View source for Semantic equivalence (computing)

In computer [[Metadata|metadata]], '''semantic equivalence''' is a declaration that two [[Data element|data element]]s from different vocabularies contain data that has similar meaning.  There are three types of semantic equivalence statements:

* '''Class or [[Philosophy:Concept|concept]] equivalence.'''  A statement that two high level concepts have similar or equivalent meaning.
* '''[[Philosophy:Property|Property]] or [[Attribute (computing)|attribute]] equivalence.'''  A statement that two properties, descriptors or attributes of classes have similar meaning.
* '''[[Object (computer science)|Instance]] equivalence.'''  A statement that two instances of data are the same or refer to the same instance.

==Example==

Assume that there are two organizations, each having a separate data dictionary.  The first organization has a data element entry:

  <DataElement>
     <Name>'''PersonFamilyName'''</Name>
     <Definition>'''The name of a person shared with other members of their family.'''</Definition>
  <DataElement>

and a second organization has a data dictionary with a data element with the following entry:

  <DataElement>
     <Name>'''IndividualLastName'''</Name>
     <Definition>'''The name of an individual person shared with other members of their family.'''</Definition>
  <DataElement>

these two data elements can be considered to have the same meaning and can be marked as semantically equivalent.

==See also==

* [[Logical equivalence]]
* [[Metadata]]
* [[Vocabulary-based transformation]]
* [[Web Ontology Language]] (OWL)

==References==

* [http://www.w3.org/TR/owl-ref/ World Wide Web OWL Language Reference]
* [http://www.udef.org/ Universal Data Element Framework Web Site]  Semantic Equivalency for Standards and Integrations

==External links==

* [http://www.w3.org/TR/owl-ref/#equivalentClass-def OWL definition of Class Equivalency]
* [http://www.w3.org/TR/owl-ref/#equivalentProperty-def OWL definition of Property Equivalency]

[[Category:Metadata]]

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