Object properties have the following property characteristics: Inverse, Symmetric, Asymmetric, Reflexive, Irreflexive, Functional, Inverse Functional, and Transitive. An example accompanies each characteristic. The modeling tool supports exporting each characteristic; the respective OWL ontology will accompany each example.
Inverse Object Property
Sometimes you can invert directions of properties between classes. As shown in the example below, the property hasBiologicalMother can be seen as the inverse property of hasChild. Furthermore, you can see the Biological Mother and Child are connected by hasChild, and Child and Biological Mother are connected by hasBiologicalMother.
The OWL ontology is described here: Class with inverse property
Symmetric Object Property
At other times, you may want to connect classes which have the same properties. This can be done with a symmetric object property. The example below shows a Person having a Spouse. This is symmetric because that same Spouse would also have a spouse which is a Person.
The OWL ontology is described here: Class with symmetric object property
Asymmetric Object Property
Conversely, you may want to characterize properties that are asymmetric. For instance, a biological mother has a child but a child would not have a child and characterize them as a biological mother. Hence, this is property of hasChild is asymmetric between a biological mother and her child.
The OWL ontology is described here: Class with Asymmetric Object Property
Reflexive Object Property
This object property is used to depict properties that are reflexive to the class. For example, a Person has the right to not reveal their gender on an arbitrary application. This property relates only to that Person.
The OWL ontology is described here: Class with Reflexive Object Property
Irreflexive Object Property
On the other hand, some properties are irreflexive, meaning you cannot relate this property to the class itself. For example. John S. is not a relative of himself. Hence, the property relativeOf is irreflexive to John S.
The OWL ontology is described here: Class with Irreflexive Object Property
Functional Object Property
A functional object property has a multiplicity 0..1 attached to it. The example below is about a husband and a wife, and the functional property hasHusband shows that the wife can have at most one husband.
The OWL ontology is described here: Class with Functional Object Property
Inverse Functional Object Property
Like the functional object property, the inverse functional object property also has a multiplicity 0..1 attached to it. However, the inverse functional object property, according to the example below, shows that the husband can be a husband to at most one individual, a wife.
The OWL ontology is described here: Class with Inverse Functional Object Property
Transitive Object Property
The transitive object property connects two classes when one of the linked class has a connection with another class. The example below shows the transitive object property between Mary and her grandmother.
The OWL ontology is described here: Class with Transitive Object Property
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