<span style="font-variant: small-caps">Graphol</span>: A Graphical Language for Ontology Modeling Equivalent to OWL 2

Abstract

In this paper we study Graphol, a fully graphical language inspired by standard formalisms for conceptual modeling, similar to the UML class diagram and the ER model, but equipped with formal semantics. We formally prove that Graphol is equivalent to OWL 2, i.e., it can capture every OWL 2 ontology and vice versa. We also present some usability studies indicating that Graphol is suitable for quick adoption by conceptual modelers that are familiar with UML and ER. This is further testified by the adoption of Graphol for ontology representation in several industrial projects.

Keywords

• ontology and conceptual modeling
• OWL
• description logics
• graphical modeling languages