Creating Relationships Between Objects

Objects can have two kinds of relationship: references and associations. Both kinds of relationship are unidirectional. That is, each relationship has a source object and a target object.

The Registry supports references, which are called ObjectRefs, between certain types of objects. For example, if you create a Service and a ServiceBinding, you can create a ServiceBinding reference from the Service to the ServiceBinding. However, you cannot create a reference from the ServiceBinding to the Service. A reference is not a registry object.

An Association is a registry object. You can create an Association from any registry object to any other. The Registry supports an AssociationType classification scheme that includes a number of predefined association types: OffersService, RelatedTo, HasMember, and so on. You can also create new association types. If you own both objects in the Association, the Association is an intramural association. If you do not own both objects, the Association is an extramural association. If you create an Organization and add a Service to it, an Association of type OffersService is automatically created from the Organization to the Service.

If no valid reference exists for the source and target objects, you cannot create a reference.

You use the Relate button in the Registry Objects area to relate two objects. This button becomes active when you select two objects in the search results table.

If the two objects are not both visible in the search results table, select the Pick checkbox to bookmark an object while you find the object to which you want to relate it. For details, see To Use the Bookmark Feature.

To Create a Reference

1. In the Registry Objects area, select two objects and click Relate.

2. In the Create Relationship area, select the source object if it is not already selected.

   The other object becomes the target object.

   If a valid reference exists for the source and target objects, the Reference option is selected by default, and the valid reference attribute appears. If no valid reference exists for the source and target objects, the Reference radio button is grayed out.

3. Click Save to save the Reference.

To Create an Association

1. In the Registry Objects area, select two objects and click Relate.

2. In the Create Relationship area, select the source object if it is not already selected.

   The other object becomes the target object.

3. Select the Association radio button, if it is not already selected.

4. Type a name and, optionally, a description for the Association in the Details area.

   The source and target object ID values are already filled in.

5. Choose a type value from the Association Type combo box.

6. Click Apply to save the Association.