Final answer:
SPARQL query results can be returned in JSON format, containing a Head section for metadata and a Results section with the data itself, encoded in an array of bindings for each variable-value pair.
Step-by-step explanation:
When a SPARQL query is executed against a dataset, the results can be returned in various formats, one of which is JSON. SPARQL queries that ask for data (SELECT queries) or ask about the presence of data (ASK queries) can return results in JSON format, particularly useful for web applications. The results are structured according to the SPARQL Query Results JSON Format (which is part of the SPARQL 1.1 Results Format W3C Recommendation). Here is a example of how the results are typically structured:
- Head: Contains metadata about the result variables.
- Results: Contains the actual data. Within Results, there is a bindings array, where each item is a set of value-variable pairs corresponding to the variables selected in the SPARQL query.
Each variable's value is represented as an object with properties like "value", indicating the data element, and an optional "datatype" property when the value is a typed literal. Using this structure, applications can easily parse the returned data and integrate it into their systems.