Patent ID: 7836086

Claim:
A data structure for representing at least one component, the data structure embedded in a computer-readable data storage medium, the data structure comprising: a first layer specifying a first opinion value of a first attribute of an indeterminate component incompletely defined by the first layer; a second layer specifying a first opinion value of a second attribute of the indeterminate component incompletely defined by the second layer, wherein the second layer has a first layer-relationship with the first layer, wherein the second attribute is undeclared in the first layer such that the first layer has no explicit or implicit representation of the existence or value of the second attribute; and wherein the first layer-relationship directs a processor to perform a layer composition including the first and second layers to create a determinate component including the first and second attributes; wherein the layer composition is adapted to direct a processor to override at least a portion of any other opinions of value of the first attribute from any other layers weaker than the first.