# Semi Automatic Construction of ShEx and SHACL Schemas

## TL;DR

This paper introduces a semi-automatic approach combining an algorithm and interactive tools for constructing SHACL and ShEx schemas from RDF datasets, facilitating schema creation with expert input and validation features.

## Contribution

It presents a novel method integrating automatic schema construction with interactive editing for efficient schema development.

## Key findings

- Effective schema construction from sample nodes
- Interactive workflow enhances schema accuracy
- Combines algorithmic and manual schema refinement

## Abstract

We present a method for the construction of SHACL or ShEx constraints for an existing RDF dataset. It has two components that are used conjointly: an algorithm for automatic schema construction, and an interactive workflow for editing the schema. The schema construction algorithm takes as input sets of sample nodes and constructs a shape constraint for every sample set. It can be parametrized by a schema pattern that defines structural requirements for the schema to be constructed. Schema patterns are also used to feed the algorithm with relevant information about the dataset coming from a domain expert or from some ontology. The interactive workflow provides useful information about the dataset, shows validation results w.r.t. the schema under construction, and offers schema editing operations that combined with the schema construction algorithm allow to build a complex ShEx or SHACL schema.