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Attribute
Definition
Higgins uses the Identity Gang definition of Identity Attribute.
Examples
The physical person (i.e. Entity) Bob Smith might be represented as a Digital Subject in the Context of his employer, the Port Control Authority. This Digital Subject might have the following types of Identity Attributes (and associated values) in this context:
- email-address = bob@portcontrol.gov
- phone number = 617-555-1234
- passport information = ...etc.
- fingerprint data = ...etc.
This same physical Entity Bob Smith is also represented as a Digital Subject in a "customer-to-Clothes-R-Us" Context (this customer's relationship with the Clothes-R-Us merchant. In this Context Bob has these Identity Attributes:
- platinumCustomer
- preferredColor = "blue"
In Higgins
Types
In Higgins a Identity Attribute is identified by a URI that defines its type. The URI http://openschemas.org/2006/person/surname might indicate an Identity Attribute that represented a person's last name. The schema associated with the containing Context provides metadata about this URI.
Values
- An Identity Attribute may have one or more values
- The values may be literal types (defined by the XML Schema literal types) or complex (structured) values
- A special kind of Identity Attribute is called a Subject Relationship whose value is a reference to another Digital Subject in the same or a different Context
- Some Identity Attributes are defined by the containing Context's schema to allow multiple unique values. For example the attribute preferredBreakfast might have the values {spam, eggs}, but it could not have the values {spam, spam, spam, eggs, spam}.