{"history":[],"article":{"id":"c53e14be-1a5e-4431-8c3e-e316cb8c1182","title":"Representation term","slug":"representation-term","content":":::summary\n:::\n\n# \nA **representation term** is a word, or a combination of words, that semantically represent the data type (value domain) of a data element.\nA representation term is commonly referred to as a class word by those familiar with [data dictionaries](https://bliptext.com/articles/data-dictionary).\n[ISO/IEC 11179](https://bliptext.com/articles/iso-iec-11179)-5:2005 defines representation term as a designation of an instance of a representation class As used in [ISO/IEC 11179](https://bliptext.com/articles/iso-iec-11179), the representation term is that part of a [data element name](https://bliptext.com/articles/data-element-name) that provides a semantic pointer to the underlying data type.\nA [Representation class](https://bliptext.com/articles/representation-class) is a class of representations.\nThis representation class provides a way to [classify](https://bliptext.com/articles/taxonomic-classification) or group [data elements](https://bliptext.com/articles/data-element).\nA Representation Term may be thought of as an attribute of a [data element](https://bliptext.com/articles/data-element) in a [metadata registry](https://bliptext.com/articles/metadata-registry) that classifies the [data element](https://bliptext.com/articles/data-element) according to the type of data stored in the [data element](https://bliptext.com/articles/data-element).\nRepresentation terms are typically \"approved\" by the organization or standards body using them.\nFor example, the UN publishes its approved list as part of the UN/CEFACT Core Components Technical Specification.\nThe [Universal Data Element Framework](https://bliptext.com/articles/universal-data-element-framework) uses a subset of CCTS representation terms and assigns numeric codes to those used.\n\n# Use cases for representation term\n\n## Managing value domains\nA value domain expresses the set of allowed values for a data element.\nThe representation term (and typically the corresponding data type term) comprise a taxonomy for the value domains within a data set.\nThis taxonomy is the representation class.\nThus the representation term can be used to control proliferation of value domains by ensuring equivalent value domains use the same representation term.\n\n## Finding equivalent properties\nWhen a person or software agent is analyzing two separate metadata registries to find [property equivalence](https://bliptext.com/articles/property-equivalence), the Representation Term can be used as a guide.\nFor example, if system A has a Data Element such as PersonGenderCode and system B has a data element such as PersonSexCode the code suffix might assist the two systems to only match data elements that have the suffix \"Code\".\nHowever, a taxonomy of property terms (i.e. \"Sex\" or \"Gender\") is much more efficient in this respect.\n\n## Inference\nThe Representation Term can be used in many ways to do inferences on data sets.\nRepresentation Terms tells the observer of any data stream about the data types and gives an indication of how the Data Element can be used.\nThis is critical when mapping metadata registries to external Data Elements.\nFor example, if you are sent a record about a person you may look for any \"ID\" suffix to understand how the remote system may differentiate two distinct records.\n\n## Required fields\nRepresentation Terms are also used to make inferences about the requirements of a property.\nFor example, if a data stream had Data Element PersonBirthDateAndTime you would know that BOTH the date AND time are available and relevant, not just the date.\nIf the birth time was optional, a separate data elements should be used such as PersonBirthDate and PersonBirthTime.\n\n## Finding data warehouse dimensions and measures\nWhen creating a data warehouse, a business analyst looks at the Representation Terms to quickly find the dimensions and measures of a subject matter in order to build OLAP cubes.\nFor example:\n\n## Core Components Technical Specification\nThe joint ISO/UN Core Components Technical Specification formally define both the allowed set of representation terms and the corresponding set of data types.\nISO 15000-5 is an implementation layer of ISO 11179 and normatively expresses a set of rules to semantically define conceptual and physical/logical data models for a wide variety of uses.\nIn ISO 15000-5, the representation term provides a mechanism to harmonize the value domains of candidate data elements before being added to the overall data model(s).\nISO 15000-5 is being used by a number of government, standards development organizations, and private sector as the basis for data modeling.\n\n## Universal Data Element Framework\nSome informal standards such as the [Universal Data Element Framework](https://bliptext.com/articles/universal-data-element-framework) (which refer to a Representation Term as a \"Property Word\") assign unique integer IDs to each Representation Term.\nThis allows metadata mapping tools to map one set of data elements into other metadata vocabularies.\nAn example of these mappings can be found at [Property word ID](https://bliptext.com/articles/property-word-id).\nNote that as of November 2005 the UDEF concepts have not been widely adopted.\n\n# Example of representation terms as an XML suffix\nFor example, if an XML Data fragment had the following:\n\n**123-45-6789**\n**John**\n**Smith**\n**1990-08-14**\n\nIn the example above, the Representation terms are \"ID\" for the , the suffix \"Name\" for the Given and Family names, and \"Date\" for the .\n\n# Sample representation terms\nThe following are samples of Representation Terms that have been used for the exchange of electronic messages in systems such as [NIEM](https://bliptext.com/articles/niem) or [GJXDM](https://bliptext.com/articles/gjxdm) 3.0: [note: the restrictions expressed here are limited to those specifications and do not represent universal consensus]\n\n# Pros of representation terms\n\n# Cons of representation terms\n\n# Standards that use representation terms\n[Note] This is an extremely limited set of the wide range of standards that specify the use of representation terms.","current_revision":null,"created_by":"kACnuQmH5k9Nr5VNVEpVeg7XpvUmMctD","created_at":"2025-01-25T22:27:57.202Z","updated_at":"2025-01-25T22:27:57.202Z","search_vector":"'represent':1 'term':2","search_content":" \n \n\n# \nA **representation term** is a word, or a combination of words, that semantically represent the data type (value domain) of a data element.\nA representation term is commonly referred to as a class word by those familiar with [data dictionaries](https://bliptext.com/articles/data-dictionary).\n[ISO/IEC 11179](https://bliptext.com/articles/iso-iec-11179)-5:2005 defines representation term as a designation of an instance of a representation class As used in [ISO/IEC 11179](https://bliptext.com/articles/iso-iec-11179), the representation term is that part of a [data element name](https://bliptext.com/articles/data-element-name) that provides a semantic pointer to the underlying data type.\nA [Representation class](https://bliptext.com/articles/representation-class) is a class of representations.\nThis representation class provides a way to [classify](https://bliptext.com/articles/taxonomic-classification) or group [data elements](https://bliptext.com/articles/data-element).\nA Representation Term may be thought of as an attribute of a [data element](https://bliptext.com/articles/data-element) in a [metadata registry](https://bliptext.com/articles/metadata-registry) that classifies the [data element](https://bliptext.com/articles/data-element) according to the type of data stored in the [data element](https://bliptext.com/articles/data-element).\nRepresentation terms are typically \"approved\" by the organization or standards body using them.\nFor example, the UN publishes its approved list as part of the UN/CEFACT Core Components Technical Specification.\nThe [Universal Data Element Framework](https://bliptext.com/articles/universal-data-element-framework) uses a subset of CCTS representation terms and assigns numeric codes to those used.\n\n# Use cases for representation term\n\n## Managing value domains\nA value domain expresses the set of allowed values for a data element.\nThe representation term (and typically the corresponding data type term) comprise a taxonomy for the value domains within a data set.\nThis taxonomy is the representation class.\nThus the representation term can be used to control proliferation of value domains by ensuring equivalent value domains use the same representation term.\n\n## Finding equivalent properties\nWhen a person or software agent is analyzing two separate metadata registries to find [property equivalence](https://bliptext.com/articles/property-equivalence), the Representation Term can be used as a guide.\nFor example, if system A has a Data Element such as PersonGenderCode and system B has a data element such as PersonSexCode the code suffix might assist the two systems to only match data elements that have the suffix \"Code\".\nHowever, a taxonomy of property terms (i.e. \"Sex\" or \"Gender\") is much more efficient in this respect.\n\n## Inference\nThe Representation Term can be used in many ways to do inferences on data sets.\nRepresentation Terms tells the observer of any data stream about the data types and gives an indication of how the Data Element can be used.\nThis is critical when mapping metadata registries to external Data Elements.\nFor example, if you are sent a record about a person you may look for any \"ID\" suffix to understand how the remote system may differentiate two distinct records.\n\n## Required fields\nRepresentation Terms are also used to make inferences about the requirements of a property.\nFor example, if a data stream had Data Element PersonBirthDateAndTime you would know that BOTH the date AND time are available and relevant, not just the date.\nIf the birth time was optional, a separate data elements should be used such as PersonBirthDate and PersonBirthTime.\n\n## Finding data warehouse dimensions and measures\nWhen creating a data warehouse, a business analyst looks at the Representation Terms to quickly find the dimensions and measures of a subject matter in order to build OLAP cubes.\nFor example:\n\n## Core Components Technical Specification\nThe joint ISO/UN Core Components Technical Specification formally define both the allowed set of representation terms and the corresponding set of data types.\nISO 15000-5 is an implementation layer of ISO 11179 and normatively expresses a set of rules to semantically define conceptual and physical/logical data models for a wide variety of uses.\nIn ISO 15000-5, the representation term provides a mechanism to harmonize the value domains of candidate data elements before being added to the overall data model(s).\nISO 15000-5 is being used by a number of government, standards development organizations, and private sector as the basis for data modeling.\n\n## Universal Data Element Framework\nSome informal standards such as the [Universal Data Element Framework](https://bliptext.com/articles/universal-data-element-framework) (which refer to a Representation Term as a \"Property Word\") assign unique integer IDs to each Representation Term.\nThis allows metadata mapping tools to map one set of data elements into other metadata vocabularies.\nAn example of these mappings can be found at [Property word ID](https://bliptext.com/articles/property-word-id).\nNote that as of November 2005 the UDEF concepts have not been widely adopted.\n\n# Example of representation terms as an XML suffix\nFor example, if an XML Data fragment had the following:\n \n **123-45-6789** \n **John** \n **Smith** \n **1990-08-14** \n \nIn the example above, the Representation terms are \"ID\" for the , the suffix \"Name\" for the Given and Family names, and \"Date\" for the .\n\n# Sample representation terms\nThe following are samples of Representation Terms that have been used for the exchange of electronic messages in systems such as [NIEM](https://bliptext.com/articles/niem) or [GJXDM](https://bliptext.com/articles/gjxdm) 3.0: [note: the restrictions expressed here are limited to those specifications and do not represent universal consensus]\n\n# Pros of representation terms\n\n# Cons of representation terms\n\n# Standards that use representation terms\n[Note] This is an extremely limited set of the wide range of standards that specify the use of representation terms.","revisionCount":0},"hasMore":false,"nextCursor":null}

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