Manchester editor

Edit complex class expressions in Turtle ontologies using Manchester OWL Syntax — restrictions, intersections, unions, and cardinality.

Requires v0.5.0+ and a .ttl file. v0.8+ uses the React webview panel with validation UI and axiom kind picker.

Open the editor

Entry point	How
Entity Inspector	Select a class → click Edit in Manchester on a complex axiom row
Add axiom	Inspector → Add Manchester axiom
Command Palette	OntoCode: Open Manchester Editor (with entity context from explorer)
Command Palette	OntoCode: Add Manchester Axiom

Workflow

1. Choose axiom type: SubClassOf, EquivalentClasses, or DisjointClasses.
2. Enter a Manchester expression, e.g. ex:hasRecord some ex:MedicalRecord.
3. Use Insert pickers for classes, object properties, data properties, and XSD datatypes (from the indexed catalog).
4. Validate — parse diagnostics and expression tree.
5. Preview Turtle — see the Turtle fragment before writing.
6. Apply — patch the .ttl file and re-index.

Edit vs add

• Edit (existing complex axiom): removes the prior expression and adds the new one (no duplicate axioms).
• Add: appends a new complex axiom to the entity block.

Simple named-parent SubClassOf (e.g. ex:Person) is edited in the inspector quick form, not the Manchester editor.

MVP expression support

Construct	Example
Named class	ex:Person
Intersection	ex:A and ex:B
Union	ex:A or ex:B
Existential restriction	ex:hasRecord some ex:MedicalRecord
Universal restriction	ex:hasRecord only ex:MedicalRecord
Cardinality	ex:hasPart min 2 ex:Component
Disjoint (named class)	Select DisjointClasses and enter the other class IRI in the inspector quick form, or use patch JSON

View only in axiom catalog: domain, range, property chains. Not shipped: property chain editing. See What ships today.

CLI equivalent

Patch JSON uses the same operations as the editor:

[
  {
    "op": "add_complex_sub_class_of",
    "entity_iri": "http://example.org/clinic#Patient",
    "manchester": "ex:hasRecord some ex:MedicalRecord"
  }
]

ontoindex patch ./ontology.ttl patches.json --preview
ontoindex patch ./ontology.ttl patches.json

Full reference: Patch JSON.

Limitations (v0.5)

• Turtle write-back only — RDF/XML and other formats are read-only in the inspector.
• Complex axioms do not appear as edges in the Classes hierarchy tree (named parents only).
• Autocomplete uses catalog Insert pickers, not inline Manchester language-server assist.
• Unsaved buffer edits: patches apply to the open VS Code buffer first, then disk. See Authoring.

Troubleshooting

Problem	What to try
No Edit in Manchester button	Entity needs a complex axiom in a .ttl file; simple named parents use the quick form
Validate shows errors	Check prefix declarations (ex:) match your ontology @prefix lines
Apply did not change file	Confirm result.applied; check errors for PATCH_INVALID or APPLIED_NOT_INDEXED

Sample ontology for testing (git clone): fixtures/complex-classes.ttl.

More help: Troubleshooting · Authoring.