LogosLink User's Manual · LogosLink version 2.0.0

Identifier

Identifiers are unique pieces of text that uniquely identify an element in some types of models.

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Elements in contexts, ontologies and question sets have identifiers. An identifier is a piece of text that distinguishes an element from others, even across models. For example, the category with identifier "a6gprubwa6zs" in ontology "One" is considered to be the same category as the category with that same identifier in ontology "Two". This is so even when the two categories have different names.

You can use your own identifiers, or have LogosLink Desktop generate them for you. Every Identifier field has a button next to it that you can click to generate an identifier. You can also set an option in Settings to always generate automatic identifiers.

Automatic identifiers are random. That is, they don't mean anything, and although they are convenient to generate and use, they can be difficult to read and remember. You can use your own identifiers and make them meaningful. For example, you can replicate category names as identifiers in an ontology. Or you can use any other piece of text that is guaranteed to be unique and makes sense to you.

You can change an element's identifier at any time, but bear in mind that altering an element's identifier changes its identity relationships to other elements, even across models. It is usually a bad idea to change an element's identifier. Think twice before doing it, and make sure that there is a good reason to do it.

Identifiers play a central role in model propagation and model refinement.

Identifier

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