Pre-standardization of the language

This report describes the final state of the General Framework for Evolution and Reactivity in the Semantic Web developed within workpackage I5, as well as the MARS approach. MARS – Modular Active Rules in the Semantic Web is a framework for specifying and executing active rules in the Semantic Web. With MARS, active rules can be specified in a modular way. Usually, rules consist of components, in the style head←body. For active rules, Event-Condition-Action Rules are a popular paradigm. Such rules consist of an event specification (on which occurrence the rule should be “fired”), a condition (consisting of obtaining additional information by queries, and applying predicates), and an action which is executed when the condition is satisfied. Event specification, Condition, and Action are called the components of the rule. For each of the components, multiple languages have been proposed in the past (e.g., event algebras and process algebras). As it is by far not necessary to come up with even new proposals for models and formalisms for describing events and actions, MARS aims at supporting arbitrary such languages. For this, MARS is just a framework for active rules where appropriate component languages and services can be embedded. MARS consists of an ontology for ECA rules together with the language proposal ECA-ML that provides a corresponding lean XML markup, a family of XML data exchange formats, and an open ontology-based service-oriented architecture that implements the framework. The proofof-concept is completed with sample component ontologies for composite events (derived from the SNOOP event algebra), composite actions (derived from the CSS process algebra), and OWLQ, a language for specifying queries, tests, and atomic event patterns. Keyword List ECA rules, Reactivity, Evolution and updates of data, Language and data heterogeneity Project co-funded by the European Commission and the Swiss Federal Office for Education and Science within the Sixth Framework Programme.