MarkLogic 9 Product Documentation

Semantics Developer's Guide — Chapter 6

Auto vs. Raw Format

The results of a SPARQL query displays triples or SELECT solutions. Solution objects show a mapping from variable names to typed values. Each heterogeneous item in the result sequence will have specific rendering, which is by default shown in Auto format.

For example, this SELECT query returns a solution:

PREFIX db: <http://dbpedia.org/resource/>
PREFIX foaf: <http://xmlns.com/foaf/0.1/>
PREFIX onto: <http://dbpedia.org/ontology/>

SELECT ?person ?name
  WHERE { ?person onto:birthPlace db:Brooklyn;
    foaf:name ?name .}

To change the display format to Raw, click Raw on the Result tab. In Raw format, the results for the same query are displayed in RDF/JSON serialization:

[
 {
  "person":"<http://dbpedia.org/resource/40_Illuminati>",
  "name":"\"Will Pierce\"@en"
 },
 {
  "person":"<http://dbpedia.org/resource/A._E._Waite>",
  "name":"\"Arthur Edward Waite\"@en"
 },
 {
  "person":"<http://dbpedia.org/resource/Aaliyah>",
  "name":"\"Aaliyah\"@en"
 },
 {
  "person":"<http://dbpedia.org/resource/Aaron_Elkins>",
  "name":"\"Aaron Elkins\"@en"
 },
 {
  "person":"<http://dbpedia.org/resource/Aaron_Russo>",
  "name":"\"Aaron Russo\"@en"
 },
 {
  "person":"<http://dbpedia.org/resource/Abe_Reles>",
  "name":"\"Abe Reles\"@en"
 },
 {
  "person":"<http://dbpedia.org/resource/Abraham_Klein_(physicist)>",
  "name":"\"Abraham Klein\"@en"
 },
 {
  "person":"<http://dbpedia.org/resource/Abraham_S._Fischler>",
  "name":"\"Abraham S.Fischler\"@en"
 },
 {
  "person":"<http://dbpedia.org/resource/Abraham_S._Luchins>",
  "name":"\"Abraham S.Luchins\"@en"
 },
 {
  "person":"<http://dbpedia.org/resource/Abram_Cohen>",
  "name":"\"Abram Cohen\"@en"
 }
] 

If you run a similar DESCRIBE query, the output is returned in Query Console in triples format:

PREFIX db: <http://dbpedia.org/resource/>
PREFIX foaf: <http://xmlns.com/foaf/0.1/>
PREFIX onto: <http://dbpedia.org/ontology/>
DESCRIBE ?person ?name
WHERE { ?person onto:birthPlace db:Brooklyn;
foaf:name ?name .} 

=>

@prefix xs: <http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#> .
<http://dbpedia.org/resource/40_Illuminati>
<http://dbpedia.org/ontology/birthPlace>
<http://dbpedia.org/resource/Brooklyn> ,
<http://dbpedia.org/resource/New_York> ;
<http://www.w3.org/1999/02/22-rdf-syntax-ns#type/>
<http://xmlns.com/foaf/0.1/Person> ;
<http://xmlns.com/foaf/0.1/surname> "Pierce"@en ;
<http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/description> "Rapper"@en ;
<http://xmlns.com/foaf/0.1/givenName> "Will"@en ;
<http://xmlns.com/foaf/0.1/name> "Will Pierce"@en .
<http://dbpedia.org/resource/A._E._Waite>
<http://dbpedia.org/ontology/birthPlace>
<http://dbpedia.org/resource/Brooklyn> ;
<http://www.w3.org/1999/02/22-rdf-syntax-ns#type/>
<http://xmlns.com/foaf/0.1/Person> ;
<http://xmlns.com/foaf/0.1/givenName> "Arthur Edward"@en ;
<http://xmlns.com/foaf/0.1/name> "Arthur Edward Waite"@en ;
<http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/description> "English writer"@en ;
<http://xmlns.com/foaf/0.1/surname> "Waite"@en .
<http://dbpedia.org/resource/Aaliyah>
<http://dbpedia.org/ontology/deathPlace>
<http://dbpedia.org/resource/Abaco_Islands> ,
<http://dbpedia.org/resource/Marsh_Harbour> ,
<http://dbpedia.org/resource/The_Bahamas> ;
<http://dbpedia.org/ontology/birthPlace>
<http://dbpedia.org/resource/Brooklyn> ,
<http://dbpedia.org/resource/New_York_City> ;
<http://www.w3.org/1999/02/22-rdf-syntax-ns#type/>
<http://xmlns.com/foaf/0.1/Person> ;
<http://xmlns.com/foaf/0.1/name> "Aaliyah"@en ;
<http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/description> "Singer, dancer, actress, model"@en ;
<http://dbpedia.org/ontology/birthDate> "1979-01-16"^^xs:date ;
<http://dbpedia.org/ontology/deathDate> "2001-08-25"^^xs:date .
. . . .

When you run a query that returns triples as a subgraph, the default output serialization is Turtle.

The DESCRIBE clause has a limit of 9999 triples in the server. If a query includes a DESCRIBE clause with one IRI or few IRIs that total more than 9999 triples, triples will be truncated from the results. The server does not provide any warning or message that this has occured.

Selecting Results Rendering

Use the solution as: drop-down list options to choose the display for query results. For example, this DESCRIBE query returns triples in Turtle serialization:

PREFIX db: <http://dbpedia.org/resource/>
PREFIX foaf: <http://xmlns.com/foaf/0.1/>
PREFIX onto: <http://dbpedia.org/ontology/>

DESCRIBE ?person ?name
WHERE { ?person onto:birthPlace db:Brooklyn;
foaf:name ?name .} 

Or you can select JSON or text as the format for the results.

For a DESCRIBE query, the rendering options are Turtle, JSON, or Text. Rendering options may be different for queries that use cts:search, a combination of SPARQL and cts: queries, or use query results that are serialized by a serialization function.

The FROM Keyword

The FROM clause in a SPARQL query tells SPARQL where to get data to query, which graph to query. To use FROM as part of a query, there has to be a graph with the name in the FROM clause. Graph names in MarkLogic are implemented as collections, which you can view using Explore or the cts:collections function in the Query Console.

This SPARQL query uses the FROM keyword to search data in the info:govtrack/people graph:

PREFIX foaf: <http://xmlns.com/foaf/0.1/>

SELECT  ?name
FROM    <http://marklogic.com/semantics#info:govtrack/people/>
WHERE   { ?x foaf:name ?name }
LIMIT 10

See Preparing to Run the Examples for information about the GovTrack dataset.

The default graph is the result of an RDF merge of the graphs (a union of graphs) referred to in one or more FROM clauses. Each FROM clause contains an IRI that indicates a graph to be used to form the default graph.

For example, graph1 and graph2 are merged to form the default graph:

FROM graph1
FROM graph2

When we talk about the default graph in this sense, it is not the same as the default collections, http://marklogic.com/semantics#default-graph.

This example shows a SPARQL SELECT query that returns all triples where Alice is in the object position. The RDF dataset contains a single default graph and no named graphs:

PREFIX foaf: <http://xmlns.com/foaf/0.1/>

SELECT ?s ?p ?o 
FROM <http://example.org/foaf/alice> 
WHERE {?s foaf:name "Alice"; 
?p ?o .}

The FROM keyword must be placed before the WHERE clause. Placing the FROM keyword after the WHERE clause causes a syntax error.

The FROM NAMED Keywords

A query can supply IRIs for the named graphs in the dataset using the FROM NAMED clause. Each IRI is used to provide one named graph in the dataset. Having multiple FROM NAMED clauses causes multiple graphs to be added to the dataset. With FROM NAMED, every graph name you use in the query will be matched only to the graph provided in the clause.

You can set the named-graph at load time using mlcp with the collection parameter -output_collections http://www.example.org/my_graph. See Specifying Collections and a Directory. You can also set the named-graph using the REST client with PUT /v1/graphs.

A named graph is typically created when you load RDF data. See Loading Triples.

In a query, FROM NAMED is used to identify a named graph that is queried from the WHERE clause by using the GRAPH keyword.

For example:

PREFIX foaf: <http://xmlns.com/foaf/0.1/>
PREFIX dc: <http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/>

SELECT ?who ?g ?mbox
FROM <http://example.org/foaf/aliceFoaf>
FROM NAMED <http://example.org/alice>
FROM NAMED <http://example.org/bob>
WHERE
{
   ?g dc:publisher ?who .
   GRAPH ?g { ?x foaf:mbox ?mbox }
}

In the example, the FROM and FROM NAMED keywords are used together. The FROM NAMED is used to scope the graphs that are considered during query evaluation, and the GRAPH construct specifies one of the named graphs.

When FROM or FROM NAMED keywords are used, the graphs you can use in a GRAPH clause potentially become restricted.

The GRAPH Keyword

The GRAPH keyword instructs the query engine to evaluate part of the query against the named graphs in the dataset. A variable used in the GRAPH clause may also be used in another GRAPH clause or in a graph pattern matched against the default graph in the dataset.

For example:

PREFIX foaf: <http://xmlns.com/foaf/0.1/>
PREFIX dc:   <http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/>

SELECT ?name ?mbox ?date
WHERE { ?g dc:publisher ?name ;
      dc:date ?date .
     GRAPH ?g { ?person foaf:name ?name ; 
     foaf:mbox ?mbox }
     }

You must enable the collection lexicon when you use a GRAPH construct in a SPARQL query. You can enable the collection lexicon from the database configuration pages or the Admin Interface.

Triples inside of a GRAPH clause with an explicit IRI, such as GRAPH <....uri...> { ...graph pattern... }, are matched against the dataset using the IRI specified in the graph clause.

SELECT Queries

The SPARQL SELECT keyword indicates that you are requesting data from a dataset. This SPARQL query is the most widely used of the query forms. SPARQL SELECT queries return a sequence of bindings as a solution, that satisfies the query. Selected variables are separated by white spaces, not commas.

You can use the asterisk wildcard symbol (*) with SPARQL SELECT as shorthand for selecting all the variables identified in the query pattern.

For example:

PREFIX foaf: <http://xmlns.com/foaf/0.1/>

SELECT *
WHERE{?s foaf:givenName ?fn .
       ?s foaf:surname ?ln .
     }

In single triple patterns, a period at the end is optional. In a query pattern with multiple triple patterns, the period at the end of final triple is also optional.

In the example, the SELECT query returns a sequence of bindings that includes the IRI for the subject variable (?s), along with the first name (?fn) and last name (?ln) of resources in the dataset.

SPARQL SELECT query results are serialized as XML, JSON, or passed to another function as a map. The results of a SELECT query may not always be triples.

CONSTRUCT Queries

You can create new triples from existing triples by using SPARQL CONSTRUCT queries. When you execute a construct query, the results are returned in a sequence of sem:triple values as triples in memory.

This example creates triples for Albert Einstein from the existing triples in the database:

PREFIX foaf: <http://xmlns.com/foaf/0.1/>

CONSTRUCT 
{?person ?p ?o .}
WHERE {?person foaf:givenName "Albert"@en ;
       foaf:surname "Einstein"@en ;
       ?p ?o .}

The CONSTRUCT queries return an RDF graph created from variables in the query pattern.

These triples are created for Albert Einstein from the existing triples in the dataset:

@prefix xs: <http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#> .
<http://dbpedia.org/resource/Albert_Einstein>
<http://dbpedia.org/ontology/birthPlace>
<http://dbpedia.org/resource/Baden-Wºrttemberg> .

@prefix xs: <http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#> .
<http://dbpedia.org/resource/Albert_Einstein>
<http://dbpedia.org/ontology/birthPlace>
<http://dbpedia.org/resource/German_Empire> .

@prefix xs: <http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#> .
<http://dbpedia.org/resource/Albert_Einstein>
<http://dbpedia.org/ontology/deathPlace>
<http://dbpedia.org/resource/Princeton,_New_Jersey> .

@prefix xs: <http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#> .
<http://dbpedia.org/resource/Albert_Einstein>
<http://dbpedia.org/ontology/birthPlace>
<http://dbpedia.org/resource/Ulm> .

@prefix xs: <http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#> .
<http://dbpedia.org/resource/Albert_Einstein>
<http://dbpedia.org/ontology/deathPlace>
<http://dbpedia.org/resource/United_States> .

@prefix xs: <http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#> .
<http://dbpedia.org/resource/Albert_Einstein>
<http://www.w3.org/1999/02/22-rdf-syntax-ns#type>
<http://xmlns.com/foaf/0.1/Person> .

@prefix xs: <http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#> .
<http://dbpedia.org/resource/Albert_Einstein>
<http://xmlns.com/foaf/0.1/givenName> "Albert"@en .

@prefix xs: <http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#> .
<http://dbpedia.org/resource/Albert_Einstein>
<http://xmlns.com/foaf/0.1/name> "Albert Einstein"@en .

@prefix xs: <http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#> .
<http://dbpedia.org/resource/Albert_Einstein>
<http://xmlns.com/foaf/0.1/surname> "Einstein"@en .

@prefix xs: <http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#> .
<http://dbpedia.org/resource/Albert_Einstein>
<http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/description> "Physicist"@en .

These triples are constructed in memory and not added to the database.

The @en language tag means that this is an English word and will match differently than any other language tag.

DESCRIBE Queries

SPARQL DESCRIBE queries return a sequence of sem:triple values. The DESCRIBE query result returns RDF graphs that describe one or more of the given resources. The W3C specification leaves the details implementation dependent. In MarkLogic, we return a Concise Bounded Desciption of the IRIs identified, which includes all triples which have the IRI as a subject, and for each of those triples that has a blank node as an object, all triples with those blank nodes as a subject. This implementation does not provide any reified statements, and will return a maximum of 9999 triples.

For example, this query finds triples containing Pascal Bedrossian:

DESCRIBE <http://dbpedia.org/resource/Pascal_Bedrossian>

The triples found by the DESCRIBE query are returned in Turtle format. You can also select JSON or Text as the format.

@prefix xs: <http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#> .
<http://dbpedia.org/resource/Pascal_Bedrossian> <http://dbpedia.org/ontology/birthPlace>
<http://dbpedia.org/resource/France> .
 
@prefix xs: <http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#> .
<http://dbpedia.org/resource/Pascal_Bedrossian> <http://dbpedia.org/ontology/birthPlace>
<http://dbpedia.org/resource/Marseille> .

@prefix xs: <http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#> .
<http://dbpedia.org/resource/Pascal_Bedrossian> <http://www.w3.org/1999/02/22-rdf-syntax-ns#type>
<http://xmlns.com/foaf/0.1/Person> .
 
@prefix xs: <http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#> .
<http://dbpedia.org/resource/Pascal_Bedrossian> <http://xmlns.com/foaf/0.1/surname> "Bedrossian"@en .
 
@prefix xs: <http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#> .
<http://dbpedia.org/resource/Pascal_Bedrossian> <http://xmlns.com/foaf/0.1/givenName> "Pascal"@en .
 
@prefix xs: <http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#> .
<http://dbpedia.org/resource/Pascal_Bedrossian> <http://xmlns.com/foaf/0.1/name> "Pascal Bedrossian"@en .
 
@prefix xs: <http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#> .
<http://dbpedia.org/resource/Pascal_Bedrossian> <http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/description> "footballer"@en .
 
@prefix xs: <http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#> .
<http://dbpedia.org/resource/Pascal_Bedrossian> <http://dbpedia.org/ontology/birthDate> "1974-11-28"^^xs:date .

The DESCRIBE clause has a limit of 9999 triples in the server, which means if a query includes a DESCRIBE clause with one IRI or few IRIs that total more than 9999 triples, triples will be truncated from the results. The server does not provide any warning or message that this has occured.

ASK Queries

SPARQL ASK queries return a single xs:boolean value. The ASK clause returns true if the query pattern has any matches in the dataset and false if there is no pattern match.

For example, in the persondata dataset are the following facts about two members of the Kennedy family: Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy and Eunice Kennedy-Shriver:

• Eunice Kennedy-Shriver, the founder of the Special Olympics precursor and a sister of John F. Kennedy was born on 1921-07-10.
• Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy, a publicist, and wife of JFK Junior, was born on 1966-01-07.

This query asks if Carolyn was born after Eunice.

PREFIX db: <http://dbpedia.org/resource/> 
PREFIX onto: <http://dbpedia.org/ontology/>

ASK
{
  db:Carolyn_Bessette-Kennedy onto:birthDate ?by .
  db:Eunice_Kennedy_Shriver onto:birthDate ?bd .
  FILTER (?by>?bd).
} 
=> 
true

The response is true.

ASK queries check to see if there is at least one result.

The OPTIONAL Keyword

The OPTIONAL keyword is used to return additional results if there is a match in an optional graph pattern. For example, this query pattern returns triples in the database consisting of the first name (?fn), last name (?ln) and mail address (?mb):

PREFIX foaf: <http://xmlns.com/foaf/0.1/>

SELECT ?fn ?ln
WHERE{?x foaf:givenName ?fn .
      ?x foaf:surname ?ln .
      ?x foaf:email ?mb .
}

Only triples that match all the triple patterns are returned. In the persondata dataset there may be people with no email address. In this case, the Query Console will silently leave these people out of the result set.

You can use the optional graph pattern (also known as a left join) to return matching values of any variables in common, if they exist. Since the OPTIONAL keyword is also a graph pattern, it has its own set of curly braces (inside the curly braces of the WHERE clause).

This example extends the previous example to return one or more email addresses, and just the first name and last name if there is no email address:

PREFIX foaf: <http://xmlns.com/foaf/0.1/>

SELECT ?fn ?ln
WHERE {?x foaf:givenName ?fn .
       ?x foaf:surname ?ln .
OPTIONAL{?x foaf:email ?mb .}
}

Optional patterns may yield unbound variables. See ORDER BY Keyword for more about unbound variables.

The UNION Keyword

Use the UNION keyword to match multiple patterns from multiple different sets of data, and then combine them in the query result. The UNION keyword is placed inside the curly braces of the WHERE clause. The syntax is:

{ triple pattern } UNION { triple pattern }

The UNION pattern combines graph patterns; each alternative possibility can contain more than one triple pattern (logical disjunction).

This example finds people who are described as Authors or Novelists and their date of birth:

PREFIX rdf: <http://www.w3.org/1999/02/22-rdf-syntax-ns#>
PREFIX foaf: <http://xmlns.com/foaf/0.1/>
PREFIX dc: <http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/>
PREFIX onto: <http://dbpedia.org/ontology/>

SELECT  ?person ?desc ?date
WHERE { ?person rdf:type foaf:Person .
      ?person dc:description ?desc .
      ?person onto:birthDate ?date .

      { ?person dc:description "Novelist"@en . }
UNION
      { ?person  dc:description "Author"@en . }
      } 

You can also group triple patterns into multiple graph patterns using a group graph pattern structure.

For example:

PREFIX rdf: <http://www.w3.org/1999/02/22-rdf-syntax-ns>
PREFIX foaf: <http://xmlns.com/foaf/0.1/>
PREFIX dc: <http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/>

SELECT ?person ?desc 
WHERE {{?person rdf:type foaf:Person }
       {?person dc:description ?desc }

      {{?person dc:description "Author"@en }

 UNION
      { ?person  dc:description "Novelist"@en . } } }

Note that each set of braces contains a triple. This is semantically equivalent to this next query and would yield the same results.

PREFIX rdf: <http://www.w3.org/1999/02/22-rdf-syntax-ns>
PREFIX foaf: <http://xmlns.com/foaf/0.1/>
PREFIX dc: <http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/>

SELECT ?person
WHERE {?person rdf:type foaf:Person ;
               dc:description ?desc .

   {?person dc:description "Author"@en }

UNION
   {?person  dc:description "Novelist"@en . } 
      }

You can use multiple UNION patterns in a SPARQL query. The results from the OPTIONAL and UNION queries differ in that the UNION query allows a subgraph of another solution, while an OPTIONAL query explicitly does not.

The FILTER Keyword

There are multiple methods for limiting the results of a SPARQL query. You can use the FILTER, DISTINCT, or the LIMIT keywords to restrict the number of matching results that are returned.

You can use one or more SPARQL FILTER keywords to specify the variables by which to constrain results. The FILTER constraint is placed inside the curly braces of the WHERE clause and can contain symbols for logical, mathematical, or comparison operators such as greater than (>), less than(<), equal to (=), and so on. The FILTER constraints use boolean conditions to return matching query results. There are also a number of built-in SPARQL tests you can use such as isURI, isBlank, and so forth.

This table lists some of the SPARQL unary operators in FILTER constraints:

For a full list of operations, see Operator Mapping in the SPARQL Query Language for RDF.

This example is a query pattern that provides meaning to the variable ?bd (a person's birth date). The FILTER clause of the query pattern compares the variable value to the date January 1st, 1999 and returns people born after the given date:

PREFIX onto: <http://dbpedia.org/ontology/>
PREFIX foaf: <http://xmlns.com/foaf/0.1/>
PREFIX xsd: <http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#>
PREFIX rdf: <http://www.w3.org/1999/02/22-rdf-syntax-ns>

SELECT ?s 
WHERE {?s rdf:type foaf:Person .
       ?s onto:birthDate ?bd .
  FILTER (?bd > "1999-01-01"^^xsd:date)
}

The SPARQL keyword a is a shortcut for the common predicate rdf:type, giving the class of a resource. For example, the WHERE clause could be written as:

WHERE {?s a foaf:Person .
       ?s onto:birthDate ?bd .

You can express a FILTER clause with a regular expression pattern by using the regex function. For example:

SELECT ?s ?p ?o
WHERE {?s ?p ?o
  FILTER (regex (?o, "Lister", "i"))
}

The SPARQL query returns all matching results where the text in the object position contains the string Lister in any case. Regular expression matches are made case-insensitive with the i flag.

This type of FILTER query is the equivalent of the fn:match XQuery function. Regular expressions are not optimized in SPARQL. Use cts:contains for optimized full text searching.

The regular expression language is defined in XQuery 1.0 and XPath 2.0 Functions and Operators, section 7.6.1 Regular Expression Syntax.

Using Built-in Functions in a SPARQL Query

In addition to SPARQL functions, you can use XQuery or JavaScript built-in functions (for example, functions with the prefix fn, cts, math, or xdmp) in a SPARQL query where you can use a function, which includes FILTER, BIND, and the expressions in a SELECT statement.

A built-in function is one that can be called without using import module in XQuery or var <module> = require in JavaScript. These functions are called extension functions when used in a SPARQL query. You can find a list of built-in functions at http://docs.marklogic.com by selecting Server-Side JavaScript APIs (or Server-Side XQuery APIs). The built-ins listed are under MarkLogic Built-In Functions and W3C-Standard Functions. See Using Semantic Functions to Query for more information.

Extension functions in SPARQL are identified by IRIs in the form of http://www.w3.org/2005/xpath-functions#name where name is the local name of the function and the string before the # is the prefix IRI of the function, for example http://www.w3.org/2005/xpath-functions#starts-with. For the prefix IRIs commonly associated with fn, cts, math, and xdmp (or any other prefix IRIs that do not end with a "/" or "#"), append a # to the prefix IRI and then the function local name, for example: http://marklogic.com/cts#contains.

You can access built-in functions like cts using PREFIX in the SPARQL query. In this example, cts:contains is added as using PREFIX and then included as part of the FILTER query:

PREFIX cts: <http://marklogic.com/cts#>
PREFIX rdfs: <http://www.w3.org/2000/01/rdf-schema/>
PREFIX dc: <http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/>

SELECT *
WHERE{ ?s ?p ?o .
  FILTER cts:contains(?o, cts:or-query(("Monarch", "Sovereign")))
  FILTER(?p IN (dc:description, rdfs:type))
}

This is full-text search for the words Monarch or Sovereign where the predicate is either a description or a type. In the second FILTER clause, the use of IN specifies the predicates to filter on. The results include people that have a title of Monarch (of a kingdom, state or sovereignty) and things that have a description of Monarch such as the Monarch butterfly or Monarch Islands.

In this example the XPath function starts-with is used in a SPARQL query to return the roles or titles of people whose description begins with Chief. The function is imported by including the IRI as part of the FILTER query:

PREFIX dc: <http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/>

SELECT ?desc  
WHERE {?s dc:description ?desc  
  FILTER (<http://www.w3.org/2005/xpath-functions#starts-with>( ?desc,
"Chief" ) )}

You can use the FILTER keyword with the OPTIONAL and UNION keywords.

Comparison Operators

The IN and NOT IN comparison operators are used with the FILTER clause to return a boolean true if a matching term is in the set of expressions, or false if not. For example:

ASK {
  FILTER(2 IN (1, 2, 3))
}

=>
true
ASK {
  FILTER(2 NOT IN (1, 2, 3))
}

=>
false

EXISTS

The filter expression EXISTS checks to see whether the query pattern can be found in the data. For example, the EXISTS filter in this examples checks for the pattern ?person foaf:name ?name in the data:

PREFIX  rdf:    <http://www.w3.org/1999/02/22-rdf-syntax-ns#> 
PREFIX  foaf:   <http://xmlns.com/foaf/0.1/> 

SELECT ?person
WHERE 
{
    ?person rdf:type  foaf:Person .
    FILTER EXISTS { ?person foaf:name ?name }
}
=>
    person
<http://example.org/alice

The result of the query is Alice. The EXISTS filter does not generate any additional bindings.

NOT EXISTS

With the NOT EXISTS filter expression, the query tests whether a graph pattern does not match a dataset, given the values of variables in the group graph pattern in which the filter occurs. This query tests whether the ?person foaf:name ?name does not occur in the data:

PREFIX  rdf:    <http://www.w3.org/1999/02/22-rdf-syntax-ns#> 
PREFIX  foaf:   <http://xmlns.com/foaf/0.1/> 

SELECT ?person
WHERE 
{
    ?person rdf:type  foaf:Person .
    FILTER NOT EXISTS { ?person foaf:name ?name }
} 
=>
    person
<http://example.org/bob>

The graph pattern for <http://example.org/bob> does not have a predicate foaf:name for ?person, so the query returns Bob as the result for this query. The NOT EXISTS filter does not generate any additional bindings.

MINUS

The another type of SPARQL negation is MINUS, which evaluates both its arguments, then calculates solutions in the left-hand side that are not compatible with the solutions on the right-hand side of the pattern.

For this example we will add additional data:

PREFIX :       <http://example.org/>
PREFIX foaf:   <http://xmlns.com/foaf/0.1/>

:alice  foaf:givenName "Alice" ;
        foaf:familyName "Smith" .

:bob    foaf:givenName "Bob" ;
        foaf:familyName "Jones" .

:carol  foaf:givenName "Carol" ;
        foaf:familyName "Smith" .

This query looks for patterns in the data that do not match ?s foaf:givenName "Bob" and returns those results:

PREFIX :       <http://example.org/>
PREFIX foaf:   <http://xmlns.com/foaf/0.1/>

SELECT DISTINCT ?s
WHERE {
   ?s ?p ?o .
   MINUS {
      ?s foaf:givenName "Bob" .
   }
}
=>
<http://example.org/carol>
<http://example.org/alice>

The results are Carol and Alice.

The filters NOT EXISTS and MINUS represent two ways of approaching negation. The NOT EXISTS approach tests whether a pattern exists in the data, based on the bindings determined by the query pattern. The MINUS approach removes matches based on the evaluation of two patterns. In some cases, they can produce different results. The MINUS filter does not generate any additional bindings.

Differences Between NOT EXISTS and MINUS

The filter expressions NOT EXISTS and MINUS represent two ways of using negation. The NOT EXISTS filter tests whether a pattern exists in the data, given the bindings already determined by the query pattern. The MINUS filter removes matches from the result set based on the evaluation of two patterns in the query. In some cases, these two approaches can produce different answers.

@prefix : <http://example.com/> .
:a :b :c .

SELECT *
{
  ?s ?p ?o
  FILTER NOT EXISTS {?x ?y ?x}
}
=>
(This query has no results)

SELECT *
{
  ?s ?p ?o
  FILTER MINUS {?x ?y ?x}
}
=>
s                       p                      o
<http://example.com/a> <http://example.com/b> <http://example.com/c>

PREFIX : <http://example.com/>
SELECT *
{
 ?s ?p ?o
 FILTER NOT EXISTS {:a :b :c}
}
=>
(This query has no results)

PREFIX : <http://example.com/>
SELECT *
{
 ?s ?p ?o
 MINUS {:a :b :c}
}
=>
s                       p                       o
<http://example.com/a> <http://example.com/b> <http://example.com/c>

PREFIX : <http://example.com/>
:a :p 1 .
:a :q 1 .
:a :q 2 .
:b :p 3.0 .
:b :q 4.0 .
:b :q 5.0 .

PREFIX : <http://example.com/>
SELECT * WHERE {
 ?x :p ?n
 FILTER NOT EXISTS {
     ?x :q :m .
     FILTER (?n = ?m)
     }
 }
=>
x                      n
<http://example.com/b> 3.0

PREFIX : <http://example.com/>
SELECT * WHERE {
    ?x ?p  ?n
    MINUS {
          ?x :q ?m .
          FILTER (?n = ?m)
    }
 }
=>
x                      n
<http://example.com/b> 3.0
<http://example.com/a> 1

Combination Queries with Negation

A combination query operates on triples embedded in documents. The query searches both the document and any triples embedded in the document. You can add negation with the FILTER keyword to constrain the results of the query.

For example:

xquery version "1.0-ml";
import module namespace sem = "http://marklogic.com/semantics" 
  at "/MarkLogic/semantics.xqy";

let $query := '
  PREFIX foaf: <http://xmlns.com/foaf/0.1/>
  SELECT ?country
  WHERE {
    <http://example.org/news/Nixon> <http://example.org/wentTo> ?country
  FILTER NOT EXISTS {?country foaf:isIn ?location .
                ?location foaf:isIn "Europe"} . }'
let $store := sem:store((),cts:and-query( (
    cts:path-range-query( "//triples-context/confidence", ">=", 80) ,
    cts:path-range-query( "//triples-context/pub-date", ">", xs:date("1974-01-01")),
    cts:or-query( (
      cts:element-value-query( xs:QName("source"), "AP Newswire" ),
      cts:element-value-query( xs:QName("source"), "BBC" )
   )))))

let $result := sem:sparql($query, (), (), $store)
return <result>{$result}</result>

The cts:path-range-query requires the path index to be configured to work correctly. See Understanding Range Indexes in the Administrator's Guide.

This is a modification of an earlier query that says Find all of the documents containing triples that have information about countries that Nixon visited. From that group, return only those triples that have a confidence level of 80% or above and a publication date after January 1st, 1974. And only return triples with a source element of AP Newswire or BBC. The MINUS filter removes any countries that are located in Europe from the results.

SPARQL Update will not modify triples embedded in documents. SPARQL Update can be used to insert new triples into graphs as part of a combination query, or to modify managed triples. See Unmanaged Triples for more information about triples in documents.

BIND Keyword

The BIND keyword allows a value to be assigned to a variable from a basic graph pattern or property path expression. The use of BIND ends the preceding basic graph pattern. The variable introduced by the BIND clause must not have been used in the group graph pattern up to the point of use in BIND. When you assign a computed value to a variable in the middle of a pattern, the computed value can then be used in other patterns, such as a CONSTRUCT query. The syntax is (expression AS ?var). For example:

PREFIX db: <http://dbpedia.org/resource/>
PREFIX onto: <http://dbpedia.org/ontology/>

SELECT ?person 
  WHERE { BIND (db:London AS ?location)
         ?person onto:birthPlace ?location .
  }
LIMIT 10

Values Sections

You can use SPARQL VALUES sections to provide inline data as an unordered solution sequence that is joined with the results of the query evaluation. The VALUES section allows multiple variables to be specified in the data block. For example:

PREFIX foaf: <http://xmlns.com/foaf/0.1/>

SELECT *
WHERE { ?a foaf:name ?n .
VALUES ?n { "John" "Jane" }}

This query says find subjects with foaf:name John or Jane - supplying the values the ?n can have instead of searching for ?n in the dataset. This is the same as a query using the longer form where the parameter lists are contained in parentheses:

VALUES (?z) { ("John") ("Jane") }

A VALUES block of data can appear in a query pattern or at the end of a SELECT query or subquery.

The DISTINCT Keyword

Use the DISTINCT keyword to remove duplicate results from a results set.

For example:

SELECT DISTINCT ?p 
WHERE {?s ?p ?o}

The query returns all of the predicates - just once - for all the triples in the persondata dataset.

The LIMIT Keyword

Use the LIMIT keyword to further restrict the results of a SPARQL query that are displayed. For example, in the DBPedia dataset, there could be thousands of authors that match this query:

PREFIX dc:<http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/>
PREFIX foaf:<http://xmlns.com/foaf/0.1/>

SELECT ?x ?fn ?ln
WHERE{?x dc:description "Author"@en ;
      foaf:name ?fn ;
      foaf:surname ?ln.}

To specify the number matching results to display, add the LIMIT keyword after the curly braces of the WHERE clause with an integer (not a variable).

For example:

PREFIX dc:<http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/>
PREFIX foaf:<http://xmlns.com/foaf/0.1/>

SELECT ?x ?fn ?ln
WHERE{?x dc:description "Author"@en ;
      foaf:name ?fn ;
      foaf:surname ?ln.}
LIMIT 10

The results of the query are limited to the first ten matches:

ORDER BY Keyword

Use the ORDER BY clause to specify the values of one or more variable by which to sort the query results. SPARQL provides an ordering for unbound variables, blank nodes, IRIs, or RDF literals as described in the SPARQL 1.1 Query Language recommendation:

http://www.w3.org/TR/sparql11-query/#modOrderBy

The default ordering is ascending order.

For example:

PREFIX dc:<http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/>
PREFIX foaf: <http://xmlns.com/foaf/0.1/>

SELECT ?x ?fn ?ln
WHERE{?x dc:description "Author" ;
      foaf:name ?fn ;
      foaf:surname ?ln.} 
ORDER BY ?ln ?fn
LIMIT 10

The results are ordered by the author's last name (?ln) and then by the author's first name (?fn):

To change the order of results to descending order, use the DESC keyword and place the variable for the values to be returned in brackets. For example:

PREFIX dc:<http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/>
PREFIX foaf: <http://xmlns.com/foaf/0.1/>

SELECT ?x ?fn ?ln
WHERE{?x dc:description "Author"@en ;
      foaf:name ?fn ;
      foaf:surname ?ln .}
ORDER BY DESC (?ln) 
LIMIT 10

The OFFSET Keyword

The OFFSET modifier is used for pagination, to skip a given number of matching query results before returning the remaining results. This keyword can be used with the LIMIT and ORDER BY keywords to retrieve different slices of data from a dataset. For example, you can create pages of results from different offsets.

This example queries for Authors in ascending order and limits the results to the first twenty, skipping the first eight matches and starting the list at position nine:

PREFIX dc:<http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/>
PREFIX foaf: <http://xmlns.com/foaf/0.1/>

SELECT ?x ?fn ?ln
WHERE{?x dc:description "Author"@en ;
      foaf:name ?fn ;
      foaf:surname ?ln.}
ORDER BY ?x
OFFSET 8
LIMIT 20

The results are returned, skipping the first eight matches.

SPARQL uses a 1-based index, meaning the first item is 1 and not 0, so an offset of 8 will skip items one through eight.

Subqueries

You can combine the results of several queries by using subqueries. You can nest one or more queries inside another query. Each subquery is enclosed in separate pairs of curly braces. Typically, subqueries are used with solution modifiers. This example queries for Politicians who were born in London and then limits the results to the first ten:

PREFIX dc: <http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/>
PREFIX db: <http://dbpedia.org/resource/>
PREFIX onto: <http://dbpedia.org/ontology/>
PREFIX foaf: <http://xmlns.com/foaf/0.1/>

SELECT  ?name ?location ?date
WHERE 
   { ?person dc:description "Politician"@en .

    {SELECT ?location
    WHERE{?person onto:birthPlace db:London .
          ?person onto:birthPlace ?location }
    }
    {SELECT ?date
    WHERE{?person onto:birthDate ?date . }
    }
    {SELECT ?name
    WHERE{ ?person foaf:name ?name }
    }
   }
LIMIT 10

Projected Expressions

You can use projected expressions within SPARQL SELECT queries to project arbitrary SPARQL expressions, rather than only bound variables. This allows the creation of new values in a query.

This type of query uses values derived from a variable, constant IRIs, constant literal, function calls, or other expressions in the SELECT list for columns in a query result set.

Functions could include both SPARQL built-in functions and extension functions supported by an implementation.

Projected expressions must be in parentheses and must be given an alias using the AS keyword. The syntax is (expression AS ?var).

For example :

PREFIX ex: <http://example.org/>

SELECT ?Item (?price * ?qty AS ?total_price)
WHERE {
  ?Item ex:price ?price.
  ?Item ex:quantity ?qty
}

The query returns values for ?total_price that do not occur in the graphs contained in the RDF dataset.

Enumerated Property Paths

The following table describes the supported enumerated path operators ( |, ^, and /) that can be combined with predicates in a property path:

The following examples illustrate property paths using this simple graph model:

Here is that same graph model expressed as triples in Turtle format:

@prefix foaf: <http://xmlns.com/foaf/0.1/> .
@prefix rdf: <http://www.w3.org/1999/02/22-rdf-syntax-ns> .
@prefix p0: <http://marklogic.com/semantics/> .

p0:alice foaf:hasParent p0:jane ;
  a foaf:Person ;
  foaf:name "Alice" .

p0:jane foaf:hasChild p0:alice,
    p0:mary;
  a foaf:Person ;
  foaf:name "Jane" .

p0:mary foaf:hasParent p0:jane ;
  a foaf:Person ;
  foaf:hasChild p0:john ;
  foaf:name "Mary" .

p0:john foaf:hasParent p0:mary ;
  a foaf:Person ;
  foaf:name "John".

This example query uses paths (the / operator) to find the name of Alice's parent:

PREFIX foaf: <http://xmlns.com/foaf/0.1/>

SELECT ?s ?name
  WHERE {?s foaf:name "Alice".
    ?s foaf:hasParent/foaf:name ?name .
  }
=>
  s       name
<http://marklogic.com/semantics/alice> "Jane"

This query finds the names of people two links away from John (his grandparent):

PREFIX foaf: <http://xmlns.com/foaf/0.1/>

SELECT ?s ?name
  WHERE {?s foaf:name "John".
    ?s foaf:hasParent/foaf:hasParent/foaf:name ?name .
  }
=>
  s     name
<http://marklogic.com/semantics/john> "Jane"

This query reverses the property path direction (swaps the roles of subject and object using the ^ operator) to find the name of Mary's mother:

PREFIX foaf: <http://xmlns.com/foaf/0.1/>

SELECT ?s
  WHERE { <http://marklogic.com/semantics/mary> ^foaf:hasChild ?s }

=> 
  s
<http://marklogic.com/semantics/Jane>

Unenumerated Property Paths

Unenumerated paths enable you to query triple paths and discover relationships, along with simple facts. This table describes the unenumerated path operators (+, *, or ?) that can be combined with predicates in a property path:

A path element may itself be composed of path constructs.

The inverse operator (^) can be used with the enumerated path operators. Precedence of these operators is left-to-right within groups.

For these next examples, we can use sem:rdf-insert to add these triples to express the concept of foaf:knows:

xquery version "1.0-ml";
import module namespace sem = "http://marklogic.com/semantics" 
  at "/MarkLogic/semantics.xqy";
let $string := '
@prefix foaf: <http://xmlns.com/foaf/0.1/> .
@prefix p0: <http://marklogic.com/semantics/> .

p0:alice foaf:knows p0:jane .

p0:jane foaf:knows p0:mary,
  p0:alice .

p0:mary foaf:knows p0:john,
  p0:jane .

p0:john foaf:knows p0:mary .'
return sem:rdf-insert(sem:rdf-parse($string, "turtle"))

To find the names of all the people who are connected to Mary, use foaf:knows with the + path operator:

PREFIX foaf: <http://xmlns.com/foaf/0.1/>

SELECT ?s ?name
  WHERE {?s foaf:name "Mary" .
    ?s foaf:knows+/foaf:name ?name .}

=>
  s                                       name
<http://marklogic.com/semantics/mary>    "Jane"
<http://marklogic.com/semantics/mary>    "John"
<http://marklogic.com/semantics/mary>    "Mary"
<http://marklogic.com/semantics/mary>    "Alice"

This query will match all of the triples connected to Mary by foaf:knows where one or more paths exist. You can use foaf:knows with the * operator to find the names of anyone who is connected to Mary (including Mary) by zero or more paths.

PREFIX foaf: <http://xmlns.com/foaf/0.1/>

SELECT ?s ?name
  WHERE {?s foaf:name "Mary" .
    ?s foaf:knows*/foaf:name ?name .}

In this case the results will be same as in the previous example because the number of people connected to Mary by zero or more paths (the * path operator) is the same as the number connected by one or more paths.

Using the ? operator finds the triples connected to Mary by one path element.

PREFIX foaf: <http://xmlns.com/foaf/0.1/>

SELECT ?s ?name
  WHERE {?s foaf:name "Mary" .
    ?s foaf:knows?/foaf:name ?name .}

=>
  s                                     name
<http://marklogic.com/semantics/mary>  "Jane"
<http://marklogic.com/semantics/mary>  "John"
<http://marklogic.com/semantics/mary>  "Mary"

You can also use a property path sequence to discover connections between triples.

For example, this query will find triples connected to Mary by three path elements:

PREFIX foaf: <http://xmlns.com/foaf/0.1/>

SELECT ?s ?name
WHERE {
?s foaf:name "Mary" .
?s foaf:knows/foaf:knows/foaf:knows/foaf:name ?name .
}

 s                                        name
<http://marklogic.com/semantics/mary>    "John"
<http://marklogic.com/semantics/mary>    "Jane"
<http://marklogic.com/semantics/mary>    "John"
<http://marklogic.com/semantics/mary>    "Jane"

The duplicate results are due to the different paths traversed by the query. You could add a DISTINCT keyword in the SELECT clause to return only one instance of each result and elimate the duplicates.

The SPARQL modifier ! has not been implemented in MarkLogic. Using this modifier to invert a property path value results in a syntax error.

You can combine SPARQL queries using property paths with a cts:query parameter to restrict results to only some documents (a combination query).

This combination query will find all the people connected to Alice who have children:

PREFIX cts: <http://marklogic.com/cts#>
PREFIX foaf: <http://xmlns.com/foaf/0.1/>

SELECT ?s ?name
WHERE {
  ?s foaf:name "Mary" .
  ?s foaf:knows+/foaf:name ?name .
    ?s ?p ?o .
FILTER cts:contains(?p, cts:word-query("http://xmlns.com/foaf/0.1/hasChild"))
       }
=>
<http://marklogic.com/semantics/mary> "Alice"
<http://marklogic.com/semantics/mary> "Jane"
<http://marklogic.com/semantics/mary> "John"
<http://marklogic.com/semantics/mary> "Mary"

You could also use a cts:query parameter to restrict the query to a collection or directory.

Inference

You can use unenumerated paths to do simple inference using thesaural relationships. (A thesaural relationship is a simple ontology).

For example, you can infer all the possible types of a resource, including supertypes of resources using this pattern:

PREFIX rdf: <http://www.w3.org/1999/02/22-rdf-syntax-ns#>
PREFIX rdfs: <http://www.w3.org/2000/01/rdf-schema#>

SELECT ?x ?type
{ 
   ?x rdf:type/rdfs:subClassOf* ?type 
}

For example, this query will find the products that are subclasses of shirt:

PREFIX rdf: <http://www.w3.org/1999/02/22-rdf-syntax-ns#>
PREFIX rdfs: <http://www.w3.org/2000/01/rdf-schema#>
PREFIX ex: <http://example.com>
SELECT ?product
WHERE
  {
    ?product rdf:type/rdfs:subClassOf* ex:Shirt ;
}

For more about inference, see Inference.

sem:sparql

You can use the sem:sparql function to query RDF data in the database in the same way you would in the SPARQL language. To use sem:sparql, you pass the SPARQL query to the function as a string.

Using XQuery the query would look like:

xquery version "1.0-ml";
import module namespace sem = "http://marklogic.com/semantics" 
  at "/MarkLogic/semantics.xqy";

sem:sparql('
PREFIX bill: <http://www.rdfabout.com/rdf/usgov/congress/108/bills/>
SELECT ?predicate ?object
WHERE { bill:h963 ?predicate ?object }
')

Using Javascript, the query would be:

var sem = require("/MarkLogic/semantics.xqy");

sem.sparql( +
'PREFIX bill: <http://www.rdfabout.com/rdf/usgov/congress/108/bills/>' +
'SELECT ?predicate ?object' +
'WHERE { bill:h963 ?predicate ?object }' )

In JavaScript, you must either use a left-quote (...Äò) at the beginning of a literal string that spans multiple lines. Otherwise, you must use a + or \ to concatenate the substrings.

The XQuery code returns an array as a sequence, whereas the JavaScript code returns a Sequence. See Sequence in the JavaScript Reference Guide for more information.

The result of the example query for all triples where the subject is bill number h963 would look like this:

For more information about constructing SPARQL queries, see Constructing a SPARQL Query.

You can also construct your SPARQL query as an input string in a FLWOR statement. In the following example, the let statement contains the SPARQL query. This is a SPARQL ASK query, to find out if there are any male politicians who are members of the Latter Day Saints:

xquery version "1.0-ml";
import module namespace sem = "http://marklogic.com/semantics" 
  at "/MarkLogic/semantics.xqy";

let $sparql := '
PREFIX foaf: <http://xmlns.com/foaf/0.1/> 
PREFIX rdf: <http://www.w3.org/1999/02/22-rdf-syntax-ns> 
PREFIX politico: <http://www.rdfabout.com/rdf/schema/politico/>
PREFIX govtrack: <http://www.rdfabout.com/rdf/schema/usgovt/>
PREFIX vcard: <http://www.w3.org/2001/vcard-rdf/3.0/>

ASK  { ?x rdf:type  politico:Politician ; 
      foaf:religion "Latter Day Saints" ; foaf:gender "male". }
'
return sem:sparql($sparql)

=>
true

sem:sparql-values

Use the sem:sparql-values function to allow sequences of bindings to restrict what a SPARQL query returns. In this example, a sequence of values are bound to the subject IRIs that represent two members of congress.

xquery version "1.0-ml";
import module namespace sem = "http://marklogic.com/semantics" 
  at "/MarkLogic/semantics.xqy";

let $bindings := ( map:entry("s",
sem:iri("http://www.rdfabout.com/rdf/usgov/congress/people/A000069")),
map:entry("s",
sem:iri("http://www.rdfabout.com/rdf/usgov/congress/people/G000359"))
)
return
sem:sparql-values("select * { ?s ?p ?o }",$bindings)

The results are returned as sequences of values for the two members of congress:

The sem:sparql-values function can be considered as equivalent to the SPARQL 1.1 facility of an outermost VALUES block. See Values Sections for more information.

Everywhere you use a variable in a SPARQL values query, you can set the variable to a fixed value by passing in external bindings as arguments to sem:sparql-values. See Using Bindings for Variables.

sem:store

The sem:store function contains a set of criteria used to select the set of triples to be passed in to sem:sparql, sem:sparql-values, or sem:sparql-update and evaluated as part of the query. The triples included in sem:store come from the current database's triple index, restricted by the options and the cts:query argument in sem:store (for instance, all triples in documents matching this query). If multiple sem:store constructors are supplied, the triples from all the sources are merged and queried together.

If a sem:store constructor is not supplied as an option for sem:sparql, sem:sparql-values, or sem:sparql-update, then the default sem:store constructor for the query will be used (the default database's triple index).

Querying Triples in Memory

You can use sem:in-memory-store to query triples in memory.

For example:

xquery version "1.0-ml";
import module namespace sem = "http://marklogic.com/semantics" 
  at "/MarkLogic/semantics.xqy";

let $triples := sem:rdf-parse($string, ("turtle", "myGraph"))
let $query := '
PREFIX ad: <http://marklogic.com/addressbook/>
PREFIX d:  <http://marklogic.com/id/>

CONSTRUCT{ ?person ?p ?o .}
FROM <myOtherGraph>
WHERE 
{
  ?person ad:firstName "Elvis" ;
  ad:lastName  "Presley" ;
  ?p ?o . 
}
'
for $result in sem:sparql($query, (), (), sem:in-memory-store($triples))
order by sem:triple-object($result)
return <result>{$result}</result>

This query constructs a graph of triples in memory named myGraph containing persons named Elvis with a last name of Presley. The source of these triples is myOtherGraph and the results are returned in order.

cts:triples

The cts:triples function retrieves the parameter values from the triple index. Triples can be returned in any of the sort orders present in the triple index.

In this example, the subject IRI for a member of congress is passed as the first parameter for the subject IRI:

xquery version "1.0-ml";
import module namespace sem = "http://marklogic.com/semantics" 
  at "/MarkLogic/semantics.xqy"; 

let $r := cts:triples
  (sem:iri(
    "http://www.rdfabout.com/rdf/usgov/congress/people/D000060"),
   )

return ($r)

The matching results return triples for that member of congress (Archibald Darragh):

cts:triple-range-query

Access to the triple index is provided through the cts:triple-range-query function. The first parameter in this example is an empty sequence for the subject. The predicate and object parameters are provided, along with the sameTerm operator to find someone named Lamar Alexander:

xquery version "1.0-ml";
import module namespace sem = "http://marklogic.com/semantics" 
  at "/MarkLogic/semantics.xqy";

let $query := cts:triple-range-query((),
  sem:iri("http://xmlns.com/foaf/0.1/name"), "Lamar Alexander", "sameTerm")

return cts:search(fn:collection()//sem:triple, $query)

cts:search

The built-in cts search functions are XQuery functions used to perform text searches. In this example, the cts:search queries against the info:govtrack/bills collection of XML docs to determine how many bills have the word Guam in the document (the cts:word-query of the specified string).

xquery version "1.0-ml";
import module namespace sem = "http://marklogic.com/semantics" 
  at "/MarkLogic/semantics.xqy";

let $search := cts:search(//sem:triple, 
  cts:and-query((cts:collection-query("info:govtrack/bills"), cts:word-query("Guam"))
  )
 )[1]

return cts:remainder($search)

=>
16

You can use a combination of cts:query and comparison operators. The cts:triple-range-query function in this example is used within a cts:search to find the sem:triple elements, where the foaf:name equals Lamar Alexander or where Alexander's subject IRI contains a foaf:img property conveying an image IRI.

xquery version "1.0-ml";
import module namespace sem = "http://marklogic.com/semantics" 
  at "/MarkLogic/semantics.xqy";

declare namespace dc = "http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/";

cts:search(collection()//sem:triple, cts:or-query((
  cts:triple-range-query((), sem:curie-expand("foaf:name"), 
   "Lamar Alexander", "sameTerm"),
  cts:triple-range-query(
   sem:iri
    ("http://www.rdfabout.com/rdf/usgov/congress/people/A000360"),
   sem:curie-expand("foaf:img"), (), "="
 )
)))

You can construct sequences in SPARQL expressions and the SPARQL 1.1 IN and NOT IN operators to make effective use of built-in cts functions such as cts:and-query, which expect a sequence of cts:query values as the first argument.

You can also use cts:order constructors as an option to cts:search to to specify an ordering. This lets you order cts search results using a specified index for better, predictable performance. See Creating a cts:order Specification in the Query Performance and Tuning Guide.

cts:contains

You can use the cts:contains function in SPARQL expressions, which occur in FILTER and BIND clauses. For an example, see The FILTER Keyword.

Since cts:contains allows any value as the first argument, you can pass a variable that is bound by a triple pattern in the query as the first argument. The triple pattern uses the full-text index to reduce the results it returns during the lookup in the triple index. For example:

xquery version "1.0-ml";
import module namespace sem = "http://marklogic.com/semantics" 
  at "/MarkLogic/semantics.xqy";

fn:count(sem:sparql('
PREFIX cts: <http://marklogic.com/cts#>

SELECT DISTINCT *
WHERE
{ ?s ?p ?o . 
     FILTER cts:contains(?o, cts:word-query("Environment")) }
   ')
  )
=>
53

The following example is a query to verify if there is a bill number hr543.

xquery version "1.0-ml";
import module namespace sem = "http://marklogic.com/semantics" 
  at "/MarkLogic/semantics.xqy"; 

cts:contains(collection("info:govtrack/bills")//sem:subject,
  cts:word-query('hr543'))

=>
true