Core concepts

URN Syntax

urn:sdmx:org.sdmx.infomodel.codelist.Codelist=SDMX:CL_FREQ(2.1)

An SDMX URN is composed of five parts:

  1. URN prefixurn:sdmx:org.sdmx.infomodel

    This is unique to SDMX and has a fixed value

  2. SDMX Structure - codelist.Codelist

    Each structure is uniquely identified by its package and its class name.

    See SDMX Structures for the full list of SDMX structures.

  3. SDMX Agency IDSDMX

    Identifies the Agency responsible for maintaining the structure. The Agency ID helps the resolver locate the authoritative source.

    See SDMX Agency for more details.

  4. Structure IDCL_FREQ

    A unique identifier for the structure. The structure ID is defined by the maintaining Agency when the structure is first created.

  5. Structure Version2.1

    The version of the structure, also defined by the Agency. Versions may use a two-part format (e.g. 1.0) or a three-part semantic version format (e.g., 1.0.0 = major.minor.patch). For semantically versioned structures, the resolver can automatically find the latest available version.

    See Structure Versioning for more details.

Sub-Structres

URNs are also used to identify structures that are contained inside a parent struture, for example a Code within a Codelist.

For sub-structures, the URN changes in two ways.

  1. The target structure type changes.
  2. The ID of the sub-structure is appended to the end of the URN
urn:sdmx:org.sdmx.infomodel.codelist.Code=SDMX:CL_FREQ(2.1).A

Resolving Sub-Structres

The URN resolver service is able to resolve specific Items in an Item Schemes by returning the parent structure as a partial list. For URNs that do not belong to an item sheme, the URN resolver will return the parent structure.

Examples

URN (excluding the URN prefix for readablility)Returns
codelist.Codelist=SDMX:CL_FREQ(2.1)Codelist CL_FREQ as a full list of frequency Codes
codelist.Code=SDMX:CL_FREQ(2.1).ACodelist CL_FREQ as a Partial list containing only Code 'A'
datastructure.Dimension=ESTAT:NA_MAIN93(1.7).ADJUSTMENTData Structure Definition containing the ADJUSTMENT Dimension
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