Codelist

Overview

An SDMX Codelist is a managed list of classification codes.

Structure Type	Standard SDMX Structural Metadata Artefact
Maintainable	Yes
Identifiable	Yes
Item Scheme	Yes
SDMX Information Model Versions	1.0, 2.0, 2.1
Concept ID	CODELIST

Codelists Context within the SDMX 2.1 Information Model

The schematic illustrates the core artefacts of the SDMX 2.1 Information Model.
Codelists can be referenced directly by Data Structure Definitions to describe the list of valid values for enumerated dimensions. Codelists can also be referenced by Concepts where they perform a similar function.

Usage

SDMX Codelists are lists of classification codes used principally for defining the set of allowed values for enumerated components in Data Structure Definitions or less commonly in Metadata Structure Definitions.
Each code is treated as a separated Item so must have an ID and a Name, but can also have an optional Description. While Code IDs are unique within a Codelist, the same Code ID may be safely used in other Codelists. For instance: The code 'A' may be used in a Frequency Codelist to represent 'Annual', but also appear in an Industry Codelist to represent 'Agriculture'.

Flat Codelists

Flat Codelists consist entirely of a simple list of codes with no interelationships or hierarchies.

Hierarchical Codelists

SDMX Codelists allow codes to be organised into hierarchies enabling software tools to display them in a logical tree structure for searching and navigation. Code hierarchies can also be used as part of data consistency check rules where data is considered to be consistent if the sum (or other aggregation) of values for child codes equals the value given for the parent code.

Simple Codelist Hierarchies

Simple hierarc

Conventions

CL_ Codelist ID Prefix

Codelist IDs are given a 'CL_' prefix to distinguish them from other structures. For instance: CL_FREQ, CL_REF_AREA, CL_AGE.

Code ID Conventions

Codes can take any legal SDMX ID. But there are several conventions that should be taken into account when choosing Code IDs:

Uppercase Code IDs	By convention, Code ID's are in uppercase such as 'ABC'. Lower case Codes are valid (for example 'abc'), but care should be taken in their use to avoid confusion.
'_Z' Code	The '_Z' code is conventionally used for the Undefined and Unknown classification.
'TOTAL' Code	The 'TOTAL' code represents the total or sum of the dimension. For a 'country' dimension, series with TOTAL would indicate the sum of observation values for all countries.

Examples

Simple Flat Codelist

Code ID	Code Name
A	Annual
S	Half-yearly, semester
Q	Quarterly
M	Monthly
W	Weekly
D	Daily
B	Daily - Business Week
N	Minutely

Flat Codelist with Optional Code Descriptions

Code ID	Code Name	Code Description
K	Calendar component	Synonyms: Calendar effects; calendar factors
X	Seasonal component	Synonyms: Seasonal effects; seasonal factors
M	Seasonal and calendar components	Synonyms: Seasonal and calendar effects; seasonal and calendar factors
I	Irregular component	Synonym: Irregular effects
N	Neither seasonally adjusted nor calendar adjusted data	Synonyms: Raw data; unadjusted data