<h1 id="reference-flow">reference flow<a aria-hidden="true" class="anchor-heading icon-link" href="#reference-flow"></a></h1>
<h2 id="definition">Definition<a aria-hidden="true" class="anchor-heading icon-link" href="#definition"></a></h2>
A reference flow is a dataset series within a mesh node that provides information about the referent of the node — i.e., the thing in the world that the node stands for.
Purpose
<ul>
<li>To describe what the node refers to, i.e., its referent (person, place, concept, event, dataset, etc.).</li>
<li>To supply labels and alternative identifiers for the referent.</li>
<li>To refer to other descriptive data about the referent.</li>
</ul>
<h2 id="typical-contents">Typical Contents<a aria-hidden="true" class="anchor-heading icon-link" href="#typical-contents"></a></h2>
<ul>
<li><code>rdfs:label</code> (human-readable name of the referent).</li>
<li><code>rdf:type</code> (classifying what kind of thing the referent is).</li>
<li>Optional identifiers (sameAs links, external URIs).</li>
</ul>
<h2 id="example-snapshot-distribution">Example Snapshot Distribution<a aria-hidden="true" class="anchor-heading icon-link" href="#example-snapshot-distribution"></a></h2>
<pre class="language-trig"><code class="language-trig"># The referent of the node (the actual person)
&#x3C;djradon>
 rdf:type foaf:Person ;
 rdfs:label "dj radon" ;
 foaf:mbox &#x3C;mailto:djradon@example.org> ;
</code></pre>
<hr>
Backlinks
<ul>
<li><a href="/sflo/notes/iorxcnsnmhl0hw3ki8w3h2z">Referent</a></li>
<li><a href="/sflo/notes/obufq0awwxl3d913va37i3a">_ref-flow folder</a></li>
<li><a href="/sflo/notes/6ki4upsdymjb9vy82oec2cf">dataset facet</a></li>
<li><a href="/sflo/notes/node-flow">node flow</a></li>
<li><a href="/sflo/notes/0n1lq6aq1gskj46bpcx9h4h">snapshot distribution</a></li>
</ul>

reference flow

sflo


**Dereferenceable, versioned semantic meshes** will be the foundation for a new era of knowledge graphs.

[[now]] | [[todo]] | [[principle]] | [[dev.contributor.djradon.dev-log]]

## What Is Semantic Flow?

**Semantic Flow** is a framework for managing and publishing resource identifiers, knowledge graphs and other semantic data by leveraging GitHub, Gitlab, and other free static hosting services. It enables a **dereferenceable Semantic Web** where every HTTP IRI returns meaningful content.

[[concept.mesh-repo]] provide storage, [[concept.mesh]] provide resource management and publishing, and [[concept.semantic-site]] support data discovery and explainability.

## Benefits

- own your own self-describing data and data schemas
- complete version history when you want it
- reliable persistence
- truly FAIR (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, and Reusable)

## Features

- seamlessly integrate other data sources anywhere in your mesh
- generate and customize mini-sites or single-page applications for nodes in your mesh
- see [[feature]] for a list of planned features
