About Relationship Definition Behavior

A relationship family corresponds to a database table that is used to relate two entity family tables. A relationship definition, for a given relationship family, is a rule that specifies which two entity families are related, which family is the predecessor, which family is the successor, and the cardinality of each. By setting up relationship definitions, you can define the various types and levels of connections that exist between entities.

For example, a piece of equipment might be related to items like:

The location that contains it
The people who inspect and maintain it
The inspection and repair events performed on it
The workflows in which it participates

After you have associated entity families with one another using relationship definitions, you can create business rules based on those relationships. In this way, individual entities, which are stored separately within the database can interact with, use information from, and can even be updated based on changes made to other, related entities.

You can set up and maintain relationship definitions via the Configuration Manager. When deciding how many relationships to create, remember that too many relationships can create unnecessary system overhead. Too few relationships, on the other hand, will prevent you from defining them specifically enough to be useful to the end user.

Each family can participate in numerous relationships. Consider that the Pressure Vessel family can be involved in the following relationships:

An Equipment Contains Sub-Equipment relationship with the Shell family and the Nozzle family.
An Equipment Connects to Equipment relationship with the Valve family.
An Equipment Has Inspections and Equipment Has Repairs relationship with the Inspections and Repairs families.