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