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What is the Datamodel?

The datamodel is a fundamental concept in our system that defines how data is structured and organized. Our datamodel is inspired by schema.org and uses its types and properties as a base. On top of schema.org, we extend the datamodel with additional types and properties under our custom namespace: venus.

Types​

Types define the structure of entities within the datamodel. They act as blueprints for the kind of data an entity can hold. An entity can have multiple types, specified in a data field called types, which is an array of types.

For example:

  • schema:Thing: A generic type representing any entity.
  • venus:Trail: A custom type for describing trails in the context of our system.

Types can extend other types, allowing for a hierarchical structure. schema:Thing is the most generic type and serves as the base for all other types.

Properties​

Properties describe the attributes or relationships of a type.

For example:

  • schema:name: The name of an entity (Part of schema:Thing).
  • venus:eventSchedule: A custom property to define the schedule of an event (Part of schema:Event).

Data Types​

Each property can have a specific data type which defines the kind of data it can hold.
Data types can be simple (like strings or numbers) or complex (like arrays or objects).
Have a look at our Data Types to see all data types the datamodel provides.

Namespaces​

Namespaces differentiate the origin of types and properties. Currently, our datamodel uses two namespaces:

  • schema: Refers to types and properties from the schema.org vocabulary.
  • venus: Refers to our custom enhancements to the datamodel.

Documentation​

To make it easier to understand and use our datamodel, you can visit the automatically generated datamodel documentation and explore the all available types and properties.