Registers and registries in the overall INSPIRE architecture
The INSPIRE infrastructure involves a number of items, which require clear descriptions and the possibility to be referenced through unique identifiers. Examples for such items include INSPIRE themes, code lists, application schemas or discovery services. Registers provide a means to assign identifiers to items and their labels, definitions and descriptions (in different languages). The INSPIRE registry provides a central access point to a number of centrally managed INSPIRE registers. The content of these registers are based on the INSPIRE Directive, Implementing Rules and Technical Guidelines.
Register of registers
INSPIRE Register Federation enables a wide audience, including actors beyond the spatial domain, to easily reuse the information provided.
The Register of Registers (RoR) is the platforms that handles the registration, management and access to the different entities available in the federation. In details, the RoR handlls the references to the Registries and the Registers available in the federation. It handles also the relations beetween the Registers.
The RoR provide then a browsable/queryable interface that allows users to get information on the federation. The intesface provide the user interface as well as a machine readable interface (RESTful service).
The main features provided by the RoR are:
- Keep a list of relations between registers
- Search through the different registers in the federation (uri, label, description)
These two thinks are not linked: for example, it coud be that a register is indexed and searchable but it is not in relation with any of the registerss in the federation.
Relations types
The Registers available in the RoR are connected between each other by relations.
Different types of relation can be seen in the federation. Below there is a list of the relation and the related description.
| Extension | An extension is a relation between two registers (r1, r2) when all the element contained in r1 are also contained in r2 and r1 has at least one additional item |
| Subset | A subset is a relation between two registers (r1, r2) when all of the items contained in r1 are also contained in r2 and r2 has at least one additional element |
| Profile | A profile is a relation between two registers (r1, r2) when the items contained in r1 are also contained in r2, r2 has at least one additional element not contained in r1 and r1 has at least one element not contained in r2 |
Topology of registers
To be completed.