An ILM Schema

ILM is more involved then DLM. With different metadata, actions, and different types of classes, it helps develop a set schema to use in policy making. Schemas and data dictionaries are popular in vertical applications for managing the semantics and operations of information. There are, for example, a multitude of XML schemas designed for protocol communications and data stores, many designed for specific industries.

As is true of all elements in ILM, there is no set schema for all circumstances. A general schema might start with the following:

 Information    Class       Attributes          File Type          Content Clues    State       Timestamp (Last Accessed Date)       Content (Hash)       Information Paths          URI       Relationships            Information Paths               URI         Value     Timestamp (Date Created) Action Policy 

Rendered as XML, the ILM schema would look like this:

 <ILM>    <Information >       <!--Information encompasses all the context that describes the information-->       <Class >          <!--Class drives the policies. Policies will be applied to different classes of  information, resulting in many different actions-->          <Attributes File_Type="" Owner="">             <!--Attributes define the class in terms of metadata-->             <Content_Clues>                <Content_Rule/>             </Content_Clues>          </Attributes>       </Class>       <State >          <!--State carries the changeable metadata that needs to be tracked-->          <Information_Paths>             <URI/>          </Information_Paths>          <Last_Access_Time/>          <Content_Hash/>          <Relationships>             <URI/>          </Relationships>          <Value/>       </State>       <Timestamp/>       <!--Include an initial creation data to help set a benchmark-->       <History>          <!--History is a collection of previous states-->          <State/>       </History>    </Information>    <Actions>       <!--Actions are permissible actions that ILM policy allows-->       <Move  Destination_URI=""/>       <Copy  New_URI=""/>       <Destroy />       <No_action ><!--It is permissible to do nothing at all--></No_action>    </Actions>    <Policies>       <!--The lifecycle of the information is expressed by these policies-->       <!--ILM is a set of policies that include a trigger and an action-->       <Policy Name="" Owner="" Description="">          <Trigger>             <State/>             <Rule/>          </Trigger>          <Action/>       </Policy>    </Policies> </ILM> 

There are other ways than XML to represent the ILM schema, including plain text. No matter which method is used to explain the XML schema, it is an important part of designing consistent ILM policies.