ISO/IEC 11179-1:2023
(Main)Information technology — Metadata registries (MDR) — Part 1: Framework
Information technology — Metadata registries (MDR) — Part 1: Framework
This document provides the means for understanding and associating the individual parts of ISO/IEC 11179 and is the foundation for a conceptual understanding of metadata and metadata registries. This document also describes the relationship of ISO/IEC 11179 to other JTC 1/SC 32 standards, technical specifications and technical reports on metadata. In all parts of ISO/IEC 11179, metadata refers to descriptions of data. It does not contain a general treatment of metadata.
Technologies de l'information — Registres de métadonnées (RM) — Partie 1: Cadre de référence
General Information
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Standards Content (Sample)
INTERNATIONAL ISO/IEC
STANDARD 11179-1
Fourth edition
2023-01
Information technology — Metadata
registries (MDR) —
Part 1:
Framework
Technologies de l'information — Registres de métadonnées (RM) —
Partie 1: Cadre de référence
Reference number
ISO/IEC 11179-1:2023(E)
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ISO/IEC 11179-1:2023(E)
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ISO/IEC 11179-1:2023(E)
Contents Page
Foreword .v
Introduction .vii
1 Scope . 1
2 Normative references . 1
3 Terms, definitions and abbreviated terms . 1
3.1 Terms related to modelling constructs . 1
3.2 General terms . 2
3.3 Terms used in the 11179 metamodel . 7
3.4 Abbreviated terms . 11
4 Theory of terminology .12
5 Metadata .12
5.1 General .12
5.2 Concepts . 13
5.2.1 General .13
5.2.2 Management .13
5.3 Fundamental model of data elements . 13
5.4 Data elements in data management and interchange. 15
6 Metadata registries . .15
6.1 General . 15
6.2 Fundamentals of registration . 16
7 Overview of ISO/IEC 11179 .17
7.1 General . 17
7.2 ISO/IEC 11179-1 — Part 1: Framework . 17
7.3 ISO/IEC TR 11179-2 — Part 2: Classification . 17
7.4 ISO/IEC 11179-3 — Part 3: Metamodel for registry common facilities. 17
7.5 ISO/IEC 11179-30 — Part 30: Basic attributes of metadata . 18
7.6 ISO/IEC 11179-31 — Part 31: Metamodel for data specification registration . 18
7.7 ISO/IEC 11179-32 — Part 32: Metamodel for concept system registration . 18
7.8 ISO/IEC 11179-33 — Part 33: Metamodel for data set registration . 19
7.9 ISO/IEC 11179-34 — Part: 34 Metamodel for computable data registration .20
7.10 ISO/IEC 11179-35 — Part 35: Metamodel for model registration . 20
7.11 ISO/IEC 11179-4 — Part 4: Formulation of data definitions . 20
7.12 ISO/IEC 11179-5 — Part 5: Naming principles . 20
7.13 ISO/IEC 11179-6 — Part 6: Registration . 21
8 Relationship to other JTC 1/SC 32 standards, TRs and TSs on metadata .21
8.1 ISO/IEC 19763 series — Metamodel framework for interoperability (MFI) . 21
8.1.1 General . 21
8.1.2 ISO/IEC 19763-1 — Part 1: Framework . 22
8.1.3 ISO/IEC 19763-10 — Part 10: Core model and basic mapping.22
8.1.4 ISO/IEC 19763-6 — Part 6: Registry summary .23
8.1.5 ISO/IEC 19763-3 — Part 3: Metamodel for ontology registration .23
8.1.6 ISO/IEC 19763-5 — Part 5: Metamodel for process model registration .23
8.1.7 ISO/IEC 19763-7 — Part 7: Metamodel for service model registration . 24
8.1.8 ISO/IEC 19763-8 — Part 8: Metamodel for role and goal model registration . 24
8.1.9 ISO/IEC TR 19763-9 — Part 9: On-demand model selection . 24
8.1.10 ISO/IEC 19763-12 — Part 12: Metamodel for information model registration . 24
8.1.11 ISO/IEC TS 19763-13 — Part 13: Metamodel for form design registration .25
8.1.12 ISO/IEC 19763-16 — Part 16: Metamodel for document model registration .25
8.2 ISO/IEC 19773 Metadata Registries (MDR) modules . 25
8.3 ISO/IEC 20943 series — Procedures for achieving metadata registry content
consistency . 26
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ISO/IEC 11179-1:2023(E)
8.3.1 General . 26
8.3.2 ISO/IEC TR 20943-1 — Part 1: Data elements . 26
8.3.3 ISO/IEC TR 20943-3 — Part 3: Value domains . 27
8.3.4 ISO/IEC TR 20943-5 — Part 5: Metadata mapping procedure . 27
8.3.5 ISO/IEC TR 20943-6 — Part 6: Framework for generating ontologies . 27
8.4 ISO/IEC 20944 series — Metadata Registries Interoperability and Bindings (MDR-
IB) . 27
8.4.1 General . 27
8.4.2 ISO/IEC 20944-1 — Part 1: Framework, common vocabulary and common
provisions for conformance .28
8.4.3 ISO/IEC 20944-2 — Part 2: Coding bindings .28
8.4.4 ISO/IEC 20944-3 — Part 3: API bindings .28
8.4.5 ISO/IEC 20944-4 — Part 4: Protocol bindings .28
8.4.6 ISO/IEC 20944-5 — Part 5: Profiles .28
8.5 ISO/IEC 19583 series — Concepts and uses of metadata .28
8.5.1 General .28
8.5.2 ISO/IEC TR 19583-1 — Part 1: Metadata concepts .28
8.5.3 ISO/IEC TR 19583-21 — Part 21: 11179-3 data model in SQL .29
8.5.4 ISO/IEC TR 19583-22 — Part 22: Registering and mapping processes using
ISO/IEC 19763 .29
8.5.5 ISO/IEC TR 19583-23 — Part 23: Data element exchange (DEX) .29
8.6 ISO/IEC 14957 Representation of data element values — Notation of the format .29
8.7 ISO/IEC 5218 Codes for the representation of human sexes .29
8.8 ISO/IEC 11404 General purpose datatypes .29
8.9 ISO/IEC 24707 Common Logic (CL) .29
8.10 ISO/IEC 21838 series — Top level ontologies .30
8.10.1 General .30
8.10.2 ISO/IEC 21838-1 — Part 1: Requirements .30
8.10.3 ISO/IEC 21838-2 — Part 2: Basic Formal Ontology (BFO) .30
8.10.4 ISO/IEC 21838-3 — Part 3: Descriptive ontology for linguistic and
cognitive engineering (DOLCE) . 31
8.10.5 ISO/IEC 21838-4 — Part 4: TUpper . 31
9 Conformance .31
Bibliography .32
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ISO/IEC 11179-1:2023(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.
This fourth edition cancels and replaces the third edition (ISO/IEC 11179-1:2015), which has been
technically revised.
The main changes are as follows:
— some of the detailed descriptions from the Introduction and Clause 5 have been removed to avoid
duplication with other parts;
— Clause 7 has been updated to:
— revise the description for ISO/IEC 11179-3 to reflect its focus on the core metamodel of a
metadata registry, and the creation of separate parts to handle other aspects;
— add a description for ISO/IEC 11179-30;
— add a description for ISO/IEC 11179-31;
— add a description for ISO/IEC 11179-32;
— add a description for ISO/IEC 11179-33;
— add a description for ISO/IEC 11179-34;
— add a description for ISO/IEC 11179-35;
— Clause 8 has been added to describe the relationship of other ISO/IEC JTC 1/SC 32 standards on
metadata to the ISO/IEC 11179 series;
— references to other standards have been updated, especially ISO 1087, to the latest edition.
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ISO/IEC 11179-1:2023(E)
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.
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ISO/IEC 11179-1:2023(E)
Introduction
The ISO/IEC 11179 series addresses the semantics of data, the representation of data and the registration
of the descriptions of that data. It is through these descriptions that an accurate understanding of the
semantics and a useful depiction of the data are found.
The purposes of ISO/IEC 11179 are to promote the following:
— standard description of data;
— common understanding of data across organizational elements and between organizations;
— re-use and standardization of data over time, space, and applications;
— harmonization and standardization of data within an organization and across organizations;
— management of the components of descriptions of data;
— re-use of the components of descriptions of data.
Each part of ISO/IEC 11179 is devoted to addressing a different aspect of these needs, as described in
Clause 7.
Generally, descriptive data are known as metadata. Metadata can describe books, phone calls, data, etc.
ISO/IEC 11179 focuses upon metadata that describe data.
A metadata registry (MDR) is a system for maintaining a database of metadata. Registration is
one possible function of that system. Registration accomplishes three main goals: identification,
provenance, and monitoring quality. Identification is accomplished by assigning a unique identifier
(within the registry) to each object registered there. Provenance addresses the source of the metadata
and the object described. Monitoring quality ensures that the metadata does the job it is designed to do.
An MDR may contain the semantics of data. An understanding of data is fundamental to their design,
harmonization, standardization, use, re-use and interchange. The underlying model for an MDR is
designed to capture all the basic components of the semantics of data, independent of any application or
subject matter area.
MDRs, typically, are organized so that those designing applications can ascertain whether a suitable
object described in the MDR already exists. Where it is established that a new object is essential, its
derivation from an existing description with appropriate modifications is encouraged, thus avoiding
unnecessary variations in the way similar objects are described. Registration will also allow two or
more administered items describing identical objects to be identified, and more importantly, it will
help to identify situations where similar or identical names are in use for administered items that are
significantly different in one or more respects.
The names, definitions, datatype and related attributes that are associated with the description of an
object in an MDR give that object meaning. The depth of this meaning is limited, because names and
definitions convey limited information about the object. The relationships object descriptions have
with semantically related object descriptions in a registry provide additional information, but this
additional information is dependent on how many semantically related object descriptions there are.
A metadata registry that conforms to ISO/IEC 11179 can describe a wide variety of data. In fact, the
attributes described in ISO/IEC 11179 are data elements, and they can be registered in an ISO/IEC 11179
metadata registry. Moreover, any set of descriptors or metadata attributes may be interpreted as data
elements and registered in the metadata registry.
There are two main consequences to this:
— the metadata registry can describe itself;
— metadata layers or levels are not defined in ISO/IEC 11179.
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ISO/IEC 11179-1:2023(E)
As a result, ISO/IEC 11179 is a general description framework for data of any kind, in any organization
and for any purpose. ISO/IEC 11179 does not address other data management needs, such as data
models, application specifications, programming code, program plans, business plans and business
policies. These need to be addressed elsewhere. ISO/IEC 19763 specifies facilities to extend a metadata
registry so that information about models can be registered. Such models include information (or data)
models, ontologies, process models, role and goal models, and form designs.
The increased use of data processing and electronic data interchange heavily relies on accurate, reliable,
controllable and verifiable data recorded in databases. One of the prerequisites for a correct and proper
use and interpretation of data is that both users and owners of data have a common understanding
of the meaning and descriptive characteristics (e.g. representation) of that data, guaranteed by the
definition of several basic attributes.
The basic attributes specified are applicable for the definition and specification of the contents of data
dictionaries and interchanging or referencing among various collections of administered items. The
“basic” in basic attributes means that the attributes are commonly needed in specifying administered
items completely enough to ensure that they will be applicable for a variety of functions, such as:
— design of information processing systems;
— retrieval of data from databases;
— design of messages for data interchange;
— maintenance of metadata registries;
— data management;
— dictionary design;
— dictionary control;
— use of information processing systems.
Basic also implies that they are independent of any:
— application environment;
— function of an object described by an administered item;
— level of abstraction;
— grouping of administered items;
— method for designing information processing systems or data interchange messages;
— MDR system.
Basic does not imply that all attributes specified in ISO/IEC 11179 are required in all cases. Distinction
is made between those attributes that are mandatory, conditional, or optional.
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INTERNATIONAL STANDARD ISO/IEC 11179-1:2023(E)
Information technology — Metadata registries (MDR) —
Part 1:
Framework
1 Scope
This document provides the means for understanding and associating the individual parts of
ISO/IEC 11179 and is the foundation for a conceptual understanding of metadata and metadata
registries. This document also describes the relationship of ISO/IEC 11179 to other JTC 1/SC 32
standards, technical specifications and technical reports on metadata.
In all parts of ISO/IEC 11179, metadata refers to descriptions of data. It does not contain a general
treatment of metadata.
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 704, Terminology work — Principles and methods
ISO 1087, Terminology work and terminology science — Vocabulary
3 Terms, definitions and abbreviated terms
For the purposes of this document, the terms and definitions given in ISO 704, ISO 1087 and the
following apply.
ISO and IEC maintain terminological 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 Terms related to modelling constructs
3.1.1
attribute
characteristic (3.2.6) of an object (3.2.4) or set of objects
[SOURCE: ISO/IEC 11179-3:2023, 3.1.11]
3.1.2
class
description of a set of objects (3.2.4) that share the same attributes (3.1.1), operations, methods,
relationships (3.1.4) and semantics
Note 1 to entry: Adapted from ISO/IEC 19505-2:2012, 7.3.7.
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ISO/IEC 11179-1:2023(E)
3.1.3
identifier
sequence of characters, capable of uniquely identifying that with which it is
associated, within a specified context (3.3.3)
Note 1 to entry: Unlike a name (3.2.17), an identifier is linguistically neutral.
Note 2 to entry: It is possible to define an identifier from the point of view of terminology as defined in ISO 1087
and described in ISO 704, as follows: representation of an object by a sign which denotes it, and is intended for
dereferencing that object. Note the parallel with the definition of designation (3.2.16), except this applies to any
object rather than just for concepts.
[SOURCE: ISO/IEC 11179-3:2023, 3.1.16, modified — Note 2 to entry has been added.]
3.1.4
relationship
semantic connection among model elements
[SOURCE: ISO 19103:2015, 4.30]
3.2 General terms
3.2.1
subject
area of interest or expertise
[SOURCE: ISO 1087:2019, 3.1.5]
3.2.2
domain
subject field
field of special knowledge
Note 1 to entry: The borderlines and the granularity of a domain are determined from a purpose-related point of
view. If a domain is sub-divided, the result is again a domain.
[SOURCE: ISO 1087:2019, 3.1.4]
3.2.3
entity
any concrete or abstract thing that exists, did exist, or might exist, including associations among these
things
EXAMPLE A person, object, event, idea, process, etc.
Note 1 to entry: An entity exists whether data about it are available or not.
[SOURCE: ISO/IEC 2382:2015, 2121433, modified — some Notes to entry have been deleted.]
3.2.4
object
anything perceivable or conceivable
Note 1 to entry: Objects can be material (e.g. 'engine', 'sheet of paper', 'diamond'), immaterial (e.g. 'conversion
ratio', 'project plan') or imagined (e.g. 'unicorn', 'scientific hypothesis').
[SOURCE: ISO 1087:2019, 3.1.1]
3.2.5
property
feature of an object (3.2.4)
EXAMPLE 1 'Being made of wood' as a property of a given 'table'.
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ISO/IEC 11179-1:2023(E)
EXAMPLE 2 'Belonging to person A' as a property of a given 'pet'.
2
EXAMPLE 3 'Having been formulated by Einstein' as a property of the equation 'E = mc '.
EXAMPLE 4 'Being compassionate' as a property of a given 'person'.
EXAMPLE 5 'Having a given cable' as a property of a given 'computer mouse'.
Note 1 to entry: One or more objects can have the same property.
Note 2 to entry: See also 3.3.2.
[SOURCE: ISO 1087:2019, 3.1.3, modified — Note 2 to entry added.]
3.2.6
characteristic
abstraction of a property (3.2.5)
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 (3.2.8).
[SOURCE: ISO 1087:2019, 3.2.1]
3.2.7
essential characteristic
characteristic (3.2.6) of a concept (3.2.8) which is indispensable to understanding that concept
[SOURCE: ISO 1087:2019, 3.2.3]
3.2.8
concept
unit of knowledge created by a unique combination of characteristics (3.2.6)
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 has been changed.]
3.2.9
general concept
concept (3.2.8) that corresponds to a potentially unlimited number of objects (3.2.4), which form a
group by reason of shared properties (3.2.5)
EXAMPLE 'planet', 'tower', 'Nobel Prize in Physics', 'moon'.
Note 1 to entry: For a general concept it is essential that a number of corresponding objects greater than 1 can
be perceived or conceived of. For example 'spaceship' has been a general concept before such a material object
existed, at the time when there existed only 1 such object, and later when there existed several such objects.
[SOURCE: ISO 1087:2019, 3.2.9]
3.2.10
indiv
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