Test

General approach

The information model language uses RDF triples as its basic grammar i.e. subject, predicate, and object with graph making up quadruples of an RDF data set.

The preferred exchange format is JSON-LD which is json with the @context to handle iri prefixes and @id for indicating RDF IRIs.

The grammar is based on the main stream language RDFS including a profile of SHACL for shape building and ECL in RDF form for Expression constraints.

The information manager supports OWL EL inputs which are out through a reasoner to generate inferred RDFS and removing the OWL. In other words the information model run time is a fully inferred ontology.

The IM also includes a query language DSL for the purposes of logical query definition, which is mapped by the IM to the relevant SPARQL, SQL or OpenSearch syntax for running on live data. The purpose and rationale for the DSL is more full described in the information model query
article and is able to represent all main stream health care queries that generate data sets, but stops short of the data manipulation used by Tableau, Power BI etc.

The use of JSON-LD can be somewhat tedious (as RDF predicates cannot directly map to standard programming language class properties) , so the use of 'local names' for business related APIs (e.g. query) is supported. In tis case the JSON field names can use the local names without the full IRI, as long as the JSON complies with the language grammar described here.

Consequently, in order to make the documentation clearer, local names are used in this documentation also with links to the IM viewer or W3C equivalent.

This documentation is auto generated from the information model folders and shapes themselves, and thus the shapes can also be viewed more fully in the Information Model Directory viewing application

Types and shapes

Types (as represented as the value of the rdf: type predicate, are used to indicate the structure of a data class or language grammar (as long as the language conforms to a JSON or triple structure)..

A special type of 'Shape' (as represented as an entity with rdf:type -> shacl:NodeShape) define the properties of a type. Thus a shape is targeted at a type or class.

Shapes are also classes (i.e. also are rdf:type -> rdf:Class), so that any shape that is a subclass of another shape inherits its properties unless overridden by sub properties, or subclass values of the parent properties.

Shapes are in effect Closed world interpretation of classes.

This documentation is therefore a documentation of shapes.

Basic shapes

These shapes are the meta classes of the named entities within the information model.

Shape	Property		Card.	Value type	Comment
IrirRef					A resource with an iri and name
	label		1..1	xsd:string	The name of the entity
Entity shape (subtype of IrirRef)	targetClassspan title			Fixed :im:Entity	The super class and data model for all named resources in the model i.e. the data model of the entities that are labelled with iri label and status
	comment		0..1	xsd:string	The description of the entity
	type		1..1	rdfs:Resource	The base type of the entity i.e. one of the high level entity types
	status		1..1	im:Status	The status of the entity being active, inactive, draft or unassigned
	scheme		1..1	im:Graph	The code scheme or graph which the entity belongs to
	subClassOf		0..*	im:EntityShape	An entity that this entity inherits from, both semantically and structurally
IriAlias (subtype of IrirRef)					An IRI with a name and an alias (for use as variables for reference
	alias		0..1	xsd:string	The column name in a select clause for this property, or a variable used to reference the result set of the values matched

Query language shapes

These shapes form the query language DSL for retrieving data from the IM or health records.

Shape	Property		Card.	Value type	Comment
QueryShape (subtype of Entity shape)	targetClassspan title			Fixed :im:Query	A query that is stored as an entity in a query library
	query		0..1	QueryDefinition	The query definition itself
Query definition (subtype of ClauseHeading)					A Query definition holding the logical definition of a query in a standard language
	resultFormat		0..1	xsd:string	Whether the result set is required flat select style json or a nested graphql json object style 'RELATIONAL' or 'OBJECT. Default is OBJECT
	usePrefixes		0..1	xsd:boolean	true if you want the results to use IRI prefixes
	activeOnly		0..1	xsd:boolean	Whether only active entities are included in the match clauses or select clauses
	or 1..1	select	1..1	SelectClause	Select query clause logically similar to SQL/SPARQL select but with GraphQL nesting ability
		ask	0..1	MatchClause	If the query is a boolean true or false use match clauses as an ask
	mainEntity		0..1	sh:NodeShape	The main entity to which all matches must be related e.g. Patient or organisation. i.e. the IRI of a data model entity (SHACL shape)
ClauseHeading (subtype of Entity shape)					General headings such as name description and alias
	alias		1..1	xsd:string	An alias or reference term that can be used throughout a query as shorthand for the result set
SelectClause (subtype of ClauseHeading)					Defines the objects and properties to retrieve from a graph, subject to a mach clause. Supports graphql type nesting and subselsects for column groups
	count		0..1	xsd:boolean	If the query result is simply a sum of the main entities found. equivalent to COUNT(id)
	or 0..1	property	1..*	PropertySelectClause	Information about a property or field to includein the results. Property select supports nesting with selects for the objects that may be values of the property
		pathToTarget	1..1	PathTargetClause	Special function for path query. Information about the target entity when the query is looking to return paths between a source and a target. Both are likely to be passed in as parameters
	match		0..*	MatchClause	The match pattern to which the select clause must comply. Equivalent to a where/filter in SPARQL and JOIN/WHERE in SQL
	distinct		0..1	xsd:boolean	Whether the entity objects returned should be distinct
	or 0..1	entityType	1..1	ConceptReference	The entity type for instances this select clause operates on. Options include including subtypes.
		entityId	1..1	ConceptReference	An instance of an enttu for which this select clause operates. As in entity type, optionally to include subtypes, where the entity id is a concept
		entityIn	1..1	rdfs:Resource	The consept set, value set, or query result set that forms the base population of instances on which the select clause operates. e.g. a parent cohort.
	groupBy		0..*	PropertySelectClause	If the results need to be grouped, the grouping properties.
	orderLimit		0..*	OrderLimitClause	Ordering of instances via a property value and limiting th enumber returned.
	subselect		0..*	SelectClause	For a query with column groups such as a list report, the select query for each group
MatchClause (subtype of ClauseHeading)					A clause containing criteria which the objects must conform to. Equivalent to a from/join where clause in SQL and where/filter in sparql. Supports graph traversal filtering and inference for subsumption query
	pathTo		0..1	rdfs:Resource	A convenient way of traversing properties and objects to get to the match object, avoiding excessive nesting. The properties are listed and thus traversed in strict order
	or 0..1	or	2..*	MatchClause	Boolean operator OR on subclauses
		and	2..*	MatchClause	Boolean operator AND on subclauses
	or 0..1	entityType	1..1	ConceptReference	The entity type that matched instances must be (including subtypes). Options include including subtypes.
		entityId	1..1	ConceptReference	An instance of an entitu for which this match clause operates on. As in entity type, optionally to include subtypes, where the entity id is a concept
	or 0..1	entityInSet	1..1	rdfs:Resource	The concept set, value set, or query result set that the instances must be in to match. on which the select clause operates. e.g. a parent cohort.
		entityNotInSet	1..1	rdfs:Resource	The concept set, value set, or query result set that the instances must NOT be in to match. on which the select clause operates. e.g. a parent cohort.
	graph		0..1	im:Graph	The iri of a graph if the query is limied to a particular data set
	property		0..*	PropertyValueClause	Properties and their values required to match (or not match), including any nesting of objects (joins). The default assumption is the AND operator on the properties. Use orProperty for or operator
	orProperty		2..*	PropertyValueClause	Properties and their values one of which is required to match (or not match), including any nesting of objects (joins).
	notExist		0..1	xsd:boolean	Negation indicator for this entire clause. i.e. for the instance to be included it must NOT match.
	orderLimit		0..1	OrderLimitClause	Ability to order and limit the match before the select or matchstatement operates. Crucially, this is processed before the application of a test or check, enabling things like latest or earliest, max or min
	testProperty		0..*	PropertyValueClause	Further test applied to the result of an ordered limited match. The rest of the match clause then becomes a sub select query on which these tests operate. Implicit operator is AND
	displayText		0..1	xsd:string	Optional text for display in query viewer if dfferent from the match clause name
PropertySelectClause (subtype of ConceptReference)					null
	or 0..1	sum	0..1	xsd:boolean	Whether the result is a summation of this property's values
		average	0..1	xsd:boolean	Whether the result is an average of this property's values
		max	0..1	xsd:boolean	Whether the result is the maximum of this property's values
	select		0..1	SelectClause	Nested select clause for graphql style results format
	inverseOf		0..1	xsd:boolean	Indicates if true that the selected property is an inverse relationship with the target object
	function		0..1	im:Function	The iri of a function indicating that the result is the result of a function operating on the property values, and any arguments passed in
	argument		0..*	Argument	Arguments to pass into the function
PathTargetClause (subtype of IrirRef)					Information about the target of a path query, including the IRI of the target and the number of hops processed.
	depth		0..1	xsd:integer	How many hops to be taken in the graph between source and target
ConceptReference (subtype of IriAlias)					null
	includeSubtypes		0..1	xsd:boolean	Whether to include the subtypes of the entites selected or matched
	includeSupertypes		0..1	xsd:boolean	Whether to include the supertypes of the entity in a match clause. Used for ascending the hierarch to look for properties inherited
	excludeSelf		0..1	xsd:boolean	Whether to exclude this entity when either include supbtypes or include suprtypes is set. Rarely used but sometimes found in ECL definitions
OrderLimitClause					Orders the value of the property (property as represented by the iri and alias)
	orderBy		1..1	IriAlias	The property or property variable to order the results by
	direction		1..1	xsd:string	ASCENDING or DESCENDING to indicate the order direction
	limit		0..1	xsd:integer	The count of instances to return after ordering
PropertyValueClause (subtype of ConceptReference)					A property (as a concept reference) and value filter supporting ranges sets and functions, As a result of the concept references, supports sub properties as well as inferred values
	pathTo		0..1	rdfs:Resource	A convenient way of traversing properties and objects to get to a property, avoiding excessive nesting. The properties are listed and thus traversed in strict order
	inverseOf		0..1	xsd:boolean	Tests the property as an inverse property (inbound relationship)
	notExist		0..1	xsd:boolean	The property match must not exist. This is negatation at a more granular level than the match clause. For example to test for a null field or absent property
	optional		0..1	xsd:boolean	Optional match for this property, used to enable IF a present then A must have X,Y. N.B for SPARQL experts the OPTIONAL is generally generated automatically from SELECT, so optional need only be set when a test is to be applied to a linked object
	function		1..1	FunctionClause	A function that operates on the property value (and other parameters) prior to a compare or range or inclusion test. For example a time difference function operating on the date and a reference date. Note that properties that ARE functions do not need functions included for example age. For these simply supply the arguments.
	argument		0..1	Argument	Arguments to pass into a function when the property is a function property. Note that if the test is a function then the argument list would be in the function clause
	or 0..1	value	1..1	CompareClause	If testing a property value as equal greater than ete. use compare
		inSet	1..*	ConceptReference	The value of the property must be in the concept set IRI. For teesting simple lists or single concepts use isConcept
		notInSet	1..*	ConceptReference	The value of the property must NOT be in the concept set IRI. Note that this is not negation of the entire match, only the negation of this entry instance when tested. Equivalent to SPARQL filter not in. For testing simple lists of concepts use isNotConcept
		isConcept	1..*	ConceptReference	The value of the property be this concept (and otionally its sub types). Used for inline sets or single concepts
		isNotConcept	1..*	ConceptReference	The value of the property must NOT be this concept (and otionally its sub types). Used for inline sets or single concepts. Note that this is not negation of the entire match, only the negation of this entry instance when tested. Equivalent to SPARQL filter not in.
		inRange	1..1	RangeClause	Test foe a value being between two absolute or relative values
		valueMatch	1..1	MatchClause	The match clause operating on the property value object. Equivalent to a join in SQL or '.' in sparql
	displayText		0..1	xsd:string	Optional text for display in query viewer if dfferent from the match clause name
Argument					A named parameter and a value for passing into a function
	parameter		1..1	xsd:string	Parameter name for a function or the parameter name for an argument
	or 1..1	valueData	1..1	xsd:string	Vaue that is a literal such as a string or number
		valueVariable	1..1	xsd:string	argumenT value which is a variable name to be resolved at run time
		valueSelect	1..1	SelectClause	Argument value that is the result of a select query
		valueIri	1..1	im:IriRef	Argument value that is an iri
FunctionClause (subtype of IrirRef)					A function used in a query consisting of the function iri and one or more arguments to pass in at run time
	argument		0..*	Argument	Arguments to pass into the function. They should match the parameter definitions of the function
CompareClause					Tests a value, whether equal, greater than, less than etc.
	comparison		1..1	xsd:string	Comparison operators : EQUAL, LESS_THAN, LESS_THAN_OR_EQUAL, GREATER_THAN, NOT_EQUAL
	or 1..1	valueData	1..1	xsd:string	The value to compare against. This is a string which will be cast to a number or date, depending on the data type of the property value
		valueVariable	1..1	xsd:string	The variable (alias) to compare against. The variable may be an argument to the query (e.g. $reference date or an alias in this query or another query. Use the $ prefix to make it clear
		valueSelect	1..1	SelectClause	The result to compare the property value against is derived from a select sub query
RangeClause					A range for use in property value testing
	from		1..1	CompareClause	The value comparison for lower end of the range
	to		1..1	CompareClause	The value comparison of upper end of the range
FunctionShape (subtype of Entity shape)	targetClassspan title			Fixed :im:Function	null
	parameter		0..*	Parameter	A list of parameters and data types used in this function
Parameter					null
	label		1..1	xsd:string	The name of the parameter
	or 1..1	datatype	1..1	rdfs:Resource	The iri of The data type of the parameter when the data type is a literal
		class	1..1	rdfs:Resource	The iri of the class of the parameter when the argument is an object

Data Model shapes

These shapes are the meta classes of the data modelling entities within the information model.

Shape	Property		Card.	Value type	Comment
Data model shape (subtype of Entity shape)	targetClassspan title			Fixed :NodeShape/ sh: NodeShape	The shape of a SHACL node shape
	property		0..*	PropertyNodeShape
PropertyNodeShape (subtype of Entity shape)					The data model of a shacl node shape describing a property of a data model entity
	path		1..1	rdf:Property	The iri of the property
	minCount		0..1	xsd:integer	Minimum cardinality,if null assuming any number including zero
	maxCount		0..1	xsd:integer	The maximum number allowed. If null then any number
	or 1..1	class	1..1	rdfs:Resource	The iri for the class range of the property. The range of this property is a subclass of this class
		datatype	1..1	rdfs:Resource	The range of the property is a data type of this type
		node	1..1	rdfs:Resource	The property points to a node shape
	comment		0..1	xsd:string	Description of the property
	name		0..1	xsd:string	The name of the property used for ease of recognition
	order		0..1	xsd:integer	The property order for display

Concept shapes

These shapes are the meta classes of the terminology concepts used within the information model.

Shape	Property		Card.	Value type	Comment
Concept shape (subtype of Entity shape)	targetClassspan title			Fixed :im:Concept	data model for terminology concepts
	code		1..1	xsd:string	The code for this concept, which may be a local code if local concept, or a core code such as a snomed identifier
	hasTermCode		0..*	TermCodeShape	Alternative terms or synonyms for this concept. A term may also have a description id.
	weighting		0..1	xsd:integer	A number indicating a weighting for this concept which can be used in free text search
	definitionalStatus		0..1	im:VSET_Definitionalstatus	Indicates the authoring status of this concept, whether necessary only, or both necessary and sufficient. OWL would use Equivalent class axiom to indicate this.
	hasMap		0..*	xsd:string	Any backward maps from core to legacy. This is limited to complex maps rather than simple matches and are 'backward' matches not suitable for automatic inclusion in subsumption queries
	usageTotal		0..1	xsd:integer	The approximate number of times this concept has been used in around 1 million primary care and acute care records
	im1Id		0..1	xsd:string	pointer the original identifer in IM1
	matchedTo		0..*	im:VSET_Unspecified	For a legacy concept, one or more concept this concept matches to. A query for the matched to concepts would entail this concept normally, but NOT the children of this concept
	sourceContext		0..*	SourceContextShape	The source context object for this concept indicating the system, table, field and organisation that published this legacy concept
	370124000		0..*	im:Concept	Indicates the concepts that this concept has been replaced by
	isChildOf		0..*	im:Concept	points to the parent legacy concept that this concept is in. Note that it may or may not be a true subtype. Reflects the original taxonomy
Term code shape					data model for a term code
	label		0..*	xsd:string
	code		0..*	xsd:string
	status		0..*	im:Status
Source context shape (subtype of Entity shape)					Data model for source context for a concept e.g. source system, field etc
	sourceSystem		1..*	im:ComputerSystem
	sourcePublisher		1..*	im:Organisation
	sourceSchema		1..*	xsd:string
	sourceTable		1..*	xsd:string
	sourceField		1..*	xsd:string
	sourceRegex		1..*	xsd:string
	sourceHeading		1..*	xsd:string
	sourceText		1..*	xsd:string
	sourceValue		1..*	xsd:string
Refined concept shape (subtype of Concept shape)					A concept with role groups with roles
	roleGroup		0..*	RoleGroupShape	Zero or many role groups, each group containing one or more roles. These represent constraints on the super types i.e. more specific. Generated by inference making sure to remove duplicate properties or super properties.
Role group shape					data model for a role group
	Property		0..*	im:Concept
im:ConceptPropertyShape (subtype of Concept shape)					A concept that is a role in another concept and as a property may have domains and ranges

Transactional shapes

These shapes form the meta classes for structures pass into APIs for query of, or filing into, the model or health records.

Shape	Property		Card.	Value type	Comment
EntityFileTransaction (subtype of Entity shape)					An entity with the additional CRUD indicators to enable deletes updates, adding quads etc
	crud		1..1	im:CrudOperation	Indicates the nature of the CRUD transaction which must be one of im:DeleteAll, im:AddQuads (adds in additional triples), im:UpdateAll (replaces all the predicates for this entity in the graph with te ones submitted), im:UpdatePredicates ( replaces all the objects of these submitted predicates for this graph
	graph		1..1	im:Graph	The graph to which these triples apply. This means you can add predicates to any entity without affecting the original authored entity, those predicates belonging only to this module or graph
EntityDocument					A document containing any number of triples to file as a batch. Note that if the document is sent as Json-LD with prefixed iris, a @context object will be required
	crud		1..1	im:CrudOperation	Indicates the nature of the default CRUD transaction for entities in thisdocument. Thes can be overridden in each entity. Must be one of: im:DeleteAll, im:AddQuads (adds in additional triples), im:UpdateAll (replaces all the predicates for this entity in the graph with te ones submitted), im:UpdatePredicates ( replaces all the objects of these submitted predicates for this graph
	graph		1..1	im:Graph	The graph to which these entities apply by default. This may be overridden by the entities This means you can add predicates to any entity without affecting the original authored entity, those predicates belonging only to this module or graph
	entities		1..*	EntityShape	Set of entities to file. If the entities do not have crud or graphs oftheir own then the default from the document are used
Query Request					A request for data sent as a body (json in local name format) to the /queryIM API. Contains either a query or query iri with run time variable values for use in the query
	page		0..1	PageInformation	optional page number and size if the client is looking for paged results
	textSearch		0..1	xsd:string	If a free text search is part of the query
	argument		0..*	Argument	arguments to pass in to the query as parameters. Parameter name and value pairs. Values ,may be strings, numbers or IRIs
	or 1..1	query	1..1	QueryDefinition	The query definition for an inline dynamic query. If the query is already defined, use the queryIri. Arguments may be used in eoither approach
		queryIri	1..1	im:Query	The IRI of a predefined query in the information model. i.e. request the system to run query X
	referenceDate		0..1	im:DateTime	reference date for date ranges that use reference date. Note that it could be passed in as an argeument
PageInformation					Information about paging if the client wishes to page results, including page number and page size
	pageNumber		1..1	xsd:integer	Page number (starting at 1)
	pageSize		1..1	xsd:integer	number of entries per page