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RDF in HTML-forms

RDForms is a javascript framework for interacting with RDF on the web. Integrate with your web application and configure it to your needs:

Templates

Describes which RDF to work with and UI specific configurations such as labels and help texts.

Views

Choose a view for editing, presenting or validating RDF data.

Renderers

Switch between UI-frameworks like React, bootstrap as well as provide custom UIs for specific fields.

Choosers

Integrates with your application for loading data into the form at runtime.

The RDForms project is licensed under LGPL and the source code is available at Bitbucket.

Main Features

  • Can edit / present / validate all RDF reachable from a single URI.
  • Fully localized, both UI and support in templates
  • Special field editors for datatypes like dates, integers etc.
  • Intermediate RDF constructions can be hidden
  • Sections can be introduced in the form without requiring a corresponding structure in the RDF expression

Motivation

  • Lowering the time and cost for building user interfaces for working with RDF.
  • Shift the responsibility for producing correct RDF from developers to domain experts / architects.

Background

RDForms is the sixth iteration of an editing framework for RDF that was started already in 2001 as part of research projects at KTH and Uppsala University. The configuration mechanism has been at the central stage of the development process almost from the beginning. RDForms was first known as SHAME (Standardized Hyper Adaptible Metadata Editor) and briefly as RForms.

RDForms was rewritten as a JavaScript library in 2008 and has been maintained by MetaSolutions AB since 2011. RDForms is a crucial building block in the EntryScape Suite.