Use of annotations (Note)

Role of Notes

In AIXM, annotations (coded with the Note class) can refer to the whole feature or to one of its properties. In the later case, the propertyName attribute gets as value the name of the feature property concerned by the Note.

For example, Notes associated with Procedures might contain information that is essential for the users of the procedure, such as minima adjustments for certain equipment unavailability. Therefore, Notes are expected to appear "by default" in the AIS Products (such as charts) that are produced with the data coded in AIXM.

Annotations related to empty properties

A question arises with regard to the use of annotations when the feature property to which it refers is not present or explicitly declared Nil. There is no reason to prevent such situations. Further more, an annotation could be used to explain why a property does not have a value or to compensate a limitation of the model, such as when the property concerned cannot carry a certain value.

For example, a Note associated with a VerticalStructure could have:

• translatedNote.LinguisticNote.note = "Lighting planned to be installed later"
• propertyName = "lighted" even if the lighted element is empty or completely absent from the XML file.