.. _Modify_AddLabelPropertyDeclaration:

Modify > Add Label Property Declaration
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This feature is available from the :ref:`ModifyMenu` of classes or node shapes in Ontology asset collections.
It adds a property declaration for the label (``rdfs:label``) attribute, following best ontology design practices.

.. note::
   When you are creating a new class, as subclass of Thing, it will not have any attributes and relationships yet.
   This means that instances of that class will basically show up empty on the :ref:`FormPanel`.
   It is a common practice that assets use the label (``rdfs:label``) property to represent the display label,
   and even the various create asset dialogs use that property by default.
   Using this feature will make sure that this label property is declared.

The action is only available for classes for which no other label property definition already exists,
for example from its superclasses.

.. hint::
   Some domain ontologies define a single root class from which all other classes inherit.
   With that design, you would only need to declare the label once, at the root, and all other classes
   will inherit that property.


**See Also**

* :ref:`Modify_AddTypePropertyDeclaration`
* :ref:`PropertyGroupsPanel`

**Further Reading on SHACL**

* `Form Generation using SHACL and DASH (External Link) <https://datashapes.org/forms.html>`_
* `SHACL Advanced Features Specification (External Link) <https://w3c.github.io/shacl/shacl-af/>`_
* `SHACL W3C Specification (External Link) <https://www.w3.org/TR/shacl/>`_

**Further Reading on Ontologies**

* :ref:`working_with_ontologies_target`

**Further Reading on Modify Menu**

* :ref:`scripting_actions`

**Further Reading on TopBraid**

* :ref:`introduction`