representation

Numbers, booleans, encodings, and scientific notation

8 categories, 32 types: 15 a sibling in its category also accepts, 30 accepted by another category's rule, 16 that decompose into parts, 8 in Meridian's open data.

8 categories · 32 types

The 8 representation categories

Each category's lookup value, against every other category's rule

Category	Types	Casts to	For example	Within the group	Also accepted by
scientific	7	VARCHAR	ATGCAGC	6 a sibling also accepts	file, text
numeric	6	DOUBLE, BIGINT	42	3 a sibling accepts, 1 misread	file, identifier, scientific, text
file	4	VARCHAR, BIGINT	1024	3 a sibling accepts, 1 misread	identifier, numeric, scientific, text
identifier	4	VARCHAR, BIGINT, UUID	1	3 a sibling also accepts	file, format, numeric, scientific, text
text	4	VARCHAR	😀	each told apart	file, scientific
boolean	3	BOOLEAN	0	each told apart	file, identifier, numeric, scientific, text
format	3	VARCHAR	#FF0000	each told apart	file, scientific
discrete	1	VARCHAR	high	—	file, scientific, text

Where representation categories overlap

Each type's lookup value, against every other category's rule

Value	Written by	Also accepted by
0	boolean.binary	file.excel_format → 0; file.extension → 0; file.file_size → 0.0; identifier.increment → 0; identifier.numeric_code → 0; numeric.decimal_number → 0.0; numeric.decimal_number_comma → 0.0; numeric.integer_number → 0; numeric.percentage → 0.0; scientific.smiles → 0; text.word → 0
840	identifier.numeric_code	file.excel_format; file.extension; file.file_size → 840.0; format.color_hex; numeric.decimal_number → 840.0; numeric.decimal_number_comma → 840.0; numeric.integer_number; numeric.percentage → 840.0; scientific.smiles; text.word
1	identifier.increment	file.excel_format; file.extension; file.file_size → 1.0; numeric.decimal_number → 1.0; numeric.decimal_number_comma → 1.0; numeric.integer_number; numeric.percentage → 1.0; scientific.smiles; text.word
1024	file.file_size	identifier.increment → 1024; identifier.numeric_code → 1024; numeric.decimal_number; numeric.integer_number → 1024; numeric.percentage; scientific.smiles → 1024; text.word → 1024
42	numeric.integer_number	file.excel_format; file.extension; file.file_size → 42.0; identifier.increment; identifier.numeric_code; scientific.smiles; text.word
T	boolean.initials	file.excel_format → T; file.extension → t; scientific.dna_sequence → T; scientific.protein_sequence → T; scientific.smiles → T; text.word → t
true	boolean.terms	file.excel_format; file.extension; scientific.smiles; text.word
high	discrete.ordinal	file.excel_format; file.extension; scientific.smiles; text.word
12.2K	numeric.si_number	file.excel_format → 12.2K; file.file_size → 12492.8; identifier.alphanumeric_id → 12.2K; scientific.smiles → 12.2K
SKU-12345	identifier.alphanumeric_id	file.excel_format; scientific.smiles; text.word → sku-12345
550e8400-e29b-41d4-a716-4466…	identifier.uuid	file.excel_format; scientific.smiles; text.word
3.14	numeric.decimal_number	file.excel_format; file.file_size; scientific.smiles
1.23e-4	numeric.scientific_notation	file.excel_format → 1.23e-4; identifier.alphanumeric_id → 1.23e-4; scientific.smiles → 1.23e-4
ATGCAGC	scientific.dna_sequence	file.excel_format; file.extension → atgcagc; text.word → atgcagc
meter	scientific.measurement_unit	file.excel_format; file.extension; text.word
MKVLLIVGS	scientific.protein_sequence	file.excel_format; file.extension → mkvllivgs; text.word → mkvllivgs
AUGCAGC	scientific.rna_sequence	file.excel_format; file.extension → augcagc; text.word → augcagc
O	scientific.smiles	file.excel_format; file.extension → o; text.word → o
hello	text.word	file.excel_format; file.extension; scientific.smiles
txt	file.extension	scientific.smiles; text.word
#FF0000	format.color_hex	file.excel_format; scientific.smiles
50%	numeric.percentage	file.excel_format → 50%; scientific.smiles → 50%
7732-18-5	scientific.cas_number	file.excel_format; text.word
text/plain	file.mime_type	scientific.smiles
hsl(120, 100%, 50%)	format.color_hsl	file.excel_format
rgb(255, 0, 0)	format.color_rgb	file.excel_format
1.234,56	numeric.decimal_number_comma	file.excel_format → 1.234,56
InChI=1S/H2O/h1H2	scientific.inchi	file.excel_format
The Olive Garden	text.entity_name	file.excel_format
This is a plain text descrip…	text.plain_text	file.excel_format

Which representation type is it?

12 of 32 representation types in 6 categories accept it, and read it 2 ways.

Binary Boolean (0/1), Boolean Initials (T/F, Y/N), Boolean Terms (True/False, Yes/No), Ordinal Value, Measurement Unit, Entity Name and Plain Text carry no pattern or format, so they have no rule to ask.

Type	Category	Reads it as
Numeric Code `numeric_code`	identifier	840
Excel Number Format String `excel_format`	file	840
File Extension `extension`	file	840
File Size `file_size`	file	840.0
Color (Hexadecimal) `color_hex`	format	840
Increment / Counter `increment`	identifier	840
Decimal Number `decimal_number`	numeric	840.0
Decimal Number (Comma Separator) `decimal_number_comma`	numeric	840.0
Integer Number `integer_number`	numeric	840
Percentage `percentage`	numeric	840.0
SMILES Notation `smiles`	scientific	840
Single Word `word`	text	840

What the engine extracts

scientific5 of 7check_digit · formula · gc_content · length · molecular_weight_estimate · part1 · part2 · version
numeric4 of 6exponent · fractional_part · has_symbol · integer_part · mantissa · percent_value
file3 of 4category · charset · size · subtype · type · unit
identifier1 of 4alpha_part · numeric_part
text1 of 4char_count · word_count
format2 of 3blue · green · hue · lightness · red · saturation

In Meridian's open data

edgar.cik numeric_code.company_name entity_name.exchange word
edgar_gleif.category word.company_name entity_name.confidence decimal_number.key integer_number.key_type word.legal_name entity_name.method word.reg_status word.tier word
gleif.entity_status terms.legal_form alphanumeric_id.legal_name entity_name.registration_status word
naics.description plain_text.level word.title plain_text

Use it

One value from each category, each inferred on its own

CLI · DuckDB

$ for v in 'ATGCAGC' '42' '1024' '1' '😀' '0' '#FF0000' 'high'; do finetype infer -i "$v"; done

SELECT v, ft_infer(v) FROM (VALUES ('ATGCAGC'), ('42'), ('1024'), ('1'), ('😀'), ('0'), ('#FF0000'), ('high')) t(v);