Sortal Structures: Supporting Representational Flexibility for Building Domain Processes
Rudi Stouffs, Ramesh Krishnamurti, Kuhn Park · Computer-Aided Civil and Infrastructure Engineering · 2006
Abstract: We present a formal approach to representational flexibility, sorts, to support alternative representations of an entity. The approach is constructive, based on a part relation on elements within a sort, which enables the recognition of emergent information. The use of data functions as a sort provides for the embedding of data queries within a representational structure. We discuss the application of sorts to supporting alternative data views, illustrating this through a case study in building construction.