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A distributed ontology system including a central computer comprising a global ontology directory, a plurality of ontology server computers, each including a repository of class and relation definitions, and a server for responding to queries relating to class and relation definitions in the reposit

A distributed ontology system including a central computer comprising a global ontology directory, a plurality of ontology server computers, each including a repository of class and relation definitions, and a server for responding to queries relating to class and relation definitions in the repository, and a computer network connecting the central computer with the plurality of ontology server computers. A method is also described and claimed.

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What is claimed is: 1. A distributed ontology system for responding to queries comprising: a central computer within the distributed ontology system comprising a global ontology directory, the global ontology directory indexing class and relation definitions, wherein class definitions define ontolo

What is claimed is: 1. A distributed ontology system for responding to queries comprising: a central computer within the distributed ontology system comprising a global ontology directory, the global ontology directory indexing class and relation definitions, wherein class definitions define ontological classes, the ontological classes being sets of instances having a common characterization, and relation definitions define ontological relations, the ontological relations being inter-relationships between classes that are used to relate instances of one or more classes; a plurality of ontology server computers, comprising: a corresponding plurality of repositories, each repository of the plurality of repositories containing different portions of the class and relation definitions and different portions of superclass-subclass definitions, and wherein at least one superclass-subclass definition is contained in a repository of the plurality of repositories that resides on a different ontology server computer than the ontology server computer housing the repository containing the definition of the subclass or the ontology server computer housing the repository containing the definition of the superclass; and a corresponding plurality of query processors for responding to queries relating to the class and the relation definitions in said plurality of repositories; an authoring tool communicating with said repositories for updating said repositories, comprising: a validator for ensuring that updates made to said repositories maintain backward compatibility, so that expressions that were valid before being updated remain valid after said updating is performed; and a relation editor for editing relation definitions in said repositories, by expanding domains of relations; an Extensible Markup Language (XML) embedder communicating with said repositories for embedding an XML Schema within a designated repository by identifying class and relation definitions implicit in the XML Schema, wherein said identifying comprises user-aided choosing of class and relation definitions implicit in the XML Schema that are embedded within the designated repository; and a computer network connecting said central computer with said plurality of ontology server computers. 2. The system of claim 1 wherein at least one relation definition within an ontology server computer repository references class definitions from a repository within a different ontology server computer. 3. The system of claim 1 wherein at least one of said plurality of ontology server computers further comprise a publisher for publishing class and relation definitions in its repository to said global ontology directory. 4. The system of claim 1 wherein said central computer further comprises an agent for seeking out class and relation definitions included in said repositories. 5. The system of claim 1 wherein said authoring tool has a capability to browse repositories of a plurality of ontology server computers. 6. The system of claim 1 wherein said authoring tool further comprises a class adder for adding new class definitions to said repositories. 7. The system of claim 1 wherein said authoring tool further comprises a class editor for editing class definitions in said repositories. 8. The system of claim 1 wherein said authoring tool further comprises a relation adder for adding relation definitions to said repositories. 9. The system of claim 1 further comprising a search engine for searching for class or relation definitions. 10. The system of claim 9 wherein said search engine resides on at least one of said plurality of ontology server computers. 11. The system of claim 9 wherein said search engine resides on said central computer. 12. The system of claim 9 further comprising an ontology toolkit comprising: a search tool, for searching said global ontology directory; and a query tool for querying at least one of said plurality of repositories. 13. The system of claim 1 wherein the class and relation definitions within said repositories include authorship data. 14. The system of claim 13 further comprising a web filter for generating a filtered ontology based on constraints on authorship data. 15. The system of claim 1 further comprising a text file embedder for embedding a text file having a description of a class within a repository. 16. The system of claim 1 further comprising a view generator for generating a view of a class by associating with the class a subset of attributes of the class. 17. The system of claim 16 wherein the subset of attributes of the class includes composed functions. 18. The system of claim 16 wherein at least one attribute in the subset of attributes is further associated with a view of the co-domain of the attribute. 19. The system of claim 16 further comprising an XML generator for generating a single XML Schema type element from the view. 20. The system of claim 16 further comprising an XML generator for generating an XML Schema from the view. 21. The system of claim 20 wherein said XML generator generates an XML Schema with aid of a user choosing which class and relation definitions are to be included in the XML Schema. 22. The system of claim 21 further comprising a class and relation navigation tool for guiding the user in choosing class and relation definitions. 23. The system of claim 16 further comprising a designator for designating class and relation definitions that are required and for designating class and relation definitions that are optional. 24. The system of claim 1 further comprising a graphical user interface including icons for displaying instances of classes. 25. The system of claim 24 further wherein said graphical user interface also includes icons for displaying sets of instances defined by a logical term. 26. The system of claim 1 further comprising an ontology navigation tool for viewing class and relation definitions. 27. A distributed ontology method for responding to queries comprising: providing a central computer within a distributed ontology system comprising a global ontology directory; connecting said central computer with a plurality of ontology server computers via a computer network; managing said global ontology directory for a distributed ontology, the global ontology directory indexing class and relation definitions, wherein class definitions define ontological classes, the ontological classes being sets of instances having a common characterization, and relation definitions define ontological relations, the ontological relations being inter-relationships between classes that are used to relate instances of one or more classes; managing a plurality of repositories, each repository of the plurality of repositories residing on an ontology server computer of the plurality of ontology server computers, and each repository of the plurality of repositories including a different portion of the class and relation definitions and a different portion of superclass-subclass definitions, wherein at least one superclass-subclass definition resides in a different repository of the plurality of repositories than the repository containing the definition of the subclass or the repository containing the definition of the superclass; updating the repositories comprising: validating that updates made to the repositories maintain backward compatibility, so that expressions that were valid before being updated remain valid after said updating is performed; and editing relation definitions in the repositories, by expanding domains of relations; communicating with the repositories for embedding an Extensible Markup Language (XML) Schema within a designated repository by identifying class and relation definitions implicit in the XML Schema, with aid of a user choosing which class and relation definitions implicit in the XML Schema are embedded within the designated repository; and responding to queries relating to the class and the relation definitions in at least one repository of the repositories. 28. The method of claim 27 wherein at least one relation definition within a repository references class definitions from within a different repository. 29. The method of claim 27 further comprising publishing class and relation definitions within at least one repository to the global ontology directory. 30. The method of claim 27 further comprising seeking out class and relation definitions included in the repositories. 31. The method of claim 27 wherein said updating further comprises browsing a plurality of repositories. 32. The method of claim 27 wherein said updating further comprises adding new class definitions to the repositories. 33. The method of claim 27 wherein said updating further comprises editing class definitions in the repositories. 34. The method of claim 27 wherein said updating tool further comprises adding relation definitions to the repositories. 35. The method of claim 27 further comprising searching for class or relation definitions. 36. The method of claim 35 further comprising: searching the global ontology directory; and querying at least one of the plurality of repositories. 37. The method of claim 27 wherein the class and relation definitions in the repositories include authorship data. 38. The method of claim 37 further comprising generating a filtered ontology based on constraints on authorship data. 39. The method of claim 27 further comprising embedding a text file having a description of a class within a repository. 40. The method of claim 27 further comprising generating a view of a class, by associating with the class a subset of attributes of the class. 41. The system of claim 40 wherein the subset of attributes of the class includes composed functions. 42. The system of claim 40 wherein at least one attribute in the subset of attributes is further associated with a view of the co-domain of the attribute. 43. The system of claim 40 further comprising generating a single XML Schema type element from the view. 44. The system of claim 40 further comprising generating an XML Schema from the view. 45. The method of claim 44 wherein said generating comprises user-aided choosing which class and relation definitions are to be included within the XML Schema. 46. The method of claim 45 further comprising navigating through class and relation definitions to guide said user-aided choosing. 47. The method of claim 40 further comprising designating class and relation definitions that are required, and designating class and relation definitions that are optional. 48. The method of claim 27 further comprising displaying icons representing instances of classes. 49. The method of claim 48 further comprising displaying icons representing sets of instances defined by a logical term. 50. The method of claim 27 further comprising navigating through class and relation definitions. 51. An ontology system for responding to queries comprising: a central computer within a distributed ontology system comprising a global ontology directory for an ontology, the global ontology directory indexing class and relation definitions, wherein class definitions define ontological classes, the ontological classes being sets of instances having a common characterization, and relation definitions define ontological relations, the ontological relations being inter-relationships between classes that are used to relate instances of one or more classes; a computer network connecting said central computer with a plurality of ontology server computers; said plurality of ontology server computers comprising: a plurality of repositories, each repository including a different portion of the class and relation definitions and a different portion of superclass-subclass definitions, wherein at least one superclass-subclass definition resides in a different repository of the plurality of repositories than the repository containing the definition of the subclass or the repository containing the definition of the superclass; an authoring tool for updating said repositories, comprising: a validator for ensuring that updates made to said repositories maintain backward compatibility, so that expressions that were valid before being updated remain valid after said updating is performed; and a relation editor for editing relation definitions in said repositories, by expanding domains of relations; an Extensible Markup Language (XML) embedder communicating with said repositories for embedding an XML Schema within a designated repository with aid of a user choosing class and relation definitions implicit in the XML Schema that are embedded within the designated repository; an agent for seeking out class and relation definitions included in said repositories; and a query processor for responding to queries relating to the class and the relation definitions in said repositories. 52. The system of claim 51 wherein at least one relation definition within a repository references class definitions from within a different repository. 53. The system of claim 51 further comprising a publisher for publishing class and relation definitions within at least one of said repositories to said global ontology directory. 54. The system of claim 51 wherein said authoring tool has a capability to browse a plurality of repositories. 55. The system of claim 51 wherein said authoring tool further comprises a class adder for adding new class definitions to said repositories. 56. The system of claim 51 wherein said authoring tool further comprises a class editor for editing class definitions in said repositories. 57. The system of claim 51 wherein said authoring tool further comprises a relation adder for adding relation definitions to said repositories. 58. The system of claim 51 further comprising an ontology toolkit comprising: a search tool, for searching said global ontology directory; and a query tool for querying at least one of said plurality of repositories. 59. The system of claim 51 wherein the class and relation definitions in said repository include authorship data. 60. The system of claim 59 further comprising a web filter for generating a filtered ontology based on constraints on authorship data. 61. The system of claim 51 further comprising a text file embedder for embedding a text file having a description of a class within a repository. 62. The system of claim 51 further comprising a view generator for generating a tree of attributes from class and relation definitions. 63. The system of claim 62 wherein said view generator is an XML generator for generating an XML Schema from class and relation definitions. 64. The system of claim 63 wherein said XML generator generates an XML Schema with aid of a user choosing which class and relation definitions are to be included within the XML Schema. 65. The system of claim 64 further comprising a class and relation navigation tool for guiding the user in choosing class and relation definitions. 66. The system of claim 62 further comprising a designator for designating class and relation definitions that are required, and for designating class and relation definitions that are optional. 67. The system of claim 51 further comprising a graphical user interface including icons for displaying instances of classes. 68. The system of claim 67 further wherein said graphical user interface also includes icons for displaying sets of instances defined by a logical term. 69. The system of claim 51 further comprising an ontology navigation tool for viewing class and relation definitions.