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Creating and Editing Values

Creating a Value

To create a value in an existing resource, use this route:

HTTP POST to http://host/v2/values

The body of the request is a JSON-LD document in the complex API schema, specifying the resource's IRI and type, the resource property, and the content of the value. The representation of the value is the same as when it is returned in a GET request, except that its IRI and knora-api:attachedToUser are not given. For example, to create an integer value:

{
  "@id": "http://rdfh.ch/0001/a-thing",
  "@type": "anything:Thing",
  "anything:hasInteger": {
    "@type": "knora-api:IntValue",
    "knora-api:intValueAsInt": 4
  },
  "@context": {
    "knora-api": "http://api.knora.org/ontology/knora-api/v2#",
    "anything": "http://0.0.0.0:3333/ontology/0001/anything/v2#"
  }
}

Each value can have a comment, given in knora-api:valueHasComment. For example:

{
  "@id": "http://rdfh.ch/0001/a-thing",
  "@type": "anything:Thing",
  "anything:hasInteger": {
    "@type": "knora-api:IntValue",
    "knora-api:intValueAsInt": 4,
    "knora-api:valueHasComment": "This is a comment."
  },
  "@context": {
    "knora-api": "http://api.knora.org/ontology/knora-api/v2#",
    "anything": "http://0.0.0.0:3333/ontology/0001/anything/v2#"
  }
}

Permissions for the new value can be given by adding knora-api:hasPermissions. For example:

{
  "@id": "http://rdfh.ch/0001/a-thing",
  "@type": "anything:Thing",
  "anything:hasInteger": {
    "@type": "knora-api:IntValue",
    "knora-api:intValueAsInt": 4,
    "knora-api:hasPermissions": "CR knora-admin:Creator|V http://rdfh.ch/groups/0001/thing-searcher"
  },
  "@context": {
    "knora-api": "http://api.knora.org/ontology/knora-api/v2#",
    "anything": "http://0.0.0.0:3333/ontology/0001/anything/v2#"
  }
}

Each value can have an optional custom IRI (of Knora IRI form) specified by the @id attribute, a custom creation date specified by adding knora-api:valueCreationDate (an xsd:dateTimeStamp), or a custom UUID given by knora-api:valueHasUUID. Each custom UUID must be base64url-encoded, without padding. If a custom UUID is provided, it will be used in value IRI. If a custom IRI is given for the value, its UUID should match the given custom UUID. If a custom IRI is provided, but there is no custom UUID provided, then the UUID given in the IRI will be assigned to the knora-api:valueHasUUID. A custom value IRI must be the IRI of the containing resource, followed by a /values/ and a custom ID string. For example:

{
  "@id": "http://rdfh.ch/0001/a-thing",
  "@type": "anything:Thing",
  "anything:hasInteger": {
    "@id": "http://rdfh.ch/0001/a-thing/values/IN4R19yYR0ygi3K2VEHpUQ",
    "@type": "knora-api:IntValue",
    "knora-api:intValueAsInt": 21,
    "knora-api:valueHasUUID": "IN4R19yYR0ygi3K2VEHpUQ",
    "knora-api:valueCreationDate": {
      "@type": "xsd:dateTimeStamp",
      "@value": "2020-06-04T12:58:54.502951Z"
    }
  },
  "@context": {
    "knora-api": "http://api.knora.org/ontology/knora-api/v2#",
    "anything": "http://0.0.0.0:3333/ontology/0001/anything/v2#",
    "xsd": "http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#"
  }
}

The format of the object of knora-api:hasPermissions is described in Permissions.

If permissions are not given, configurable default permissions are used (see Default Object Access Permissions ).

To create a value, the user must have modify permission on the containing resource.

The response is a JSON-LD document containing:

  • @id: the IRI of the value that was created.
  • @type: the value's type.
  • knora-api:valueHasUUID, the value's UUID, which remains stable across value versions (except for link values, as explained below).

To create a link, you must create a knora-api:LinkValue, which represents metadata about the link. The property that connects the resource to the LinkValue is a link value property, whose name is constructed by adding Value to the name of the link property (see Links Between Resources). The triple representing the direct link between the resources is created automatically. For example, if the link property that should connect the resources is anything:hasOtherThing, we can create a link like this:

{
  "@id": "http://rdfh.ch/0001/a-thing",
  "@type": "anything:Thing",
  "anything:hasOtherThingValue": {
    "@type": "knora-api:LinkValue",
    "knora-api:linkValueHasTargetIri": {
      "@id": "http://rdfh.ch/0001/tPfZeNMvRVujCQqbIbvO0A"
    }
  },
  "@context": {
    "xsd": "http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#",
    "knora-api": "http://api.knora.org/ontology/knora-api/v2#",
    "anything": "http://0.0.0.0:3333/ontology/0001/anything/v2#"
  }
}

As with ordinary values, permissions on links can be specified by adding knora-api:hasPermissions.

The response is a JSON-LD document containing:

  • @id: the IRI of the value that was created.
  • @type: the value's type.
  • knora-api:valueHasUUID, the value's UUID, which remains stable across value versions, unless the link is changed to point to a different resource, in which case it is considered a new link and gets a new UUID. Changing a link's metadata, without changing its target, creates a new version of the link value with the same UUID.

Creating a Text Value Without Standoff Markup

Use the predicate knora-api:valueAsString of knora-api:TextValue:

{
  "@id": "http://rdfh.ch/0001/a-thing",
  "@type": "anything:Thing",
  "anything:hasText": {
    "@type": "knora-api:TextValue",
    "knora-api:valueAsString": "This is a text without markup."
  },
  "@context": {
    "knora-api": "http://api.knora.org/ontology/knora-api/v2#",
    "anything": "http://0.0.0.0:3333/ontology/0001/anything/v2#"
  }
}

Creating a Text Value with Standoff Markup

Currently, the only way to create a text value with standoff markup is to submit it in XML format using an XML-to-standoff mapping. See here for more detials.

Creating a Text Value with Standard Mapping

To create a value with the standard mapping (http://rdfh.ch/standoff/mappings/StandardMapping), we can make an XML document like this:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<text>
    This text links to another <a class="salsah-link" href="http://rdfh.ch/0001/another-thing">resource</a>.
</text>

This document can then be embedded in a JSON-LD request, using the predicate knora-api:textValueAsXml:

{
  "@id": "http://rdfh.ch/0001/a-thing",
  "@type": "anything:Thing",
  "anything:hasText": {
    "@type": "knora-api:TextValue",
    "knora-api:textValueAsXml": "<?xml version=\"1.0\" encoding=\"UTF-8\"?>\n<text>\n   This text links to another <a class=\"salsah-link\" href=\"http://rdfh.ch/0001/another-thing\">resource</a>.\n</text>",
    "knora-api:textValueHasMapping": {
      "@id": "http://rdfh.ch/standoff/mappings/StandardMapping"
    }
  },
  "@context": {
    "knora-api": "http://api.knora.org/ontology/knora-api/v2#",
    "anything": "http://0.0.0.0:3333/ontology/0001/anything/v2#"
  }
}

Note that quotation marks and line breaks in the XML must be escaped, and that the IRI of the mapping must be provided.

Creating a Text Value with a Custom Mapping

To create a text value with custom mapping, the following steps are required:

  1. Optionally, an XSL transformation resource (kb:XSLTransformation) can be created that may be defined as the default transformation of the mapping.
  2. The mapping resource (kb:XMLToStandoffMapping) must be created, if it does not already exist.
  3. The text value can be created as in the example above, using the mapping resource IRI in kb:textValueHasMapping.

The kb:XSLTransformation resource is a subclass of kb:TextRepresentation, so it has a kb:hasTextFileValue pointing to a kb:TextFileValue which represents the XSLT file stored in SIPI. For more Details, see Creating File Values.

The kb:XMLToStandoffMapping resource requires the mapping XML as specified here. If an XSL transformation has been defined, the IRI the transformation can be placed in the <defaultXSLTransformation> tag of the mapping XML.

If a mapping has been defined, then requesting the text value will return both the kb:textValueAsXml and the kb:textValueAsHtml properties, where the XML can be used for editing the value, while the HTML can be used to display it. If no mapping has been defined, only kb:textValueAsXml can be returned.

Creating File Values

Knora supports the storage of certain types of data as files, using Sipi (see FileValue). DSP-API v2 currently supports using Sipi to store the following types of files:

  • Images: JPEG, JPEG2000, TIFF, or PNG which are stored internally as JPEG2000
  • Documents: PDF
  • Audio: MPEG or Waveform audio file format (.wav, .x-wav, .vnd.wave)
  • Text files: CSV, ODD, RNG, TXT, XLS, XLSX, XML, XSD, XSL
  • Video files: MP4
  • Archive files: ZIP, TAR, GZIP

Support for other types of files will be added in the future.

The following sections describe the steps for creating a file value.

Upload Files to Sipi

The first step is to upload one or more files to Sipi, using a multipart/form-data request, where sipihost represents the host and port on which Sipi is running:

HTTP POST to http://sipihost/upload?token=TOKEN

The token parameter must provide the JSON Web Token that Knora returned when the client logged in. Each body part in the request must contain a parameter filename, providing the file's original filename, which both Knora and Sipi will store; these filenames can be descriptive and need not be unique.

Sipi stores the file in a temporary location. If the file is an image, it is converted first to JPEG2000 format, and the converted file is stored.

Sipi then returns a JSON response that looks something like this:

{
  "uploadedFiles": [
    {
      "originalFilename": "manuscript-1234-page-1.tiff",
      "internalFilename": "3UIsXH9bP0j-BV0D4sN51Xz.jp2",
      "temporaryBaseIIIFUrl": "http://sipihost/tmp"
    },
    {
      "originalFilename": "manuscript-1234-page-2.tiff",
      "internalFilename": "2RvJgguglpe-B45EOk0Gx8H.jp2",
      "temporaryBaseIIIFUrl": "http://sipihost/tmp"
    }
  ]
}

In this example, we uploaded two files to Sipi, so uploadedFiles is an array with two elements. For each file, we have:

  • the originalFilename, which we submitted when uploading the file
  • the unique internalFilename that Sipi has randomly generated for the file
  • the temporaryBaseIIIFUrl, which we can use to construct a IIIF URL for previewing the file

In the case of an image file, the client may now wish to get a thumbnail of each uploaded image, to allow the user to confirm that the correct files have been uploaded. This can be done by adding IIIF parameters to temporaryBaseIIIFUrl. For example, to get a JPG thumbnail image that is 150 pixels wide, you would add /full/150,/0/default.jpg.

Submit A File Value to Knora

A Knora Representation (i.e. a resource containing information about a file) must always have exactly one file value attached to it. (see Representations). Therefore, a request to create a new file value must always be submitted as part of a request to create a new resource (see Creating a Resource). You can also update a file value in an existing Representation; see Updating a Value.

Instead of providing the file's complete metadata to Knora, you just provide the unique internal filename generated by Sipi. Here is an example of a request to create a resource of class anything:ThingPicture, which is a subclass of knora-api:StillImageRepresentation and therefore has the property knora-api:hasStillImageFileValue:

{
  "@type": "anything:ThingPicture",
  "knora-api:hasStillImageFileValue": {
    "@type": "knora-api:StillImageFileValue",
    "knora-api:fileValueHasFilename": "3UIsXH9bP0j-BV0D4sN51Xz.jp2"
  },
  "knora-api:attachedToProject": {
    "@id": "http://rdfh.ch/projects/0001"
  },
  "rdfs:label": "test thing",
  "@context": {
    "rdf": "http://www.w3.org/1999/02/22-rdf-syntax-ns#",
    "knora-api": "http://api.knora.org/ontology/knora-api/v2#",
    "rdfs": "http://www.w3.org/2000/01/rdf-schema#",
    "xsd": "http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#",
    "anything": "http://0.0.0.0:3333/ontology/0001/anything/v2#"
  }
}

Knora then gets the rest of the file's metadata from Sipi. If the client's request to Knora is valid, Knora saves the file value in the triplestore and instructs Sipi to move the file to permanent storage. Otherwise, the temporary file that was stored by Sipi is deleted.

If you're submitting a PDF document, use the resource class knora-api:DocumentRepresentation, which has the property knora-api:hasDocumentFileValue, pointing to a knora-api:DocumentFileValue.

For a text file, use knora-api:TextRepresentation, which has the property knora-api:hasTextFileValue, pointing to a knora-api:TextFileValue.

For an archive like zip, use knora-api:ArchiveRepresentation, which has the property knora-api:hasArchiveFileValue, pointing to a knora-api:ArchiveFileValue.

Updating a Value

To update a value, use this route:

HTTP PUT to http://host/v2/values

Updating a value means creating a new version of an existing value. The new version will have a different IRI. The request is the same as for creating a value, except that the @id of the current value version is given. For example, to update an integer value:

{
  "@id": "http://rdfh.ch/0001/a-thing",
  "@type": "anything:Thing",
  "anything:hasInteger": {
    "@id": "http://rdfh.ch/0001/a-thing/values/vp96riPIRnmQcbMhgpv_Rg",
    "@type": "knora-api:IntValue",
    "knora-api:intValueAsInt": 5
  },
  "@context": {
    "knora-api": "http://api.knora.org/ontology/knora-api/v2#",
    "anything": "http://0.0.0.0:3333/ontology/0001/anything/v2#"
  }
}

The value can be given a comment by using knora-api:valueHasComment. To change only the comment of a value, you can resubmit the existing value with the updated comment.

Permissions can be specified by adding knora-api:hasPermissions. Otherwise, the new version has the same permissions as the previous one. To change the permissions on a value, the user must have change rights permission on the value.

To update only the permissions on a value, submit it with the new permissions and with its @id and @type but without any other content, like this:

{
  "@id": "http://rdfh.ch/0001/a-thing",
  "@type": "anything:Thing",
  "anything:hasInteger": {
    "@id": "http://rdfh.ch/0001/a-thing/values/vp96riPIRnmQcbMhgpv_Rg",
    "@type": "knora-api:IntValue",
    "knora-api:hasPermissions": "CR knora-admin:Creator|V knora-admin:KnownUser"
  },
  "@context": {
    "knora-api": "http://api.knora.org/ontology/knora-api/v2#",
    "anything": "http://0.0.0.0:3333/ontology/0001/anything/v2#"
  }
}

To update a link, the user must have modify permission on the containing resource as well as on the value.

To update a value and give it a custom timestamp, add knora-api:valueCreationDate (an xsd:dateTimeStamp).

To update a value and give the new version a custom IRI, add knora-api:newValueVersionIri, like this:

{
  "@id": "http://rdfh.ch/0001/a-thing",
  "@type": "anything:Thing",
  "anything:hasInteger": {
    "@id": "http://rdfh.ch/0001/a-thing/values/vp96riPIRnmQcbMhgpv_Rg",
    "@type": "knora-api:IntValue",
    "knora-api:intValueAsInt": 21,
    "knora-api:newValueVersionIri": {
      "@id": "http://rdfh.ch/0001/a-thing/values/int-value-IRI"
    }
  },
  "@context": {
    "knora-api": "http://api.knora.org/ontology/knora-api/v2#",
    "anything": "http://0.0.0.0:3333/ontology/0001/anything/v2#"
  }
}

A custom value IRI must be the IRI of the containing resource, followed by a /values/ and a custom ID string.

The response is a JSON-LD document containing only @id and @type, returning the IRI and type of the new value version.

If you submit an outdated value ID in a request to update a value, the response will be an HTTP 404 (Not Found) error.

The response to a value update request contains:

  • @id: the IRI of the value that was created.
  • @type: the value's type.
  • knora-api:valueHasUUID, the value's UUID, which remains stable across value versions, unless the value is a link value and is changed to point to a different resource, in which case it is considered a new link and gets a new UUID.

Deleting a Value

Knora does not normally delete values; instead, it marks them as deleted, which means that they do not appear in normal query results.

To mark a value as deleted, use this route:

HTTP POST to http://host/v2/values/delete

The request must include the resource's ID and type, the property that points from the resource to the value, and the value's ID and type. For example:

{
  "@id": "http://rdfh.ch/0001/a-thing",
  "@type": "anything:Thing",
  "anything:hasInteger": {
    "@id": "http://rdfh.ch/0001/a-thing/values/vp96riPIRnmQcbMhgpv_Rg",
    "@type": "knora-api:IntValue",
    "knora-api:deleteComment": "This value was created by mistake."
  },
  "@context": {
    "knora-api": "http://api.knora.org/ontology/knora-api/v2#",
    "anything": "http://0.0.0.0:3333/ontology/0001/anything/v2#"
  }
}

The optional property knora-api:deleteComment specifies a comment to be attached to the value, explaining why it has been marked as deleted

The optional property knora-api:deleteDate (an xsd:dateTimeStamp) specifies a custom timestamp indicating when the value was deleted. If not specified, the current time is used.

The response is a JSON-LD document containing the predicate knora-api:result with a confirmation message.

Requesting Deleted Values

Values marked as deleted are not found in search queries. But when requesting a resource that has deleted values, these will show up as generic knora-api:DeletedValue values. This value will be similar to the deleted value, having e.g. the same IRI. The DeletedValue will contain the deletion date and optionally the deletion comment.

The response to requesting a deleted resource will look as the following example:

{
  "knora-api:DeletedValue": [
    {
      "knora-api:versionArkUrl": {
        "@value": "http://0.0.0.0:3336/ark:/72163/1/0001/a=thingO/sWSymIzAS_qXqyHLhwbwwAU.20211216T18193124797Z",
        "@type": "xsd:anyURI"
      },
      "knora-api:userHasPermission": "RV",
      "knora-api:valueCreationDate": {
        "@value": "2021-12-16T18:19:31.247970Z",
        "@type": "xsd:dateTimeStamp"
      },
      "knora-api:deleteDate": {
        "@type": "xsd:dateTimeStamp",
        "@value": "2021-12-16T18:20:02.550828Z"
      },
      "knora-api:attachedToUser": {
        "@id": "http://rdfh.ch/users/9XBCrDV3SRa7kS1WwynB4Q"
      },
      "knora-api:valueHasUUID": "sWSymIzAS_qXqyHLhwbwwA",
      "knora-api:hasPermissions": "CR knora-admin:Creator|M knora-admin:ProjectMember|V knora-admin:KnownUser|RV knora-admin:UnknownUser",
      "knora-api:isDeleted": true,
      "@type": "knora-api:DeletedValue",
      "http://www.knora.org/ontology/knora-base#DeletedValue": "DeletedValue",
      "@id": "http://rdfh.ch/0001/a-thing/values/DrXts3Up3DijGriI403nhg",
      "knora-api:deleteComment": "This value is obsolete",
      "knora-api:arkUrl": {
        "@value": "http://0.0.0.0:3336/ark:/72163/1/0001/a=thingO/sWSymIzAS_qXqyHLhwbwwAU",
        "@type": "xsd:anyURI"
      }
    },
    {}
  ]
}
Last update: August 21, 2023