Automatic generation of user interfaces from SHACL https://shacl-vue.psychoinformatics.de/
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  • JavaScript 23.9%
  • Python 1%
  • Shell 0.3%
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Stephan Heunis d050912ea5 Extended input type and component support for WizardEditor
Before this the WizardEditor only supported a single level of inputs of basic types,
meaning no arrays, no objects, and no recursion. The DOI metadata import use case
quickly showed that the previous state was not sufficient at all.

This commit introduces support for arrays, objects, indefinite recursion, and buttons.
Arrays are configured by input key-value 'multi_valued: true'. Objects are configured
by input type 'object' and can receive its child-level input specification via its own
'inputs' key. Buttons are configured by input type 'button' and can specify which
function to run via the 'on_click.call' option. If in addition the 'on_click.plugin'
is provided, the function to call will be retrieved from the context of the provided
(and presumably autoregistered) plugin.

Additional support is also provided for rendering a custom component inside the
WizardEditor component, as opposed to the current approach of rendering each input
based on config specification. The component feature was also introduced when it became
clear that the complexity of the DOI metadata import use case could not be achieved using
the standard input specification use case. Custom components are specified via the root
'component' key for a given wizard spec, and its value should be provided in the format
'plugin_name:component_name'.

Here is an example wizard configuration using all new options:

DOIImportWizard:
  name: DOI Import Wizard
  component: doi:DOIFetcher
  inputs:
    - prop: doi
      type: text
      required: true
    - prop: import
      type: button
      on_click:
        plugin: doi
        call: importMetadata
    - prop: title
      type: text
      required: true
    - prop: abstract
      type: text-paragraph
    - prop: authors
      type: object
      multi_valued: true
      inputs:
        - prop: pid
          type: text
        - prop: given_name
          type: text
        - prop: family_name
          type: text
        - prop: role
          type: text
          multi_valued: true
  template: content:DOIImportWizardTemplate

  To support the new input specifications, the WizardEditor was refactored into a set of
  self-contained components that support recursion.

  Finally, the WizardEditor also supports the rendering of a custom component instead of
  configured inputs. When a component is specified, it will be rendered instead of all
  specified inputs. It is important to note that these inputs that will be used for the
  template-filling procedure of the wizard should all still be specified, as they are used
  by the WizardEditor to manage state between parent/child components and between the wizard
  and the templating mechanism.
2026-03-18 22:00:41 +01:00
.forgejo/workflows correct directory paths for cp command 2026-01-15 21:39:56 +01:00
.github/workflows Add github action to codespell main on push and PRs 2025-02-24 14:30:02 -05:00
docs Add wizard menu item to docs 2026-02-08 22:36:59 +01:00
public Add update_shapes option to config template 2026-01-23 16:17:42 +01:00
src Extended input type and component support for WizardEditor 2026-03-18 22:00:41 +01:00
tests Reformat all files with prettier 2025-06-08 23:57:26 +02:00
tools Helpers for getting default schemas and data 2025-04-22 18:35:36 +02:00
.browserslistrc Basic scaffolding of vite-powered vuejs+vuetify project for rendering/viewing shacl shapes 2024-03-26 15:07:32 +01:00
.codespellrc Add rudimentary codespell config 2025-02-24 14:30:02 -05:00
.editorconfig Basic scaffolding of vite-powered vuejs+vuetify project for rendering/viewing shacl shapes 2024-03-26 15:07:32 +01:00
.gitignore First basic setup of docs using vitepress, includes updating github action to deploy docs to '/docs' location in web app 2024-09-05 14:32:34 +02:00
.npmignore update npmignore to deal with recent updates to build process 2025-02-28 23:30:09 +01:00
.prettierignore Add prettier, indentation set at 4 spaces, add npm script 2025-06-08 23:56:38 +02:00
.prettierrc Add prettier, indentation set at 4 spaces, add npm script 2025-06-08 23:56:38 +02:00
index.html Reformat all files with prettier 2025-06-08 23:57:26 +02:00
index.js Reformat all files with prettier 2025-06-08 23:57:26 +02:00
jsconfig.json Reformat all files with prettier 2025-06-08 23:57:26 +02:00
LICENSE Initial commit 2024-03-21 11:11:07 +01:00
package-lock.json Support nunjucks templating for wizardeditor feature 2026-03-18 21:26:20 +01:00
package.json Support nunjucks templating for wizardeditor feature 2026-03-18 21:26:20 +01:00
README.md Refer to new docs and dev repo links 2026-01-15 21:32:45 +01:00
vite.config.app.mjs Support including front page html 2025-09-02 18:27:46 +02:00
vite.config.lib.mjs Reformat all files with prettier 2025-06-08 23:57:26 +02:00

shacl-vue

THIS REPOSITORY IS UNDER CONTINUOUS DEVELOPMENT

Overview

shacl-vue is a web-based user interface for entering, editing, and viewing linked (meta)data using a VueJS application driven by the Shapes Constraint Language (SHACL).

Think of it as an automatic builder that you just have to feed with a model of your data. If you have a SHACL schema, or a schema in a format that can be exported to SHACL, then you're good to go. No need to build custom forms for data entry, no need to struggle with post-entry data validation, no need to create a catalog application that renders all the entered data. shacl-vue does all of this automatically.

shacl-vue is built with VueJS 3, Vuetify frontend components, and Vite build tools, and was heavily inspired by the WC3 Draft: Form Generation using SHACL and DASH. For reading, manipulating, and writing RDF data (including SHACL), the package uses libraries compatible with the RDF/JS specifications (see also: https://github.com/rdfjs-base)

Installation and usage

shacl-vue can be installed from npm:

npm install shacl-vue

Use as a library

The npm package currently provides the named export ShaclVue:

import { ShaclVue } from 'shacl-vue'

This is the main configurable VueJS component that is used to render all functionality of shacl-vue. It can be instantiated inside a VueJS application as follows:

<template>
    <ShaclVue :configUrl="myconfig"></ShaclVue>
</template>
<script setup>
const myconfig = 'config.json';
</script>

Here, config.json is used to configure the properties of the specific shacl-vue deployment. See examples here, and here.

For the above to work, the VueJS application will have to install Vuetify and the ShaclVue might need to be registered explicitly.

Use as a standalone site

The build steps of shacl-vue produce both the library as well as a set of static files that can be served as a standalone site. The abovementioned metadata annotation tool of the TRR379 Research Consortium deploys shacl-vue in this manner, and its source code can be viewed here.

To use shacl-vue to deploy a standalone site, follow the build steps below. In addition, a deployment-specific confi file should be provided.

Local development and building

The shacl-vue source code can be cloned for local development, testing, or building. First clone the repository:

git clone https://hub.psychoinformatics.de/datalink/shacl-vue.git
cd shacl-vue

Then create a local NodeJS virtual environment, e.g with micromamba:

micromamba create -n <my-env-name> nodejs
micromamba activate <my-env-name>

Then install the application:

npm install .

Local rendering during development

To serve the application locally in order to test it in the browser, run:

npm run dev

Build steps

To build the library (output at /dist/lib):

npm run build:lib

To build the standalone site, i.e. VueJS application (output at /dist/app):

npm run build:app

To build both the library and the standalone site:

npm run build

Testing

Testing remains a primary TODO for this package, although a minimal test is in place to check whether the named exports can be imported into a new project. Testing is done with Vitest.

npm run test

Dependency on shacl-tulip

In an effort to generalize shacl-vue for improved use by and interoperability with other applications, the underlying functionality was factored out and packaged as the shacl-tulip library (like "shacl-vue-lib"). shacl-tulip provides the main (derived) classes for handling RDF data and related form data. It is completely independent of VueJS, yet class constructors allow passing reactive objects as arguments, which shacl-tulip handles seamlessly. It also focuses purely on library-level functionality (including utilities that were previously part of shacl-vue), and contains no frontend code. shacl-vue imports shacl-tulip classes and uses them mainly in its composable code.

Access to external webservices

Unless configured to connect to specific API endpoints (see Service API integration docs), a client accessing a bundled shacl-vue deployment does not load any external resources. All required resources are loaded from the server where the bundled application is hosted.

Acknowledgements

This work was funded, in part, by

  • Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG, German Research Foundation) under grant TRR 379 (546006540, Q02 project)
  • Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG, German Research Foundation) under grant SFB 1451 (431549029, INF project)
  • MKW-NRW: Ministerium für Kultur und Wissenschaft des Landes Nordrhein-Westfalen under the Kooperationsplattformen 2022 program, grant number: KP22-106A