Das DCAT-Anwendungsprofil für Datenportale in der Schweiz (DCAT-AP CH) ist ein Anwendungsprofil des Data Catalog Vocabulary [[VOCAB-DCAT]] und dient zur Beschreibung der in Schweizer Datenportalen (z.B. opendata.swiss) verzeichneten Daten. Seine Zielgruppe sind die Betreiber von Datenportalen in der Schweiz (gemäss DCAT Terminologie “Data Receivers”) und die Anbieter dieser Daten, welche Datenkataloge führen (gemäss DCAT Terminologie “Data Sender").

Datenportale stellen in der Regel nicht die Daten selbst bereit, sondern nur Metadaten zu den Daten. Diese dienen dem Zweck, die Daten auffindbar und wiederverwendbar zu machen. So fokussiert DCAT-AP CH primär auf die Beschreibung von Metadaten.

DCAT-AP CH soll ebenfalls die Kompatibilität mit dem Anwendungsprofil für Datenportale in Europa (DCAT-AP) sicherstellen. Denn dies mit der Version 1 nicht mehr gegeben war, wurde im Rahmen der eCH-Fachgruppe “Open Government Data” die vorliegende Version 2 definiert, welche die höchstmögliche Kompatibilität mit [[DCAT-AP]] (aktuelle Version 2.1.0) sicherstellt.

Einleitung

Status des Dokuments

In Arbeit: Der Gebrauch ist nur innerhalb der Fachgruppe, bzw. im Expertenausschuss zugelassen.

Entwurf: Das Dokument wurde von den zuständigen Referenten aus dem Expertenausschuss zur öffentlichen Konsultation freigegeben und entsprechend publiziert.

Vorschlag: Das Dokument wird dem Expertenausschuss zur Genehmigung TT-MM-JJJJ vorgelegt, ist aber normativ noch nicht gültig.

Genehmigt: Das Dokument wurde vom Expertenausschuss genehmigt. Es hat für das definierte Einsatzgebiet im festgelegten Gültigkeitsbereich normative Kraft.

Abgelöst: Das Dokument wurde durch eine neue, aktuellere Version ersetzt. Die Benutzung ist zwar noch möglich, es wird aber empfohlen, die neuere Version einzusetzen.

Aufgehoben: Das Dokument wurde von eCH zurückgezogen. Er darf nicht mehr genutzt werden.

Sistiert: Das Dokument wurde von eCH zurückgezogen. Es darf nicht genutzt werden. Es hat den Status «Genehmigt» nicht erreicht.

Area of application

The DCAT Application Profile for data portals in Switzerland (DCAT-AP CH) is an Application Profile of the DCAT vocabulary and a Subprofile of the European Application Profile DCAT-AP.

It should be always kept in mind that both DCAT-AP CH and DCAT-AP primarily focus on metadata. Metadata is by definition secondary information on the data: when and by whom were they published, which usage conditions apply, how often are they updated, whom to contact about them and where and how can they be accessed.

Überblick der Änderungen gegenüber v1

The main focus of the eCH Expert Group by the creation of DCAT-AP CH v2 was to ensure the compatibility to DCAT-AP.

DCAT-AP CH: Building Blocks

DCAT as a universal vocabulary

The Application Profile specified in this document is based on the specification of the Data Catalog Vocabulary (DCAT) developed under the responsibility of the Government Linked Data Working Group at W3C. DCAT is an RDF vocabulary designed to facilitate interoperability between data catalogues published on the Web. Additional classes and properties from other well-known vocabularies are re-used where necessary.

The DCAT vocabulary consists of classes and properties.

Classes and properties are used to deliver the metadata in a structured way.

The core structure of DCAT-AP CH v2 replicates the core structure of DCAT-AP

Being a Subprofile of DCAT-AP, DCAT-AP CH replicates its core structure and concepts.

Classes

The Swiss Application Profile (“DCAT-AP CH”) as well as the European Application Profile (“DCAT-AP”) are structured around the following main 4 classes:

Class name Usage note for the Application Profile URI and Reference
Catalog A catalogue or repository that hosts the Datasets or Data Services being described. dcat:Catalog
Dataset A conceptual entity that represents the information published. dcat:Dataset
Distribution A physical embodiment of the Dataset in a particular format. dcat:Distribution
Data Service A collection of operations that provides access to one or more datasets or data processing functions. dcat:DataService

Note that in the previous versions of DCAT-AP and DCAT-AP CH, classes were categorised to be mandatory, recommended and optional, like it’s currently the case for properties. This categorisation has been removed in favour of the above overview and guidelines to create a common expectation for DCAT-AP catalogues.

To improve the coherency by the description of shared Dataset, Distribution and the new introduced class Data Services, DCAT-AP provided guidelines on their usage: [[DCAT-AP-USAGEGUIDE]].

classDiagram Catalog --> Dataset : dcat:dataset Catalog --> DataService : dcat:service DataService --> Dataset : dcat:servesDataset Dataset --> Distribution : dcat:distribution Distribution --> DataService : dcat:accessService class Catalog { Mandatory: - dct:description - dct:publisher - dct:title Recommended: - dcat:dataset - foaf:homepage - dct:language - dct:license - dct:issued - dct:rights - dcat:service - dct:spatial - dcat:themeTaxonomy - dct:modified } class DataService { Mandatory: - dcat:endpointURL - dcat:contactPoint - dct:publisher - dct:title Recommended: - dct:endpointDescription - dct:license - dcat:servesDataset } class Dataset { Mandatory: - dcat:contactPoint - dct:description - dct:identifier - dct:publisher - dct:title Recommended: - dcat:distribution - dct:keyword - dcat:landingPage - dct:issued - dct:spatial - dct:temporal - dcat:theme - dct:modified } class Distribution { Mandatory: - dct:accessURL - dct:license Recommended: - dctap:avaliability - dct:description - dct:format - dct:rights - dct:title - dct:modified Optional - dcat:accessService }

Requirement levels

DCAT-AP CH defines four requirement levels for data receivers and senders:

  • Mandatory property: a receiver MUST be able to process the information for that property; a sender MUST provide the information for that property.
  • Recommended property: a receiver MUST be able to process the information for that property; a sender SHOULD provide the information for that property if it is available.
  • Optional property: a receiver MUST be able to process the information for that property; a sender MAY provide the information for that property but is not obliged to do so.
  • Deprecated property: a receiver SHOULD be able to process information about instances of that property; a sender SHOULD NOT provide the information about instances of that property.

The meaning of the terms MUST, MUST NOT, SHOULD and MAY in this section and in the following sections are as defined in RFC 2119.

In the given context, the term "processing" means that receivers MUST accept incoming data and transparently provide these data to applications and services. It does neither imply nor prescribe what applications and services finally do with the data (parse, convert, store, make searchable, display to users, etc.).

Controlled vocabularies of DCAT-AP CH v2

In the table below, a number of properties are listed with controlled vocabularies (CV) that MUST be used for the listed properties.

Where possible the same controlled vocabularies as DCAT-AP were utilized. However not every vocabulary proposed by DCAT-AP is currently applied for DCAT-AP CH v2. In some cases, the eCH-Expert Group is still evaluating the application of the proposed vocabulary, while in other cases the eCH-Expert Group decided to evaluate the introduction of a new, Swiss-specific vocabulary. In particular for the property dct:publisher, which refers to an entity (organisation) responsible for making a Catalogue, a Dataset or a Data Service available, a CV is still being discussed within the eCH-Expert Group “Open Government Data” - its introduction will be evaluated for the next iterations of this standard eCH-0200.

Property URI Used for Class URI Usage note
dcatap:availability Distribution [[VOCAB-EU-AVAILABLITY]] The list of terms for the availability levels of a dataset distribution in the DCAT-AP specification.
dct:accessRights Dataset, Data Service [[VOCAB-EU-ACCESS-RIGHT]] Use one of the following values (:public, :restricted, :non-public).
dct:accrualPeriodicity Dataset [[VOCAB-EU-FREQUENCY]]
dct:format Distribution [[VOCAB-EU-FILE-TYPE]]
dct:language Catalog, Dataset, Catalog Record, Distribution [[VOCAB-EU-LANGUAGE]]
dct:license Distribution [[VOCAB-CH-LICENSE]] Within the federal level only the “Terms of use opendata.swiss are applicable”
dcat:mediaType Distribution [[IANA-MEDIA-TYPES]]
dct:spatial Catalog, Dataset [[VOCAB-EU-CONTINENT]], [[VOCAB-EU-COUNTRY]], [[VOCAB-EU-PLACE]], [[GEONAMES]]
dcat:theme Dataset [[VOCAB-EU-THEME]] The values to be used for this property are the URIs of the concepts in the vocabulary. A possible (non-normative) “mapping” to the current themes on opendata.swiss is proposed here: [[VOCAB-CH-THEME]]
dcat:themeTaxonomy Catalog [[VOCAB-EU-THEME]] The value to be used for this property is the URI of the vocabulary itself, i.e. the concept scheme, not the URIs of the concepts in the vocabulary.

Multilingualism

Switzerland is a multilingual country. Therefore, supporting multiple languages is particularly important. For this reason, DCAT-AP CH defines guidelines regarding the content and the technical publication of this content in different languages.

In terms of content:

From a technical perspective multilingualism SHOULD be handled as follows:

The table lists multilingual properties of DCAT-AP CH and the translation strategies that apply to them:

Property RDF property Range Multilingual Support
Catalog title dct:title rdfs:Literal Language encoded string
Catalog description dct:description rdfs:Literal Language encoded string
Dataset title dct:title rdfs:Literal Language encoded string
Dataset description dct:description rdfs:Literal Language encoded string
Dataset keyword dcat:keyword rdfs:Literal Language encoded string
Catalog homepage foaf:homepage foaf:Document Content negotiation
Dataset landing Page dcat:landingPage foaf:Document Content negotiation
Catalog publisher dct:publisher foaf:Agent Content negotiation for the URI and language encoded string for the name
Dataset publisher dct:publisher foaf:Agent Content negotiation for the URI and language encoded string for the name

DCAT-AP-CH: Properties per Class

Notation

Class: Catalog

A Catalogue or repository that hosts the Datasets or Data Services being described.

DCAT-AP CH allows Catalogues of only Datasets, but also Catalogues of only Data Services, but usually it will be a mixture of both.

Property URI Range ReqLevel Card
description dct:description rdfs:Literal M 1..n
publisher dct:publisher foaf:Agent M 1..1
Title dct:title rdfs:Literal M 1..n
dataset dcat:dataset dcat:Dataset R 0..n
homepage foaf:homepage foaf:Document R 0..1
language dct:language dct:LinguisticSystem R 0..n
license dct:license dct:LicenseDocument R 0..1
release date dct:issued rdfs:Literal (typed as as xsd:date, xsd:dateTime, xsd:gYear or xsd:gYearMonth) R 0..1
Rights dct:rights dct:RightsStatement R 0..1
service dcat:service dcat:DataService R 0..n
spatial /geographic dct:spatial dct:Location R 0..n
themes dcat:themeTaxonomy skos:ConceptScheme R 0..n
update/ modification date dct:modified rdfs:Literal (typed as as xsd:date, xsd:dateTime, xsd:gYear or xsd:gYearMonth) R 0..1
Manadatory Properties

Property: description

Property description
Requirement level Mandatory
Cardinality 1..n
URI dct:description
Range rdfs:Literal
Definition Free-text description of the catalog (in the language indicated in the attribute).
Usage Note
  • This property contains a free-text account of the data Catalogue (in the language indicated in the attribute).
  • This property can be repeated for parallel language versions of the description (see ).

Property: publisher

Property publisher
Requirement level Mandatory
Cardinality 1..1
URI dct:publisher
Range foaf:Agent
Definition Entity responsible for making the catalog available.
Usage Note
  • This property refers to an entity (organisation) responsible for making the Catalogue available.

Property: Title

Property Title
Requirement level Mandatory
Cardinality 1..n
URI dct:title
Range rdfs:Literal
Usage Note
  • The title of the catalogue in the indicated language
  • This property can be repeated for parallel language versions of the description (see )
Recommended Properties

Property: dataset

Property dataset
Requirement level Recommended
Cardinality 0..n
URI dcat:dataset
Range dcat:Dataset ()
Definition Dataset that is part of the catalog.
Usage Note
  • This property links the Catalogue with a Dataset that is part of the Catalogue.
  • As empty Catalogues are usually indications of problems, this property SHOULD be combined with the property service to implement an empty Catalogue check.

Property: homepage

Property homepage
Requirement level Recommended
Cardinality 0..1
URI foaf:homepage
Range foaf:Document
Usage Note
  • This property refers to a web page that acts as the main page for the Catalogue
  • For instance opendata.swiss, would be the homepage of the Swiss Catalogue exported to [[DATAPORTAL-EU]].

Property: language

Property language
Requirement level Recommended
Cardinality 0..n
URI dct:language
Range dct:LinguisticSystem
Usage Note
  • This property refers to a language used in the textual metadata describing titles, descriptions, etc. of the Datasets in the Catalogue.
  • The properties title and description of Catalogues, Datasets or Distribution can be provided in multiple languages. In that case, it makes sense to also list these languages on the Catalogue level.
  • CV to be used: [[VOCAB-EU-LANGUAGE]]

Property: license

Property license
Requirement level Recommended
Cardinality 0..1
URI dct:license
Range dct:LicenseDocument
Usage Note
  • This property refers to the licence under which the Catalogue can be used or reused.
  • CV to be used: [[VOCAB-CH-LICENSE]]

Property: release date

Property release date
Requirement level Recommended
Cardinality 0..1
URI dct:issued
Range rdfs:Literal (typed as as xsd:date, xsd:dateTime, xsd:gYear or xsd:gYearMonth)
Usage Note
  • This property contains the date of formal issuance (e.g., fir publication of the Catalogue).

Property: Rights

Property Rights
Requirement level Recommended
Cardinality 0..1
URI dct:rights
Range dct:RightsStatement
Usage Note
  • This property refers to a statement that specifies rights associated with the Catalogue.

Property: service

Property service
Requirement level Recommended
Cardinality 0..n
URI dcat:service
Range dcat:DataService ()
Usage Note
  • This property refers to a site or end-point (Data Service) that is listed in the Catalogue.
  • As empty Catalogues are usually indications of problems, this property SHOULD be combined with the property Dataset to implement an empty Catalogue check.

Property: spatial/ geographic

Property spatial/ geographic
Requirement level Recommended
Cardinality 0..n
URI dct:spatial
Range dct:Location
Usage Note
  • This property refers to a geographical area covered by the Catalogue.
  • CV to be used: The EU Vocabularies Name Authority Lists MUST be used for continents, countries and places that are in those lists; if a particular location is not in one of the mentioned Named Authority Lists, Geonames URIs MUST be used: [[VOCAB-EU-CONTINENT]], [[VOCAB-EU-COUNTRY]], [[VOCAB-EU-PLACE]], [[GEONAMES]]

Property: themes

Property themes
Requirement level Recommended
Cardinality 0..n
URI dcat:themeTaxonomy
Range

skos:ConceptScheme

Usage Note
  • This property refers to a knowledge organization system used to classify the Catalogue's Datasets.
  • CV to be used: http://publications.europa.eu/resource/dataset/data-theme

Property: update/ modification date

Property update/ modification date
Requirement level Recommended
Cardinality 0..1
URI dct:modified
Range rdfs:Literal (typed as as xsd:date, xsd:dateTime, xsd:gYear or xsd:gYearMonth)
Usage Note
  • This property contains the most recent date on which the Catalogue was modified.

Class: Dataset

A Dataset is a collection of data, published or curated by a single source and related by a common idea or concept. In contrast to a Data Service a Dataset is expected to be a collection of data that is available for access or download in one or more formats, as Distributions. Distributions belonging to the same Dataset should not differ in regards to the idea of the data that they represent. They may differ in regards to the physical representation of the data such as format or resolution. Or they may split the data of the dataset into portions of comparable size such as data per time period or location.

DCAT-AP provides guidelines about the usage of Data services and Distribution in relation to Datasets: [[DCAT-AP-USAGEGUIDE]].

Property URI Range ReqLevel Card
contact point dcat:contactPoint vcard:Kind M 1..n
description dct:description rdfs:Literal M 1..n
identifier dct:identifier rdfs:Literal M 1..n
publisher dct:publisher foaf:Agent M 1..1
Title dct:title rdfs:Literal M 1..n
dataset distribution dcat:distribution dcat:Distribution R 0..n
keyword/tag dcat:keyword rdfs:Literal R 0..n
landing page dcat:landingPage foaf:Document R 0..n
release date dct:issued rdfs:Literal (typed as as xsd:date, xsd:dateTime, xsd:gYear or xsd:gYearMonth) R 0..1
spatial/ geographical coverage dct:spatial dct:Location R 0..n
temporal coverage dct:temporal dct:PeriodOfTime R 0..n
theme/category dcat:theme skos:Concept R 0..n
update/ modification date dct:modified rdfs:Literal (typed as as xsd:date, xsd:dateTime, xsd:gYear or xsd:gYearMonth) R 0..1
access rights dct:accessRights dct:RightsStatement O 0..1
conforms to dct:conformsTo dct:Standard O 0..n
documentation foaf:page foaf:Document O 0..n
frequency dct:accrualPeriodicity dct:Frequency O 0..1
image schema:image schema:url or schema:ImageObject O 0..3
is referenced by dct:isReferencedBy rdfs:Resource O 0..n
language dct:language dct:LinguisticSystem O 0..n
qualified attribution prov:qualifiedAttribution prov:Attribution O 0..n
qualified relation dcat:qualifiedRelation dcat:Relationship O 0..n
related resource dct:relation rdfs:Resource O 0..n
Manadatory Properties

Property: contact point

Property contact point
Requirement level Mandatory
Cardinality 1..n
URI dcat:contactPoint
Range vcard:Kind
Usage Note
  • This property contains contact information that can be used for sending comments about the Dataset.
  • This property MUST contain an email address that is continuously monitored by the data publisher.
  • If there are several contributors involved in the publication of the Dataset, the property can be used multiple times.

Property: description

Property description
Requirement level Mandatory
Cardinality 1..n
URI dct:description
Range rdfs:Literal
Usage Note
  • This property contains a free-text account of the Dataset.
  • This property can be repeated for parallel language versions of the description (see ). On the user interface of data portals, the content of the element whose language corresponds to the display language selected by the user is displayed.

Property: identifier

Property identifier
Requirement level Mandatory
Cardinality 1..n
URI dct:identifier
Range rdfs:Literal
Usage Note
  • This property contains the unique identifier for the Dataset, e.g. the URI or other unique identifier in the context of the Catalogue.
  • The identifier may be used as part of the URI of the Dataset.

Property: publisher

Property publisher
Requirement level Mandatory
Cardinality 1..1
URI dct:publisher
Range foaf:Agent
Usage Note
  • This property refers to an entity (organisation) responsible for making the Dataset available.

Property: Title

Property Title
Requirement level Mandatory
Cardinality 1..n
URI dct:title
Range rdfs:Literal
Usage Note
  • This property contains a name given to the Dataset.
  • This property can be repeated for parallel language versions of the title (see ).
Recommended Properties

Property: dataset distribution

Property dataset distribution
Cardinality 0..n
Requirement level Recommended
URI dcat:distribution
Range dcat:Distribution ()
Usage Note
  • This property links the Dataset to an available Distribution.
  • In exceptional cases, a Dataset for which no distribution form exists (yet) can be described in the Catalogue. In this case, the element dcat:distribution may be omitted.

Property: keyword/tag

Property keyword/ tag
Requirement level Recommended
Cardinality 0..n
URI dcat:keyword
Range rdfs:Literal
Usage Note
  • This property contains a keyword or tag describing the Dataset.
  • If a suitable keyword is available in [[TERMDAT]] then this SHOULD be used.
  • Good practice: mark the language of the keywords with the [[ISO 639-1]] language code such as "geodata"@en.

Property: landing page

Property landing page
Requirement level Recommended
Cardinality 0..n
URI dcat:landingPage
Range foaf:Document
Usage Note
  • This property refers to a web page that provides access to the Dataset, its Distributions and/or additional information.
  • It is intended to point to a landing page at the original data provider, not to a page on a site of a third party, such as an aggregator.

Property: release date

Property release date
Requirement level Recommended
Cardinality 0..1
URI dct:issued
Range rdfs:Literal (typed as as xsd:date, xsd:dateTime, xsd:gYear or xsd:gYearMonth)
Usage Note
  • This property contains the date of formal issuance (e.g., first publication of the Dataset).
  • If this date is not known, the date of the first referencing of the data collection in the Catalogue can be entered.

Property: spatial/ geographical coverage

Property spatial/ geographical coverage
Requirement level Recommended
Cardinality 0..n
URI dct:spatial
Range dct:Location
Usage Note
  • This property refers to a geographic region that is covered by the Dataset.
  • CV to be used: The EU Vocabularies Name Authority Lists MUST be used for continents, countries and places that are in those lists; if a particular location is not in one of the mentioned Named Authority Lists, Geonames URIs MUST be used: [[VOCAB-EU-CONTINENT]], [[VOCAB-EU-COUNTRY]], [[VOCAB-EU-PLACE]], [[GEONAMES]]

Property: temporal coverage

Property temporal coverage
Requirement level Recommended
Cardinality 0..n
URI dct:temporal
Range dct:PeriodOfTime
Usage Note For temporal references this property is MUST be used in order to conform to DCAT-AP.

Property: theme/category

Property theme/category
Requirement level Recommended
Cardinality 0..n
URI dcat:theme
Range skos:Concept
Usage Note
  • This property refers to a category of the Dataset. A Dataset may be associated with multiple themes.
  • CV to be used: [[VOCAB-EU-THEME]]

Property: update/ modification date

Property update/ modification date
Requirement level Recommended
Cardinality 0..1
URI dct:modified
Range rdfs:Literal (typed as as xsd:date, xsd:dateTime, xsd:gYear or xsd:gYearMonth)
Usage Note
  • This property contains the most recent date on which the Dataset was changed or modified.
  • No value may indicate that the Dataset has never changed after its initial publication, or that the date of the last modification is not known, or that the Dataset is continuously updated
  • This property MUST only be set if the distributions (the actual data) that the Dataset describes have been updated after it has been issued. In this case the property MUST contain the date of the last update. That way a person or institution using the data for an analysis or application will know when to update the report or application on their side.
Optional Properties

Property: access rights

Property access rights
Requirement level Optional
Cardinality 0..1
URI dct:accessRights
Range dct:RightsStatement
Usage Note
  • This property refers to information that indicates whether the Dataset is open data, has access restrictions or is not public.
  • CV to be used: [[VOCAB-EU-ACCESS-RIGHT]].

Property: conforms to

Property conforms to
Requirement level Optional
Cardinality 0..n
URI dct:conformsTo
Range dct:Standard
Usage Note
  • This property refers to an implementing rule or other specification.
  • This property SHOULD be used to indicate the model, schema, ontology, view or profile that this representation of a Dataset conforms to. This is (generally) a complementary concern to the media-type or format.

Property: documentation

Property documentation
Requirement level Optional
Cardinality 0..n
URI foaf:page
Range foaf:Document
Usage Note
  • This property refers to a page or document about this Dataset.

Property: frequency

Property frequency
Requirement level Optional
Cardinality 0..1
URI dct:accrualPeriodicity
Range dct:Frequency
Usage Note
  • This property refers to the frequency at which the Dataset is updated.
  • CV to be used: [[VOCAB-EU-FREQUENCY]].

Property: image

Property image
Requirement level Optional
Cardinality 0..3
URI schema:image
Range schema:url or schema:ImageObject
Definition A thumbnail picture illustrating the content of the dataset.
Usage Note
  • A thumbnail picture illustrating the content of the Dataset.
  • For distributions that consist of visual content (photographs, videos, maps, etc.) it makes sense to add a limited number of thumbnails to the metadata.
  • It’s a DCAT-AP CH Custom Class (not present in DCAT-AP)

Property: is referenced by

Property is referenced by
Requirement level Optional
Cardinality 0..n
URI dct:isReferencedBy
Range rdfs:Resource
Usage Note
  • This property is about a related resource, such as a publication, that references, cites, or otherwise points to the Dataset.

Property: language

Property language
Requirement level Optional
Optional 0..n
URI dct:language
Range dct:LinguisticSystem
Usage Note
  • This property refers to a language of the Dataset. This property can be repeated if there are multiple languages in the Dataset.
  • CV to be used: [[VOCAB-EU-LANGUAGE]]

Property: qualified attribution

Property qualified attribution
Requirement level Optional
Cardinality 0..n
URI prov:qualifiedAttribution
Range prov:Attribution
Usage Note
  • This property refers to a link to an Agent having some form of responsibility for the resource

Property: qualified relation

Property qualified relation
Requirement level Optional
Cardinality 0..n
URI dcat:qualifiedRelation
Range dcat:Relationship
Usage Note
  • This property provides a link to a description of a relationship with another resource and it’s especially meant for relationships between Dataset.
  • It replaces the property rdfs:seeAlso of DCAT-AP CH v1.
  • See here for examples on how to use it: dcat:qualifiedRelation.

Class: Distribution

A metadata entry of this class describes a distribution of the data, which is a specific representation of a Dataset. A Dataset might be available in multiple serializations that may differ in various ways, including natural language, media-type or format, schematic organization, temporal and spatial resolution, level of detail or profiles (which might specify any or all of the above).

The distribution can contain all the data of the Dataset or it can contain just a part of the data. For example: it can contain all data about the population in Switzerland or it can contain just one year of this data, say the year 2018. It can also contain the data in an alternative data format, for example a graphical presentation of the data for the years 1990 up to 2010.

DCAT-AP allows the representation of various relationships within Dataset or between Datasets: The simplest relationship is the aggregation of various physical representations of data (“Distributions”) into a Dataset. One possible such Dataset would be a time series where each distribution covers one year of the data and the Dataset spans several years.

A distribution represents a general availability of a Dataset. It implies no information about the actual access method of the data, i.e. whether by direct download or through a Web page. The use of dcat:downloadURL property indicates directly downloadable distributions.

DCAT-AP provides guidelines about the usage of Data services and Distribution in relation to Dataset: [[DCAT-AP-USAGEGUIDE]].

Property URI Range ReqLevel Card
access URL dcat:accessURL rdfs:Resource M 1..n
license dct:license dct:LicenseDocument M 1..1
availability dcatap:availability skos:Concept R 0..1
description dct:description rdfs:Literal R 0..n
format dct:format dct:MediaTypeOrExtent R 0..1
Rights dct:rights dct:RightsStatement R 0..1
Title dct:title rdfs:Literal R 0..n
update/ modification date dct:modified rdfs:Literal (typed as as xsd:date, xsd:dateTime, xsd:gYear or xsd:gYearMonth) R 0..1
access service dcat:accessService dcat:DataService O 0..n
byte size dcat:byteSize rdfs:Literal (typed as as xsd:decimal) O 0..1
Checksum spdx:checksum spdx:Checksum O 0..1
Coverage dct:coverage LocationPeriodOrJurisdiction O 0..n
Documentation foaf:page foaf:Document O 0..n
download URL dcat:downloadURL rdfs:Resource O 0..n
identifier dct:identifier rdfs:Literal O 0..1
image schema:image schema:url or schema:ImageObject O 0..3
Language dct:language dct:LinguisticSystem O 0..n
linked schemas dct:conformsTo dct:Standard O 0..n
media type dcat:mediaType subproperty of dct:format dct:MediaType O 0..1
packaging format dcat:packageFormat dcat:mediaType O 0..1
release date dct:issued rdfs:Literal (typed as as xsd:date, xsd:dateTime, xsd:gYear or xsd:gYearMonth) R 0..1
temporal resolution dcat:temporalResolution xsd:duration R 0..1
Manadatory Properties

Property: access URL

Property access URL
Requirement level Mandatory
Cardinality 1..n
URI dcat:accessURL
Range rdfs:Resource
Usage Note
  • This property contains a URL that gives access to a Distribution of the Dataset. The resource at the access URL may contain information about how to get the Dataset.

Property: license

Property license
Requirement level Mandatory
Cardinality 1..1
URI dct:license
Range dct:LicenseDocument
Usage Note
  • This property refers to the licence under which the Distribution is made available.
  • CV to used: [[VOCAB-CH-LICENSE]]
Recommended Properties

Property: availability

Property availability
Requirement level Recommended
Cardinality 0..1
URI dcatap:availability
Range skos:Concept
Usage Note
  • This property indicates how long it is planned to keep the Distribution of the Dataset available.

Property: description

Property description
Requirement level Recommended
Cardinality 0..n
URI dct:description
Range rdfs:Literal
Usage Note
  • This property contains a free-text account of the Distribution.
  • The description MUST be provided if the distribution contains only part of the data offered by the Dataset.
  • This property can be repeated for parallel language versions of the description (see ).

Property: format

Property format
Requirement level Recommended
Cardinality 0..1
URI dct:format
Range dct:MediaTypeOrExtent
Usage Note
  • This property refers to the file format of the Distribution.
  • CV to be used: [[VOCAB-EU-FILE-TYPE]]
  • If a format is not available: a) media type ([[IANA-MEDIA-TYPES]]) should be used b) If necessary, a discussion to evaluate the adoption within the EU should be launched (Contact point: [[VOCAB-EU-OP-CONTACT]]).

Property: Rights

Property Rights
Requirement level Recommended
Cardinality 0..1
URI dct:rights
Range dct:RightsStatement
Usage Note
  • This property refers to a statement that specifies rights associated with the Distribution.

Property: Title

Property Title
Requirement level Recommended
Cardinality 0..n
URI dct:title
Range rdfs:Literal
Usage Note
  • This property contains a name given to the Distribution. This property can be repeated for parallel language versions of the description (see ).
  • The title MUST be given if the distribution contains only part of the data offered by the Dataset
  • The title can be given in several languages. In multilingual data portals, the title in the language selected by a user will usually be shown as title for the distribution.

Property: update/modification date

  • This property contains the most recent date on which the Distribution was changed or modified.
Property update/ modification date
Requirement level Recommended
Cardinality 0..1
URI dct:modified
Range rdfs:Literal (typed as as xsd:date, xsd:dateTime, xsd:gYear or xsd:gYearMonth)
Usage Note
Optional Properties

Property: access service

Property access service
Requirement level Optional
Cardinality 0..n
URI dcat:accessService
Range dcat:DataService ()
Usage Note
  • This property refers to a data service that gives access to the distribution of the Dataset

Property: byte size

Property byte size
Requirement level Optional
Cardinality 0..1
URI dcat:byteSize
Range rdfs:Literal (typed as as xsd:decimal).
Usage Note
  • This property contains the size of a Distribution in bytes. If the precise size is not known, an approximate size can be indicated.

Property: Checksum

Property Checksum
Requirement level Optional
Cardinality 0..1
URI spdx:checksum
Range spdx:Checksum
Usage Note
  • This property provides a mechanism that can be used to verify that the contents of a distribution have not changed.
  • The checksum is related to the downloadURL.
  • Property added in [[VOCAB-DCAT-3]]: spdx:checksum

Property: Coverage

Property Coverage
Requirement level Optional
Cardinality 0..n
URI dct:coverage
Range dct:LocationPeriodOrJurisdiction
Usage Note
  • If a dataset contains distributions that differ regarding their content beyond just differences in format or resolution this property can be used to specify temporal or spatial coverage of the data that the distribution contains.
  • It’s a DCAT-AP CH Custom Class (not present in DCAT-AP).

Property: documentation

Property Documentation
Requirement level Optional
Cardinality 0..n
URI foaf:page
Range foaf:Document
Usage Note
  • This property refers to a page or document about this Distribution.

Property: download URL

Property download URL
Requirement level Optional
Cardinality 0..n
URI dcat:downloadURL
Range rdfs:Resource
Usage Note
  • In case of a downloadable file, it is good practice to repeat the mandatory accessURL in this more specific property, to indicate to the data user that the distribution has this extra characteristic of being downloadable. The downloadURLs MAY thus be the same as the accessURLs but they MAY also differ.

Property: identifier

Property identifier
Requirement level Optional
Cardinality 0..1
URI dct:identifier
Range rdfs:Literal
Usage Note
  • An identifier for the distribution, that identifies it as a resource mainly for the organisation publishing the data.

Property: image

Property image
Requirement level Optional
Cardinality 0..3
URI schema:image
Range schema:url or schema:ImageObject
Usage Note
  • A thumbnail picture illustrating the content of the Distribution.
  • For distributions that consist of visual content (photographs, videos, maps, etc.) it makes sense to add a limited number of thumbnails to the metadata.
  • It’s a DCAT-AP CH Custom Class (not present in [[DCAT-AP]]).

Property: Language

Property Language
Requirement level Optional
Cardinality 0..n
URI dct:language
Range rdfs:Literal
Usage Note
  • This property refers to a language used in the Distribution.
  • This property can be repeated if the metadata is provided in multiple languages.
  • The property MUST be set if the distribution is language-dependent, or if it is given in some of the languages German, French, Italian and English but not in all four languages.
  • CV to be used: [[VOCAB-EU-LANGUAGE]]

Property: linked schemas

Property linked schemas
Requirement level Optional
Cardinality 0..n
URI dct:conformsTo
Range dct:Standard
Usage Note
  • This property refers to a page or document about this Data Service.

Property: media type

Property media type
Requirement level Optional
Cardinality 0..1
URI dcat:mediaType
Range dct:MediaType
Usage Note
  • This property refers to the media type of the Distribution as defined in the official register of media types managed by IANA.
  • The value of the element "dcat:mediaType" must correspond to a MIME type according to IANA: [[IANA-MEDIA-TYPES]].

Property: packaging format

Property packaging format
Requirement level Optional
Cardinality 0..1
URI dcat:packageFormat
Range dct:MediaType
Usage Note
  • This property refers to the format of the file in which one or more data files are grouped together, e.g. to enable a set of related files to be downloaded together.
  • It SHOULD be expressed using a media type as defined in the official register of media types managed by IANA.

Property: release date

Property release date
Requirement level Optional
Cardinality 0..1
URI dct:issued
Range rdfs:Literal (typed as as xsd:date, xsd:dateTime, xsd:gYear or xsd:gYearMonth)
Usage Note
  • This property contains the date of formal issuance (e.g., publication) of the Distribution.
  • Date of formal issuance (publication) of the distribution
  • UsageThe first time issuance of the distribution.

Property: temporal resolution

Property temporal resolution
Requirement level Optional
Cardinality 0..1
URI dcat:temporalResolution
Range xsd:duration
Usage Note
  • This property refers to the minimum time period resolvable in the Dataset distribution.

Class: Data Service

A Data Service is a collection of operations that provides access to one or more Datasets or data processing functions. If a dcat:DataService is bound to one or more specified Datasets, they are indicated by the dcat:servesDataset property.

DCAT-AP provides guidelines about the usage of Data services and Distribution in relation to Datasets: [[DCAT-AP-USAGEGUIDE]].

Property URI Range ReqLevel Card
endpoint URL dcat:endpointURL rdfs:Resource M 1..n
Contact Point dcat:contactPoint vcard:Kind M 1..n
Publisher dct:publisher foaf:Agent M 1..1
Title dct:title rdfs:Literal M 1..n
endpoint description dct:endpointDescription rdfs:Resource R 0..n
license dct:license dct:LicenseDocument R 0..1
serves dataset dcat:servesDataset dcat:Dataset R 0..n
access rights dct:accessRights dct:RightsStatement O 0..1
Documentation foaf:page foaf:Document O 0..n
Keyword dcat:keyword rdfs:Literal O 0..n
Landing page dcat:landingPage foaf:Document O 0..n
Manadatory Properties

Property: endpoint URL

Property endpoint URL
Requirement level Mandatory
Cardinality 1..n
URI dcat:endpointURL
Range rdfs:Resource
Usage Note
  • The root location or primary endpoint of the service (an IRI)

Property: Contact Point

Property Contact Point
Requirement level Mandatory
Cardinality 1..n
URI dcat:contactPoint
Range vcard:Kind
Usage Note
  • This property contains contact information that can be used for sending comments about the Dataset.
  • This property MUST contain an email address that is continuously monitored by the data publisher.
  • If there are several contributors involved in the publication of the Dataset, the property can be used multiple times.

Property: Publisher

Property Publisher
Requirement level Mandatory
Cardinality 1..1
URI dct:publisher
Range foaf:Agent
Definition This property refers to an entity (organisation) responsible for making the Data Service available.
Usage Note
  • This property refers to an entity (organisation) responsible for making the Catalogue available.

Property: Title

Property Title
Requirement level Mandatory
Cardinality 1..n
URI dct:title
Range rdfs:Literal
Usage Note
  • The title of the catalogue in the indicated language
  • This property can be repeated for parallel language versions of the description (see )
Recommended Properties

Property: endpoint description

Property endpoint description
Requirement level Recommended
Cardinality 0..n
URI dcat:endpointDescription
Range rdfs:Resource
Usage Note
  • This property contains a description of the services available via the end-points, including their operations, parameters etc.The property gives specific details of the actual endpoint instances.

Property: license

Property license
Requirement level Recommended
Cardinality 0..1
URI dct:license
Range dct:LicenseDocument
Usage Note
  • This property refers to the licence under which the Data Service is made available.
  • CV to used: [[VOCAB-CH-LICENSE]]

Property: serves dataset

Property serves dataset
Requirement level Recommended
Cardinality 0..n
URI dcat:servesDataset
Range dcat:Dataset ()
Definition Dataset that is part of the catalog.
Usage Note
  • This property refers to a collection of data that this data service can distribute.
Optional Properties

Property: access rights

Property access rights
Requirement level Optional
Cardinality 0..1
URI dct:accessRights
Range dct:RightsStatement
Usage Note
  • This property MAY include information regarding access or restrictions based on privacy, security, or other policies.
  • CV must be used: [[VOCAB-EU-ACCESS-RIGHT]]

Property: Documentation

Property Documentation
Requirement level Optional
Cardinality 0..n
URI foaf:page
Range foaf:Document
Usage Note
  • This property refers to a page or document about this Data Service.

Property: Keyword

Property Keyword
Requirement level Optional
Cardinality 0..n
URI dcat:keyword
Range rdfs:Literal
Usage Note
  • This property contains a keyword or tag describing the Data Service.
  • If available, the keyword from [[TERMDAT]] SHOULD be used.

Property: Landing page

Property Landing page
Requirement level Optional
Cardinality 0..n
URI dcat:landingPage
Range foaf:Document
Usage Note
  • This property refers to a web page that provides access to the Data Service and/or additional information. It is intended to point to a landing page at the original data provider, not to a page on a site of a third party, such as an aggregator.

Conformance to DCAT-AP

DCAT-AP CH is a Subprofile of DCAT-AP and DCAT-AP is an application profile of DCAT.

The DCAT-Profile Guidance states that application profiles may form hierarchies.

There is a close collaboration between DCAT-AP and DCAT-AP CH which takes place mostly as an online discussion on GitHub at [[DCAT-AP-GITHUB-ISSUES]].

The following diagram captures the relationship between DCAT, DCAT-AP and DCAT-AP CH:

classDiagram DCAT --> DCAT_AP: is_profile_of DCAT_AP --> DCAT_AP_CH: is_subprofile_of DCAT --> DCAT_AP_CH: is_profile_of class DCAT { - defines classes - defines properties - base vocabulary } class DCAT_AP { - uses classes of DCAT - specifies requirement levels - specifies controlled vocabulary } class DCAT_AP_CH { - localizes DCAT-AP for Swiss context - can restrict more but not less than DCAT-AP }

For the previously mentioned interoperability reasons, DCAT-AP CH aims to stay a sub-profile of [[DCAT-AP]]. Furthermore, this way it can be assured that metadata structured as DCAT-AP CH can be efficiently harvested by [[DATAPORTAL-EU]].

DCAT-AP CH also aims for completeness, in the way that a data provider that only uses DCAT-AP CH as guidance should be able to form a data catalogue that automatically conforms to DCAT-AP.

Therefore:

Custom properties in DCAT-AP CH

DCAT-AP CH MAY introduce Swiss specific properties and vocabulary, such as the list of cantons of Switzerland, which don't exist in the DCAT or DCAT-AP vocabulary. It SHOULD however not introduce its own (custom) properties that can already be expressed in DCAT with different vocabularies. In those cases, the DCAT-AP or DCAT vocabulary have to be used.

Therefore, some properties that were custom in Version 1 have been removed in Version 2 of DCAT-AP CH:

DCAT-AP CH still defines custom properties where a replacement by DCAT-AP or DCAT vocabulary is currently not considered possible or useful (in DCAT-AP Version 2.1.0):

Conformance to DCAT-AP CH

Data Provider requirements

A data catalogue conforms to DCAT-AP CH if:

Receiver requirements

An application (data portal) conforms to DCAT-AP if:

Haftungsausschluss

eCH-Standards, welche der Verein eCH dem Benutzer zur unentgeltlichen Nutzung zur Verfügung stellen oder welche eCH referenzieren, haben nur den Status von Empfehlungen. Der Verein eCH haftet in keinem Fall für Entscheidungen oder Massnahmen, welche der Benutzer auf Grund dieser Dokumente trifft und / oder ergreift. Der Benutzer ist verpflichtet, die Dokumente vor deren Nutzung selbst zu überprüfen und sich gegebenenfalls beraten zu lassen. eCH-Standards können und sollen die technische, organisatorische oder juristische Beratung im konkreten Einzelfall nicht ersetzen.

In eCH-Standards referenzierte Dokumente, Verfahren, Methoden, Produkte und Standards sind unter Umständen markenrechtlich, urheberrechtlich oder patentrechtlich geschützt. Es liegt in der ausschliesslichen Verantwortlichkeit des Benutzers, sich die allenfalls erforderlichen Rechte bei den jeweils berechtigten Personen und/oder Organisationen zu beschaffen.

Obwohl der Verein eCH all seine Sorgfalt darauf verwendet, die eCH-Standards sorgfältig auszuarbeiten, kann keine Zusicherung oder Garantie auf Aktualität, Vollständigkeit, Richtigkeit bzw. Fehlerfreiheit der zur Verfügung gestellten Informationen und Dokumente gegeben werden. Der Inhalt von eCH-Standards kann jederzeit und ohne Ankündigung geändert werden.

Jede Haftung für Schäden, welche dem Benutzer aus dem Gebrauch der eCH-Standards entstehen ist, soweit gesetzlich zulässig, wegbedungen.

Urheberrechte

Wer eCH-Standards erarbeitet, behält das geistige Eigentum an diesen. Allerdings verpflichtet sich der Erarbeitende, sein betreffendes geistiges Eigentum oder seine Rechte an geistigem Eigentum anderer, sofern möglich, den jeweiligen Fachgruppen und dem Verein eCH kostenlos zur uneingeschränkten Nutzung und Weiterentwicklung im Rahmen des Vereinszweckes zur Verfügung zu stellen.

Die von den Fachgruppen erarbeiteten Standards können unter Nennung der jeweiligen Urheber von eCH unentgeltlich und uneingeschränkt genutzt, weiterverbreitet und weiterentwickelt werden.

eCH-Standards sind vollständig dokumentiert und frei von lizenz- und/oder patentrechtlichen Einschränkungen. Die dazugehörige Dokumentation kann unentgeltlich bezogen werden.

Diese Bestimmungen gelten ausschliesslich für die von eCH erarbeiteten Standards, nicht jedoch für Standards oder Produkte Dritter, auf welche in den eCH-Standards Bezug genommen wird. Die Standards enthalten die entsprechenden Hinweise auf die Rechte Dritter.

Mitarbeit & Überprüfung

Änderungen gegenüber Vorversion

Verzeichnis der referenzierten Namensräume

Namespaces and prefixes used in normative parts of this recommendation are shown in the following table:

Prefix Namespace IRI Source
dcat http://www.w3.org/ns/dcat# [[VOCAB-DCAT]]
dct http://purl.org/dc/terms/ [[DCTERMS]]
foaf http://xmlns.com/foaf/0.1/ [[FOAF]]
schema http://schema.org/ [[schema-org]]
rdf http://www.w3.org/1999/02/22-rdf-syntax-ns# [[RDF-SYNTAX-GRAMMAR]]
rdfs http://www.w3.org/2000/01/rdf-schema# [[RDF-SCHEMA]]
vcard http://www.w3.org/2006/vcard/ns# [[VCARD-RDF]]
xsd http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema# [[XMLSCHEMA11-2]]
adms http://www.w3.org/ns/adms# [[VOCAB-ADMS]]
skos http://www.w3.org/2004/02/skos/core# [[SKOS-REFERENCE]]
locn http://www.w3.org/ns/locn# [[LOCN]]
prov http://www.w3.org/ns/prov# [[PROV]]
spdx http://spdx.org/rdf/terms# [[SPDX]]
gsp http://www.opengis.net/ont/geosparql# [[GeoSPARQL]]

Abbildungsverzeichnis

Tabellenverzeichnis