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) —
iTeh STANDARD PREVIEW
Partie 1: Cadre de référence

([Link])
ISO/IEC 11179-1:2023
[Link]
iec-11179-1-2023

Reference number
ISO/IEC 11179-1:2023(E)

© ISO/IEC 2023
ISO/IEC 11179-1:2023(E)

iTeh STANDARD PREVIEW

([Link])
ISO/IEC 11179-1:2023
[Link]
iec-11179-1-2023

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: +41 22 749 01 11
Email: copyright@[Link]
Website: [Link]
Published in Switzerland

ii  © ISO/IEC 2023 – All rights reserved


 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 iTeh STANDARD PREVIEW
General......................................................................................................................................................................................................... 15
6.2 Fundamentals of registration................................................................................................................................................. 16
7 Overview of ISO/IEC([Link])
11179 ..................................................................................................................................................................... 17
7.1 General......................................................................................................................................................................................................... 17
7.2 ISO/IEC 11179-1 — Part 1: Framework.......................................................................................................................... 17
7.3
ISO/IEC 11179-1:2023
ISO/IEC TR 11179-2 — Part 2: Classification............................................................................................................ 17
[Link]
7.4 ISO/IEC 11179-3 — Part 3: Metamodel for registry common facilities............................................ 17
7.5 ISO/IEC 11179-30 — Partiec-11179-1-2023 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

© ISO/IEC 2023 – All rights reserved  iii

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 iTeh STANDARD PREVIEW
ISO/IEC 24707 Common Logic (CL).................................................................................................................................... 29
8.10 ISO/IEC 21838 series — Top level ontologies........................................................................................................... 30
([Link])
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 — ISO/IEC Part 3: 11179-1:2023 Descriptive ontology for linguistic and
cognitive engineering (DOLCE).......................................................................................................................... 31
[Link]
8.10.5 ISO/IEC 21838-4 — Part 4: TUpper................................................................................................................ 31
iec-11179-1-2023
9 Conformance.......................................................................................................................................................................................................... 31
Bibliography.............................................................................................................................................................................................................................. 32

iv  © ISO/IEC 2023 – All rights reserved


 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 [Link]/directives or
[Link]/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 [Link]/patents) or the IEC
list of patent declarations received (see [Link]
Any trade name used in this document is information given for the convenience of users and does not
constitute an endorsement.
iTeh STANDARD PREVIEW
For an explanation of the voluntary nature of standards, the meaning of ISO specific terms and
([Link])
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
[Link]/iso/[Link]. In the IEC, see [Link]/understanding-standards.
ISO/IEC 11179-1:2023
This document was prepared by Joint Technical Committee ISO/IEC/JTC 1, Information technology,
[Link]
Subcommittee SC 32, Data management and interchange.
iec-11179-1-2023
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.

© ISO/IEC 2023 – All rights reserved  v

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 [Link]/[Link] and
[Link]/national-committees.

iTeh STANDARD PREVIEW

([Link])
ISO/IEC 11179-1:2023
[Link]
iec-11179-1-2023

vi  © ISO/IEC 2023 – All rights reserved


 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.
iTeh STANDARD PREVIEW
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,
([Link])
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.
ISO/IEC 11179-1:2023
An[Link]
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
iec-11179-1-2023
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.

© ISO/IEC 2023 – All rights reserved  vii

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; iTeh STANDARD PREVIEW
— dictionary design; ([Link])
— dictionary control;
ISO/IEC 11179-1:2023
— use of information processing systems.
[Link]
Basic also implies that they are independent ofiec-11179-1-2023
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.

viii  © ISO/IEC 2023 – All rights reserved


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
iTeh STANDARD PREVIEW
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 —([Link])
Principles and methods
ISO 1087, Terminology work and terminology science — Vocabulary
ISO/IEC 11179-1:2023
[Link]
3 Terms, definitions and abbreviated terms
iec-11179-1-2023
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 [Link] ww​.iso​.org/​obp
— IEC Electropedia: available at [Link] ww​.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.

© ISO/IEC 2023 – All rights reserved  1

ISO/IEC 11179-1:2023(E)

3.1.3
identifier
<metadata registry> 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
<UML> semantic connection among model elements
[SOURCE: ISO 19103:2015, 4.30]

3.2 General terms

3.2.1
subject
area of interest or expertise
iTeh STANDARD PREVIEW
[SOURCE: ISO 1087:2019, 3.1.5]
3.2.2
domain
([Link])
subject field
field of special knowledge ISO/IEC 11179-1:2023
[Link]
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 againiec-11179-1-2023
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
<terminology> feature of an object (3.2.4)
EXAMPLE 1 'Being made of wood' as a property of a given 'table'.

2  © ISO/IEC 2023 – All rights reserved


 ISO/IEC 11179-1:2023(E)

EXAMPLE 2 'Belonging to person A' as a property of a given 'pet'.

EXAMPLE 3 'Having been formulated by Einstein' as a property of the equation 'E = mc2'.

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
iTeh STANDARD PREVIEW
[SOURCE: ISO 1087:2019, 3.2.3]
3.2.8 ([Link])
concept
unit of knowledge created by a unique combination of characteristics (3.2.6)
ISO/IEC 11179-1:2023
Note 1 to entry: Concepts are not necessarily bound to particular natural languages. They are, however,
[Link]
influenced by the social or cultural background which often leads to different categorizations.
iec-11179-1-2023
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
individual concept
concept (3.2.8) which corresponds to only one object (3.2.4)
EXAMPLE ‘Saturn’, ‘Eiffel Tower’, 'Moon', 'serial number FRHR603928', '2016 Nobel Prize in Physics'.

Note 1 to entry: Individual concepts are represented by proper names (3.2.18).

[SOURCE: ISO 1087:2019, 3.2.8]

© ISO/IEC 2023 – All rights reserved  3


ISO/IEC 11179-1:2023(E)

3.2.11
definition
representation of a concept (3.2.8) by an expression that describes it and differentiates it from related
concepts
[SOURCE: ISO 1087:2019, 3.3.1]
3.2.12
extension
<terminology> set of all of the objects (3.2.4) to which a concept (3.2.8) corresponds
Note 1 to entry: This term has a different meaning in ISO/IEC 11179-3.

[SOURCE: ISO 1087:2019, 3.1.2, modified — Note 1 to entry added.]

3.2.13
intension
set of characteristics (3.2.6) that make up a concept (3.2.8)
[SOURCE: ISO 1087:2019, 3.2.6]
3.2.14
concept relation
relation between two concepts (3.2.8)
[SOURCE: ISO 1087:2019, 3.2.11]
3.2.15
iTeh STANDARD PREVIEW
concept system ([Link])
set of concepts (3.2.8) structured in one or more related domains (3.2.2) according to the concept
relations (3.2.14) among its concepts
ISO/IEC 11179-1:2023
[SOURCE: ISO 1087:2019, 3.2.28]
[Link]
3.2.16 iec-11179-1-2023
designation
designator
representation of a concept (3.2.8) by a sign which denotes it in a domain (3.2.2) or subject (3.2.1)
Note 1 to entry: A designation can be linguistic or non-linguistic. It can consist of various types of characters,
but also punctuation marks such as hyphens or parentheses, governed by domain-, subject-, or language specific
conventions.

Note 2 to entry: A designation can be a term (3.2.19) including appellations (3.2.20), a proper name (3.2.18) or a
symbol (3.2.21).

[SOURCE: ISO 1087:2019, 3.4.1]

3.2.17
name
designation (3.2.16) of an object (3.2.4) by a linguistic expression
[SOURCE: ISO/IEC 15944-1:2011, 3.35]
3.2.18
proper name
designation (3.2.16) that represents an individual concept (3.2.10)
[SOURCE: ISO 1087:2019, 3.4.4]

4  © ISO/IEC 2023 – All rights reserved


 ISO/IEC 11179-1:2023(E)

3.2.19
term
designation (3.2.16) that represents a general concept (3.2.9) by linguistics means
EXAMPLE "laser printer", "planet", "pacemaker", "chemical compound", "¾ time", "Influenza A virus", "oil
painting".

Note 1 to entry: Terms may be partly or wholly verbal.

[SOURCE: ISO 1087:2019, 3.4.2, modified — EXAMPLE changed to EXAMPLES.]

3.2.20
appellation
term (3.2.19) that is applied to a group of objects (3.2.4) whose relevant properties (3.2.5) are identical
EXAMPLE "Nokia 7 Plus®" (mobile phone), “Adobe® Acrobat® X Pro” (software), “Road King®”
(motorcycle)1)

[SOURCE: ISO 1087:2019, 3.4.3]

3.2.21
symbol
designation (3.2.16) that represents a concept (3.2.8) by non-linguistic means
Note 1 to entry: There are several types of symbols such as graphical symbols [see ISO 3864 (all parts)] and
letter symbols [see ISO 80000[35] (all parts)].
iTeh STANDARD PREVIEW
[SOURCE: ISO 1087:2019, 3.4.5]
3.2.22
terminological system
([Link])
concept system (3.2.15) with designations (3.2.16) for each concept (3.2.8)
ISO/IEC 11179-1:2023
3.2.23
[Link]
data
iec-11179-1-2023
reinterpretable representation of information in a formalized manner suitable for communication,
interpretation or processing
Note 1 to entry: Data can be processed by humans or by automatic means.

Note 2 to entry: Data can also be described using the terminological notions defined in ISO 1087 and the
computational notions defined in ISO/IEC 11404. A datum is a designation of a concept with a notion of equality
defined for that concept.

[SOURCE: ISO/IEC 2382:2015, 2121272 — Notes to entry have been modified.]

3.2.24
data model
graphical, lexical or combined representation of data (3.2.23), specifying their properties (3.2.5),
structure, and interrelationships
3.2.25
conceptual model
conceptual data model
data model (3.2.24) that represents an abstract view of the real world
Note 1 to entry: A conceptual model represents the human understanding of a system, which can be anywhere
from a paper-based system to a complex database in an IT system.

1) Nokia 7 Plus® is a trademark of Nokia Corporation, Adobe® Acrobat® X Pro is a trademark of Adobe Systems,
Road King® is a trademark of Harley-Davidson. This information is given for the convenience of users of this
document and does not constitute an endorsement by ISO of the products named.

© ISO/IEC 2023 – All rights reserved  5