Overriding fields
Use Case
Previously we saw example of how to define fields (slots). The characteristics of these fields remained the same even if they were used with different classes
If you have a large number of fields/columns, with varying applicability/cardinality across different classes, it can be convenient to specify this as a grid.
Example
An example is a minimal information standard that includes different packages or checklists, e.g. MIxS. Here we may want a slot such as "soil sample depth" to be mandatory for soil samples, optional for other kinds of samples.
Example sheet:
| term | title | desc | mi_patient | mi_mod | mi_terrestrial | mi_marine | mi_extraterrestrial |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
> slot |
title | description | cardinality | cardinality | cardinality | cardinality | cardinality |
> |
applies_to_class: MI patient |
applies_to_class: MI model organism |
applies_to_class: MI terrestrial sample |
applies_to_class: MI marine sample |
applies_to_class: MI extraterrestrial sample |
||
| id | unique identifier | a unique id | M | M | M | M | M |
| alt_ids | other identifiers | any other identifiers | O | O | O | O | O |
| body_site | body site | location where sample is taken from | M | R | - | - | - |
| disease | disease status | disease the patient had | M | O | - | - | - |
| age | age | age | M | R | - | - | - |
| depth | depth | depth in ground or water | - | - | R | R | R |
| alt | altitude | height above sea level | R | R | R | ||
| salinity | salinity | salinity | R | R | R | ||
| porosity | porosity | porosity | |||||
| location | location | location on earth | |||||
| astronomical_body | astronomical body | planet or other astronomical object where sample was collected | M |
Here the applies_to_class descriptor indicates that the column value for the slot indicated in the row
is interpreted as slot usage for that class.
More information
See slot usage