A data-model is a human-made abstraction that organizes data elements into structured components, defines the relationships and constraints between those components, and specifies the operations permitted on the data within a system. Parameters: (1) entities/attributes — the basic data units and their properties; (2) relationships — how entities connect (one-to-one, one-to-many, many-to-many); (3) constraints — rules governing valid data states (uniqueness, required fields, referential integrity); (4) operations — defined actions (create, read, update, delete) applicable to the modeled data. Persistence: maintained by system designers, database administrators, and software engineering teams through documentation, implementation in modeling tools, and enforcement by database management systems or application frameworks. [formal: modelum-datorum | substrate: mind | horizon: a life | explicit: yes | epoch: 0.01]
Accepted ontology entry
data-model
A data-model is a human-made abstraction that organizes data elements into structured components, defines the relationships and constraints between those components, and specifies the operations permitted on the data within a system. Param…
Definition
Why it is in scope
A data-model is a human-made abstraction that organizes data elements, defines their relationships, and constrains how data can be created, stored, updated, and accessed within a system. It serves as a blueprint for data architecture in information systems, database design, and software engineering.
Names and aliases
- data-modelen · CANONICAL
Relations from this entry
- cmru5nrqe003sr671qxjyxhiqINSTANCE_OF →
A data-model is a specific kind of model — it is an abstraction that organizes data elements and defines their relationships. 'Is a data-model a model?' Yes, a kind used for data representation. Sense pinned: model as an abstraction representing something else. Specific→general per Law 9.
Relations to this entry
- cmr91eu4v003khcxf0n7urjqc← DEPENDS_ON
A database needs a data-model to operate — it requires a formal description of data elements, relationships, and constraints to function. Remove data-models and databases lose their organizing structure: they cannot store, retrieve, or constrain data without a model to define how. Present-tense operational dependency per Law 8.
Record identity
- Created
- Jul 21, 2026, 7:42 AM UTC
- Content hash
- 78dc994ad94e9aa1fda835a961858b8e6782172c65090a30ce4b8272667d2845