Structure IDs, Names and Descriptions
Overview
Identifiable structures are identified by an ID which must be unique within their context.
Maintainable and Nameable structures are also Identifiable and therefore must have an ID, but in addition have a Name, and an optional Description.
ID
An ID is a string that is mandatory for Identifiable structures and serves as a unique reference as part of each structure's URN.
IDs must be unique within their context, for instance the ID of each Concept must be unique within its Concept Scheme. However, Concepts in different Concept Schemes can have the same ID.
| Allowable Content | Example |
|---|---|
| Alpha Numeric | A-Z a-z 0-9 |
| Dollar | $ |
| Hyphen | - |
| Underscore | _ |
By covention, IDs are uppercase, but lowercase characters can also be used.
ID Examples:
| Agency | SDMX |
| Agency | IMF |
| Concept Scheme | CROSS_DOMAIN_CONCEPTS |
| Codelist | CL_REF_AREA |
| Codelist | CL_FREQ |
| Data Structure Definition | ECOFIN_DSD |
| Dataflow | WDI_HEALTH |
| Dimension | FREQ |
| Dimension | REF_AREA |
| Attribute | OBS_STATUS |
Name
A Name is a string that is mandatory for Maintainable and Namable structures providing a human-readable way to identify the structure. Unlike an ID, it does not have to be unique.
