ABSTRACT
One of the major problems facing systems for computer aided design; architecture, engineering, and construction; and geographic information systems applications today is the lack of interoperability among the various systems. When integrating software applications, substantial difficulties can arise in translating information from one application to the other. Communication is an exchange of information about entities and relations between a sender and a receiver. Information is formulated in some language. A language consists of symbols arranged in a well-defined manner. Every language is characterized by its syntax and its semantics. The syntax concerns the symbols a language recognizes and the rules that govern how to construct well-formed sentences using those symbols. Communication obstructions arise from the fact that sender and receiver employ different languages for representing information internally. Ontologies are tools for specifying the semantics of terminology systems in a well-defined and unambiguous manner.
