ISO/IEC 11179-31:2023

Information technology — Metadata registries (MDR) — Part 31: Metamodel for data specification registration

This document provides a specification for an extension to a Metadata Registry (MDR), as specified in ISO/IEC 11179-3, in which metadata that describes data elements and associated concepts, such as “data element concepts”, “conceptual domains” and “value domains” can be registered. The specification in this document, together with the relevant clauses of the specification in ISO/IEC 11179-3, provides the ability to record metadata about: a) data elements, units of measure and derivation rules; b) data element concepts and associated object classes and properties; c) conceptual domains, conceptual domain subsets and value meanings; d) value domains, value domain subsets, datatypes and permissible values. This document is applicable to the formulation of data representations, concepts, meanings and relationships to be shared among people and machines, independent of the organization that produces the data. It is not applicable to the physical representation of data as bits and bytes at the machine level.

Technologies de l'information — Registres de métadonnées (RM) — Partie 31: Métamodèle pour l'enregistrement des spécifications de données

General Information

• Status: Published
• Publication Date: 15-Jan-2023
• ICS: 35.040.50 - Automatic identification and data capture techniques
• Technical Committee: ISO/IEC JTC 1/SC 32 - Data management and interchange
• Drafting Committee: ISO/IEC JTC 1/SC 32/WG 2 - MetaData
• Current Stage: 6060 - International Standard published
• Start Date: 16-Jan-2023
• Due Date: 03-Jul-2023
• Completion Date: 16-Jan-2023

Standards Content (Sample)

INTERNATIONAL ISO/IEC
STANDARD 11179-31
First edition
2023-01
Information technology — Metadata
registries (MDR) —
Part 31:
Metamodel for data specification
registration
Technologies de l'information — Registres de métadonnées (RM) —
Partie 31: Métamodèle pour l'enregistrement des spécifications de
données
Reference number
ISO/IEC 11179-31:2023(E)
© ISO/IEC 2023

---------------------- Page: 1 ----------------------
ISO/IEC 11179-31:2023(E)
COPYRIGHT PROTECTED DOCUMENT
© ISO/IEC 2023
All rights reserved. Unless otherwise specified, or required in the context of its implementation, no part of this publication may
be reproduced or utilized otherwise in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, or posting on
the internet or an intranet, without prior written permission. Permission can be requested from either ISO at the address below
or ISO’s member body in the country of the requester.
ISO copyright office
CP 401 • Ch. de Blandonnet 8
CH-1214 Vernier, Geneva
Phone: [phone]
Email: [e-mail]
Website: www.iso.org
Published in Switzerland
ii
  © ISO/IEC 2023 – All rights reserved

---------------------- Page: 2 ----------------------
ISO/IEC 11179-31:2023(E)
Contents Page
Foreword .vii
Introduction .viii
1 Scope . 1
2 Normative references . 1
3 Terms and definitions . 1
4 Abbreviated terms . 6
5 Conformance . 6
5.1 Overview of conformance . . 6
5.2 Degree of conformance . 6
5.2.1 General . 6
5.2.2 Strictly conforming implementations . 7
5.2.3 Conforming implementations . 7
5.3 Conformance by feature . 7
5.4 Registry conformance . . 8
5.4.1 Standard profiles for edition 4 registries . 8
5.4.2 Conformance labels . . 8
5.5 Implementation conformance statement (ICS) . 8
5.6 Obligation . 8
6 Relationship to ISO/IEC 11179-3 .9
6.1 Metamodel for a metadata registry . 9
6.2 Specification of the metamodel . 9
6.3 Use of UML Class diagrams and textual description . 9
6.4 Package dependencies . 10
6.5 Subclassing the Constraint_Set class . 10
7 Data_Specification package .11
7.1 Overview of the Data_Specification package . 11
7.2 High-level Data Specification metamodel region .12
7.2.1 Overview of the high-level metamodel region .12
7.2.2 Classes in the High-level Data Specification metamodel region .13
7.2.3 Associations of the High-Level Data Specification metamodel region . 16
7.2.4 Constraints of the High Level metamodel region . 17
7.3 Data Element Concept metamodel region . 18
7.3.1 Overview of the Data Element Concept metamodel region . . 18
7.3.2 Classes in the Data Element Concept metamodel region. 19
7.3.3 Associations in the Data Element Concept metamodel region .22
7.4 Conceptual Domain and Value Domain metamodel region .22
7.4.1 Overview of the Conceptual Domain and Value Domain metamodel region .22
7.4.2 Classes in the Conceptual Domain and Value Domain metamodel region . 24
7.4.3 Association Classes in the Conceptual Domain and Value Domain
metamodel region . 41
7.4.4 Associations in the Conceptual Domain and Value Domain metamodel
region .44
7.4.5 Additional Constraints of the Conceptual Domain and Value Domain
metamodel region . 45
7.5 Measurement metamodel region .46
7.5.1 Overview of the Measurement metamodel region .46
7.5.2 Classes in the Measurement metamodel region. 47
7.5.3 Associations in the Measurement metamodel region .50
7.6 Data Element metamodel region . 51
7.6.1 Overview of the Data Element metamodel region. 51
7.6.2 Classes in the Data Element metamodel region . 52
7.6.3 Associations in the Data Element metamodel region .56
iii
© ISO/IEC 2023 – All rights reserved

---------------------- Page: 3 ----------------------
ISO/IEC 11179-31:2023(E)
7.7 Value Domain Subset metamodel region. 57
7.7.1 Overview of the Value Domain Subset metamodel region . 57
7.7.2 Classes in the Value Domain Subset metamodel region . 57
7.7.3 Association classes in the Value Domain Subset metamodel region. 61
7.7.4 Associations in the Value Domain Subset metamodel region . 62
7.7.5 Constraints in the Value Domain Subset metamodel region . .63
7.8 Conceptual Domain Subset metamodel region .63
7.8.1 Overview of the Conceptual Domain Subset metamodel region .63
7.8.2 Classes in the Conceptual Domain Subset metamodel region .64
7.8.3 Association classes in the Conceptual Domain Subset metamodel region .66
7.8.4 Associations in the Conceptual Domain Subset metamodel region . 67
7.8.5 Constraints in the Conceptual Domain Subset metamodel region .68
7.9 Composite Data Elements and Datatypes metamodel region .68
7.9.1 Overview of the Composite Data Elements and Datatypes metamodel region .68
7.9.2 Classes in the Composite Data Elements and Datatypes metamodel region .69
7.9.3 Association Class in the Composite Data Elements and Datatypes
metamodel region . 71
7.9.4 Associations in the Composite Data Elements and Datatypes metamodel
region .72
Annex A (informative) Consolidated class hierarchy .73
Annex B (informative) Example of Address as Composite Data Element and Datatype .74
Annex C (informative) Partial consolidated data specification metamodel .75
Bibliography .76
iv
  © ISO/IEC 2023 – All rights reserved

---------------------- Page: 4 ----------------------
ISO/IEC 11179-31:2023(E)
List of Figures
Figure 1 — Package dependencies .10
Figure 2 — Subclasses of Constraint_Set .11
Figure 3 — High-level Data Specification metamodel .12
Figure 4 — Data Element Concept metamodel region .18
Figure 5 — Conceptual Domain and Value Domain metamodel region .23
Figure 6 — Measurement metamodel region .46
Figure 7 — Data Element metamodel region .51
Figure 8 — Value Domain Subset metamodel region .57
Figure 9 — Conceptual Domain Subset metamodel region .63
Figure 10 — Composite Data Elements and Datatypes metamodel region .69
Figure A.1 — Consolidated Class Hierarchy .73
Figure B.1 — Object diagram of Address as Composite Datatype and Data Element .74
Figure C.1 — Partial Consolidated Data Specification metamodel .75
v
© ISO/IEC 2023 – All rights reserved

---------------------- Page: 5 ----------------------
ISO/IEC 11179-31:2023(E)
List of Tables
Table 1 — Attributes of Data_Element_Concept_Constraint_Set class .21
Table 2 — Attributes of Conceptual_Domain class .24
Table 3 — Attributes of Enumerated_Conceptual_Domain class .26
Table 4 — Attributes of Enumerated_Conceptual_Domain_Definition class .29
Table 5 — Attributes of Value_Domain class .30
Table 6 — Attributes of Permissible_Value class .33
Table 7 — Attributes of Reference_Enumerated_Value_Domain class .34
Table 8 — Attributes of Datatype class .35
Table 9 — Example 1 of Datatype class .35
Table 10 — Example 2 of Datatype class.35
Table 11 — Attributes of Datatype_Scheme class .36
Table 12 — Attributes of Reference_Enumerated_CD_Constraint_Set class.37
Table 13 — Attributes of Local_Enumerated_CD_Constraint_Set class .38
Table 14 — Attributes of Value_Domain_Constraint_Set class .38
Table 15 — Attributes of Described_Value_Domain_Constraint_Set class .39
Table 16 — Attributes of Reference_Enumerated_VD_Constraint_Set class.40
Table 17 — Attributes of Local_Enumerated_VD_Constraint_Set class .40
Table 18 — Attributes of Permissible_Value_Constraint_Set class .41
Table 19 — Attributes of Value_Meaning_Set association class.42
Table 20 — Attributes of Permissible_Value_Meaning association class .43
Table 21 — Attributes of Permissible_Value_Set association class . 44
Table 22 — Attributes of Dimensionality class .50
Table 23 — Attributes of Data_Element class .52
Table 24 — Attributes of Data_Element_Example class .53
Table 25 — Attributes of Data_Element_Derivation_Rule class .54
Table 26 — Attributes of Data_Element_Constraint_Set class .55
Table 27 — Attributes of Local_Enumerated_Value_Domain_Subset class .60
Table 28 — Attributes of Local_Enumerated_VD_Subset_Constraint_Set class .61
Table 29 — Attributes of Subset_Values association class .62
Table 30 — Attributes of Local_Enumerated_Conceptual_Domain_Subset class .65
Table 31 — Attributes of Local_Enumerated_CD_Subset_Constraint_Set class .66
Table 32 — Attributes of Subset_Value_Meanings association class .67
Table 33 — Attributes of Data_Element_Collection class .70
Table 34 — Attributes of Data_Element_Sequence association class .71
vi
  © ISO/IEC 2023 – All rights reserved

---------------------- Page: 6 ----------------------
ISO/IEC 11179-31:2023(E)
Foreword
ISO (the International Organization for Standardization) and IEC (the International Electrotechnical
Commission) form the specialized system for worldwide standardization. National bodies that are
members of ISO or IEC participate in the development of International Standards through technical
committees established by the respective organization to deal with particular fields of technical
activity. ISO and IEC technical committees collaborate in fields of mutual interest. Other international
organizations, governmental and non-governmental, in liaison with ISO and IEC, also take part in the
work.
The procedures used to develop this document and those intended for its further maintenance
are described in the ISO/IEC Directives, Part 1. In particular, the different approval criteria
needed for the different types of document should be noted. This document was drafted in
accordance with the editorial rules of the ISO/IEC Directives, Part 2 (see www.iso.org/directives or
www.iec.ch/members_experts/refdocs).
Attention is drawn to the possibility that some of the elements of this document may be the subject
of patent rights. ISO and IEC shall not be held responsible for identifying any or all such patent
rights. Details of any patent rights identified during the development of the document will be in the
Introduction and/or on the ISO list of patent declarations received (see www.iso.org/patents) or the IEC
list of patent declarations received (see https://patents.iec.ch).
Any trade name used in this document is information given for the convenience of users and does not
constitute an endorsement.
For an explanation of the voluntary nature of standards, the meaning of ISO specific terms and
expressions related to conformity assessment, as well as information about ISO's adherence to
the World Trade Organization (WTO) principles in the Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT) see
www.iso.org/iso/foreword.html. In the IEC, see www.iec.ch/understanding-standards.
This document was prepared by Joint Technical Committee ISO/IEC/JTC 1, Information technology,
Subcommittee SC 32, Data management and interchange.
A list of all parts in the ISO/IEC 11179 series can be found on the ISO and IEC websites.
Any feedback or questions on this document should be directed to the user’s national standards
body. A complete listing of these bodies can be found at www.iso.org/members.html and
www.iec.ch/national-committees.
vii
© ISO/IEC 2023 – All rights reserved

---------------------- Page: 7 ----------------------
ISO/IEC 11179-31:2023(E)
Introduction
In ISO/IEC 11179-3, the structure of a Metadata Registry is specified in the form of a conceptual data
model. ISO/IEC 11179-3 specifies a metamodel for “registry common facilities”, which is intended to be
extended by other parts of ISO/IEC 11179 for specific purposes.
This document provides a specification of the extensions to the registry metamodel specified in
ISO/IEC 11179-3 to enable the registration of metadata about data elements and associated concepts,
such as “data element concepts”, “conceptual domains” and “value domains”. Generically, these are
all referred to as “metadata items”. Such metadata are necessary to clearly describe, record, analyse,
classify and administer data.
th
This document is part of the 4 edition modularization of the ISO/IEC 11179 series. It extracts the Data
Description package from ISO/IEC 11179-3:2013 to make it more accessible and renames it “Metamodel
for data specification registration”. At the same time, some enhancements have been made as follows:
— support for externally defined “reference enumerated conceptual domains” (7.4.2.6) and “reference
enumerated value domains” (7.4.2.13);
— support for sub-setting of value domains (7.7) and conceptual domains (7.8) within a specified
context;
— support for composite data elements and data types (7.9);
— finer-grained conformance options (see 5.3);
— relaxation of some constraints in the standard, while giving registration authorities the ability to
enforce them if they wish (see 6.5).
From Clause 5 onwards, this document uses:
— bold font to highlight terms which represent metadata objects specified by the metamodel;
— normal font for terms which represent concepts defined in Clause 3.
EXAMPLE Conceptual_Domain (7.2.2.2) is a class each instance of which models a conceptual domain.
viii
  © ISO/IEC 2023 – All rights reserved

---------------------- Page: 8 ----------------------
INTERNATIONAL STANDARD ISO/IEC 11179-31:2023(E)
Information technology — Metadata registries (MDR) —
Part 31:
Metamodel for data specification registration
1 Scope
This document provides a specification for an extension to a Metadata Registry (MDR), as specified
in ISO/IEC 11179-3, in which metadata that describes data elements and associated concepts, such as
“data element concepts”, “conceptual domains” and “value domains” can be registered.
The specification in this document, together with the relevant clauses of the specification in
ISO/IEC 11179-3, provides the ability to record metadata about:
a) data elements, units of measure and derivation rules;
b) data element concepts and associated object classes and properties;
c) conceptual domains, conceptual domain subsets and value meanings;
d) value domains, value domain subsets, datatypes and permissible values.
This document is applicable to the formulation of data representations, concepts, meanings and
relationships to be shared among people and machines, independent of the organization that produces
the data. It is not applicable to the physical representation of data as bits and bytes at the machine level.
2 Normative references
The following documents are referred to in the text in such a way that some or all of their content
constitutes requirements of this document. For dated references, only the edition cited applies. For
undated references, the latest edition of the referenced document (including any amendments) applies.
ISO/IEC 11179-3:2023, Information technology — Metadata registries (MDR) — Part 3: Metamodel for
registry common facilities
3 Terms and definitions
For the purposes of this document, the terms and definitions given in ISO/IEC 11179-3 and the following
apply.
ISO and IEC maintain terminology databases for use in standardization at the following addresses:
— ISO Online browsing platform: available at https:// www .iso .org/ obp
— IEC Electropedia: available at https:// www .electropedia .org/
3.1
object class
set of ideas, abstractions or things in the real world that are identified with explicit boundaries and
meaning and whose properties and behaviour follow the same rules
3.2
property
quality common to all members of an object class (3.1)
1
© ISO/IEC 2023 – All rights reserved

---------------------- Page: 9 ----------------------
ISO/IEC 11179-31:2023(E)
3.3
characteristic
abstraction of a property (3.2)
EXAMPLE 'Having a cable for connecting with a computer' as a characteristic of the concept 'cord mouse'.
Note 1 to entry: Characteristics are used for describing concepts (3.4).
[SOURCE: ISO 1087:2019, 3.2.1]
3.4
concept
unit of knowledge created by a unique combination of characteristics (3.3)
Note 1 to entry: Concepts are not necessarily bound to particular natural languages. They are, however,
influenced by the social or cultural background which often leads to different categorizations.
Note 2 to entry: A concept is independent of its representation.
[SOURCE: ISO 1087:2019, 3.2.7, modified — Note 2 to entry changed.]
3.5
conceptual domain
CD
concept (3.4) whose meaning is expressed as an enumerated set, a description of subordinate concepts
or both, which are value meanings (3.10)
3.6
described conceptual domain
conceptual domain (3.5) that is specified by a description or specification, such as a rule, a procedure or
a range (i.e. interval)
3.7
enumerated conceptual domain
conceptual domain (3.5) that is specified by a list of all its value meanings (3.10)
Note 1 to entry: No ordering of the value meanings is implied.
3.8
local enumerated conceptual domain
enumerated conceptual domain (3.7) whose value meanings (3.10) are enumerated locally within the
registry
Note 1 to entry: c.f. reference enumerated conceptual domain (3.11).
3.9
local enumerated conceptual domain subset
subset of the value meanings (3.10) in a local enumerated conceptual domain (3.8) used to restrict the
value meanings a data element concept (3.25) can assume in a particular context
3.10
value meaning
semantic content of a value
Note 1 to entry: The representation of value meanings in a registry (3.36) shall be independent of (and shall not
constrain) their representation in any corresponding value domain (3.13).
3.11
reference enumerated conceptual domain
enumerated conceptual domain (3.7) that is specified by a formal definition
Note 1 to entry: The definition may reference externally enumerated value meanings (3.10).
2
  © ISO/IEC 2023 – All rights reserved

---------------------- Page: 10 ----------------------
ISO/IEC 11179-31:2023(E)
3.12
enumerated conceptual domain definition
formal definition of an enumerated conceptual domain (3.7)
Note 1 to entry: The definition may reference externally enumerated value meanings (3.10).
3.13
value domain
VD
set of permissible values (3.19)
Note 1 to entry: The value domain provides representation but has no implication as to what data element concept
(3.25) the values are associated with nor what the values mean.
Note 2 to entry: The permissible values can either be enumerated, expressed via a description, or a combination
of the two.
3.14
described value domain
value domain (3.1
...