A data element name is a name given to a data element in, for example, a data dictionary or metadata registry. In a formal data dictionary, there is often a requirement that no two data elements may have the same name, to allow the data element name to become an identifier, though some data dictionaries may provide ways to qualify the name in some way, for example by the application system or other context in which it occurs.
In a database driven data dictionary, the fully qualified data element name may become the primary key, or an alternate key, of a Data Elements table of the data dictionary.
The data element name typically conforms to ISO/IEC 11179 metadata registry naming conventions and has at least three parts:
- Object, Property and Representation term.
Many standards require the use of Upper camel case to differentiate the components of a data element name. This is the standard used by ebXML, GJXDM and NIEM.
Read more about Data Element Name: Example of ISO/IEC 11179 Naming in Relational Databases, Example of ISO/IEC 11179 Name in XML
Famous quotes containing the words data and/or element:
“This city is neither a jungle nor the moon.... In long shot: a cosmic smudge, a conglomerate of bleeding energies. Close up, it is a fairly legible printed circuit, a transistorized labyrinth of beastly tracks, a data bank for asthmatic voice-prints.”
—Susan Sontag (b. 1933)
“Justice has its anger, my lord Bishop, and the wrath of justice is an element of progress. Whatever else may be said of it, the French Revolution was the greatest step forward by mankind since the coming of Christ. It was unfinished, I agree, but still it was sublime. It released the untapped springs of society; it softened hearts, appeased, tranquilized, enlightened, and set flowing through the world the tides of civilization. It was good. The French Revolution was the anointing of humanity.”
—Victor Hugo (1802–1885)