Modelling, Methods, and Technology SIG

This is the MMT SIG homepage. The focus of this SIG is the application of formal approaches to representing information using ISO 15926.

Ongoing activities

• Daily work in this SIG is conducted in the context of the IDS-ADI project, with an international team of modellers that covers a variety of aspects of the interpretation and application of ISO 15926.
• The current focus is on ISO 15926 templates, as developed in the IDS project. The approach is due to be standardized in Part 7 of ISO 15926. See below for information on the various parts of ISO 15926 and how IDS-ADI is involved.
• SIG MMT will strive to align work on ISO 15926 with current developments in the research field of applied logic. The representation of ISO 15926 in OWL, developed in the IDS project, is of particular practical relevance.

Templates

ISO 15926 templates are patterns for facts for which definitions are stated using rules. (Formally, a template is a first-order logic predicate.) This provides for a precise and implementation-independent interface to ISO 15926, and is intended to be applied in creating and maintaining ontologies that conform to the standard.

Templates are the subject of the in-progress ISO 15926 Part 7. They standardize valid usage patterns of Part 2, and how Part 4 and other reference data is represented. See TemplateGenerics for an introduction.

As standard usage patterns, Templates come in different levels of granularity, different levels of abstraction and specialization, represented in and mapped between different levels of expression, from business levels to explicit Part 2 patterns.

Template Development and ISO 15926 languages

Templates may be used to define and represent both reference data and project data. The following figure illustrates the relations between the languages of ISO 15926 Parts 2/4 and the template language of Part 7. In brief: Part 2 corresponds to a Description Logic (DL) TBox, i.e., classes and relations. Part 4 and other reference data populate the Part 2 structure with individual instances, a DL ABox. Templates according to Part 7 require a much more expressive, first-order language.

• TemplateGenerics gives an informal account of what goes into the definition of a template.
• TemplateCharacterization descibes the methodology by which data sets are characterized in terms of templates
• TemplateStartingSet documents the "starting set" of templates
• TemplateMinimumSubSet identifies a minimum subset of the "starting set" for population of the WIP with new content

Look at the bottom of this page, and of TemplateDescriptionID, for ongoing discussion on the characterization of ISO 15926 templates. A document describing the current list of templates defined in the IDS project, with roles and brief definitions in natural language, can be found as an attachment to the Intelligent Data Sets Prototype page.

Templates documented on Wiki pages

Every template defined in ISO 15926 Part 7 will be documented on a separate page in this Wiki, according to a common pattern. The following list links to a few initial pages, with definitions, diagrams, and so forth describing templates. They are intended to serve as a first attempt to define a common documentation pattern.

• TemplateDescriptionID Now with discussion forum
• TemplateDescriptionIDC
• TemplateDescriptionIP
• TemplateDescriptionIPC
• TemplateDescriptionCIPcSQQ

Tools in this Trac

SIG MMT has provided certain Trac features that support the needs of modellers.

ISO 15926 Diagrams.

The Wiki provides for entering diagrams of ISO 15926 models, using a simplified set of xy-pic commands; see ISO15926Diagrams. Examples can be found in ISO15926Diagrams_BoltSet, ISO15926Diagrams_Weights.

Symbolic notation using LaTeX.

This Trac supports entering content in LaTeX format, using the LatexEquation plugin. This is useful for entering first-order formulae, and diagrams.

Macros for fetching reference data.

A facility for dynamically pulling content from the Reference Data Library for graphical display on Trac pages, using XSLT, graphviz, and the macrochain macro, is high on our wishlist. For the time being, only the XSLT macro works with Trac 0.11.

Source material

Presentations

Presentations from Semantic Days 2008 are available in Powerpoint format. We intend to provide PDF formatted copies shortly.

• A Tutorial on semantic technology, with special focus on templates for ISO 15926. Download slides
• A presentation of SIG MMT, describing this Trac and the need for template interfaces for creating reference data. Download slides

The IDS-ADI Modellers' team

The IDS-ADI Modelling, Methods & Content team ("Modelers" for short) is focussing on defining all modeling and methodology aspects of Part 7 independent of implementation. Part 7 supports all levels of modeling from from business "short cuts" to explicit Part 2, with methods for mappings between these, in sufficient rigor and formality to enable implementation and reliable lifecycle management in Part 4 reference data. For implementation & technology aspects which will be covered by Parts 8 and 9 refer to the [Implementors] home page.

For arrangements to manage this scope beyond the life of the IDS-ADI projects, refer to Part 5 on reference data rules, Part 6 on reference data administration, and the MMT SIG homepage currently at the POSC Caesar main website.

Links

• The 15926-2 standard in OWL (non-authoritative). If you wish to work with this to create data, consider Protege 3.4 beta (note: build 126 or later) or 4.0 alpha. To open the ontology in the OwlSight ontology browser, click here.

• The 15926-2 standard in EXPRESS (authoritative), with documentation in HTML

• Under development, an overview of ISO 15926 reference data resources contains a series of resources (files and links) related to Models, Methods and Technology for ISO 15926. Please note that access to these resources currently requires logging in, that display requires Internet Explorer, and that some of the links are limited to internal DNV use for the time being.

• Take note: A new paper called Structured Objects in OWL (Motik, Cuenca Grau, Sattler) is extremely promising with regard to finding a more natural and powerful language for defining templates. Stay tuned.

Contact: Johan W. Klüwer, johan.wilhelm.kluewer@….

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