A Taxonomic Information Model for Botanical Databases 2. All names fulfilling these prerequisites may be entered in the database, independent of any taxonomic or nomenclatural judgment passed on them. They are expressed in relation to a potential taxon, which allows to cite and keep the source of the information. For example, in the case of the incorrect assignation of a basionym by one author, the error is referred to the potential taxon created by the recording of that author's judgment.
Every name has a rank.
The rank pointer itself is a sequential number which serves for sorting purposes. It is not possible to change the rank of a name, except by creating a new name and a potential taxon name referring to it. The database program has to create botanical names by a process of concatenation of data items from various tables. Although this hierarchy represents an element of classification, it is kept here completely apart from the classification in the systematic sense. However, integrity rules must ensure that the two hierarchies do not conflict.