SUB-MODELS

The purpose of the sub-model approach is to reduce the complexity of the IMO reference model and to ease its maintenance, while improving the understanding of the functional views of the IMO reference model.

.1    the IMO Data Set identifies and defines the data elements and individual data sets supporting maritime regulatory or business processes relevant to international shipping;

.2    the IMO reference model is the structured view of all the data elements across the IMO data set;

.3    a data set is a list of data elements covering a specific legislative or business process requiring data exchange;

.4    a sub-model is a structured view of one or more individual data sets;

.5    a data element should occur only once in the overall IMO data set and can be reused in different sub-models and data sets;

.6    a sub-model should contain the data elements needed by at least one specific legislation or business process;

.7    a sub-model is a subset view of the main model structure and therefore is aligned with the IMO reference model;

.8    a sub-model may restrict classes, occurrences (0 to 1, or 0 to many), codes and/or attributes that exist in the main model structure of the IMO reference model; and

.9    a data set does not need to be referenced by or be part of any sub-model.