Glossary

This Glossary defines terms used in this description of Protégé-2000. It is not meant to be an exhaustive list of terminology associated with object-oriented modeling.

Abstract Class
An abstract class cannot have instances and is identified with an icon.
 
Allowed Classes
A constraint on the values of a type-instance slot. The value of the slot can only be an instance of the class (or any of its children) in the Allowed Classes list.
 
Application
The program that combines the Protégé-2000 knowledge base with a problem-solving method so that end users can use a Protégé-2000 knowledge base to solve a problem.
 
Boolean
A type of slot with a true or false value that appears as a checkbox in Protégé-2000. A checked box equals a true value.
 
Browser Key
The browser key of a class is one of its slots whose value is displayed when instances of this class are referred to by other instances' forms.
 
Cardinality
A slot facet that describes whether the slot has just one value (single) or more than one value (multiple). In Protégé-2000, Single is the default.
 
Class
An abstract representation of a concept in a domain as a collection of related classes. For example, a medical model might have protocol, guidelines, and patient data as classes. A class appears with one of the following icons in Protégé-2000: , , or . A class can have a set of slots that represent the attributes of the class.
 
Classes Tab
The Protégé-2000 part used to create, view, revise, and save classes.
 
Concrete Class
Concrete classes can have instances and are identified by the lack of an .
 
Direct Slot
A slot attached directly to a class (in contrast to a slot which is inherited).
 
Domain
A particular field of knowledge, such as breast cancer.
 
Facets
The attributes of a slot. Some facets depend on the value of the type facet. For example, an integer slot type has facets for Minimum and Maximum.
 
Float
A positive or negative real numeric value (e.g., 1.0, 3.4e10, -0.3e-3) used as a slot value.
Forms Tab
The Protégé-2000 part used to create the forms for acquiring instances of classes. It may also be used to view, revise, and save the forms.
 
Inheritance
A parent-child (superclass-subclass) relationship between two classes. A child (subclass) inherits the slots of its parent classes (superclasses).
 
Inherited Slot
A slot that is attached to a class via inheritance from a parent class.
 
Instance (KB value)
Concrete occurrence of information about a domain that is entered into a knowledge base. For example, Fran Smith might be an instance for a Name slot. An instances is entered via a form generated by Protégé-2000.
 
Instance (slot type)
A type of slot whose value is the instance of a class.
 
Instances Tab
The Protégé-2000 part used to acquire instances of classes. It may also be used to view, revise, and save the instances.
 
Integer
A positive or negative whole number (e.g., 1, 2, -4) used as a slot value.
Knowledge-acquisition tool
A tool used to build a knowledge base by acquiring instances. In  Protégé-2000, the forms comprise the KA tool.
 
Knowledge base (KB)
A set of instances of classes which may be used by PSMs.
 
Knowledge-based system
A computer system that includes a knowledge base about a domain and programs that include rules for processing the knowledge and for solving problems relating to the domain.
 
Ontology
A model of a particular field of knowledge - the concepts and their attributes, as well as the relationships between the concepts. In Protégé-2000, an ontology is represented as a set of classes with their associated slots.
 
.pins file
A Protégé-2000 file in clips format that contains instances.
 
.pont file
A Protégé-2000 file in clips format that contains an ontology.
 
.pprj file
A Protégé-2000 file that contains a project. A project file contains the customized form information and references to external sources of the domain information.
 
Problem-solving method (PSM)
A computer program used in conjunction with a knowledge base to answer questions or solve problems.
 
Slot
An attribute of a class. For example, a physician class might have name, title, and phone number as slots.
 
Slots Tab
The Protégé-2000 part that allows you to create, view, edit, and delete slots.
 
Symbol
An enumerated list of slot values, such as red, blue, green.
Type
A slot facet that identifies the kind of values a slot may have - Any, boolean, float, instance, integer, string, or symbol.