Metadata

Last modified 27 Oct 2021 12:21 +02:00

This is a snapshot of the specification that was created during midPrivacy: provenance prototype project. For the latest development version of the document please look in Axiom workspace.

Metadata are data about data. Metadata often describe how we learned about the data, e.i. metadata describe origin of data. But metadata may also describe trustworthiness of the data (e.g. "level of assurance"), data confidentiality, metadata may record transformation history of data and so on. Metadata are often created automatically by systems that process and transfer the data.

Metadata are often as flexible as the data. As Axiom is used to create a model of the data, it can also be used to create a model of metadata: metadata model. Metadata model is using the very same mechanisms that the data model is using: data types, items, values, subtyping, etc. The only difference is that metadata are not included in the data structures directly. Metadata are automatically attached to every applicable value.

Metadata Specification

Metadata structures are specified using a special metadata keyword:

model example {
    namespace "https://schema.example.com/ns/metasample";
    metadata StorageMetadata {
        itemName: storage;
        item createTimestamp { ... }
        item modificationTimestamp { ... }
    }
}

This statement defines a new data type StorageMetadata with items createTimestamp and modificationTimestamp. The data type will be registered as value metadata with item name storage. The metadata will appear mixed into the data:

JSON representation of user object without metadata

{
    "user" : {
      "name" : "foo",
      "fullName" : "Foo Bar"
    }
}

JSON representation of user object with metadata

{
    "user" : {
      "name" : {
        "@value" : "foo",
        "@metadata" : {
          "https://schema.example.com/ns/metasample#storage" : {
            "createTimestamp" : "2020-06-10T14:26:42Z",
            "modificationTimestamp" : "2020-06-12T18:14:05Z"
          }
        }
      },
      "fullName" : {
        "@value" : "Foo Bar",
        "@metadata" : {
          "https://schema.example.com/ns/metasample#storage" : {
            "createTimestamp" : "2020-06-10T14:26:42Z",
            "modificationTimestamp" : "2020-06-22T09:30:16Z"
          }
        }
      }
    }
}

Metadata Of Empty Values

Metadata can be attached even to items without a value.

JSON

  ...
  "criminalCharges" : {
    "@metadata" : {
        "https://...#loa" : {
          "levelOfAssurance" : "high",
          ...
      }
    }
  }

No Metametadata

It would be theoretically possible to have data about metadata, thus creating metametadata. However, Axiom does not have ambitions for this, at least not in its early versions. Axiom assumes just one "meta" level and it does not apply metadata definitions to the metadata.

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