Concepts
Metamodel definition commands concern:
• MetaClasses (or object types)
• links possible between these MetaClasses (called MetaAssociations)
• the two MetaAssociationEnds of each of these MetaAssociations
• MetaAttributes (characteristics).
Object comments or texts are assimilated in MetaAttributes.
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Concept
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Syntax
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|---|---|
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MetaClass (or object type)
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metaclass
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MetaAssociation (or link)
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MetaAssociation
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MetaAssociationEnd
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MetaAssociationEnd
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MetaAssociationType (or link type)
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MetaAssociationType
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MetaAttribute (or characteristic)
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MetaAttribute
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MetaAttributeGroup (or group of MetaAttributes)
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MetaAttributeGroup
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MetaAttributeValue (or value of MetaAttribute)
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MetaAttributeValue
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Concept names
The name of a concept is unique, ie. the name for a MetaClass, MetaAssociation, MetaAttribute or text must be used only once.
Names of MetaClasses with standard naming rule contain maximum 255 characters.
Concerning MetaClasses with namespace, the local name is limited to 140 characters, while the complete name is limited to 255 characters.
For more information on namespaces, see Managing Namespaces.Name of a concept must begin with a letter (A to Z). The following characters are authorized for use in concept names:
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A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z
à á â ã ä å ç é è ë ê ì í î ï ñ ò ó ô ö ù ú û ü ÿ ý
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
* ( ) / = + % ? $ _ & €
, ; - :
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Hiragana, Katakana and Kanji characters are accepted for object names in the Japanese language.You cannot use “& , ; - : ” as the first character. There can be spaces in the name, except as first and last character.
Unlike the other characters, the ampersand (&) is not controlled as the first character:• it can be used in an object name.
• it should not be used in the name of a MetaClass, MetaAssociation, MetaAssociationEnd or MetaAttribute.
Technical concepts other than repository core concepts, (MetaClass, MetaAssociation and MetaAttribute) have names beginning with an underscore (_).
It is impossible to define extensions with names beginning with characters "_" or "$".It is possible to modify the list of characters (see Restricting the names of object types). Note that this may create problems when executing queries or descriptors.Note that you cannot use a name already in use. You must attach a prefix to your extension names. This avoids conflicts that might occur later when the standard metamodel is upgraded. For example, if you create a metamodel extension called "Table" for MEGA Process and later install HOPEX Database Builder, a conflict will occur.
Metamodel diagram
All of these MetaClasses have the following attributes:
• Name
• Absolute Identifier
• Authorization
• Creation Date
• Modification Date
• Creator, Modifier
• Creator Name
• Modifier Name
• Authorization Level
• Creation Version
• Modification Version
• Comment and History
Vocabulary used
To conform to MOF vocabulary, HOPEX has modified the terminology of its concepts.
Correspondence between versions 5.2 and 5.3
Old Name | New Name |
|---|---|
Object Type (or Segment) | metaclass |
Link | MetaAssociation |
Leg | MetaAssociationEnd |
LinkType | MetaAssociationType |
Attribute | MetaAttribute |
InterfaceDef | MetaAttributeGroup |
AttributeValue | MetaAttributeValue |
Correspondence between versions 6.1 and 6.1 SP1
Modifying names of attributes
Old Name | New Name |
|---|---|
_AbstractionLevel | MetaLayer |
_AtFormat | MetaAttribute Type |
_AtLength | MetaAttribute Length |
_AtExternalFormat | MetaAttribute Format |
_IdAbsTextFormat | MetaText Format |
_IdAbsSubstitutedAttribute | Substituted MetaAttribute |
_ScanMajorType | Minor to major behavior |
_ScanMinorType | Major to minor behavior |
DefaultAnsiValue | Default Internal Value |
Changing values of the MetaLayer attribute (formerly _AbstractionLevel)
Old Name | New Name |
|---|---|
MetaData | Meta-MetaModel (MOF) |
Data | Metamodel |
Modifying values of the MetaAttribute Type attribute (formerly _AtFormat)
Old Name | New Name |
|---|---|
Alphanumeric | String |
Bool | Boolean |
Short | Short |
Long | Long |
Date | DateTime |
Text | VarChar |
Binary | VarBinary |
QCQ | Binary |
HexaLong | Double |
DoubleFloat | Float |