Description Logic (DL) possibility modeling is not easily grasped and understood by technologists, or even by enterprise architects like me. It is much easier to focus on actual facts in a database, and data and logic flows in computer programs. For large complex systems, it is incredibly challenging to focus on the logic behind possibility modeling. Consequently, most of us fall back to what has worked before. Peirce stated it best:
Few persons care to study logic, because everybody conceives himself to be proficient enough in the art of reasoning already. But I observe that this satisfaction is limited to one’s own ratiocination and does not extend to that of other men.
We come to the full possession of our power of drawing inferences the last of all our faculties, for it is not so much a natural gift as a long and difficult art.
- Charles Sanders Peirce, The Fixation of Belief
I have my own ratiocination for Enterprise Architecture, and have realized what Peirce meant by ”for it is not so much a natural gift as a long and difficult art.” I’ve had a long and difficult journey as an apprentice in the “difficult art” of DL. I have spent months developing the OWL-DL foundation ontology showing the possibilities of the OWL-DL constructs. I’ve also spent months developing the SCA-DL foundation ontology showing the possibilities of Service Component Architecture and the BPEL foundation ontology showing process activities and activity blocks. A Knowledge Graph of each is shown below.
OWL-DL Ontology
The OWL-DL ontology defines the logical model for capturing the semantic facts of knowledge domains.
SCA-DL Ontology
The SCA-DL ontology defines the logical model for capturing the facts of the components of Service Component Architecture.
Business Process Execution Language
The BPEL ontology defines the logical model of activities as defined by the Business Process Execution Language.
These ontologies provide the architecture to drive the execution of the Otter Server.