Requirement
Title | Information definition scope |
Identifier | SWIM-INFO-005 |
Requirement | An information definition shall be accompanied by a textual description of the scope of the information it covers. |
Rationale | This requirement supports decisions on whether an information definition is suitable for use in a particular situation. |
Verification | Completeness |
Examples/Notes | Example: The description provided by the Aeronautical Information Exchange Model is: “The objective of the Aeronautical Information Exchange Model (AIXM) is to enable the provision in digital format of the aeronautical information that is in the scope of Aeronautical Information Services (AIS).” Example: The service abstract contained in a service description. |
Level of Implementation | Mandatory |
Guidance
This requirement imposes the need to provide a brief narrative summary of the scope of the information covered by the information definition. This may include an explicit statement about what is not in the scope of the information definition.
The specification caters for the fact that information definitions are often contained in service descriptions. The scope information can, in effect, be inherited from the document containing the information definition. This will avoid unnecessary duplication.
Verification Support
Completeness
Check that:
- The information definition has a textual description of the scope of the information covered by the information definition.
- The scope clearly delineates what is covered by the information definition.
Examples
The example below shows how the scope information can be embedded into an XML schema. It makes use the annotation element within the XML schema definition language.
A complete example is available at: complete example.
<xs:annotation>
<xs:appinfo>Information Definition</xs:appinfo>
<xs:documentation>
<generalInformation>
<scope>a really quite intriguing and self-referential schema</scope>
</generalInformation>
</xs:documentation>
</xs:annotation>