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RDF import (tool_import_rdf)

See also: Tools user guide · Developer reference

Fetch the RDF/XML graph of an external linked-open-data resource named by an IRI in a record, parse it, and map its properties onto components — one IRI at a time.

This is an advanced, ontology-driven tool

Which vocabulary properties map to which components is described in the ontology by an administrator, under the External Ontologies term. A cataloguer runs the fetch; the mapping is a setup step.

What it's for

Heritage records often link out to a shared authority — a coin type in Nomisma/OCRE, a place in GeoNames, a term in a Dublin Core vocabulary — by storing that resource's IRI in an IRI component. This tool turns that IRI into a live fetch of the resource's RDF/XML graph, so you can pull the authority's own labels and descriptions into your record instead of copying them by hand.

Concrete scenario: a numismatist cataloguing a Roman coin type has pasted the OCRE IRI http://numismatics.org/ocre/id/ric.1(2).aug.1A into the record's IRI component. They open the RDF import on that component, pick the IRI, run it, and the tool fetches …ric.1(2).aug.1A.rdf, parses the graph, and — when the External Ontology node supplies a predicate-to-component map — resolves each mapped predicate's value against the matching component.

When to use it

  • A record holds an external LOD IRI and you want that resource's RDF graph fetched and mapped.
  • The section's IRI component is paired with an External Ontology that describes the vocabulary.

When NOT to use it:

  • For bulk file loads, use the file-based importers: CSV import, MARC21 import, or Zotero import. This tool resolves one IRI at a time from a live remote graph.
  • To import a Zotero RDF/XML export — even though it shares the same parser — use Zotero import, which is built to write records.

Where to find it

The tool is component-level: it renders as an Import RDF button inline on a configured component_iri field, in edit mode, on records whose tipo matches the tool's configuration. It does not appear on section toolbars or the inspector — only next to the IRI field it is wired to.

Using it, step by step

  1. Make sure the record's IRI component holds a valid external IRI for a vocabulary that has been described in the ontology.
  2. Open the record in edit mode and find the Import RDF button next to the IRI field.
  3. Pick the IRI value with the radio button (a component can hold several IRIs).
  4. Choose a default language for literals that arrive without a language tag.
  5. Click OK. The tool fetches the resource's RDF/XML, parses the graph, and — when a map is configured — resolves the mapped predicates. The parent section refreshes so any resulting data shows.

Tips and gotchas

The fetch returns a mapped graph; it does not write by itself

This tool reads a remote graph and returns the parsed (and, when a map is supplied, mapped) subjects. It performs no database write of its own — matching that has a read-only permission. Applying the fetched values into the record is a separate step handled by the surrounding save path, which carries its own write gate.

Only outbound web IRIs are fetched

For safety the tool only fetches ordinary http/https IRIs. It refuses loopback, private-network and cloud-metadata addresses, so an IRI that does not point at a public web resource will not resolve.

The mapping is flat — no automatic enrichment

A predicate maps straight to one component. There is no built-in date parsing, geolocation handling, or automatic search-or-create of a related record (mint, authority, denomination) from the graph, and no class-hierarchy walk that derives the mapping from the resource's rdf:type. The External Ontology must name each predicate-to-component pair explicitly; anything beyond that is work you do on top of the returned data.