Opasnet base structure

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This page is about the structure of Opasnet Base. For a general description, see Opasnet base.

Scope

Opasnet base is a storage and retrieval system for results of variable and data from studies. What is the structure of Opasnet base such that it enables the following functionalities?

  1. Storage of results of variables with uncertainties when necessary, and as multidimensional arrays when necessary.R↻
  2. Automatic retrieval of results when called from Opasnet wiki or other platforms or modelling systems.
  3. Description and handling of the dimensions that a variable may take.
  4. It is possible to protect some results and data from reading by unauthorised persons.
  5. If is possible to build user interfaces for easily entering observations into the Base.


Definition

Data

Software

Because Opasnet base will contain very large amounts of mostly numerical information, the state-of-the-art structure is a SQL database. Because of its flexibility, ease of use, and cost, MySQL is an optimal choice among SQL software. In addition to the database software, a variable transfer protocol is needed on top of that so that the results of variables can be retrieved and new results stored either automatically by a calculating software, or manually by the user. Fancy presenting software can be built on top of the database, but that is not the topic of this page.

Storage and retrieval of results of variables

The most important functionality is to store and retrieve the results of variables. Because variables may take very different forms (from a single value such as natural constant to an uncertain spatio-temporal concentration field over the whole Europe), the database must be very flexible. The basic solution is described in the variable page, and it is only briefly summarised here. The result is described as

  P(R|x1,x2,...) 

where P(R) is the probability distribution of the result and x1 and x2 are defining locations of a dimension where a particular P(R) applies. Typically locations are operationalised as discrete indices. A variable must have at least one dimension. Uncertainty about the true value of the variable is operationalised as a random sample from the probability distribution, in such a way that the samples are located along an index Sample, which is a list of integers 1,2,3...n, where n=number of samples.


Dependencies

Result

Opasnet base is a MySQL database located at http://base.opasnet.org.

Table structure

Formula structure

Now it has become clear that it is not enough to have samples of the result distributions. It must be possible to completely recalculate the result based on the information in the Opasnet Base. There are different approaches:

  • Calculate the result based on a formula that may refer to other variables called parents. This is a deterministic approach.
  • Calculate the result based on the marginal distribution and (conditional) rank correlations with parent variables. This is a probabilistic approach.

This approach requires new tables, namely Formula and Language.


----11: . Do we need tables DIF and DIP like Uninet? --Jouni 21:50, 30 December 2009 (UTC) (type: truth; paradigms: science: comment)
  • DIP
    • DIP_node_id
    • DIP_parent_node_id
    • DIP_corr_coeff
    • DIP_parent_index
  • DIF
    • DIF_node_id
    • DIF_formula
    • DIF_varnames_in_formula

All tables: Overview

  • We need Ressec (Result secure) and Resinfosec (Result info secure) tables for secure information. All other tables are openly readable except these two. They have the same structure as Res and Resinfo tables, respectively.


Tables_in_opasnet_base
Table Description
Acttype List of action types
Cell Cells of an object
Formula Formulas for computing variable results
Item
Language List of languages understood by the formula
Loc Location information
Loccell Locations of a cell
Log
Obj Object information (all objects)
Objinfo Additional information about the objects
Objtype Types of objects
Res Result distribution (actual values)
Resinfo Additional description of the result
Resinfosec Additional description of the result
Ressec Result distribution (actual values)
Sett Memberships of items in sets
Settype Types of set-item memeberships
Wiki Wiki information
⇤--3: . Res and Resinfo should be merged. Similarly, Ressec and Resinfosec should be merged. --Jouni 09:48, 31 December 2009 (UTC) (type: truth; paradigms: science: attack)R↻
⇤--4: . We must divide Obj into Obj and Act. Act table (previously Objinfo) would contain uploads (previously Runs) and formula updates. --Jouni 09:48, 31 December 2009 (UTC) (type: truth; paradigms: science: attack)
←--12: . Objinfo should be renamed Act. --Jouni 12:55, 31 December 2009 (UTC) (type: truth; paradigms: science: defence)
←--13: . Uploads (previously "runs") should no longer be called objects. They belong to table Act. As a side effect, one upload refers to exactly one object (i.e., when uploading a full model, all object will have different upload numbers). --Jouni 12:55, 31 December 2009 (UTC) (type: truth; paradigms: science: defence)

Tables

Cell
Field Type Extra
id
Obj_id_v
Obj_id_r
Mean
SD
N


Tables with primary content
Table Field Type Null Key Default Extra
Cell id int(12) unsigned NO PRI NULL auto_increment
Cell Obj_id_v int(10) unsigned NO MUL NULL
Cell Obj_id_r int(10) unsigned NO NULL
Cell Mean float YES NULL
Cell SD float NO NULL
Cell N int(10) NO NULL
Formula id int(10) unsigned NO PRI NULL auto_increment
Formula Obj_id_v int(10) unsigned NO MUL NULL
Formula Act_id int(10) unsigned NO MUL NULL
Formula Language smallint(5) unsigned NO NULL
Formula Code longtext YES NULL
Loc id int(10) unsigned NO PRI NULL auto_increment
Loc Std_id int(10) unsigned NO MUL NULL
Loc Obj_id_i int(10) unsigned NO MUL NULL
Loc Location varchar(100) NO NULL
Loc Roww mediumint(8) unsigned NO NULL
Loc Description varchar(150) NO NULL
Loccell id int(10) unsigned NO PRI NULL auto_increment
Loccell Cell_id int(10) unsigned NO MUL NULL
Loccell Loc_id int(10) unsigned NO NULL
Obj id int(10) unsigned NO PRI NULL auto_increment
Obj Ident varchar(20) NO UNI NULL
Obj Name varchar(200) NO NULL
Obj Unit varchar(64) NO NULL
Obj Objtype_id tinyint(3) unsigned NO MUL NULL
Obj Page int(10) unsigned NO NULL
Obj Wiki_id tinyint(3) unsigned NO NULL
Obj Newest int(10) unsigned NO MUL NULL
Objinfo id int(10) unsigned NO PRI NULL auto_increment
Objinfo Obj_id int(10) unsigned NO MUL NULL
Objinfo Acttype_id tinyint(3) unsigned NO NULL
Objinfo Who varchar(50) NO NULL
Objinfo Comments varchar(250) NO NULL
Objinfo Moment timestamp NO CURRENT_TIMESTAMP
Res id bigint(20) unsigned NO PRI NULL auto_increment
Res Cell_id int(12) unsigned NO MUL NULL
Res Obs int(10) unsigned NO NULL
Res Result float NO NULL
Resinfo id bigint(20) unsigned NO PRI NULL auto_increment
Resinfo Restext varchar(250) NO NULL
Resinfo Who varchar(50) NO NULL
Resinfo When timestamp NO CURRENT_TIMESTAMP
Resinfosec Resinfosec must have the identical structure to Resinfo.
Ressec Ressec must have the identical structure to Res.
⇤--5: . We should add Res.Formula_id. --Jouni 21:50, 30 December 2009 (UTC) (type: truth; paradigms: science: attack)
⇤--6: . All timestamps (Resinfo.When, Objinfo.Moment) should be renamed to .Time. --Jouni 12:55, 31 December 2009 (UTC) (type: truth; paradigms: science: attack)
⇤--9: . Cell.Obj_id_r should be renamed Cell.Act_id. --Jouni 12:55, 31 December 2009 (UTC) (type: truth; paradigms: science: attack)
----14: . Should we move Obj.Unit to Cell? This may be useful, because different columns in an object (especially a study) may have different units. On the other hand, it will make things more complicated. This does not work unless we develop a good interface for entering units to different columns. --Jouni 12:55, 31 December 2009 (UTC) (type: truth; paradigms: science: comment)
⇤--15: . Do we really need Obj.Newest? It is just redundant, although it may save computing time at some point. --Jouni 12:55, 31 December 2009 (UTC) (type: truth; paradigms: science: attack)
←--': . Yes we need it. --Juha Villman 11:12, 4 January 2010 (UTC) (type: truth; paradigms: science: defence)
⇤--16: . I think that Resinfo.Who and Resinfo.When should rather be merged with Act. Then, when a user uploads new data (even a single line with a wiki form), the upload would always have a new act_id with a timestamp. --Jouni 12:55, 31 December 2009 (UTC) (type: truth; paradigms: science: attack)
⇤--17: . Resinfo.Restext should rather be a text field, not varchar with a fixed length. Is there a difference? --Jouni 12:55, 31 December 2009 (UTC) (type: truth; paradigms: science: attack)
←--18: . Varchar is almost always faster. We should stick to it --Juha Villman 11:12, 4 January 2010 (UTC) (type: truth; paradigms: science: defence)
⇤--18: . The Log table must be read protected. We must give the users an opportunity to use the data without other users being able to know about that. In contrast, uploading data is something that should be open information. --Jouni 06:27, 5 January 2010 (UTC) (type: truth; paradigms: science: attack)
Tables with additional information
Table Field Type Null Key Default Extra
Item id int(10) unsigned NO PRI NULL auto_increment
Item Sett_id int(10) unsigned NO MUL NULL
Item Obj_id int(10) unsigned NO NULL
Item Fail tinyint(1) unsigned NO MUL NULL
Log id int(10) NO PRI NULL auto_increment
Log ip varchar(15) NO NULL
Log wiki_uid varchar(30) YES NULL
Log wiki_page varchar(30) YES NULL
Log time timestamp NO 0000-00-00 00:00:00
Log query varchar(256) NO NULL
Sett id int(10) unsigned NO PRI NULL auto_increment
Sett Obj_id int(10) unsigned NO MUL NULL
Sett Settype_id tinyint(3) unsigned NO NULL



Tables with lists
Table Field Type Null Key Default Extra
Acttype id int(10) unsigned NO PRI NULL auto_increment
Acttype Acttype varchar(250) NO UNI NULL
Language id tinyint(3) unsigned NO PRI NULL auto_increment
Language Language varchar(250) NO UNI NULL
Objtype id tinyint(3) NO PRI NULL
Objtype Objtype varchar(30) NO NULL
Settype id tinyint(3) unsigned NO PRI NULL auto_increment
Settype Settype varchar(30) NO NULL
Wiki id tinyint(3) NO PRI NULL
Wiki Url varchar(255) NO NULL
Wiki Wname varchar(20) NO NULL
⇤--10: . Objtype.id and Wiki.id should be auto increments. --Jouni 12:55, 31 December 2009 (UTC) (type: truth; paradigms: science: attack)

Done tasks

⇤--7: . All column names should start with either a Capital or small letter. --Jouni 12:55, 31 December 2009 (UTC) (type: truth; paradigms: science: attack)
----': . DONE. All table and column names start with small letter. --Juha Villman 08:58, 5 January 2010 (UTC) (type: truth; paradigms: science: comment)

See also

Some useful syntax