Validation & Enforcement

Overview

Control how strictly ontology rules are enforced and validate data against ontology constraints.

Enforcement Modes

Control how strictly ontology rules are enforced with three modes:

Enable strict enforcement:

GQL
SET ONTOLOGY ENFORCEMENT STRICT

Enable warning mode:

GQL
SET ONTOLOGY ENFORCEMENT WARNING

Disable enforcement:

GQL
SET ONTOLOGY ENFORCEMENT OFF

Check current enforcement mode:

GQL
SHOW ONTOLOGY ENFORCEMENT

Strict Mode

In STRICT mode, any ontology constraint violation will cause an error and block the operation. Use this in production to ensure data quality.

Setup domain/range constraints:

GQL
CREATE OBJECT PROPERTY @ex:worksFor DOMAIN @ex:Person RANGE @ex:Organization

SET ONTOLOGY ENFORCEMENT STRICT

// This succeeds: Person -> Organization
INSERT (:@ex:Person {name: 'Alice'})-[:@ex:worksFor]->(:@ex:Organization {name: 'Acme'})

Invalid data is rejected:

GQL
// This fails in STRICT mode: Organization -> Organization violates DOMAIN
INSERT (:@ex:Organization {name: 'Org1'})-[:@ex:worksFor]->(:@ex:Organization {name: 'Org2'})
// Error: Domain constraint violation - source must be @ex:Person

Disjoint class violation:

GQL
CREATE CLASS @ex:Cat
CREATE CLASS @ex:Dog DISJOINT WITH @ex:Cat

INSERT (:@ex:Cat&@ex:Dog {name: 'Mystery'})
// Error: Disjoint class violation - cannot be both Cat and Dog

Functional property violation:

GQL
CREATE OBJECT PROPERTY @ex:hasBirthPlace FUNCTIONAL

// First birthPlace assignment succeeds
INSERT (:@ex:Person {name: 'Alice'})-[:@ex:hasBirthPlace]->(:@ex:Location {name: 'Paris'})

// Second birthPlace fails - functional constraint violation
MATCH (a@ex:Person) WHERE a.name = 'Alice'
INSERT (a)-[:@ex:hasBirthPlace]->(:@ex:Location {name: 'London'})
// Error: Functional property violation - Alice already has a birthPlace

Warning Mode

In WARNING mode, constraint violations are logged but operations proceed. Use this during migration or development to identify issues without blocking work.

GQL
SET ONTOLOGY ENFORCEMENT WARNING

// This succeeds but logs a warning
INSERT (:@ex:Organization {name: 'Org1'})-[:@ex:worksFor]->(:@ex:Organization {name: 'Org2'})
// Warning logged: Domain constraint violation - source should be @ex:Person

View warnings after operations:

GQL
SHOW ONTOLOGY WARNINGS

Bulk Import Workflow

For large data imports, disable enforcement during import and validate afterward for better performance.

GQL
// Disable enforcement for bulk import
SET ONTOLOGY ENFORCEMENT OFF

// Perform bulk import operations
INSERT (:@ex:Person {name: 'Alice'})
INSERT (:@ex:Person {name: 'Bob'})
INSERT (:@ex:Organization {name: 'Acme'})
// ... thousands more inserts ...

// Re-enable enforcement
SET ONTOLOGY ENFORCEMENT WARNING

// Validate the imported data
VALIDATE ONTOLOGY

VALIDATE Command

Run validation to check existing data against ontology constraints.

GQL
VALIDATE ONTOLOGY

Validation returns any constraint violations found:

Viewing Warnings

When using WARNING mode, violations are stored in a warnings log that you can query.

GQL
SHOW ONTOLOGY WARNINGS

Validation Types

The ontology validator checks for several types of constraint violations:

Domain violation example:

GQL
CREATE OBJECT PROPERTY @ex:employs DOMAIN @ex:Organization RANGE @ex:Person

// Wrong: Person cannot employ (domain is Organization)
INSERT (:@ex:Person {name: 'Alice'})-[:@ex:employs]->(:@ex:Person {name: 'Bob'})
// DOMAIN_MISMATCH: source must be @ex:Organization

Range violation example:

GQL
// Wrong: Organization cannot be employed (range is Person)
INSERT (:@ex:Organization {name: 'Acme'})-[:@ex:employs]->(:@ex:Organization {name: 'Other'})
// RANGE_MISMATCH: target must be @ex:Person