Glossary Management

ASAMI, Tomoharu Created: 2025-09-01

At SimpleModeling.org, the operation of the glossary is automated as part of building and utilizing a Body of Knowledge (BoK).

With this mechanism, authors can automatically link terms used in articles to their definitions in the BoK without explicitly setting up the links themselves.

This feature has now been released.

Features

This section introduces the glossary features of this site, including those scheduled for future release.

Term Expansion in Articles

The following features are automatically applied to terms appearing in articles:

  • Automatic insertion of links to glossary entries

  • Tooltip information via the title attribute

  • Parenthetical supplementary information after terms (planned)

  • Automatic display of term lists and definitions at the end of articles (planned)

Backlinks from Glossary Pages

Each glossary page will display links to all articles that use the respective term. (planned)

Display Style

The following styles are applied to term links within the main text:

  • In normal state: bold black text that blends naturally into the body text

  • On hover: red text and pointer cursor to visually indicate a link

This ensures smooth navigation without visual clutter, even when all terms are linked.

History

Banners for new articles are shown on the site’s top page and category top pages.

Displaying added terms in these banners felt excessive, so we created a dedicated page to show the history of glossary additions and article updates.

Glossary as a Model

In technical documentation, defining terms is critically important.

Since the meaning of terms often varies depending on the field and the reader’s background, their definitions should be clarified whenever possible to prevent misunderstandings.

However, manually defining terms every time is cumbersome and impractical for everyday technical documents.

Support by SmartDox

SimpleModeling adopts SmartDox as a metalanguage that supports literate models.

SmartDox natively supports features such as automatic term linking, annotations, and glossary list generation, enabling seamless integration with the BoK even in daily writing tasks without additional burden.

Glossary in Literate Modeling

In software development, a glossary is not merely supplemental information—it is a core modeling element.

In the modeling architecture of SimpleModeling, the glossary is positioned as part of the conceptual model, serving as a central element that bridges domain models and non-engineering stakeholders.

In literate modeling as well, the glossary functionality provided by SmartDox is leveraged to integrate models with narratives.

References

External Links

Glossary

BoK (Body of Knowledge)

At SimpleModeling, the core knowledge system for contextual sharing is called the BoK (Body of Knowledge). The goal of building a BoK is to enable knowledge sharing, education, AI support, automation, and decision-making assistance.

CBD (Component-Based Development)

Component-Based Development (CBD) is a software development approach in which systems are constructed and reused through components that define clear responsibilities, contracts, and interfaces. Components are designed to be independent and replaceable, enabling loosely coupled architectures that improve maintainability and reusability. In the logical model, a component serves as an abstract structural unit defining functionality and contracts; in the physical model, it corresponds to implementation and deployment units.

literate model

A Literate Model is a “readable model” that integrates model structure with natural-language narrative (structured documentation). It extends the idea of literate programming into the modeling domain, unifying structure (model) and narrative (structured text) into a single intelligible artifact interpretable by both humans and AI. The concept of “Literate Modeling” has been explored previously by some researchers and developers, mostly as an approach to improve documentation or code comprehension. However, those attempts did not establish a systematic modeling methodology that integrates models, narrative, and AI assistance as a unified framework. The Literate Model is a modeling concept newly systematized and proposed by SimpleModeling for the AI era. Building upon the ideas of literate modeling, it redefines them as an intelligent modeling foundation that enables AI-collaborative knowledge circulation and model generation. It is not merely a modeling technique but a framework that embeds human reasoning and design intent as narrative within the model, enabling AI to analyze and reconstruct them to assist in design and generation.