Universal Data Element Framework

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title: "Universal Data Element Framework" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["data-management", "interoperability", "knowledge-representation", "metadata", "open-group-standards", "software-that-uses-motif-(software)", "technical-communication"] topic_path: "general/data-management" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Universal_Data_Element_Framework" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

The Universal Data Element Framework (UDEF) was a controlled vocabulary developed by The Open Group. It provided a framework for categorizing, naming, and indexing data. It assigned to every item of data a structured alphanumeric tag plus a controlled vocabulary name that describes the meaning of the data. This allowed relating data elements to similar elements defined by other organizations.

UDEF defined a Dewey-decimal like code for each concept. For example, an "employee number" is often used in human resource management. It has a UDEF tag a.5_12.35.8 and a controlled vocabulary description "Employee.PERSON_Employer.Assigned.IDENTIFIER".

UDEF has been superseded by the Open Data Element Framework (ODEF).

Examples

In an application used by a hospital, the last name and first name of several people could include the following example concepts:

  • Patient Person Family Name – find the word “Patient” under the UDEF object “Person” and find the word “Family” under the UDEF property “Name”
  • Patient Person Given Name – find the word “Patient” under the UDEF object “Person” and find the word “Given” under the UDEF property “Name”
  • Doctor Person Family Name – find the word “Doctor” under the UDEF object “Person” and find the word “Family” under the UDEF property “Name”
  • Doctor Person Given Name – find the word “Doctor” under the UDEF object “Person” and find the word “Given” under the UDEF property “Name”

For the examples above, the following UDEF IDs are available:

  • “Patient Person Family Name” the UDEF ID is “au.5_11.10”
  • “Patient Person Given Name” the UDEF ID is “au.5_12.10”
  • “Doctor Person Family Name” the UDEF ID is “aq.5_11.10”
  • “Doctor Person Given Name” the UDEF ID is “aq.5_12.10”

References

References

  1. [http://www.opengroup.org/udefinfo/index.htm The UDEF is being superseded by the Open Data Element Framework (O-DEF). ... These pages are maintained to provide access to legacy UDEF.]
  2. [https://www.opengroup.org/open-group-semantic-interoperability-work-group/UDEF https://www.opengroup.org/open-group-semantic-interoperability-work-group/UDEF]

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data-managementinteroperabilityknowledge-representationmetadataopen-group-standardssoftware-that-uses-motif-(software)technical-communication