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Data Tables Technical Guide
Section 1 - INTRODUCTION |
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| 1.1 | Overview | ||||||||||||||||||||
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This document is a technical guide that deals with the <Data Table> mechanism in the SEDRIS DRM, as well as associated functions. The SEDRIS DRM defines classes, class relationships, and constraints that specify various forms of data representation, including that used for tabular and gridded data. The specification of these relationships and constraints, however, does not in itself provide the insight needed to fully exploit these data representation capabilities. The intent of this technical guide is to provide that insight through a presentation of the background motivating the DRM design for <Data Table>s and a discussion of the classes, their relationships, and the API functions used to create and extract these constructs, including examples. Section 2, Background and Motivation, serves as an introduction to some of the concepts that motivate the various data table definitions. Section 3, Data Representation Model Definitions, describes each of the classes related to <Data Table> instances, including those related to the concrete subclasses <Property Table> and <Property Grid>. These classes capture the information discussed in section 2. Section 4, Putting It All Together, presents some examples of how instances of the DRM classes described in section 3 can be combined to represent <Property Table> instances, <Property Grid> instances, and related information. Section 5, <Finite Element Mesh>, describes the class that is specialized to represent finite element mesh data. Section 6, Where To Go From Here, directs the reader to additional sources of information. | |||||||||||||||||||||
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| 1.2 | Prerequisites | ||||||||||||||||||||
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It is recommended that the following documents from the SEDRIS Technology Documentation Set (see Section 1.2) be reviewed prior to reading this document.
Familiarity with UML notation, as used for the SEDRIS Data Representation Model, is assumed. References are made to Part 4, Volume 10, Environmental Classification, Attribute, and State Coding Specification, and Part 4, Volume 11, Spatial Reference Model, but only a working knowledge of the EDCS and SRM are assumed. This technical guide is a supplement to Part 4, Volume 2, The SEDRIS Data Representation Model, and also to Part 4, Volume 12, Application Programmer's Interface Overview, so they should be read before reading this document. Reviewing <Data Table> examples from Part 4, Volume 3, Examples of Using the SEDRIS Data Representation Model as a collateral source is also recommended. | |||||||||||||||||||||
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| 1.3 | For Additional Information on SEDRIS | ||||||||||||||||||||
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| This document is part of a larger set of overview and technical documents
on SEDRIS, the Technology Documentation Set. The Technology Documentation
Set describes the why, what, and how of SEDRIS.
The Technology Documentation Set, listed below, is available at the SEDRIS web site (www.sedris.org). An overview of the contents of each "part" of the documentation set is provided in Part 1. A detailed description of the individual "volumes" contained in Part 4 is provided in Volume 1.
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| 1.4 | Document Conventions and Notations | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Throughout the SEDRIS Technology Documentation Set, special conventions and notations are implemented in the written text of documents to distinguish between and add emphasis to various computer-related or SEDRIS-specific terms. The table below defines these conventions and notations. | |||||||||||||||||||||
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