As its name implies, frame-based terminology uses certain aspects of frame semantics to structure specialized domains and create non-language-specific representations.
At the most general level, generic roles of agent, patient, result, and instrument are activated by basic predicate meanings such as make, do, affect, use, become, etc.
At the more specific levels of the network, the qualia structure of the generative lexicon is used as a basis for the systematic classification and relation of nominal entities.
The methodology of frame-based terminology derives the conceptual system of the domain by means of an integrated top-down and bottom-up approach.
The top-down approach includes the information provided by specialized dictionaries and other reference material, complemented by the help of experts in the field.