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data flow

Data flows provide versionable data storage functionality within the semantic mesh architecture.

Overview

A data flow (sometimes called a payload flow) is a series of RDF graphs that carry the actual statements about a node’s referent. Whether the node represents a dataset, a person, a character, or any other entity, its data flow is where those facts live. Each data flow has snapshots (_current/, _next/, _vN/) that track its evolution over time.

Data flows are distinct from metadata flows, which are managed by the platform and describe the mesh resource itself; and configuration flows, which govern behavior.

Purpose

data flows serve as the primary content containers for mesh nodes, providing:

  • Content Storage: Hold the actual data payload that defines the node's content
  • History: Support multiple versions (snapshots) of the same conceptual dataset
  • Format Diversity: Provide multiple format distributions (TTL, JSON-LD, etc.)
  • State Management: Track current, draft, and versioned states of data

Structure

Data flows organize content through flow snapshots:

  • _current/ - Current stable version of the dataset
  • _next/ - Draft/work-in-progress version
  • _v1/, _v2/, etc. - Versioned snapshots for historical access

Like all folder resource facet, they should contain an index.html mesh resource page -- a human-readable description for the flow.

Distribution Formats

Each flow snapshot typically provides multiple format distributions:

  • Trig (.trig): Primary RDF serialization
  • JSON-LD (.jsonld): JSON-compatible linked data
  • RDF/XML (.xml or .trix): XML-based RDF serialization
  • N-Quads (.nq): Line-based RDF format

Example

From the semantic mesh example:

/test-ns/djradon-bio/_data-flow          # data flow
├── _current/                        # current snapshot
│   ├── djradon-bio.ttl             # turtle distribution
│   ├── djradon-bio.jsonld          # json-ld distribution
│   └── index.html                  # snapshot interface
├── _next/                          # draft snapshot
│   ├── djradon-bio.ttl             # draft turtle
│   ├── djradon-bio.jsonld          # draft json-ld
│   └── index.html                  # snapshot interface
└── index.html                      # resource page

Integration

data flows integrate with other mesh components:

  • metadata flows: Provide provenance and management data
  • Asset Trees: Store associated files and media
  • Resource Pages: Provide human-readable interfaces
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