# Change Management
**Enterprise-grade version control and audit trails for knowledge graphs and ontologies with data integrity verification**
## Overview
The Semantica change management module provides enterprise-grade version control, audit trails, and compliance tracking for knowledge graphs and ontologies. Designed for high-stakes domains where every change must be tracked, verified, and auditable with complete data integrity guarantees.
- :material-history:{ .lg .middle } **Version Control**
---
Complete snapshot management with SHA-256 integrity verification
- :material-database:{ .lg .middle } **Dual Storage**
---
InMemory (development) and SQLite (production) with ACID guarantees
- :material-graph:{ .lg .middle } **Knowledge Graph Versioning**
---
Entity and relationship-level change tracking with detailed diffs
- :material-shape:{ .lg .middle } **Ontology Versioning**
---
Structural change tracking for classes, properties, and axioms
- :material-clipboard-check:{ .lg .middle } **Audit Trail Compliance**
---
Complete change logs with author attribution and timestamps
- :material-shield-check:{ .lg .middle } **Data Integrity**
---
SHA-256 checksums for tamper detection and verification
- :material-compare:{ .lg .middle } **Change Comparison**
---
Detailed diff algorithms for entities, relationships, and ontology structures
- :material-backup-restore:{ .lg .middle } **Backward Compatibility**
---
Legacy support for existing ontology version management
### Key Features
- ✅ **Enterprise Version Control** — Complete snapshot management with SHA-256 integrity verification
- ✅ **Dual Storage Backends** — InMemory (development) and SQLite (production) with ACID guarantees
- ✅ **Knowledge Graph Versioning** — Entity and relationship-level change tracking with detailed diffs
- ✅ **Ontology Versioning** — Structural change tracking for classes, properties, and axioms
- ✅ **Audit Trail Compliance** — Complete change logs with author attribution and timestamps
- ✅ **Data Integrity** — SHA-256 checksums for tamper detection and verification
- ✅ **Change Comparison** — Detailed diff algorithms for entities, relationships, and ontology structures
- ✅ **Backward Compatibility** — Legacy support for existing ontology version management
---
## Quick Start
```python
from semantica.change_management import TemporalVersionManager
# Initialize version manager
manager = TemporalVersionManager(storage_path="versions.db")
# Create versioned snapshot
snapshot = manager.create_snapshot(
graph={"entities": [...], "relationships": [...]},
version_label="v1.0",
author="user@example.com",
description="Initial knowledge graph"
)
# Compare versions
diff = manager.compare_versions("v1.0", "v2.0")
```
**What this does:**
- Initializes version manager with persistent SQLite storage
- Creates a versioned snapshot of knowledge graph data
- Compares two versions to detect changes
- Provides complete audit trail with author attribution
---
## Core Components
### ChangeLogEntry
Standardized metadata for tracking version changes with validation.
```python
from semantica.change_management import ChangeLogEntry
@dataclass
class ChangeLogEntry:
timestamp: str # ISO 8601 format
author: str # Email address
description: str # Max 500 characters
change_id: Optional[str] = None
```
**Key Method:**
- `create_now(author, description, change_id=None)` - Create entry with current timestamp
### Storage Backends
#### InMemoryVersionStorage
Fast, volatile storage for development and testing.
```python
from semantica.change_management import InMemoryVersionStorage
storage = InMemoryVersionStorage()
```
#### SQLiteVersionStorage
Persistent storage with ACID guarantees for production.
```python
from semantica.change_management import SQLiteVersionStorage
storage = SQLiteVersionStorage("versions.db")
```
#### VersionStorage (Abstract)
Base interface for custom storage implementations.
**Core Methods:**
- `save(snapshot)` - Store version snapshot
- `get(label)` - Retrieve by version label
- `list_all()` - List all versions
- `exists(label)` - Check if version exists
- `delete(label)` - Remove version
---
## Version Managers
### BaseVersionManager
Abstract base class providing common version management functionality.
```python
from semantica.change_management import BaseVersionManager
manager = BaseVersionManager(storage_path="versions.db")
```
**Common Methods:**
- `list_versions()` - Get all version metadata
- `get_version(label)` - Retrieve specific version
- `verify_checksum(snapshot)` - Validate data integrity
### TemporalVersionManager
**Knowledge Graph Version Management**
Perfect for tracking changes in knowledge graphs with entity and relationship diffs.
```python
from semantica.change_management import TemporalVersionManager
manager = TemporalVersionManager(storage_path="kg_versions.db")
# Create snapshot
snapshot = manager.create_snapshot(
graph={
"entities": [
{"id": "e1", "name": "Entity 1", "type": "Person"},
{"id": "e2", "name": "Entity 2", "type": "Organization"}
],
"relationships": [
{"source": "e1", "target": "e2", "type": "works_for"}
]
},
version_label="v1.0",
author="user@example.com",
description="Initial knowledge graph"
)
# Compare versions with detailed diffs
diff = manager.compare_versions("v1.0", "v2.0")
print(f"Entities added: {diff['summary']['entities_added']}")
print(f"Relationships modified: {diff['summary']['relationships_modified']}")
```
**Key Features:**
- Entity-level change tracking
- Relationship diff analysis
- SHA-256 checksums for integrity
- Detailed change summaries
### OntologyVersionManager
**Ontology Version Management**
Designed for structural changes in ontologies with class, property, and axiom tracking.
```python
from semantica.change_management import OntologyVersionManager
manager = OntologyVersionManager(storage_path="ontology_versions.db")
# Create ontology snapshot
snapshot = manager.create_snapshot(
ontology={
"uri": "https://example.com/ontology",
"structure": {
"classes": ["Person", "Organization"],
"properties": ["name", "email"],
"axioms": ["Person hasEmail exactly 1 Email"]
}
},
version_label="ont_v1.0",
author="architect@example.com",
description="Initial ontology design"
)
# Compare structural changes
diff = manager.compare_versions("ont_v1.0", "ont_v2.0")
print(f"Classes added: {diff['classes_added']}")
print(f"Axioms modified: {diff['axioms_modified']}")
```
**Key Features:**
- Class and property tracking
- Axiom change detection
- Structural comparison
- Import/export support
---
## Data Integrity
### compute_checksum
Generate SHA-256 checksum for data integrity verification.
```python
from semantica.change_management import compute_checksum
data = {"entities": [...], "relationships": [...]}
checksum = compute_checksum(data)
print(f"SHA-256: {checksum}")
```
**Use cases:**
- Verify data integrity before storing snapshots
- Detect unauthorized modifications to version data
- Ensure consistency across distributed systems
- Generate unique identifiers for data versions
### verify_checksum
Validate data integrity using stored checksums.
```python
from semantica.change_management import verify_checksum
snapshot = manager.get_version("v1.0")
is_valid = verify_checksum(snapshot)
if not is_valid:
print("WARNING: Data integrity compromised!")
```
**Use cases:**
- Validate snapshot integrity after retrieval
- Detect data corruption or tampering
- Ensure compliance with data integrity requirements
- Verify backup and restore operations
---
## Legacy Support
### VersionManager
Original ontology version manager for backward compatibility.
```python
from semantica.change_management import VersionManager, OntologyVersion
```
**Note:** Use `OntologyVersionManager` for new projects.
---
## Error Handling
```python
from semantica.utils.exceptions import ValidationError, ProcessingError
try:
snapshot = manager.create_snapshot(...)
except ValidationError as e:
print(f"Invalid input: {e}")
except ProcessingError as e:
print(f"Operation failed: {e}")
```
**Common Errors:**
- `ValidationError` - Invalid email, missing fields, bad timestamps
- `ProcessingError` - Database issues, file system errors
---
## Best Practices
### Performance Tips
- Use `InMemoryVersionStorage` for development/testing
- Use `SQLiteVersionStorage` for production
- Implement retention policies for old versions
### Security Considerations
- Validate author emails for audit trails
- Use checksums for data integrity
- Store sensitive data with appropriate permissions
### Usage Patterns
```python
from semantica.change_management import TemporalVersionManager
# Development workflow
dev_manager = TemporalVersionManager() # In-memory
# Production workflow
prod_manager = TemporalVersionManager(
storage_path="secure/production_versions.db"
)
# Audit trail generation
for version in prod_manager.list_versions():
print(f"{version['timestamp']}: {version['description']} by {version['author']}")
```