap

Solutions:

Change layout to "Force Directed" and wait for stabilization
Manually drag nodes to better positions
Increase spacing in layout options

Issue: Can't find specific nodes

Solutions:

Use search with partial labels
Check if node has a label (some may only show URIs)
Try searching by URI fragment

Issue: Performance is slow

Solutions:

Reduce GRAPH_MAX_NODES and GRAPH_MAX_EDGES
Clear the graph and start with fewer nodes
Enable caching if not already enabled
Use Chrome/Firefox for best performance

Version History

v1.2.0 (Current)

Added interactive graph visualization
Bulk triple visualization from Query/Browse tabs
Improved caching system
Enhanced configuration options

v1.1.0

Transaction history with undo
Batch operations
Import/export functionality
Performance improvements

v1.0.0

Initial release
Basic SPARQL query execution
Triple CRUD operations
Namespace management

Name		Name	Last commit message	Last commit date
Latest commit History 2 Commits
src		src
static		static
.gitignore		.gitignore
.gitignore copy		.gitignore copy
Cargo.toml		Cargo.toml
LICENSE		LICENSE
README.md		README.md
env-example.txt		env-example.txt
transaction_log.jsonl		transaction_log.jsonl

License

mcpetrillo12/rdf-editor

Folders and files

Latest commit

History

Repository files navigation

RDF Editor

Features

Core Functionality

Graph Visualization (New!)

Quick Start

Prerequisites

Installation

Configuration

Basic Configuration

Graph Visualization Settings

Advanced Options

Usage Guide

Query Tab

Browse & Edit Tab

Graph Tab (New!)

Keyboard Shortcuts

API Reference

Core Endpoints

Query Operations

Triple Operations

Graph Visualization Endpoints

Search Nodes

Expand Node

Get Node Info

Find Path (Coming Soon)

Architecture

Backend (Rust)

Frontend (JavaScript)

Data Flow

Development

Project Structure

Adding New Features

Testing

Troubleshooting

Connection Issues

Performance

Common Errors

Roadmap

Phase 1 ✅ - Basic Graph Visualization

Phase 2 (In Progress) - Enhanced Interaction

Phase 3 (Planned) - Advanced Features

Phase 4 (Future) - Power User Features

Performance Considerations

Graph Visualization

Large Datasets

Security

Authentication

Input Validation

CORS Configuration

Examples

Example 1: Visualizing an Ontology

Example 2: Exploring Instance Data

Example 3: Finding Connections

Contributing

Development Setup

Submitting Changes

License

Acknowledgments

Support

Appendix: Supported SPARQL Endpoints

Tested With

Endpoint URL Formats

Stardog

Fuseki

GraphDB

Virtuoso

Appendix: Troubleshooting Graph Visualization

Issue: Graph is too cluttered

Issue: Nodes overlap

Issue: Can't find specific nodes

Issue: Performance is slow

Version History

v1.2.0 (Current)

v1.1.0

Packages