Timbr is SQL-native, not RDF-native. It implements the capabilities of semantic-web ontologies – concepts, relationships, hierarchies, inheritance, and run-time inference – in standard SQL, specifically so customers don’t have to adopt triplestores or SPARQL. SQL Ontologies use standard SQL to implement the key capabilities of Semantic Web ontologies, eliminating the need to add database infrastructure, move data, or run ETL into RDF triples.
They interoperate with the semantic-web stack through two bridges, rather than being built on it:
- OWL import – import OWL ontologies, including classes, properties, hierarchies, and restrictions, and transform them into SQL-native semantic models with no data duplication.
- RDF materialization – define the model once in standard SQL and materialize it into RDF/OWL triples, compatible with Protégé, TopBraid, any triplestore, SHACL validators, and reasoning engines.
In short: standards-compatible (RDF/RDFS/OWL via import and materialization), but queried and governed in SQL.
Hierarchies: Timbr supports multi-level hierarchies, transitive inheritance and multiple inheritance. A concept can inherit from more than one parent where this is semantically valid. It is therefore not limited to the shallow dimension hierarchies associated with some traditional BI semantic layers. In practice, hierarchy design should still be governed for clarity and maintainability.
