OntoDL Statement: define

Syntax

---

DefinitionStatement	:=	define TypeName ObjectName DefinitionBody
ObjectName	:=	Name
DefinitionBody	:=	{ FullDefinition * }
	|	= QualifiedConcept
	|	= InternalReference
Fulldefinition	:=	DefineStatement
	|	DefaultStatement
	|	SetStatement
	|	PredicateStatement
	|	SetAsTableStatement		Must be formatted as 2-column MS Word table using style "OntoDL"
SetAsTableStatement	:=	PropertyName ($? Text		The prefix "($" advises the OntoDL interpreter to consider the provided text as a string (which will not be further processed)
	|	PropertyName InternalReference
PropertyName	:=	Name

---

Description

The define statement is used for introducing a new named object to OntoDL. Upon introduction a new object is given a name and assigned a type. These properties are fixed through the define statement and cannot be changed afterwards. The immediate binding of a new object to a type is important because not only the object's behavior but even the way you may use that object within OntoDL is determined by its type. The table below lists, how you may further define objects of the defined OntoDL types.

type	definiton	specific behavior
codesystem	full definition	exported as a FHIR ValueSet resource (or FHIR STU-3 Codesystem resource)
system	full definition, internal reference	ID and version information goes into references to external code systems
concept	full definition, internal reference, qualified concept	exported as part of a code system unless given a silent name
predicate	full definition	exported as concept reference unless given a silent name
property	full definition	exported as string reference unless given a silent name

Full Definition

The OntoDL full definition syntax is applicable to all types of objects. A full definition consists of a sequence of OnotDL statements within a definition scope that is confided by curly brackets. A full definition may be empty; in that case it only consists of a pair of curly brackets.

The example below shows a full definion of a code system "animals" that consists of different kinds of OntoDL statements to define the semantics and content of the code system. The included concept "mouse" is not further defined as its definition scope is empty.

define codesystem animals {
  default Language = en
  set me.URI = (http://test.com/animals)
  define concept mouse { }
  define concept elephant {
    --(bigger than)--> mouse
  }
}

A special way for setting property values to an object is to place a MS Word table with two columns into the definition scope. This table holds the name of the property in the first column and the property value in the second column. You may advise the OntoDL interpreter to consider a property value as a string by prefixing it with "($". See the first two lessons of the tutorial for examples of this notation.

Nesting of definition Statements

left=outside top=inside	codesystem	system	concept	property	predicate
codesystem	not allowed	not allowed	top-level concept within the codesystem	property applicable to the code system and all contained objects	predicate applicable to all concepts within the code system
system	not allowed	not allowed	concept within the system. shall be identified by its code	property applicable to the code system and all contained objects. properties values will not be exported	predicate applicable to all concepts within the code system. concepts within the codesystem are only allowed as targets to concept relationships
concept	not allowed	not allowed	sub-concept	property applicable to the concept and all of its sub-concepts	predicate applicable to the concept and all of its sub-concepts
property	not allowed	not allowed	not allowed	not allowed	not allowed
predicate	not allowed	not allowed	not allowed	not allowed	not allowed