FAQ – TopBraid Composer

TopBraid Composer Maestro Edition is a modeling tool and an IDE for enterprise solutions. Learn how to to model ontologies, connect data sources, design queries, and to develop applications that work with semantic models

Business FAQ

What is TopBraid Composer?

TopBraid Composer (TBC) is the world’s most powerful ontology modeling tool, SPARQL query editor, data integration console and an IDE (Integrated Development Environment) for building semantic applications. Fully compliant with W3C standards, TBC offers complete support for developing, managing and testing configurations of ontologies and linked data. TBC provides a comprehensive IDE and administration tool for all TopBraid server products.

Implemented as an Eclipse plug-in, TBC serves as a development environment for SPIN, SPARQLMotion, SPARQL Web Pages and all the applications delivered using TopBraid Live™. TBC is used to build ontology models, configure data source integration, and create semantic web services and user interfaces.

How can I get started with TopBraid Composer?

TopBraid Composer is available for free download. To install, unzip the downloaded file and either run the installer (.exe file) or unzip the contents to a directory (.zip file). The installer process will create menu shortcuts. The zip file will create an executable named “TopBraid Composer” that is used to start Composer. TopBraid Composer does not add entries to the Windows registry.

When first starting Composer, you will be asked to choose a Workspace location. This is a folder structure that contains all projects and files available to Composer. Choose any folder that Composer has access permissions for. After Composer has started the workspace location can be changed using File > Switch Workspace. The Example and System ontologies, which are required for many TopBraid Composer features, will automatically be inserted into a new workspace in a project named “TopBraid”.

Composer will ask for license information. Licenses are sent via e-mail after purchase. The license can be entered in Help > TopBraid Composer Registration.

TopBraid Composer-Maestro Edition (TBC-ME) has a 30-day evaluation period. There are a number of resources for getting started with TopBraid Composer. The Getting Started Guide and other sources are found in the right-hand column of the Composer home page. The Videos page includes Getting Started videos.

There are extensive Help files for Composer. In Composer, click on Help > Help Contents.

Can I extend my evaluation period?

The free evaluation period is 30 days, beginning after you install the product. We recommend postponing your installation until you are prepared to evaluate the product. Once you complete your evaluation period, chances are you will not be able to run an evaluation copy on the same computer for at least a year even if you download a different release. We reset the evaluation flags every 18-24 months.

Sometimes users have special reasons for needing to extend their evaluation period. For example, a purchase may be already going through their procurement organization, but it is taking time and, in the meantime, their evaluation ended preventing them to continue working. If you need to extend evaluation, write to sales@topquadrant.com. They should be able to extend it for another 30 days. However, if it has been more than 60 days since you installed the tool, we will not be able to extend your trial period.

Should I use TopBraid Composer or TopBraid EDG for developing ontologies?

This depends on your needs.

TopBraid Composer is a single-user tool that installs on your Windows, Mac, or Linux computer. See https://www.topquadrant.com/products/topbraid-composer/ for capabilities. 

TopBraid EDG is a web-based multi-user product. Like TopBraid Composer it lets you edit models and their associated instance data. Unlike TopBraid Composer, TopBraid EDG is targeted to business users needing to collaborate on the development of ontologies.
TopBraid EDG it has the specialized features for editing controlled vocabularies, a simpler user interface, pre-built imports, exports and reports, role-based access control and collaboration tools that let a workgroup coordinate proposed changes and roll them out in a structured fashion. Every change made in EDG is tracked in an audit trail that captures its nature, who made it and when it was made. EDG also includes web APIs for communication with other applications. 

What's the difference between TopBraid EDG and TopBraid Composer?

TopBraid Composer is a single-user tool that installs on your Windows, Mac, or Linux computer to make it easier to work with RDFS, SHACL and OWL models and instance data. See https://www.topquadrant.com/products/topbraid-composer/

TopBraid EDG is a web-based multi-user product. Like TopBraid Composer it lets you edit models and their associated instance data. Unlike TopBraid Composer, EDG-Vocabulary Management package has the specialized features for editing controlled vocabularies, a simpler user interface, pre-built imports, exports and reports, role-based access control, workflows collaboration tools that let a workgroup coordinate proposed changes and roll them out in a structured fashion. Other packages of EDG focus on and have specialized capabilities for working with reference data and enterprise metadata. For example, EDG-Metadata Management package can catalog and profile enterprise data sources and provide data lineage views. Every change made in EDG is tracked in an audit trail that captures its nature, who made it and when it was made. EDG also includes web and GraphQL APIs for communication with other applications. 

What formats, standards and data sources are supported by TopBraid Composer?

Please see our supported platforms page.

Is TopBraid Composer training available?

Yes. TopQuadrant offers regularly scheduled public classes. Private, on-site training is also available. For more information see our training overview page.

How can I purchase or get a quote for TopBraid Composer?

For purchasing, please visit our Purchase page or contact Sales

What licensing options are available for TopBraid Composer?

For licensing options please view our Legal page.

Is there a User Group Forum for TopBraid Composer?

Yes. You can join the TopBraid Users Group – just click the link below

TopBraid Suite Users

How can I contact support?

For Composer Support please first try our User Forum or if you’re unable to find your answers there TSM customers can contact us at composersupport@topquadrant.com.

Are upgrades free?

If your TSM (Topquadrant Support and Maintenance Agreement) is current, you can upgrade to a new version of TBC free of charge. If your TSM is out of date, contact sales@topquadrant.comfor available options.

How can I renew Support and Maintenance for my license of TopBraid Composer?

To see TSM renewal prices, visit our Purchase page. To process TSM renewal, contact sales@topquadrant.com

Installation, Setup, Troubleshooting FAQ

What operating systems is TopBraid Composer available for?

Please see our Supported Platforms page.

How do I register my product with a license key file?

You will receive an email with your attached key file – save this file on your system.For a new TBC product:
When you start your TBC application you will be asked to register your product and the application will guide you through the quick registration of your product.For an existing TBC product:
From the main menu – choose ‘Help’Choose ‘TopBraid Composer Registration’ – then click on ‘Next’Choose ‘Browse File System’Choose the license file from location where it is saved.

Click on ‘Finish’

Note: In the case where you have a license key number rather than a license key file – you can use that number in place of the file for versions prior to 4.6.0

What is the largest RDF file that can be handled by TopBraid Composer?

When a file is opened by TBC, it is read into memory. Thus, the size of the file you can open is limited by the amount RAM available on your machine. EDG uses databases, not files, so this limitation does not apply to EDG. If you use TBC to work with large files, one recommendation is to create a local Jena TDB database from the file. This can be accomplished by right clicking on a file and selecting Import -> TopBraid Composer -> Import RDF files into a new TDB. Import process is streaming and will not take as much RAM as opening the file.

How does secure storage work?

Secure storage is used to store passwords to data back-end connections. It works by maintaining a mapping between base URIs of connector files and passwords required to connect to the back-end data store. When a connector is created, the password for the connector is encrypted and stored securely in secure storage. Whenever the connector is opened, via either a file open or owl:imports operation, the password is retrieved through secure storage before being sent to the data back-end server.

Secure storage passwords must be entered once per installation of TopBraid Composer. The secure storage password serves as the master password that locks and unlocks the secure storage for applications to read and write from. When a connector file is created or a connector file is opened that does not have a secure storage password set up, the following dialog box will appear:

Click ‘Yes’ and enter a password. Password and secure storage can be maintained through Preferences > General > Security > secure storage.
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Data connector passwords can be passed to TopBraid Live when deploying from Composer to Live via ‘Export… > Deploy Project to TBL server’ and choosing the ‘Send necessary connection credentials’ check box. Passwords will be decrypted and sent to the TBL server where it will be encrypted by the TBL secure storage password. Secure HTTP (https) is suggested for fully secure password storage.

Can I increase the amount of memory for Composer?

Increasing the amount of memory available to Composer involves setting the -Xmx value for the maximum Java heap size. The setting is packaged in the .ini file with the command line parameters for starting Composer.

For Windows, use the “TopBraid Composer.ini.orig” file. This will ensure the settings stay the same even if other Eclipse applications try to change it.
Open the file with a text editor. The -Xmx value can be set to any whole number, such as “-Xmx800m”. However, if the value exceeds the amount of memory that can be allocated to the JVM by your system, Composer will not start. If this occurs, edit the .ini/.orig file for a smaller size until Composer starts.

For Macintosh users, the .ini file is packaged with the application. Find the application file, it will be named “TopBraid Composer”, and right-click to choose ‘Choose Package Contents’. The ‘TopBraid Composer.ini’ is found in the Contents/Eclipse folder.

How do I upgrade to the latest version of Composer?

Upgrade to the latest release of TopBraid Composer by downloading and unzipping installation files for the desired platform. Previous versions of Composer do not need to be removed. After you install the new version, you can continue to use your existing workspaces or migrate your projects to a new workspace.

Using a workspace created in a previous version of TopBraid Composer
To use an existing workspace zip the projects (File -> Export… -> General -> Archive File, select the projects you want then click finish) you want to migrate over to the new version. Now create a new workspace using the new version of TBC and import the projects that were just zipped.

Using a new workspace
Projects from previous version of Composer can be copied into a new workspace using File > Import… > General > Existing Projects into Workspace. New workspaces can be created using File > Switch Workspaces, then choose ‘Other…’.

How do I include Error Log contents in an error report?

The Error Log view is opened by choosing Window > Show View > Error Log. Error reports to composersupport or the TopBraid User Group Forum should include TBC version information (see Help > About TopBraid Composer), the operating system Composer is running on, and error log contents. Contents of the error log can be obtained by either choosing Export Log in the right-side icon tab in the Error Log view or opening a specific error (double-click on the error in the error log) and choose ‘Copy Event Details to Clipboard’. Attach the log contents in the error report message.

How do I use the Git collaboration tool into TopBraid Composer?

This is a feature of Eclipse and not specific to Composer. Follow the instructions for the version of Eclipse. Such as… 

  1. Help > Install new software, select something under “Work with” and then (after loading) filter by “git” then install Git integration for Eclipse.
I already have Eclipse installed; can I just add TopBraid Composer to it?

This is not a supported installation of TBC. (This would require an exact product-level of Eclipse and a non-standard installation).

What does a "Keybinding conflicts occurred" warning mean?

This is a longstanding issue with the Eclipse platform and will not affect your use of TopBraid Composer. Like all warnings, it is purely informational.

On Mac OSX I am getting the error TopBraid Composer.app is damaged and can’t be opened. You should move it to the Trash.

Due to a change with how Apple’s security settings work in the recent versions of osx you may see an error when launching a new version of TopBraid Composer. Starting with TBCME 7.0, this should not occur.

Newer Mac OS might need to use this command:

sudo xattr -r -d com.apple.quarantine “TopBraid Composer.app”

Older Mac OS can try these steps:

  • Quit out of System Preferences, if you have it open
  • Open the Terminal app from the /Applications/Utilities/ folder and then type (not cut/paste) the following command:sudo spctl –master-disable. Make sure you have a double dash before the “master”.
  • Hit return and authenticate with an admin password.
  • Relaunch System Preferences and go to “Security & Privacy” and the “General” tab.
  • You will now see the “Anywhere” option under ‘Allow apps downloaded from:’ Gatekeeper options.
  • If it is not filled in, open the lock in the bottom right corner of  ”Security & Privacy” then click the circle next to the “Anywhere” option.
  • Now double click on TBCME, then click the open button when the prompt appears.
  • If you encounter problems following these instructions, you can find many web pages offering detailed instructions with step by step screenshots. Just search for “allow apps downloaded from anywhere mac os”.

Using TopBraid Composer FAQ

Learn the ins and outs of TopBraid Composer and get comfortable with the platform.

How do I get started with TopBraid Composer?

TopBraid Composer is available for free download. To install, unzip the downloaded file and either run the installer (.exe file) or unzip the contents to a directory (.zip file). The installer process will create menu shortcuts. The zip file will create an executable named “TopBraid Composer” that is used to start Composer. TopBraid Composer does not add entries to the Windows registry.

When first starting Composer, you will be asked to choose a Workspace location. This is a folder structure that contains all projects and files available to Composer. Choose any folder that Composer has access permissions for. After Composer has started the workspace location can be changed using File > Switch Workspace. The Example and System ontologies, which are required for many TopBraid Composer features, will automatically be inserted into a new workspace in a project named “TopBraid”.
Composer will ask for license information. Licenses are sent via e-mail after purchase. The license can be entered in Help > TopBraid Composer Registration.
TopBraid Composer-Maestro Edition (TBC-ME) has a 30-day evaluation period. There are a number of resources for getting started with TopBraid Composer. The Getting Started Guide and other sources are found in the right-hand column of the Composer home page. The Videos page includes Getting Started videos.
There are extensive Help files for Composer. In Composer, click on Help > Help Contents. See Help Sources for TopBraid Composer.

Are there any help files or documentation for TopBraid Composer?

Help files are found by clicking on Help > Help contents.

How do I open a RDF/OWL/SHACL file in Composer?

All text serializations (RDF/XML/Turtle/NT/N3/JSON-LD files) should first be imported into Composer’s workspace before opening. This can be accomplished, as detailed below, by 1) drag-and-drop from the file system to Composer’s Navigator view, 2) by copying a file from the file system to a folder, or 3) by Import… > General > File System.
Once the file appears in the Navigator view, double-click on the file name, or right-click and choose Open. Source code for text serialization files (RDF/XML/N3/Turtle/NT/JSON-LD) can be viewed in a text editor by choosing Open With… > Text Editor.
There are three ways to import a RDF text serialization file into Composer:
1. Locate your file in your directory and drag the file name into the Navigator view in Composer, as shown below:

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2. Perform a copy on the file in your file system. Right-click on a folder and choose paste, as shown here:

copyProject

3. Copy the file through the Eclipse Import… > General > File System wizard:

    • Right-click on a folder and choose Import…
    • Open ‘General’ in the wizard (see circled ‘1′ below) and choose File system.
    • Choose the files you wish to import into the workspace (see circled ‘2′ below).

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Where are my triples?

Composer’s interface is designed with emphasis on displaying classes, instances of classes, and properties. If RDF data is opened or imported that do not have type triples, i.e. ‘?x rdf:type owl:Class’, ‘?x rdf:type rdf:Property’, etc., the resources will not be immediately visible in the interface. Another typical scenario is that instances are defined as members of rdfs:Class, in which case one must look under that class in the Classes view.

There are a few ways to view all triples in the current model. One is to open the triples view (Window > Show View > Triples View). Click on namespaces to show all triples. Another is to query for triples in the SPARQL view, where the following will display all triples:
SELECT ?s ?p ?o WHERE { ?s ?p ?o }

A property will not appear in the Form view if the property is not defined. I.e. if the triple ‘kennedys:JohnKennedy kennedys:birthDate “1917-05-29″^^xsd:string’ is defined, but the property ‘kennedys:birthDate’ does not have a property type (does not have a rdf:type triple for a property type), the resource will not appear in the form for kennedys:JohnKennedy. If a type triple for the property exists, such as ‘kennedys:birthDate rdf:type owl:DatatypeProperty’, the resource will appear in the form.

Additionally, the gold arrows on the toolbar menu can also be used for navigation. They support the following navigations: Last edit location, Back and Forward.

How do I report a TopBraid Composer error message?

To send an error message, 1) double-click on the error in the Error View and click the “Copy Event Details to Clipboard” icon (see figure), and 2) create an email message to composersupport@topquadrant.com.

CopyErrorMessage

How can I navigate between different resources (classes, properties and instances) in Composer?

If you hold the CTRL key and mouse over any item on the Form view, it becomes hyperlinked as shown below. This includes all entries in any of the widgets (including the Rules and SPARQL query widgets), as well as the built-in resources from rdfs and owl namespaces that are part of the form, such as rdfs:subClassOf and owl:disjointWith.
In the example below, not only can you navigate to the RealEstate class (as shown), but you could also, if desired, navigate to rdfs:subClassOf.

tbcimage8

What does the globe icon mean?

All icons in Composer’s user interface are associated with type triples. For example, the icon for a class will appear as a light brown circle if the resource has an owl:Class type triple – ‘?rsc rdf:type owl:Class’. A key for all icons is found in Help > Reference > Icons Legend. Any resource lacking a type triple will have a globe icon.

If a resource does not have a type triple, the data is still valid (the globe icon does not indicate an error or warning), and the default globe icon is used to indicate that the URI is valid, but a resource’s type is not defined.

What does 'Opening non-primary file' mean?

TopBraid platform uses the base URI as the URL of a file, meaning that the base URI uniquely identifies a file. This is used to resolve imports and other graph-based operations on RDF files. If the same base URI is associated with more than one file in a workspace, designating one file as the “primary” file is used to ensure consistent references to the base URI, including import statements.

The primary file is set by the last file imported or created with the same base URI. If a user opens a non-primary file, a dialog appears asking the user if the primary file for the base URI should be changed to the file being opened. If ‘Yes’ is chosen, the primary file is changed, which will affect all files importing that base URI.
Files that are not the primary file, but have a base URI conflict, are designated with a yellow warning sign in the file icon in the Navigator. A full listing of all file to base URI mappings in the workspace is shown in the File Registry (Window > Show View > File Registry).

As a best practice, base URI conflicts should be avoided or managed carefully. Since only files in open projects are registered, closing a project can be used as a means to manage base URI conflicts. Closing a project with a primary file will change the base URI mapping to a file in an open project, if any exist.

I am tired of typing in labels. Is there a way to automatically generate labels?

Yes. When you create a new resource, click on the blue property icon in the pop up dialog and select rdfs:label. Then enter {name} in the initial value column.
Your screen should look like the one shown below:

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This built-in function will generate labels separating joined words and inserting spaces.
If you already have many resources without labels, you can edit all of them at once by using Model > Manage Annotations… option.

Is there autocomplete in TBC?

Yes. Use CTRL SPACE.

I am new to SPARQL. Is there a way in TBC to auto-generate queries?

Yes. The Graph Panel provides a convenient mechanism for building SPARQL queries without hand-coding them.

Whenever you move the mouse over a resource node, it will display white check boxes over some icons. These check boxes can be used to “fix” certain values:
• Clicking the name of a resource “fixes” this resource
• Clicking a property value “fixes” that literal value

The following screen shot shows an example query generated using this mechanism:

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The SPARQL button in the graph’s tool bar can be used to turn those selections into a SPARQL query, which can then be executed in the SPARQL view. Hint: Pressing the generate SPARQL button twice will not only create the query, but also execute it.

In the example above, the resource female has been fixed, as well as the triple year of birth = 1965. The generated queries finds all persons that are also female and have the same year of birth. Any links in the graph are converted to corresponding clauses in the SPARQL query.

What is the best way to move resources between files?

There are a number of ways to move resources between files. General refactoring strategies are found in the help menu in Help Contents > How to? > Refactor ontologies.

How can I run OWL 2 inferences in TopBraid Composer?

To configure TopBraid Composer for RDFS/OWL 2 reasoning using TopSPIN, go to the Profile sub-tab of the Ontology Home (see figure below). Choose the reasoning profile you wish to use. Inferences will be executed using this profile by inference button (see blue circle in figure).

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What application development tools are available with TBC?

TBC includes comprehensive support, development, test and debugging tools for:
• SHACL
• SPIN
• SPARQLMotion
• SPARQL Web Pages (SWP)
• SWP Applications Library (SWA)

How can I extend SPARQL to support some specialized processing needs I have?

There are several ways to extend SPARQL in TopBraid Composer:
1. SPIN and SPARQLMotion. See the FAQ on creating SPIN functions.
2. Magic properties (aka property functions). See Magic Properties with SPIN. Magic properties extend SPARQL by defining SPARQL predicates with SPARQL queries. This works like a SPIN function, except that it creates multiple matches and is used in a triple pattern format, e.g. “?x my:magicProperty ?y”.
There are also a number of pre-defined SPARQL functions included in TopBraid Suite. See Help > Help Contents > Reference > TopBraid SPARQLMotion Functions Library.

How can I use search with TopBraid Composer?

You can use the Find references button to display all references to the selected resource. The results will be shown in the References View. In the screenshot below, the property hasRating is the selected resource.

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Note that the results not only includes all occurrences of the resource as object in a triple, but also in nested expressions.
You can also search for specific classes and properties by typing the first letters of their name in the search field at the bottom of Classes and Properties views. As shown below, you will receive a dialog with all matching resources. In this case, any class that starts with ‘Pr’.

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Other approaches to search supported by Composer include SPARQL queries and Triples View.

TOPBRAID COMPOSER AND DATA SOURCES

Can I use TBC with XML?

Yes. You can simply double click to open XML file in TBC. This feature uses Semantic XML (SXML) model. For a more specialized transformation from XML to RDF/OWL, use Import > TopBraid Composer > Import XML Schemas wizard.
XML from RDF/OWL export wizard uses instances annotated with Semantic XML triples to transform them to an XML document. In order to comply with an XML Schema, these instances could be defined against classes and properties that were imported from the XML Schema using the Import XSD wizard.

Can I use TBC with spreadsheets?

Yes. TopBraid Composer offers three choices for importing spreadsheet data. The first two are useful when your data is laid out in a straightforward table with clearly named rows and columns, because TopBraid Composer uses these names to dynamically create a model for your data:

• Semantic Tables converts an Excel .xls, .xlsx, csv or .tsv files to an RDF model, using column and row titles to declare properties and instances for that model. Conversion is done dynamically by simply opening the source file; no persistent RDF/OWL representation is created. As a result, this conversion is round-trippable. A user can edit Excel source in RDF and save it back in the original Excel format.

• Import Spreadsheets converts a tab-delimited file, which can be created by any spreadsheet program, and defines classes and properties for the data. This option uses an import dialog that can map spreadsheet columns into properties of the currently opened ontology. It will create RDF file from the source file.

• Importing Excel File into Spreadsheet Ontology uses an import dialog to read an Excel .xls file and create an RDF file with a resource for each data cell. Converted spreadsheet data is represented using the http://www.topbraidcomposer.org/owl/2006/08/spreadsheets.owl ontology, which defines the structure of the spreadsheet with classes such as ss:Cell, ss:Sheet, and ss:Workbook. You can then develop custom SPARQL transformations to extract the data you need from this model and arrange it with a structure that is best suited for your application. This option is often best for spreadsheets with a more complex structure.

For additional capabilities in converting spreadsheets to RDF models, TopBraid EDG automates the mapping of a variety of popular spreadsheet layouts.

How can TBC help me compare two RDF models?

A common requirement of modeling work is the ability to compare one version of an RDF model (or file) with a previous version. Doing this with conventional mechanisms such as file diff tools is usually insufficient, because the serialization of RDF files may change with each iteration.

If you want to use text-based diff tools such as those built-into the Eclipse context menu (right-click on a file in the navigator and use Compare with) then you should save your file in Turtle, using the C14N or Sorted Turtle writer option. See TopBraid Composer preferences > Turtle.

TopBraid EDG offers a comparison report between different graphs (asset collections) and between different versions of the graphs it manages.

How can I use TopBraid Composer with SPARQL Endpoints?

For connecting to a SPARQL endpoint, select a target folder or project in the Navigator and then select File > Import… > Create Connection File for SPARQL Endpoint. You will need the URL of the endpoint, a baseURI to define the connection and the file name. Optionally, you could also provide username and password, a default graph URI and/or a named graph URI. After you provide this metadata, they will be stored in a connection file with the extension sparqlep. The connection file uses basic authentication to access secure endpoints.

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