RDF Description Element

Each resource that you want to describe in RDF gets its own <rdf:Description> element. This element has several attributes:

• about lets you specify what resource the element describes.

• aboutEach lets you make statements about each of the element's children.

• aboutEachPrefix lets you select RDF container items by prefix.

• bagID specifies the ID of an associated bag container.

• ID lets you give the element an ID value.

• type specifies the description's type.

In fact, you can also convert the properties that you list in the <rdf:Description> element into attributes, as we'll see when we take a look at the RDF abbreviated syntax.

In our example, the resource being described is the document http://www.starpowder.com/planets.html , so I assign that URI to the about attribute of the <rdf:Description> element:

 <?xml version="1.0" ?>  <rdf:RDF     xmlns:rdf="http://www.w3.org/1999/02/22-rdf-syntax-ns#">  <rdf:Description about="http://www.starpowder.com/planets.html">   .   .   .   </rdf:Description>  </rdf:RDF> 

In other words, you use the about attribute to specify the statement's subject. To actually say something about the resource, you use property elements.