Object Types

SpecAtlas is made up of a number of node types. This documentation provides a mapping between the presentation in the web app and the underlying data structures in the Neo4j database.

Specification Owner (ControllingOrg)

The Specification Owner type defines the organizations that are responsible for the publication and maintenance of a document. Within the SpecAtlas, there is a preference to directly link a document with the original publisher. The database captures parent-child and successor relationships, enabling users to determine the current owner from the original.

Record Metadata

controllingOrgId

automatic; [guid]

The controllingOrgId property is used to capture an opaque identifier for a given node. This property is a GUID added automatically by the database engine upon data insert.

createdTimestamp

automatic; [datetime]

The createdTimestamp property is used to capture the time of initial data insert into the database. This property is automatically added to the database.

updatedTimestamp

automatic; [datetime]

The updatedTimestamp property is used to capture the most recent modification time of node data in the database. This property is automatically added to the database.

displayGroup

[boolean]

The displayGroup property is set to true when a Specification Owner has child organization relationships and it is desirable to show the Owner within the web application hierarchy.

Record Data

Short Name (shortName)

required; [string]

The Short Name property is used as basic reference to the controlling organization.

Full Name (fullName)

required; [string]

The Full Name property is the overall title of a controlling organization.

URL (url)

[url]

The URL property is a direct URL link to the controlling organization.

Organization Type (organizationType)

required; [string]

The organizationType property describes the format of a given organization.

Organization Type Taxonomy

• international standards organization

  International standards organizations have formal membership by national representatives. Examples include ISO, IEC, and ITU.

• regional/national standards organization

  Regional or national standards organizations are generally members of international standards organizations, with formal membership and limited reach within a single nation or common region (e.g., European Union).

• open standards organization

  Open standards organizations have no or low barriers to entry to participation. Generally, these organizations operate on a consensus basis.

• industry association

  Industry associations are organizations comprised of manufacturers or other producers within a common field. Membership is generally limited to corporate members.

• independent organization

  Independent organizations are generally large corporations that produce widely accepted standards.

• special purpose organization

  Special purpose organizations are directly related to the standardization process, but may not generate standards themselves. Examples include IANA and ICANN.

• topic focus group

  Topic focus groups are targeted groups to specific subjects, including most working groups within larger standards organizations.

Status (status)

required; [string]

The Status property indicates the current status of a given organization.

Status Taxonomy

• Active

  The organization is currently meeting and producing output.

• Continued

  The organization reached its designated end date and its topic was continued in a subsequent group in the next applicable time period. This status is generally used for ITU-T study groups, where groups operate within a given study period.

• Reorganized

  The organization was renamed or had other significant organization changes. Examples of this include ISO TC97, which was reorganized into JTC1, and ITU-T study groups that had topic reconfiguration between study periods.

• Closed

  The organization was ended under normal processes.

• Abandoned

  The organization appears to no longer be active, although no formal closure is noted.

Start Date (startDate)

[date]

The Start Date property is the date when a controlling organization was started.

End Date (endDate)

[date]

The End Date property is the date when a controlling organization was concluded.

Notes (notes)

[string]; multi-valued, delimiter: ||

The Notes property is a general field of notes for a given entry.

Specification (Authority)

The Specification node type defines the metadata for standards documents and other reference materials.

Record Metadata

authorityId

automatic; [guid]

The authorityId property is used to capture an opaque identifier for a given node. This property is a GUID added automatically by the database engine upon data insert.

createdTimestamp

automatic; [datetime]

The createdTimestamp property is used to capture the time of initial data insert into the database. This property is automatically added to the database.

updatedTimestamp

automatic; [datetime]

The updatedTimestamp property is used to capture the most recent modification time of node data in the database. This property is automatically added to the database.

atlasCategory

[string]

The atlasCategory property provides a brief categorization for a given Authority node. This property is not fully utilized at this time.

atlasStatus

[string]; multi-valued, delimiter: ;

The atlasStatus property denotes the processing status of a given entry in the database.

Atlas Status Taxonomy

• noReview

  The authority has not been directly reviewed to confirm the metadata. Metadata may be of a lower quality and in need of confirmation.

• stub

  The authority is only captured by the Authority node metadata, no effort has been made to determine relationships between the authority and upstream authorities.

  Generally, the stub status is used for documents that are simply referenced by other authorities.

• relOnly

  The authority is captured by the Authority node metadata as well as common relationships with other authorities to identify development lineage or republication by other bodies.

  Generally, relOnly authorities are fundamental authorities used across many other standards. Should the scope of the Atlas increase, these authorities may be expanded with full information.

• relComplete

  Core relationships for this authority have been captured in addition to Authority node metadata. These core relationships include:

  • CONTROLS - Defines the organization that published the authority.
  • MEMBER_OF - Indicates the authority is part of a collection authorities in an AuthorityGroup.
  • UPDATES - Indicates the authority makes updates to another authority.
  • SUPERSEDES - Indicates the authority replaces another document within its own series.
  • OBSOLETES - Indicates the authority replaces another document not within a series of documents.
  • CORRECTS - Indicates the authority makes technical or editorial corrections to another document.
  • HAS_RELATED_AUTHORITY - Indicates the authority has some other relation to another document, such as republication.

• refComplete

  Authorities directly referenced within the current Authority have been captured with node metadata and appropriate relationships have been captured between the nodes.

• draftsCaptured

  Drafts of the current authority have been captured with at least base metadata.

Record Data

Reference (reference)

required; [string]

The Reference property provides a single string reference to the current authority, independent of how it may be referred to by other documents.

Version (versionTag)

[string]

The Version property indicates the specific version for a given standard when part of a series.

Title (title)

required; [string]

The Title property is the full title of the authority document.

Status (status)

required; [string]; multi-valued, delimiter: ;

The Status property represents the current state of an authority.

Status Taxonomy

• Informational

  Document is not managed as part of a standards development process. Authorities in an informational state may be referenced in standards-controlled authorities.

• Active

  Document is under control of a standards development process and has not been withdrawn, deprecated, superseded, or obsoleted.

• Updated

  Content of a document has been substantively updated. Updates may be made by direct amendment within a document series or a new document/standard.

• Errata

  Content of a document has been corrected. Corrections may be editorial or technical in nature.

• Superseded

  Authority has been replaced by a new document within a common series.

• Obsoleted

  Authority has been replaced by a document outside of a series of documents.

• Deprecated

  Authority has been marked for discontinued use by its standards making organization.

• Withdrawn

  Authority has been formally removed as a valid reference by its standards making organization.

• Unpublished

  Authority was approved by its standards development process but was never published for broad dissemination.

Type (type)

required; [string]

The Type property captures the document type, as identified by the issuing organization.

Common types include, but are not limited to:

• IETF/IRTF
  • Internet Standard
  • Best Current Practice
  • Proposed Standard
  • Draft Standard
  • RFC - Informational
  • RFC - Experimental
  • RFC - Historic
  • RFC - Unknown
• ISO/IEC
  • International Standard
  • Technical Report
  • ISO Recommendation
• ITU
  • ITU-T Recommendation
  • ITU-R Recommendation
• General
  • %org% Standard
  • Independent Standard

IETF Stream (ietfStream)

[string]

The IETF String property captures the well-defined stream used in the IETF standards development process. Values include:

• IETF
• IRTF
• IAB
• Editorial
• Independent
• Legacy

Published (publishedDate)

[date]

The Published property captures the date when the authority was approved for publishing, or the actual date of publication.

Deprecated (deprecatedDate)

[date]

The Deprecated property captures the date when the authority was recommended to be replaced by a successor.

Withdrawn (withdrawnDate)

[date]

The Withdrawn property captures the date when the authority was withdrawn as a valid document.

Canonical URL (canonicalUrl)

[url]

The Canonical URL property captures the URL for the definitive version of an authority.

Canonical Format (canonicalFormat)

[string]

The Canonical Format property captures the format of the canonical version of the authority. Note that not all canonical authorities are limited to a single format. Example formats include:

• PDF - Adobe Portable Document Format (PDF)
• Text - General text format, encoding unspecified
• Text (ASCII) - General text format, ASCII encoded
• Text (Unicode) - General text format, Unicode encoded (typically UTF-8)
• RFCXML - RFC-specific XML format
• XML - General XML format
• HTML - HTML-based content
• XSD - XML schema definition

Plain Text (plainTextUrl)

[url]

The Plain Text property captures the URL for a plain text (e.g., ASCII or Unicode) version of an authority.

HTML (htmlUrl)

[url]

The HTML property captures the URL for an HTML version of an authority.

Other URL (otherUrl)

[url]

The Other URL property captures the URL for any other version of an authority.

The otherUrl property may be used to capture a URL where a canonical or fixed format URL does not exist. An additional use case is to capture the IETF Datatracker entry for a given RFC.

Other Format (otherFormat)

[string]

The otherFormat property performs the same function as the canonicalFormat does for canonicalUrl. In addition to the formats listed under canonicalFormat the value IETF Datatracker can be used for URLs capturing the Datatracker URL for a given RFC.

doi (doi)

[string]

The doi property captures a DOI, a persistent identifier to a digital element, for a given authority document. The DOI is rendered as a link using the https://doi.org/ resolver.

Notes (notes)

[string]; multi-valued, delimiter: ||

The notes property is a general property of notes for a given entry.

Authority Group (AuthorityGroup)

The Authority Group node type defines the metadata for collections of authorities.

Record Metadata

authorityGroupId

automatic; [guid]

The authorityGroupId property is used to capture an opaque identifier for a given node. This field is a GUID added automatically by the database engine upon data insert.

createdTimestamp

automatic; [datetime]

The createdTimestamp property is used to capture the time of initial data insert into the database. This property is automatically added to the database.

updatedTimestamp

automatic; [datetime]

The updatedTimestamp property is used to capture the most recent modification time of node data in the database. This property is automatically added to the database.

atlasStatus

[string]; multi-valued, delimiter: ;

The atlasStatus property denotes the processing status of a given entry in the database.

Record Data

Group Type (groupType)

required; [string]

The Group Type property captures the specific type of grouping of authorities this entry represents. Common types include:

• General

  • collectedAuthority

    This group type represents a scenario where the full context of the authority is spread across multiple documents. A common use case for this type is when capturing a primary authority with its amendments, errata, and other supplemental documents.

  • versionedAuthority

    This group type represents a scenario where a given authority has been revised over time. This entry represents the overall standard, rather than particulars of a given version.

    This group type often represents a root anchor for a document series, with membership consisting of collectedAuthority groups representing each version within the series.

• IETF

  IETF STD, BCP, and FYI groupings may consist of multiple RFC documents but often are single member groups.

  • ietfInternetStandard

    This group type represents a collection of RFCs that make up an Internet Standard.

  • ietfBestCurrentPractice

    This group type represents a collection of RFCs that make up a Best Current Practice.

Reference (reference)

required; [string]

The Reference property provides a single string reference to the current authority group, independent of how it may be referred to by other documents.

Title (title)

required; [string]

The title property is the full title of the authority group.

URL (url)

[url]

The URL property captures the URL for the authority group.

Notes (notes)

[string]; multi-valued, delimiter: ||

The Notes property is a general property of notes for a given entry.

Draft Revision (AuthorityDraftRevision)

The Draft Revision node type defines the metadata for individual versions of draft documents.

Record Metadata

authorityDraftRevisionId

automatic; [guid]

The authorityDraftRevisionId property is used to capture an opaque identifier for a given node. This property is a GUID added automatically by the database engine upon data insert.

createdTimestamp

automatic; [datetime]

The createdTimestamp property is used to capture the time of initial data insert into the database. This property is automatically added to the database.

updatedTimestamp

automatic; [datetime]

The updatedTimestamp property is used to capture the most recent modification time of node data in the database. This property is automatically added to the database.

atlasCategory

[string]

The atlasCategory property provides a brief categorization for a given Authority node. This is an open text string.

atlasStatus

[string]; multi-valued, delimiter: ;

The atlasStatus property denotes the processing status of a given entry in the database.

Record Data

Reference (reference)

required; [string]

The Reference property provides a single string reference to the current authority, independent of how it may be referred to by other documents.

Revision Sequence (revisionSequence)

required; [integer]

The Revision Sequence property provides a direct ordering of when a revision was released.

Title (title)

required; [string]

The Title property is the full title of the authority document.

Status (status)

required; [string]; multi-valued, delimiter: ;

The Status property represents the current state of an authority. Potential values include the following. The document's state may be comprised of multiple status values.

• Adopted

  Document has been adopted as a published specification and managed as part of a standards development process.

• Revised

  Document has a new version and the current version has been superseded.

• Replaced

  Set of document revisions has been replaced by an alternative set of revisions.

• Expired

  Document was neither revised or adopted and has reached the end of its lifecycle as part of a standards development process.

Type (type)

required; [string]

The Type property captures the document type, as identified by the issuing organization.

Common types include, but are not limited to:

• IETF/IRTF
  • Internet-Draft
• ISO/IEC
  • Final Draft International Standard
  • Draft International Standard
  • Committee Draft
  • Working Draft
  • New Work Item Proposal
  • Preliminary Work Item
• General
  • Work[ing] Group Draft
  • Implementers Draft

IETF Stream (ietfStream)

[string]

The IETF Stream property captures the well-defined stream used in the IETF standards development process. Values include:

• IETF
• IRTF
• IAB
• Editorial
• Independent
• Legacy

Published (publishedDate)

[date]

The Published property captures the date when the authority was approved for publishing, or the actual date of publication.

Canonical URL (canonicalUrl)

[url]

The Canonical URL property captures the URL for the definitive version of an authority.

Canonical Format (canonicalFormat)

[string]

The Canonical Format property captures the format of the canonical version of the authority. Note that not all canonical authorities are limited to a single format. Example formats include:

• PDF - Adobe Portable Document Format (PDF)
• Text - General text format, encoding unspecified
• Text (ASCII) - General text format, ASCII encoded
• Text (Unicode) - General text format, Unicode encoded (typically UTF-8)
• RFCXML - RFC-specific XML format
• XML - General XML format
• HTML - HTML-based content
• XSD - XML schema definition

Plain Text (plainTextUrl)

[url]

The Plain Text property captures the URL for a plain text (e.g., ASCII or Unicode) version of an authority.

HTML (htmlUrl)

[url]

The HTML property captures the URL for an HTML version of an authority.

Other URL (otherUrl)

[url]

The Other URL property captures the URL for any other version of an authority.

The otherUrl property may be used to capture a URL where a canonical or fixed format URL does not exist. An additional use case is to capture the IETF Datatracker entry for a given RFC.

Other Format (otherFormat)

[string]

The otherFormat property performs the same function as the canonicalFormat does for canonicalUrl. In addition to the formats listed under canonicalFormat the value IETF Datatracker can be used for URLs capturing the Datatracker URL for a given RFC.

Notes (notes)

[string]; multi-valued, delimiter: ||

The Notes property is a general property of notes for a given entry.