Every OBO ontology contains a set of synonym types. Synonyms in the ontology can be assigned to one of the synonym types in that set (see An Introduction to OBO Ontologies, and Text Editing for more information on how to assign synonyms to synonym types).
The built-in Synonym Type Manager allows users to manage the set of available synonym types. To access the Synonym Type Manager, choose "Synonym Type Manager" from the menu under [Metadata].
Any changes made in the Synonym Type Manager are not saved until the "Save Changes" button is clicked. If changes are made and the window is closed, the changes will not be saved. To revert to the last committed version of the synonym type set, click the "Revert" button.
To edit an existing synonym type, click the synonym type to edit in the list on the left. The synonym type editor panel will appear:
Synonym types have three attributes: a type id, a descriptive name, and a synonym scope. To change the synonym type id, click the synonym type id in the text field and type a new name. To change the descriptive name, click the synonym type description in the text field and type a new description. To change the type scope, select a new scope from the dropdown menu. If the synonym type should not have a required scope, choose "<unspecified scope>" from the dropdown. Synonyms that use this type can have a scope specified in the text editor, rather than automatically using the built-in synonym type scope.
To delete an existing synonym type, click the synonym type to delete in the list on the left. Click the Del button to remove the synonym type.
Note that a synonym type that is assigned to a term cannot be deleted. If a synonym type is deleted that is still in use, a warning will appear when the "Save Changes" button is pressed. If a synonym type must be deleted, first search the ontology to make sure that the synonym type is not in use.
To add a new synonym type, click the "Add" button. A new synonym type will be created with the default name "NEWSYNTYPE", the default description "<new synonym type>" and a scope set to "<unspecified scope>". Edit the name and description as described above.