A representation term is a word, or a combination of words, used as part of a data element name. Representation class is sometimes used as a synonym for representation term. In ISO/IEC 11179, a representation class provides a way to classify or group data elements. A representation class is effectively a specialized classification scheme. Hence, there is currently some discussion in ISO over the merits of keeping representation class as a separate entity in 11179, versus collapsing it into the general classification scheme facility. A clear distinction between the two mechanisms, however, is that 11179 allows a data element to be classified by only one representation class, whereas there is no such restriction on other classification schemes.