The entity and query model
The knowledge base stores more than a searchable copy of prose. It preserves typed entities and relationships so a resolver can answer bounded questions deterministically.
Registries
Section titled “Registries”Data elements
Section titled “Data elements”PS3.6 data-element records include the tag, name, keyword, VR, VM, retirement state, edition, and source reference.
A range tag remains distinct from a concrete tag, and tag input is normalized before lookup.
UID registry records include the UID value, name, keyword, type, referenced part, retirement state, edition, and source reference.
Transfer Syntax lookups enrich applicable UID records with PS3.5 details.
PS3.3 and PS3.4 graph
Section titled “PS3.3 and PS3.4 graph”The graph includes:
- IODs;
- modules;
- macros;
- IOD-to-module uses;
- functional-group uses;
- attribute uses;
- macro include rows;
- conditions;
- SOP Classes;
- SOP-Class-to-IOD links.
This graph supports questions about composition and contextual use. It avoids treating every occurrence of an attribute as one global requirement.
Attribute value terms
Section titled “Attribute value terms”Enumerated values and defined terms share a storage family but retain distinct term kinds.
A term can link to:
- a PS3.6 data element;
- a PS3.3 attribute-use row;
- a source section or variable list;
- contextual module, macro, IOD, or SOP Class paths.
The resolver preserves multiple contexts rather than unioning them automatically.
Encoding entities
Section titled “Encoding entities”VR definitions
Section titled “VR definitions”A VR record can preserve name, class, length notes, padding behavior, character-repertoire notes, and binary/text classification.
Transfer Syntax details
Section titled “Transfer Syntax details”A detail record can preserve explicit-VR behavior, endian behavior, encapsulation, compression family, and bounded notes linked to its UID.
Media and web-service entities
Section titled “Media and web-service entities”DICOM media-type records carry service context, transfer-syntax constraints, directions, and source references.
DICOMweb transaction records carry transaction name, resource category, HTTP method, route template, request and response constraints, status codes, and media-type references.
Content-mapping entities
Section titled “Content-mapping entities”SR templates
Section titled “SR templates”Template metadata and ordered rows preserve TID, extensibility, relationship type, value type, concept name, cardinality, condition, and include-TID relationships.
Context groups
Section titled “Context groups”Context-group metadata and ordered rows preserve CID, extensibility, version, coding scheme, code value, meaning, and include-CID relationships.
Coded concepts
Section titled “Coded concepts”Coded concepts are locally derived from parsed context-group rows to support lookup and joins. They are not a separately distributed terminology product.
Document structure and text
Section titled “Document structure and text”Generic DocBook records preserve sections, anchors, tables, cross-references, and text. SQLite full-text search helps locate a section, while retrieval returns a bounded excerpt.
Text records complement typed entities; they do not replace them.
Why queries return candidates
Section titled “Why queries return candidates”Natural-language labels and reused identifiers can map to more than one record. The resolver returns candidate information when the stored graph cannot select one result deterministically.
This is a feature of the model: ambiguity remains observable instead of being hidden by a fuzzy guess.