SDMX Technical Vocabulary

Information Model: Class and Attribute Terms

IDNameDescriptionSource
ACTION_TYPE Action Type Specifies the action to be taken by a system processing the data contained. IM
AGENCY Agency Specifies the action to be taken by a system processing the data contained. IM
AGENCY_SCHEME Agency Scheme A maintained collection of Maintenance Agencies IM
ANNOTABLE_ARTEFACT Annotable Artefact A construct that contains structures capable of defining annotations. IM
ANNOTATION Annotation A construct that contains structures capable of defining user or organisation-specific metadata. Such metadata may not be understood by recipients of the metadata. IM
ARTEFACT_OR_ARTIFACT Artefact or Artifact An object of interest. IM
ATTACHABLE_ARTEFACT Attachable Artefact The object to which the attribute value is attached. IM
ATTACHMENT_CONSTRAINT Attachment Constraint A Constraint defined in terms of the combination of component values that may be found in a data source, and to which a Constrainable Artefact may be associated in a structure definition. IM
ATTACHMENT_KEY Attachment Key Identifies the key of an object to which specified metadata are to be attached. IM
ATTRIBUTE_MCV Attribute A characteristic of an object or entity. (ISO/IEC FDIS 11179-1 "Information technology - Metadata registries - Part 1: Framework", March 2004) MCV
ATTRIBUTE_IM Attribute An abstract class used to provide qualitative information. IM
ATTRIBUTE_UG Attribute Statistical concept qualifying observations, time series or datasets (e.g. title, availability, observation status, unit of measure, title in national language, source). In general terms, the attribute is a characteristic of an object or entity. UG
ATTRIBUTE_DESCRIPTOR Attribute Descriptor A set metadata concepts that define the attributes of a Data Structure Definition. IM
ATTRIBUTE_RELATIONSHIP Attribute Relationship Specifies the type of artefact to which a Data Attribute can be attached in a Data Set. IM
ATTRIBUTE_VALUE Attribute Value Qualitative or quantitative information about the object to which the Attribute is attached. IM
BALANCED_TREE Balanced tree A hierarchy where the levels are pre-defined and fixed, (i.e. a level always has the same set of codes, and any code has a fixed parent and child relationship to other codes). A statistical classification is an example of a balanced tree. IM
CATEGORISATION Categorisation Associates an Identifiable Artefact with a Category. IM
CATEGORY Category An item at any level within a classification, typically tabulation categories, sections, subsections, divisions, subdivisions, groups, subgroups, classes and subclasses. MCV
CATEGORY_MAP Category Map Associates a source and target Category. IM
CATEGORY_SCHEME_IM Category Scheme The descriptive information for an arrangement or division of categories into groups based on characteristics, which the objects have in common. IM
CATEGORY_SCHEME_MCV Category Scheme Scheme made up of a hierarchy of categories, which may include any type of useful classification for the organization of data and metadata. MCV
CATEGORY_SCHEME_MAP Category Scheme Map Associates a source and target Category Scheme. IM
CLASSIFICATION_SYSTEM Classification System Arrangement or division of objects into groups based on characteristics which the objects have in common. MCV
CODE Code A language independent set of letters, numbers or symbols that represent a concept whose meaning is described in a natural language. IM,MCV
CODE_LIST_MCV Code List A predefined list from which some statistical coded concepts take their values.
CODE_LIST_IM Code List A list from which some statistical concepts (coded concepts) take their values. IM
CODE_LIST_MAP Code List Map Associates a source and target Code List. IM
CODE_MAP Code Map Associates a source and target Code. IM
CODED_ATTRIBUTE_VALUE Coded Attribute Value An attribute that takes it value from a Code in Code List. IM
CODED_KEY_VALUE Coded Key Value The value of a coded component of a key. The value is the Code to which this object is associated. IM
CODED_OBSERVATION Coded Observation An Observation that takes its value from a code in a Code List. IM
CODING_FORMAT Coding Format Specifies format information for the codes at a level in the hierarchy such as whether the codes at the level are alphabetic, numeric or alphanumeric and the code length. IM
COMPONENT Component A structural artefact used to define the structure of a data or metadata set. In the Information Model it is an abstract super class whose sub classes are the content of a Data Structure Definition or Metadata Structure Definition such as a Dimension or Attribute. IM
COMPONENT_VALUE Component List The identification of and value of a Component of the key (e.g. Dimension). IM
COMPONENT_LIST Component List A list of components. In the Information Model it is an abstract super class whose sub classes are the lists of Dimensions, Attributes, and Measures defined in a content of a Data Structure Definition Key Family or Metadata Structure Definition. IM
COMPONENT_MAP Component Map Links a source and target Component where there is a semantic equivalence between the source and the target Components. IM
COMPUTATION Computation A textual description of the calculations and other manipulation involved in a statistical process. IM
CONCEPT Concept A unit of knowledge created by a unique combination of characteristics. Source is ISO/IEC 11179 MCV,IM
CONCEPT_MAP Concept Map Associates two concepts where there is a semantic equivalence between the source and the target Concepts. IM
CONCEPT_SCHEME_MCV Concept Scheme Maintained list of concepts that are used in data structure definitions or metadata structure definitions. MCV
CONCEPT_SCHEME_IM Concept Scheme The descriptive information for an arrangement or division of concepts into groups based on characteristics, which the objects have in common. IM
CONCEPT_SCHEME_MAP Concept Scheme Map The descriptive information for an arrangement or division of concepts into groups based on characteristics, which the objects have in common. IM
CONDITIONAL Conditional An indication that a construct is not mandatory and will be present only if certain (often unspecified) conditions exist. IM
CONSTAINABLE_ARTEFACT Constrainable Artefact A structural artefact whose content can be sub-set by means of a Constraint. IM
CONSTRAINT_MCV Constraint Specification of what may be contained in a data or metadata set in terms of the content or, for data only, in terms of the set of key combinations to which specific attributes (defined by the data structure) may be attached. MCV
CONSTRAINT_IM Constraint Specifies a sub set of the definition of the allowable or actual content of a data or metadata source that can be derived from the Structure that defines code lists and other valid content. IM
CONTACT_MCV Contact Individual or organisational contact points for the data or metadata, including information on how to reach the contact points. MCV
CONTACT_IM Contact An instance of a role of an individual or an organization (or organization part or organization person) to whom an information item(s), a material object(s) and/or person(s) can be sent to or from in a specified context. IM
CONTENT_CONSTRAINT Content Constraint Defines a Constraint in terms of the content that can be found in data or metadata sources linked to the Constrainable Artefact to which this constraint is associated. IM
CORE_REPRESENTATION Core Representation The allowable format or content for a Concept when it is used in a structure such as a Dimension of a Key Family. This format can be overridden by means of a Local Format specified in the structure itself. IM
CUBE_REGION Cube Region A set of Components and their values that defines a sub set or “slice” of the total range of possible content of a data structure to which the Constrainable Artefact is linked. IM
DATA_ATTRIBUTE Data Attribute A characteristic of an object or entity. IM
DATA_CONSUMER Data Consumer Organisation using data as input for further processing. MCV,IM
DATA_CONSUMER_SCHEME Data Consumer Scheme A maintained collection of Data Consumers. IM
DATA_EXTRACTION_DATE Data Extraction Date A specific time period that identifies the date and time that the data are extracted from a data source. IM
DATA_KEY Data Key The values of a key in a data set. IM
DATA_KEY_SET Data Key Set A set of data keys. IM
DATA_PROVIDER Data Provider Organisation that produces data or reference metadata. MCV,IM
DATA_PROVIDER_SCHEME Data Provider Scheme A maintained collection of Data Providers.
DATA_SET_MCV Data Set Any organised collection of data.
DATA_SET_IM Data Set An organised collection of data and associated metadata structured according to a known Data Structure definition IM
DATA_STRUCTURE_DEFINITION_IM Data Structure Definition Set of structural metadata associated to a data set, which includes information about how concepts are associated with the measures, dimensions, and attributes of a data cube, along with information about the representation of data and related descriptive metadata. IM
DATA_STRUCTURE_DEFINITION_MCV Data Structure Definition A collection of metadata concepts, their structure and usage when used to collect or disseminate data. MCV
DATA_TYPE Data Type A set of distinct values characterized by properties of those values and by operations on those values. [ISO/IEC 11404:1996, 4.11] MCV
DATAFLOW_DEFINITION Dataflow Definition Abstract concept (i.e. the structure without any data) of a flow of data that providers will provide for different reference periods. IM
DATASOURCE Datasource Identification of the location or service from where data or metadata can be obtained. IM
DIMENSION_UG Dimension A statistical concept used, in combination with other statistical concepts, to identify subsets of a multidimensional table (cube) or single observations in the multidimensional table (examples of dimensions: frequency, economic phenomenon, reference area). A dimension has a definite number of values, called dimension members. UG
DIMENSION_MCV Dimension A statistical concept used, in combination with other statistical concepts, to identify a statistical series or single observations. MCV
DIMENSION_IM Dimension A statistical concept used (most probably together with other statistical concepts) to identify a statistical series, such as a time series, e.g. a statistical concept indicating a certain economic activity or a geographical reference area. IM
DIMENSION_DESCRIPTOR Dimension Descriptor An ordered set of metadata concepts that, combined, classify a statistical series, such as a time series, and whose values, when combined (the key) in an instance such as a data set, uniquely identify a specific series. IM
DURATION Duration A period of time defined by a start and end time period. IM
ENUMERATED_ATTRIBUTE_VALUE Enumerated Attribute Value The content of a Reported Attribute that is taken from an enumeration. IM
EXTENDED_FACET Extended Facet This has the same function as Facet but allows additionally an XHTML representation. This is constrained for use with a Metadata Attribute IM
FACET Facet Defines the format for the content of the Component when reported in a data or metadata set. IM
FACET_TYPE Facet Type An identifier that distinguishes the data type of one facet from another IM
FACET_VALUE_TYPE Facet Value Type Specifies the allowable content of a Facet. IM
FINAL Final An indication that the specification of an object cannot be changed unless its version number is incremented. IM
GENERIC_DATA_SET Generic Data Set A data format structure that is able to contain data corresponding to any Data Structure Definition. IM
GENERIC_TIMESERIES_DATA_SET Generic Timeseries Data Set A data format structure that is able to contain timeseries data corresponding to any Data Structure Definition. IM
GROUP_DIMENSION_DESCRIPTOR Group Dimension Descriptor A set metadata concepts that define a partial key derived from the Dimension Descriptor in a Data Structure Definition. IM
GROUP_KEY Group Key A set of Key Values that comprise a partial key, of the same dimensionality as the Time Series Key for the purpose of attaching Data Attributes. IM
HIERARCHICAL_CODE Hierarchical Code A hierarchic structure of code references that together participate in a Hierachy. IM
HIERARCHICAL_CODE_SCHEME Hierarchical Code Scheme An organised collection of codes that may participate in many parent/child relationships with other Codes in the scheme, as defined by one or more Hierarchy of the scheme. IM
HIERARCHY_MCV Hierarchy Classification structure arranged in levels of detail from the broadest to the most detailed level. Each level of the classification is defined in terms of the categories at the next lower level of the classification. MCV
HIERARCHY_IM Hierarchy A classification structure arranged in levels of detail from the broadest to the most detailed level. IM
HYBRID_CODE_LIST_MAP Hybrid Code List Map Associates a Codelist and a Hierarchical Codelist. IM
HYBRID_CODE_MAP Hybrid Code Map Associates the source and target codes in Hybrid Codelist Map. IM
ID Id A sequence of characters, capable of uniquely identifying that with which it is associated, within a specified context. MCV
IDENTIFIABLE_ARTEFACT Identifiable Artefact A construct that is capable of uniquely identifying an object within a specified context. IM
INTERNATIONAL_STRING International String A construct defining multi-lingual text for the same underlying concept IM
ITEM_ASSOCIATION Item Association Associates two Items IM
ITEM_SCHEME Item Scheme The descriptive information for an arrangement or division of objects into groups based on characteristics, which the objects have in common. IM
ITEM_SCHEME_ASSOCIATION Item Scheme Association Associates two Item Schemes IM
KEY_MCV Key Unique identification of a time series or sibling group within a data set. MCV
KEY_IM Key The cross product of values of dimensions that identify uniquely an observation. IM
KEY_VALUE Key Value The value of a component of a key such as the value of the instance a Dimension in a Dimension Descriptor of a Data Structure Definition. IM
LEVEL Level A group of Codes which are characterised by homogeneous coding, and where the parent of each Code in the group is at the same higher level of the Hierarchy. MCV
LEVEL_BASED_HIERARCHY Level Based Hierarchy A structure which is arranged in formal levels of detail from the broadest to the most detailed level. Each level is characterised by identification and description information that describe aspects about the content of the items at that level. IM
LOCALE Locale Identification of a natural language that includes geographic variations such as Canadian French, US English etc. IM
LOCALISED_STRING Localised String A construct that contains text in a single, identified, locale. IM
MAINTAINABLE_ARTEFACT Maintainable Artefact A construct that contains structures capable of identifying a maintenance agency IM
MAINTENANCE_AGENCY Maintenance Agency The organisation or other expert body that maintains a domain-specific data or metadata structure definitions. MCV
MANDATORY Mandatory An indication that the construct must be present if its containing object is present. IM
MEASURE_DESCRIPTOR Measure Descriptor A set metadata concepts that define the Measures of a Data Structure Definition. IM
MEMBER_SELECTION Member Selection A set of permissible values for one Component of a data or metadata structure. IM
MEMBER_VALUE Member Value A single value of the set of values for a Member Selection. IM
METADATA_ATTRIBUTE Metadata Attribute An Attribute that is used in a Metadata Structure Definition. IM
METADATA_KEY_SET Metadata Key Set A set of metadata keys. IM
METADATA_KEY_VALUE Metadata Key Value The value in a Metadata Set of an Identifier Component defined in a Metadata Structure Definition. IM
METADATA_REGISTRY Metadata Registry Information system for registering metadata. MCV
METADATA_REPORT Metadata Report A group of qualitative or quantitative information about the object to which this group is attached. The definition of the structure and allowable content of this information is defined in the Metadata Attributes contained in a Report Structure of a Metadata Structure Definition. IM
METADATA_STRUCTURE_DEFINITION Metadata Structure Definition A collection of metadata concepts, their structure and usage when used to collect or disseminate reference metadata. MCV
METADATA_TARGET Metadata Target A set of components that define a key of an object type to which metadata may be attached. IM
METADATA_TARGET_REGION Metadata Target Region A set of Components and their values that defines a sub set or “slice” of the total range of possible content of a metadata structure to which the Constrainable Artefact is linked. IM
METADATASET MetadataSet Any organised collection of metadata. MCV
METADATAFLOW_DEFINITION_MCV Metadataflow Definition A collection of metadata concepts, structure and usage when used to collect or disseminate reference metadata. MCV
METADATAFLOW_DEFINITION_IM Metadataflow Definition Abstract concept (i.e. the structure without any metadata) of a flow of metadata that providers will provide for different reference periods. IM
NON_ENUMERATED_ATTRIBUTE_VALUE Non Enumerated Attribute Value The content of a Reported Attribute where this is textual. IM
NOTIFICATION Notification Information disseminated to a person or application as a result of an event in an SDMX registry IM
OBSERVATION Observation The value, at a particular period, of a particular variable. MCV
ORGANISATION Organisation An organisation is a unique framework of authority within which a person or persons act, or are designated to act, towards some purpose. MCV
ORGANISATION_MAP Organisation Map Associates a source and target Organisation. IM
ORGANISATION_SCHEME Organisation Scheme A maintained collection of Organisations. IM
ORGANISATION_SCHEME_MAP Organisation Scheme Map Associates a source and target Organisation Scheme. IM
ORGANISATION_UNIT Organisation Unit A designation in the organisational structure. IM
ORGANISATION_UNIT_SCHEME Organisation Unit Scheme A maintained collection of Organisation Units. IM
PREFERRED_LANGUAGE Preferred Language Specifies the language to use for textual content. IM
PRIMARY_MEASURE Primary Measure The metadata concept that is the phenomenon to be measured in a data set. In a data set the instance of the measure is often called the observation. IM
PROCESS Process A scheme which defines or documents the operations performed on data or metadata, such as those to validate data or metadata to derive new information according to a given set of rules. IM
PROCESS_STEP Process Step A specific operation, performed on data or metadata in order to validate or to derive new information according to a given set of rules. IM
PROVISION_AGREEMENT_MCV Provision Agreement Arrangement within which the provider supplies data or metadata. MCV
PROVISION_AGREEMENT_IM Provision Agreement Links the data provider to the relevant Structure Usage (e.g. Dataflow Definition or Metadataflow Definition) for which the provider supplies data or metadata The agreement may constrain the scope of the data or metadata that can be provided. IM
PUBLICATION_PERIOD Publication Period The period of publication of the data or metadata in terms of whatever provisioning agreements might be in force. IM
PUBLICATION_YEAR Publication Year The year of publication of the data or metadata in terms of whatever provisioning agreements might be in force. IM
QUERY_DATASOURCE Query Datasource A data or metadata web service which can process an SDMX data or metadata query. IM
REST_DATASOURCE_IM REST Datasource A data or reference metadata source that is accessible via a RESTful web services interface. IM
REGISTRATION Registration Information submitted to an SDMX registry concerning the location of data or metadata and the type service that can be invoked to retrieve it. IM
REPORT_STRUCTURE Report Structure Defines a set of concepts that comprises the Metadata Attributes to be reported in an Metadata Set. IM
REPORTED_ATTRIBUTED Reported Attribute The value for a Metadata Attribute. IM
REPORTING_BEGIN Reporting Begin A specific time period in a known system of time periods that identifies the start period of a report. IM
REPORTING_CATEGORY Reporting Category A component of a Reporting Taxonomy that gives structure to a report and links to data and metadata. IM
REPORTING_END Reporting End A specific time period in a known system of time periods that identifies the end period of a report. IM
REPORTING_TAXONOMY Reporting Taxonomy A scheme which defines the composition structure of a data report where each component can be described by an independent Dataflow Definition or Metadataflow Definition. IM
REPORTING_YEAR_START_DAY Reporting Year Start Day A specialised Data Attribute whose value is used in conjunction with the predefined reporting periods in the Time Dimension. If this is not present, then by default all reporting period values for the Time Dimension will be assumed to be based on a reporting year start day of January 1. IM
REPRESENTATION Representation The allowable value or format for Component or Concept IM
REPRESENTATION_MAPPING Representation Mapping Defines the mapping of the content of the source Component to the content of the target Component IM
SOAP_DATASOURCE SOAP Datasource A data or reference metadata source that conforms to a SOAP web service interface. IM
SERIES_KEY Series Key Comprises the cross product of values of all the Key Values that together identify uniquely an Observation. IM
SET_ID Set Id Identification of a data set. IM
SIMPLE_DATA_SOURCE Simple data source A file of SDMX-formatted data available at a URL. IM
SOFTWARE_PACKAGE_LANGUAGE_VERSION Software Package Software LanguageSoftware Version Information about the software that is used to perform a computation. IM
SOURCE_URL Source URL The URL of a data or metadata set. IM
START_TIME Start Time The time of the commencement of a time period represented by a duration. IM
STRUCTURE Structure Abstract specification of a list of lists to define a multidimensional structure. A concrete example of this would be statistical concepts, code lists, and their organisation in a data or metadata structure definition. IM
STRUCTURE_MAP Structure Map Links a source and target structure where there is a semantic equivalence between the source and the target structures. IM
STRUCTURE_SET Structure Set A maintainable collection of structural maps that link components together in a source/target relationship where there is a semantic equivalence between the source and the target components. IM
STRUCTURE_SPECIFIC_DATA_SET Structure Specific Data Set A data format structure that contains data corresponding to one specific Data Structure Definition. IM
STRUCTURE_SPECIFIC_TIMESERIES_DATA_SET Structure Specific Timeseries Data Set A data format structure that is able to contain timeseries data corresponding to any Data Structure Definition. IM
STRUCTURE_USAGE Structure Usage The abstract concept of an artefact that uses a Structure such as a Key Family or a Metadata Structure Definition. These concrete artefacts are Dataflow and Metadataflow. IM
SUBSCRIPTION Subscription Indication that a person or application is to be notified when a predefined event occurs in an SDMX registry. IM
TARGET_OBJECT_KEY Target Object Key Identifies the key of the object to which the metadata are to be attached. IM
TARGET_OBJECT_VALUE Target Object Value The key of an individual object of the type specified in the Metadata Target of the Metadata Structure Definition. IM
TAXONOMY Taxonomy Classification of things according to a presumed relationship among types and subtypes. MCV
TEXT_ATTRIBUTE_VALUE Text Attribute Value This value of a Reported Attribute where the content is human readable text. IM
TIME_KEY_VALUE Time Key Value The value of the Time Dimension component of the key. IM
TIME_PERIOD_MCV Time Period The period of time or point in time to which the measured observation refers. MCV
TIME_PERIOD_IM Time Period A point in time that characterises the occurrence of a certain condition, event, or phenomenon. IM
TIME_SERIES Time series A set of ordered observations on a quantitative characteristic of an individual or collective phenomenon taken at different points of time. MCV
TIMESERIES Timeseries A set of data containing observations each of which can be identified by a unique key by which the observation is cross classified (Time Series Key) and the time period of the observation. IM
TRANSITION Transition An expression in a textual or formalised way of the transformation of data between two specific operations (Processes) performed on the data. IM
URI URI Universal resource identifier. It is constructed according syntax rules published by the World Wide Web Consortium. IM
URL URL Universal resource locator. This is a unique identifier of a resource available on the Internet. It is constructed according syntax rules published by the World Wide Web Consortium. IM
URN URN Universal resource name. This is a unique identifier of an object on a global scale. It is constructed according syntax rules published by the World Wide Web Consortium. IM
UNCODED_KEY_VALUE UnCoded Key Value The content of a component of a key (e.g. a time series key) whose representation is non-enumerated (e.g. this can be text, integer, date/time etc.). IM
UNCODED_ATTRIBUTE_VALUE Uncoded Attribute Value The content of an attribute when reported in a data or metadata set whose representation is non-enumerated (e.g. this can be text, integer, date/time etc.) IM
UNCODED_OBSERVATION Uncoded Observation The content of an observation when reported in a data set whose representation is non-enumerated (e.g. this can be text, integer, date/time etc.). IM
USAGE_STATUS Usage status Indication of the dependency of the presence of a component in a group of components. Usual values are mandatory, conditional. IM
VALID_FROM Valid From The inclusive date from which an object becomes active in a system. IM
VALID_TO Valid To The inclusive date from which an object becomes inactive in a system. IM
VALIDITY_PERIOD Validity Period A time interval that defines when an object is active in a system. IM
VERSION Version A construct that enables a system to distinguish between one state of an object from another, usually where the contents of the object have changed. This construct is a part of the unique identification of the object. IM
VERSIONABLE_ARTEFACT Versionable Artefact A construct that is capable of distinguishing one version of an object from another IM
VERSIONING Versioning The process of assigning a unique state to an object. IM
WSDURL WSDURL Association to the URL of the web service definition language profile of the web service. IM
WEB_SERVICE_DATASOURCE Web Service Datasource A data or reference metadata source which can process a data or metadata query. IM
WSDL Web Service Definition Language (WSDL) The (XML) specification of the input to and output from a web service IM
XHTML XHTML HTML that is constructed in strict accordance with the XML specification. IM
IS_EXTERNAL_REFERENCE isExternalReference Indicates whether an object is available in the metadata source that contains its identifier or whether the object itself is available elsewhere. IM
IS_INCLUDED isIncluded Indicates whether the contained values of a container object is to be included or excluded from the valid list of values. IM
REGISTRY_URI registryURI The unique address of a web service that will return the object when queried using the SDMX Registry Interface. IM
STRUCTURE_URI structureURI The unique address of a web service that will return the object when queried using the SDMX Query Message. IM