RDF "Container" Elements

RDF containers are used to describe a set of items. For example, listing the authors of a book together.

The following RDF elements are used to describe these groups: <Bag>, <Seq>, and <Alt>.

<rdf:Bag> Element

The <rdf:Bag> element is used to describe a list of values that are considered unordered.

The <rdf:Bag> element can contain duplicate values.

Example

<rdf:Seq> Element

The <rdf:Seq> element is used to describe a list of values that are considered ordered (such as a sorted alphabetically list).

The <rdf:Bag> element can contain duplicate values.

Example

<rdf:Alt> Element

The <rdf:Alt> element is used for a list of alternative values (where the user can choose only one of these values).

Example

RDF Terminology

In the examples above, we discussed "lists of values" when describing container elements. In RDF, these "lists of values" are referred to as members.

Therefore, we can say:

• A container is a resource that contains items.

• The contained items are called members (not "lists of values").