Modeling Language: OntoUML

The AlpineBits® DestinationData Ontology is designed using the OntoUML, an ontologically well-founded extension of the UML Class Diagram that can be used to represent a domain of interest from a computationally independent perspective.

OntoUML consists of a set of stereotypes applicable to classes, associations, and attributes, with precisely defined formal semantics derived from the Unified Foundational Ontology (UFO), an axiomatic formal theory based on theories from analytic metaphysics, philosophical logic, cognitive psychology, and linguistics.

An important meta-property of an OntoUML class stereotype is dubbed rigidity.

  • A rigid class statically classifies its instances, i.e., an instance of a rigid class must instantiate it throughout its whole existence. Examples include Person, Animal, Organization, Contract, and Marriage.

  • An anti-rigid class dynamically classifies its instances, i.e., an instance of anti-rigid class at a given point in time may cease to be so later on. Examples include Teenager, Adult, Student, and Spouse.

Another fundamental meta-property for classes is sortality.

  • a sortal class is one whose instances share a common identity principle. It may provide such a principle or inherit it. Examples of classes that provide identity principles include Person, House, and Car, and those that inherit such principles include Student, Man, Adult, Town House, and Sports Car.

  • a non sortal class is one whose instances comply with multiple identity principles. Examples include Agent, which classifies both persons and organizations, and Physical Object, which classifies both cars and tables.

The OntoUML class stereotypes used in the AlpineBits® DestinationData Ontology are:

  • «kind»: a rigid identity provider sortal type that classifies object-like entities. Examples of typical kinds include Person, Organization, Car, and House.

  • «relator»: a rigid identity provider sortal type that classifies relational entities, also known as relationships. Examples include Marriage, which relates two spouses; Contract, which relates the parties in a formal agreement; and Enrollment, which relates a student to an educational institution.

  • «quality»: a rigid identity provider sortal type that classifies entities who are aspects of other entities and are measurable in some value space. A quality may be used to compare individuals, on the basis of the value it takes in a certain quality space (for instance, a position within the RGB spectrum). Examples include the weight of a person, the name of an organization, the color of a car, and the duration of a concert.

  • «subkind»: a rigid sortal type that inherits its identity from another sortal. Examples of subkinds include For-Profit Organization, Fiat 500, and Civil Marriage.

  • «role»: an anti-rigid sortal type whose instantiation depends on a relational condition. Examples include Student, Artist, and Legally Recognized Marriage.

  • «phase»: an anti-rigid sortal type whose instantiation depends on a change in an intrinsic property. For example, Child may be considered a phase of Person instantiated by persons younger than 12.

  • «category»: a rigid non-sortal type that classifies entities of different sorts. Examples include Agent, which classifies both people and organizations; and Animal, which classifies different species of animals as cats and dogs.

  • «roleMixin»: an anti-rigid non-sortal type that classifies roles playable by individuals of different sorts. Examples include Organizer, as the agent that organizes some event, and Copyright Owner, as the agent that holds the right to some intellectual property.

  • «type»: a rigid type that classifies entities that have instances themselves (i.e., other classes). Examples include Car Model (e.g., Fiat 500 and Tesla Model S) and Event Type (e.g., Musical Event and Sports Event).

  • «datatype»: a type that classifies values contained in a well-defined conceptual space, e.g., integer or real numbers in their respective sets.

  • «enumeration»: a type that classifies values within a discrete finite conceptual space. Examples include Day of Week, whose possible instances are the 7 days of the week; and Driver License Category, whose possible instances are A, B, C, D and E.

The OntoUML association stereotypes used in the AlpineBits® DestinationData Ontology are:

  • «mediation»: an existential dependence relation that connects relators to the entities they bind. For example, instances of the relator Marriage mediate instances of the class Spouse, instances of the relator Contract mediate instances of the class Contract Party.

  • «characterization»: an existential dependence relation that connects an aspect to the entity it characterizes. For example, instances of the class Color characterize instances of the class Object.

  • «material»: a relation that connects entities based on something dependent on these entities. For example, instances of the association "married with" connect instances of the class Spouse that have a marriage relationship dependent on them.

  • «componentOf»: a part-whole relation that connects objects with their functional components. Examples include the relation between a Car and its Engine and that between a Human Body and its Heart.

  • «historicalDependence» a relation that binds entities because of an event that happened in the past. For example, an instance of Place may be related through a historical dependence to an instance of Image Object that is a representation of that place at a point in time.

  • «instantiation»: a relation between a type and a higher-order type. For example, the relation between Car and Car Model, which represents that every car is an instance of a car model.