Integration Definition for Information Modeling (IDEF1X) is a data modeling language for the development of semantic data models. IDEF1X is used to produce a graphical information model which represents the structure and semantics of information within an environment or system. IDEF1X permits the construction of semantic data models which may serve to support the management of data as a resource, the integration of information systems, and the building of computer databases. This standard is part of the IDEF family of modeling languages in the field of software engineering.
Overview A data modeling technique is used to model data in a standard, consistent and predictable manner in order to manage it as a resource. It can be used in projects requiring a standard means of defining and analyzing the data resources within an organization. Such projects include the incorporation of a data modeling technique into a methodology, managing data as a resource, integrating information systems, or designing computer databases. The primary objectives of the IDEF1X standard are to provide:
Means for completely understanding and analyzing an organization's data resources Common means of representing and communicating the complexity of data A technique for presenting an overall view of the data required to run an enterprise Means for defining an application-independent view of data which can be validated by users and transformed into a physical database design A technique for deriving an integrated data definition from existing data resources. A principal objective of IDEF1X is to support integration. The approach to integration focuses on the capture, management, and use of a single semantic definition of the data resource referred to as a “conceptual schema.” The “conceptual schema” provides a single integrated definition of the data within an enterprise which is not biased toward any single application of data and is independent of how the data is physically stored or accessed. The primary objective of this conceptual schema is to provide a consistent definition of the meanings of and interrelationships between data that can be used to integrate, share, and manage the integrity of data. A conceptual schema must have three important characteristics:
Consistent with the infrastructure of the business and true across all application areas Extendible, such that new data can be defined without altering previously defined data Transformable to both the required user views and to a variety of data storage and access structures.
History The need for semantic data models was first recognized by the U.S. Air Force in the mid-1970s as a result of the Integrated Computer Aided Manufacturing (ICAM) Program. The objective of this program was to increase manufacturing productivity through the systematic application of computer technology. The ICAM Program identified a need for better analysis and communication techniques for people involved in improving manufacturing productivity. As a result, the ICAM Program developed a series of techniques known as the IDEF (ICAM Definition) Methods which included the following:
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