[[TOC]]
= VITA Person Entity Model =

'''Version 2.0''' - ''under construction''

'''VITA''' is an application design for '''storage, manipulation and communication of person-related information''' in emergency management software applications. It defines a set of data structures, interfaces and interoperability features to be implemented by EM software applications.

== Overview ==

VITA defines:

  - an extensible data model for tagging, tracking and tracing of person entities (PT^3^)
  - a set of interfaces to request and manipulate person entity data
  - an XML-based data format to communicate person entity data (for [http://docs.oasis-open.org/emergency/edxl-de/v1.0/EDXL-DE_Spec_v1.0.pdf EDXL-DE] Payload)
== The PT^3^ Data Model ==

''under construction''

[[Image(vita.png)]]
=== Person Entity ===

== Presence Log ==

Presence means the fact, that an entity is physically there at a particular '''location''' at a particular '''time'''. This abstract construction covers even cases of explicit absence, i.e. when the entity is ''not'' present at ''that'' location at ''that'' time.

VITA applications record a presence log for each person entity. Each log entry is established through a recognition event, i.e. when the entity is recognized by a dedicated observer (human or automatic).

Recognition might happen implicitly, e.g. when other data are obtained directly from the entity. In these cases, the time and location of the observer are used for the record. Recognition can also happen explicitly, i.e. in response to observation requests. In such cases, the observation time and location determined by the request are used.

'''Location'''s in presence records represent geospatial features, which can basically be of any valid feature class (points, polygons, lines etc.). Where references to locations are used, they must be universally unique and resolvable; otherwise the referred geospatial information have to be enclosed in the database and/or communication.

In contrast to that, '''time''' in this regard means one exact time point, to be stored as coordinated universal time (UTC, Gregorian date including century) with a minimum precision of one second. References or relative times must not be used.
=== Identity ===

=== Contact Information ===

=== Address Information ===

=== Role and Status ===

=== Person ===

==== Names ====

Names are used to identify persons in human communication. However, names of persons do not have to be unique nor do they have to be exact, and thus are no reliable identity features. The following name fields are mandatory to exist in person records:

 - '''first_name''' the first names (or the only name) of the person, in romanized script
 - '''middle_name''' the person's middle name (if customary), in romanized script
 - '''last_name''' the last name (mostly the family name) of the person, in romanized script
 - '''local_name''' the full name of the person, in a local language and script

 * Any of these mandatory name fields may be empty in a particular record except ''first_name''.
 * A name field value starting with a question mark '''?''' indicates that this part of the name is uncertain or unknown.
 * 'first', 'middle' and 'last' refer rather to the usual writing order of a person's full name than to the meaning of the name parts.
 * There is no need to split the full name into segments if that is not customary in the person's country of origin - in such case ''first_name'' should represent the person's full name.
 * In case there are multiple local languages, the ''local_name'' should be in the language/script that is most likely readable by that person and/or their relatives.
 * An application may define additional name fields to represent e.g. titles, nicknames or pseudonyms, however, these additional fields must not be used to repeat or replace any of the mandatory fields.
=== Group ===

=== Findings ===

== Functions ==

== Interfaces ==

=== UUIDs ===

== PT3F XML Format ==

''under construction''

The VITA XML format provides [http://docs.oasis-open.org/emergency/edxl-de/v1.0/EDXL-DE_Spec_v1.0.pdf EDXL-DE] payloads, and it is meant to supersede the [http://zesty.ca/pfif/1.1 Person Finder Interchange Format].

For the time being, this XML format shall be referred to as '''PT3F'''.
== Implementations ==

  - [wiki:BluePrintPersonRegistry SahanaPy Person Management] (in progress)