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Generically, EPCIS deals in two kinds of
data: event data and master data. Event data arises in the course of
carrying out business processes, and is captured through the EPCIS
Capture Interface and made available for query through the EPCIS Query
Interfaces. Master data is additional data that provides the necessary
context for interpreting the event data.
Event data grows in quantity as more business is transacted, and refers
to things that happen at specific moments in time. Master data does not
generally grow merely because more business is transacted (though
master data does tend to grow as organizations grow in size), is not
typically tied to specific moments in time (though master data may
change slowly over time), and provides interpretation for elements of
event data.
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An example
of master data is “Location L refers to the distribution center
located at 123 Elm Street, Anytown, US.” All of the data in the
set of use cases considered in the creation of the EPCIS 1.0
specification can be modeled as a combination of event data and master
data of this kind.
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The structure of event data and master data
in EPCIS is illustrated below. (Note that this is an illustration only:
the specific vocabulary elements and master data attribute names in
this figure are not defined within this specification.)
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Master data may change over time,
though such changes are expected to be infrequent relative to the rate
at which new event data is generated. The current version of this
specification does not specify how master data changes (nor, as noted
above, does it specify how master data is entered in the first place). |
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