Entity Descriptions: Draft

Format for Entity Descriptions in this Section

Entity Name:The Name of the Entity

Supertype: If Entity is a subtype, the Entity to which it is a subtype is noted here

Definition: A description of the kind of information that Entity covers

Source: A reference to the authorship of this Entity if it draws substantialy from another data model.

Primary Key: The Name of the Primary Key of Entity (if any)

Definition: A description of the primary key

Domain: Description of the kind of information that can be found in the key

Domains may include

Key

Integers

Real Numbers

String: Character string

Boolean: Logical True False

Lists of values: e.g. 'North, South, East, West'

Buisness Rules: Rules for the assignment of values to the key

Foreign Keys:

The names of any Foreign Keys in Entity, along with their:

Target Entity: The Entity to which the Foreign key refers

Definition:

Domain:

Buisness Rules:

Other Attributes:

The names of all other attributes in Entity, along with their:

Definition:

Domain:

Buisness Rules:

Notes: any pertanant notes concering implementation or why the entity was designed in the way that it was.


Entity Name:Article

Supertype: Literature Reference

Definition:Bibliographic Reference information pertaning to an article in a serial publication.

Source: Paleobank entity: Journal Article

Foreign Key:

Journal_Id

Target Entity: Journal

Definition: The Journal or Series in which the Article appears.

Domain: Journal_Id Primary Key of Journal.

Buisness Rules: 1) Required entry from an authority list

Other Attributes:

Volume_Number

First_Page_of_ Article

Last_Page_of_Article

Issue_Number

First_Figure_Number

Last_Figure_Number

First_Plate_Number

Last_Plate_Number


Entity Name: Authority

Definition: A source for information found in the database

Primary Key: Authority_Id

Definition: Unique identifier for an Authority

Domain: Key

Buisness Rules: Automatic Assignment

Foreign Keys:

Literature_Id

Target Entity: Literature_Reference

Person_Id

Target Entity: Person

Lot_ID

Target Entity: Museum_Lot

Other Attributes:

Kind_Of_Authority

Domain: Literature, Person, Specimen

Remarks

Definition: Authorataive statements made by a Person and not otherwise documented in the literature or on a museum label.

Buisness Rules: Manual Entry Required for Kind_of_Authority = Person. No entry allowed for other values of Kind_of_Authority


Entity Name: Book

Supertype:Literature Reference

Definition:

Source: PaleoBank

Primary Key: _

Definition:

Domain:

Buisness Rules:

Foreign Keys:

_

Target Entity:

Definition:

Domain:

Buisness Rules:

Other Attributes:

_

_


Entity Name: Definition

Definition: Definition of a morphological term

Primary Key: Definition_Id

Definition: Unique Identifier for a Definition

Domain: Key

Buisness Rules: Automatic Assignment

Foreign Keys:

Authority_Id

Target Entity: Literature_Reference

Definition: Reference to source of Definition

Other Attributes:

Text_of_Definition


Entity Name: Def-Illust (Associative Entity)

Definition: Entity Relating Definitions to Illustations

Foreign Keys:

Definition_Id

Target Entity: Definition

Illustration_Id

Target Entity: Illustration

Other Attributes:

-None-


Entity Name: Geographic_Coordinate

Definition: A pair of coordinates specifying a unique location on the surface of the Earth.

Source: Modified from ASC model entity Geometric_Coordinate

Primary Key: Coordinate_Id

Definition: Unique Identifier for a Geographic Coordinate pair

Domain: Key

Buisness Rules: Automatic Assignment

Foreign Keys:

Next_Coordinate (Recursive Reference)

Target Entity: Geographic_Coordinate

Other Attributes:

Coordinate_Type

Domain: 'Latitude and Longitude' or 'UTM'

Buisness Rules: Required entry from pick list, automatic assignment after first entry in list of coordinates. Default value is Lat & Lon.

Position_in_List

Domain: Point, First, Last, Middle

Buisness Rules: Automatic Assignment based upon value in Geographic_Place --> Number_of_Coordinates.

Note: This duplicates Geographic_Place-->Number_of_Coordinates for error checking purposes. One or the other of these attributes could be ommited.

Subtypes:

Latitude_and_Longitude

UTM_Coordinate

Note: By linking a series of instances of Geographic_Coordinate a line or an area on the surface of the earth can be specified as a linked list of coordinates.


Entity Name: Geographic_Entity

Supertype: Geographic_Place

Definition: A geographic entity (location or place) whose name is in common use. Preferably the name should appear on one or more published maps.

Source: Modified from ASC Model entity Named-Place

Primary Key: Geographic_Entity_id

Definition: Unique Identifier

Domain: Key

Buisness Rules: Automatic Assignment

Foreign Keys:

Within_Entity_Id (Recursive Relationship)

Target Entity: Geographic_Entity

Definition: Larger Geographic Entity that contains current instance of Geographic Entity

Domain: Key

Synonomous_Entity_Id (Recursive Relationship)

Target Entity: Geographic_Entity

Definition: Other (e.g. older) name for the same or aproximately the same instance of Geographic Entity

Other Attributes:

Geographic_Entity_Name

Place_Type_Code

Definition: A code representing the heirarchical level represented by the instance of geographic entity.

Domain: Place Type codes consistent with ASC usage


Entity Name: Geographic_Place

Definition: A point or area on the surface of the earth specified by a name or a set of coordinates

Source: Modified from ASC entity Locality

Primary Key: Place_Id

Attributes:

Place_Type

Domain: 'Geometric locality, Named place'

Number_of_Coordinates

Domain: zero or 1 to n

Subtypes:

Geographic_Entity

Geographic_Coordinate

Township


Entity Name: Geologic_Time_Unit

Definition: A named unit representing a period of geologic time

Source: ASC model entity Geologic-Time-Unit

Primary Key: Geologic_Time_Unit_Name

Definition:

Domain:

Buisness Rules:

Foreign Keys:

Upper_Bound

Target Entity: Time_Unit_Boundary

Lower_Bound

Target Entity: Time_Unit_Boundary

Other Attributes:

Time_Unit_Rank_Name

Definition: Rank of instance of Geologic_Time_Unit

Time_Unit_Sequence_Name

Definititon: Heirarchical scheme to which Geologic Time Unit belongs, e.g. Magnetostratigraphic Scale, Time Scale of Harland et al.

Note: Multiple Absolute time scales could be implemented here by specifying a new herirarchy of Time Unit Sequence Names and associated upper and lower bounds.


Entity Name: Higher_Taxon

Definition: Taxon of Rank SubGenus or Higher

Primary Key: Taxon_Id

Target Entity:

Definition:

Domain:

Buisness Rules:

Foreign Keys:

Senior_Taxon_Id (Recursive Reference)

Target Entity: Higher_Taxon

Definition:

Domain: Key

Contained_in_Taxon_Id (Recursive Reference)

Target Entity: Higher_Taxon

Definition: An instance of Higher_Taxon that contains and is imedately higher in rank to the current instance of Higher_Taxon

Erected_in

Target Entity: Literature_Reference

Definition: Literature Reference with in which Higher Taxon was first described

Other Attributes:

Taxon_Name

Taxonomic_Rank

Author

Year


Entity Name: Illustration

Definition: An illustration of one or more morphological features.

Primary Key: Illustration_Id

Definition: Unique Identifer for instance of Illustration

Domain: Key

Buisness Rules: Automatic Assignment

Other Attributes:

X

Definition: Number of Pixels in x direction of image

Y

Definition: Number of Pixels in y direction of image

Image


Entity Name: Journal

Definition:

Source: PaleoBank

Primary Key: _

Definition:

Domain:

Buisness Rules:

Foreign Keys:

_

Target Entity:

Definition:

Domain:

Buisness Rules:

Other Attributes:

_

_


Entity Name: Latitude_and_Longitude

Supertype: Geographic_Coordinate

Definition: A point on the earth's surface specified by a latitude a longitude

Primary Key: Lat_Id

Definition: Unique Identifer for instance of Latitude_and_Longitude

Domain: Key

Buisness Rules: Automatic Assignment

Other Attributes:

DegN

MinN

SecN

DegL

MinL

SecL

Lon_E_or_W


Entity Name: Literature_Reference

Definition:

Source: Paleobank entity

Primary Key: _

Definition:

Domain:

Buisness Rules:

Foreign Keys:

_

Target Entity:

Definition:

Domain:

Buisness Rules:

Other Attributes:

_

_

Subtypes:

Other

Monograph

Article

Book


Entity Name: Monograph

Supertype: Literature_Reference

Definition:

Source: PaleoBank

Primary Key: _

Definition:

Domain:

Buisness Rules:

Foreign Keys:

_

Target Entity:

Definition:

Domain:

Buisness Rules:

Other Attributes:

_

_


Entity Name: Morphology

Definition: Name of a Morphological Feature

Primary Key: Morphology_Id

Definition: Unique Identifer for instance of Morphology

Domain: Key

Buisness Rules: Automatic Assignment

Foreign Keys:

Definition_Id

Target Entity: Definition

Other Attributes:

Name

Taxon_of_Application


Entity Name: Morph-Sp Associative Entity

Definition: Entity Relating Morphological Features to Species

Source:

Foreign Keys:

Morphology_Id

Target Entity: Morphology

Species_Id

Target_Entity: Species_Name


Entity Name: Museum_Lot

Definition: A set of specimens in a musuem, generaly placed in a single container and given a single museum number.

Primary Key: Lot_Id

Definition: Unique Identifier for each instance of Museum_Lot

Domain: Key

Buisness Rules: Automatic Assignment

Foreign Keys:

Repository_Id

Target Entity: Repository

Other Attributes:

Museum_Number

Number_of_Specimens


Entity Name: Occ-St-A associative entity

Definition: Entity relating Occurances to Stratigraphy and Authority

Source:

Foreign Keys:

Occurance_Id

Target Entity: Occurance

Stratigraphic_Id

Target Entity: Stratigraphic_Entity

Authority_Id

Target Entity: Authority

Other Attributes:

-None-


Entity Name: Other

Supertype: Literature_Reference

Definition:

Source: PaleoBank

Primary Key: _

Definition:

Domain:

Buisness Rules:

Foreign Keys:

_

Target Entity:

Definition:

Domain:

Buisness Rules:

Other Attributes:

_

_


Entity Name: Person

Definition: An individual human

Primary Key: Person_Id

Definition: Unique Identifer for each instance of Person

Domain: Key

Buisness Rules: Automatic Assignment

Other Attributes:

Family_Name

First_Name

Initial

Definition: Middle initial or initials of all names not included in First and Family

Other_Identifiers

Definition: Other elements that may be associated with a name such as von or II.

YOB

Definition: Year of Birth

Buisness Rules: Optional Manual Entry, Checked against probable domain of 1650 to 25 years prior to current year, query if outside this domain.

YOD

Defintion: Year of Death

Buisness Rules: Optional Manual Entry, Checked against probable domain of 1758 to current year, query if ouside this domain or less than 25 years more recent than YOB.

Note: Separation of attributes in this manner allows name to be easily reconstructed in several forms (e.g. Doe, J.; J. Doe; Doe, John; John Doe) for different purposes


Entity Name: Publisher

Definition:

Source: PaleoBank entity

Primary Key: _

Definition:

Domain:

Buisness Rules:

Foreign Keys:

_

Target Entity:

Definition:

Domain:

Buisness Rules:

Other Attributes:

_

_


Entity Name: R-P associative entity

Definition: Entity Relating Literature References to Persons

Foreign Keys:

Person_Id

Target Entity: Person

Buisness Rules: Required

Reference_Id

Target Entity: Literature_Reference

Buisness Rules: Required

Other Attributes:

- None -


Entity Name: Record_of_Occurance

Definition: Record of the occurance of a Species

Primary Key: Occurance_Id

Definition: Unique Identifier for each instance of Occurance

Domain: Key

Buisness Rules: Automatic Assignment

Foreign Keys:

Geographic_Id

Target Entity: Geographic_Entity

Definition:

Domain:

Buisness Rules:

Other Attributes:

Quality_of_Data


Entity Name: Repository

Definition: A museum, or a department in a Museum

Primary Key: Repository_Id

Definition: Unique Identifier for each instance of Repository

Domain: Key

Buisness Rules: Automatic Assignment

Other Attributes:

Repository_Name

Definition: The name of a museum or a department within a museum.

Domain: String

Buisness Rules: Required entry from Authority List


Entity Name: Sp_Occ_A Associative Entity

Definition: Entity Relating Species to Occurances and Authority

Foreign Keys:

Species_Id

Target Entity: Species_Name

Occurance_Id

Target Entity: Occurance

Authority_Id

Target Entity: Authority

Other Attributes:

-None-


Entity Name: Species_Name

Definition: A name of a described species regardless of whether the name is valid or available in the form in which the name appears in the literature

Primary Key: Species_Id

Definition: Unique Identifier for each instance of Species_Name

Domain: Key

Buisness Rules: Automatic Assignment

Foreign Keys:

Higher_Taxon_Id

Target Entity: Higher Taxon

Other Attributes:

Generic_Name

Subgeneric_Name

Trivial_Epithet

Subspecies_name

Author

Year

Parenthesies

Valid_Name


Entity Name: Stratigraphic_Entity

Definition: A stratigraphic unit or stratigraphic range.

Primary Key: Stratigraphic_Id

Definition:

Domain:

Buisness Rules:

Foreign Keys:

Youngest_Geologic_Time_Unit

Target Entity: Geological_Time_Unit

Definition: Youngest Geological Time Unit at highest known resolution at least partly contained within instance of Stratigraphic Entity.

Oldest_Geologic_Time_Unit

Target Entity: Geological_Time_Unit

Definition: Oldest Geological Time Unit at highest known resolution at least partly contained within instance of Stratigraphic Entity.

Location_of_Type_Section

Target Entity: Geographic_Entity

Reference_to_published_Section

Target Entity: Literature_Reference

Other Attributes:

Name

Rank

Description


Entity Name: Time_Unit_Boundary

Definition: An age representing a boundary belonging to one or more Geologic Time Units that is calibrated in units of absolute time in a geologic time scale.

Source: ASC model Entity Time_Unit_Boundary

Primary Key: Time_Unit_Boundary_Id

Definition: Unique Identifier for each instance of Time_Unit_Boundary

Domain: Key

Buisness Rules: Automatic Assignment

Other Attributes:

Name

Age

Remarks


Entity Name: Township

Supertype: Geographic_Coordinate

Definition: Geographic area specified within parts of the USA or Canada using Section, Township, and Range.

Primary Key: Township_Id

Definition: Unique Identifier for each instance of Township

Domain: Key

Buisness Rules: Automatic Assignment

Other Attributes:

Township

Range

Section

Quarter_1

Quarter_2

Quarter_3


Entity Name: Type_Specimen

Definition: A holotype specimen or a lot of other type or figured specimens.

Primary Key: Type_Id

Definition: Unique Identifier for each instance of Type_Id

Domain: Key

Buisness Rules: Automatic Assignment

Foreign Keys:

Lot_Id

Definition: The museum lot to which instance of Type_Specimen belongs

Target Entity: Museum_Lot

Reference_Id

Definition: The reference within which instance of Type_Specimen was described.

Target Entity:Literature_Reference

Other Attributes:

Kind_of_Type


Entity Name: Type_Taxon

Definition: A taxon validly designated as a type of a Genus or taxon of higher rank.

Primary Key: Type_Taxon_Id

Definition: Unique Identifier for each instance of Type_Taxon

Domain: Key

Buisness Rules: Automatic Assignment

Other Attributes:

Name_of_Taxon

Author

Year


Entity Name: Usage_of_Species_Name Associative entity

Definition: Associative Entity containing the description of the use of a single name in the literature or the relationship between two Species Names found in the published literature. This includes homonyms, synonyms, and mispellings. This entity is used to store and reconstruct synonomies

Comment: The structure of this entity allows synonomy data to be stored in the form of a B-tree data stucture and extracted in chronological order as a synonomy by program code.

Foreign Keys:

Used_or_Senior_Species_Id

Target entity: Species_Name

Definition:

Domain:

Buisness Rules:

Junior_Species_Id

Target Entity: Species_Name

According_to_ Reference_Id

Target Entity: Literature_Reference

Other Attributes:

Relationship

Definition:

Domain: The following Relationships are allowed:

1) Relationships marking terminal nodes in synonomy tree

Used by

Homonym (bidirectional)

Erected by

nomen dubium

2) Relationships marking internal nodes in synonomy tree

Homonym

Objective Synonym

Subjective Synonym

New Combination

Replacement Name

Misspelling

Missidentification

Buisness Rules: 1) Required entry from pick list


Entity Name: UTM_Coordinates

Supertype: Geographic_Coordinate

Definition: Specification of a point on the surface of the earth by a set of Unversal_Transverse_Mercator Coordinates

Primary Key: UTM_Id

Definition: Unique identifier for each instance of UTM_Coordinates

Domain: Key

Buisness Rules: Automatic Assignment

Other Attributes:

Grid

Domain: Three Characters

Grid_Square

Domain: Two Characters

Northing

Domain: 1 to 4 single digit integers

Westing

Domain: 1 to 4 single digit integers


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All Material on this page and in associated images Copyright © Paul J. Morris, 1996
Paul J. Morris mole@bio.umass.edu

Draft 25 May 1996