The System Entity Structure (SES) is an ontology that is mainly used in
data engineering or system modeling. It is based on a set of elements and axioms
as summerized in figure 1. An SES is a special tree in conformity with the SES axioms.
Figure 2 shows as example the general sequence of nodes in an SES defined by the axiom Alternate Mode.
Entity nodes represent elements of the real or imagined world. Aspect nodes are used
for decomposing entity nodes into finer-grained structures. Multiple-aspect nodes define
multiplicity of entity nodes and specialization nodes represent categories or families
of characteristics of entities. In addition different types of attributes can be attached to nodes or
edges. Moreover, the SES supports the specification of selection constraints.
They specify that the selection of a node may cause the selection of a certain node at another place.
In the context of the SES toolbox, SES variables are input variables of an SES that are used for
value assignments to attributes or as input arguments for SES functions. SES functions are an
advanced concept of the SES toolbox. Semantic conditions define the
accepted ranges for SES variables. Node priorities are a specific feature of the
GUI SES toolbox in context with the axiom Inheritance.
Basics to the SES or the SES/MB approach can be found in various literature. The SES toolbox contains various examples and several short documentaries.
Basics to the SES or the SES/MB approach can be found in various literature. The SES toolbox contains various examples and several short documentaries.
Figure 1: SES elements and axioms implemented by the SES toolbox
(including restrictions and extensions of toolbox implementation)
Figure 2: Sequence of nodes in an SES following Zeigler