Description of BS ISO/IEC/IEEE 31320-2:2012 2013

This standard defines the semantics and syntax of IDEF1X. It does so by defining the valid constructs of the language and specifying how they can be combined to form a valid model.

IDEFIX takes the approach that an enterprise manages what it knows about (its knowledge). Such knowledge consists of awareness about enterprise-pertinent actions, facts, and the relationships among them. In order to maximize the utility of this knowledge, it must be codified in a manner that makes its interpretation consistent. Without this guidance, the knowledge is either not understood at all or, worse, misused to draw unsupported or inappropriate conclusions. The guide to the interpretation and use of the enterprise knowledge has three components:

1. A grammar that dictates the kinds of actions, facts, and relationships that the enterprise is interested in recording,

2. Operations that can be performed on/with this knowledge to produce usable information, and

3. Rules about recorded knowledge that help the enterprise weed out conflicting statements and rules that govern the state changes that recorded knowledge can undergo.

For example, the sentence "The chair sings the tree" is grammatically sound in English; there is a subject, a verb, and an object in the sentence. However, the sentence itself is not useful because it states something that is nonsensical. In a natural language, rules must be established that, for instance, indicate that the subject of the sentence must be capable of taking action, if the verb is an action, and of taking the particular action specified by the verb.

Such a guide to the interpretation and use of the enterprise knowledge is, itself, captured as a set of facts. This body of facts about facts, or metaknowledge, in turn needs a guide to its understanding and use. This goal, in a nutshell, is the scope of IDEF1X. As part of its semantics and syntax, IDEF1X establishes just what can be said about the enterprise knowledge and what sorts of conclusions can be drawn from that meta-knowledge.

This standard does not treat methodology. A methodology is an ordered process used to produce a repeatable result. An IDEF1X methodology deals with the process of creating a model using the IDEF1X language. While critical to the practitioner, such considerations are beyond the scope of this standard. Rather, the IDEF1X constructs will be presented individually, without regard for their logical sequence of use.

About BSI

BSI Group, also known as the British Standards Institution is the national standards body of the United Kingdom. BSI produces technical standards on a wide range of products and services and also supplies certification and standards-related services to businesses.