Gellish Communicator - User Manual
Table of content:
Gellish Communicator - User Manual
Table of content:
Gellish is a family of universally applicable languages. The standardized structure or syntax of Gellish expressions is system independent and universally applicable, thus allowing for the expression of any idea. This implies that Gellish databases or data exchange messages Interfaces) do not require the development of dedicated data models, nor dedicated database designs. Thus Gellish enables defining universal semantic databases and interfaces and reuse of software. This is due to the Gellish' universal syntax or data model (see also the description of the universal base semantic patterns) and the standardization of the concept definitions and vocabulary.
Gellish Universal Semantic Databases (as well as Gellish Data Exchange Messages) consist of the content of collections of Gellish Expressions. The expressions have a uniform data structure or syntax as is described in the previous section.
Conventional databases typically consist of many tables, each of which is composed of a number of columns. The definition of those tables and columns determine the storage capabilities of a database, whereas the (implied and explicit) relations between the columns define the kinds of facts that can be stored in such a database. Those columns and relations determine the database structure that defines the expression capabilities of the database. Similar rules apply for the structure of data exchange files and thus for the information that is exchanged in electronic data files and interface messages.
This conventional database technology has some major constraints:
Another characteristic of conventional databases is that there are hardy international standards available or used for the content of the databases, being the data that is entered by its users. This typically means that local conventions are applied in order to limit the diversity of data that may be entered in those databases. As local conventions usually differ from other local conventions this has as disadvantage that data that are entered in one database cannot be compared or integrated with data in other databases, even if those database structures are the same and even if the application domain of the databases is the same. For example, within a company there may be various implementations of the same system in various sites for the storage of data about equipment, whereas for example the performance data about the same type of equipment in different systems still cannot be compared with the performance data in other locations, because the equipment types have different names and the properties are also different.
A Gellish database does not have the semantic limitations that conventional databases have, because of the flexibility and openness of the Gellish language and because of its standard universal data structure (syntax), which is simple and computer as well as human interpretable.
A Gellish database consists of a representation of the content of one or more tables in the Gellish Expression Format. For example, the Gellish Communicator software system includes an object-oriented database that is implemented in the form of a network of binary relations 'objects' (in which an 'object' may be anything), whereas each object definition includes all the Gellish Expressions that are applicable for that object. The fact that those Gellish Expression Tables are standardized and universally applicable makes a Gellish database application independent.
The Gellish enabled database is universally applicable because it enables the application of the following fundamental principles:
As a consequence, Gellish enabled databases do not need to be modified or extended when the scope of an application changes. And expressions from different Gellish enabled databases can be merged and integrated whenever required, without a need for a conversion exercise. Furthermore the content of Gellish enabled databases is standardized by using a common Taxonomic Dictionary for all its data, including for example, kinds of equipment, kinds of properties, kinds of documents, kinds of activities, etc., etc.
Continue with 1. Domain Dictionaries and Dictionary Extensions
[1]See http://support.microsoft.com/kb/q180162/