Universal Data Structure
Gellish databases are semantic databases that all have the same universally applicable data structure. That data structure is suitable to contain any fact that is expressed in a Gellish language variant, such as Gellish English or Gellish Dutch. This means that the structure of a Gellish database does not need to be extended when the scope of the database increases. The data structure is based on an extended version of the object-relationship-object (ORO) principles, which state that every atomic fact is expressed as one or more binary relations. Higher order relations are converted into collections of binary relations. A Gellish database consists of one or more Naming Tables and one or more Fact Tables. A Naming Table and a Fact Table can also be combined in a Message Table, which is intended especially for data exchange between systems. Each row in a Fact Table contains one main fact and a large number of auxiliary facts. The auxiliary facts provide additional information about the main facts. For example, their status, author, creation date, validity context, language, etc. A Naming Table contains the terms, names, codes, abbreviations and synonyms by which the concepts and individual objects are named, possibly in multiple languages. They also contain unique identifiers for the named concept and things.
The universal data structure was originally defined as an implementation method for ISO 10303-221 and ISO 15926-2, both of which International Standards are based on the same ORO principles. A Gellish database requires that each fact is expressed by one or more relations and that each relation is explicitly classified by a relation type (= fact type). The Gellish language requires that the relation type shall be one of the Gellish standard relation types. It also requires that each individual thing is explicitly classified by a kind of thing, which kind shall be selected from a dictionary, such as ISO 15926-4 or from the Gellish English Dictionary-Taxonomy or its proprietary extension. In conventional databases the relation types and the classification of individual things are usually implied by the database structure, which makes them limited and not extensible. Standard fact types (relation types) in a Gellish Database can be chosen from one of the above ISO standards or from the Gellish English Dictionary-Taxonomy.
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