Abstract Source Ontology Viewing and Editing Gary Yngve Jim Brinkley Dan Cook Linda Shapiro asking for data sending data Request Handler Cache Modifications DataLayer Assembler Is cached? Yes No DataLayer Visualization Source send requested data new modifications Visual Layer Data Layer Data Log (view) Graphics / User Interface Visual Log (workspace) Data Layer Source Data Layer save / load modifications Behind the ontology browser lies the ontology and possibly some DataLayers. Each DataLayer produces a view of the ontology along with any other chained DataLayers. A view can be used to make a smaller ontology that has only domain-relevant content, to add new content, or to redefine existing content. Views are compact and can be saved and distributed to other users. The workspace in the browser can be saved and shared as well. The DataLayer get data from a previous DataLayer and assembles the cached data with the current modifications. Each DataLayer behaves similarly and may be implemented to be local or remote. Modifications include adding, deleting, and changing entities, attributes, relations, attributed relations, and range constraints. The browser can display more than one relation at a time. One relation is designated as the primary, and the other secondary. To prevent the graph from getting cluttered, paths from the root containing a secondary relationship stop their traversals once they encounter one secondary edge. As can be seen here, two relationships conveys additional information – in this case, the branching of coronary arteries along with the parts of the heart they supply. The two figures above illustrate how the browser can be used to add content in a view. First everything is deleted except for the Body subtree (deleted nodes are pale red). Then new nodes are added (pale green). The second figure shows the view obtained from the first figure. The edits appear as if they were the ontology. Three different views while a user is aligning the RADiological LEXicon to the FMA. Left: a connected component of the part hierarchy. Middle: Some matched terms (lime) that are not connected because of unmatched/deleted ones. Right: a subclass view... Our ontology browser enables inexperienced users to browse large ontologies such as the Foundational Model of Anatomy. In addition, people can use the browser to create views of an ontology, which includes the introduction of new content. Search and query interfaces supplement the browser to make a powerful package that can be used for alignment with another lexicon, inspecting an ontology for consistency or completeness, and prototyping other applications. Center three figures: Inspecting the part relationships for the gastrointestinal tract, one can see several redundant edges (top). After deleting edges in the interface (middle), the redundancy is eliminated (bottom). Graduate student, CSE Professor, Biological Structure Professor, Physiology Professor, CSE Funding for this research provided by NIH Grant 1R01HL