Representing Web Applications As Knowledge Graphs

TL;DR

This paper introduces a novel approach to modeling web applications as knowledge graphs, capturing dynamic states and user interactions for improved understanding and analysis.

Contribution

It presents a structured state-based graph model that better represents modern web applications compared to traditional hyperlink-based methods.

Findings

Enhanced representation of web application states

Improved support for automated testing and behavior analysis

More accurate modeling of dynamic interactions

Abstract

Traditional methods for crawling and parsing web applications predominantly rely on extracting hyperlinks from initial pages and recursively following linked resources. This approach constructs a graph where nodes represent unstructured data from web pages, and edges signify transitions between them. However, these techniques are limited in capturing the dynamic and interactive behaviors inherent to modern web applications. In contrast, the proposed method models each node as a structured representation of the application's current state, with edges reflecting user-initiated actions or transitions. This structured representation enables a more comprehensive and functional understanding of web applications, offering valuable insights for downstream tasks such as automated testing and behavior analysis.