What is an Attribute?
A shortened definition of an attribute, as described in the Lifecycle Modeling Language (LML) Specification 1.2:
An attribute is an inherent characteristic or quality of an entity. It further describes the entity, enhancing its uniqueness.
Every attribute shall have a name to identify it uniquely within an entity. The name is a word or small collection of words providing an overview of information about the attribute. The attribute data type … specifies the data associated with the attribute. Attribute names shall be unique within an entity, but may be used in other entities, …
In terms of the English language, an attribute is like an adjective.
We applied this LML definition of an attribute to the individual pieces of information, which can be stored within an entity. An attribute is one of the basic components of an entity.
Each entity in Innoslate includes a name, number, description, possible additional attributes and relationships with other entities. The current acceptable set of attribute data types as defined by LML Specification 1.2 are as follows:
- Text – a single character, single word, or multiple words
- Number – any individual real number
- Boolean – the two possible logical values “true” and “false”
- Percent – a special case of Number where the value is restricted to values between zero and one hundred, inclusive
- URI – a special case of Text where the value must be a Uniform Resource Identifier, or web address
- DateTime – a specific method of storing a given date and time value
- Enumeration – a set of defined choices, where the selection of only one choice is permitted
- GeoPoint – a longitude and latitude pair on the surface of a body
Innoslate implements the above set of available attribute data types and extends that set with the data types listed below:
- Big Text – any multiple lines of text
- Equation – LaTeX-based formula editor
- File – an uploaded file
- Duration – a specific method of storing a length of time value
- Quality – any boolean parameter used to identify better requirements
- Multiplicity – a number or number range
Please Note: LML does not claim to solve everyone’s total data capture needs, therefore we have included the capability to extend the default database schema in Innoslate via Innoslate’s Schema Editor feature.