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archesproject / ARM_Working_Group

Arches Resource Model Working Group. A repo for community reviewed Arches branches, models, and packages
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Single broad node tree or multiple specific ones? #37

Open azaroth42 opened 6 years ago

azaroth42 commented 6 years ago

A best practice question ... is it better to have two separate nodes in a model, each of which has specific configurations but the same relationship, or one node that has a broader configuration.

For example, groups have members that can be either sub-groups (hierarchy) or people (the leaf nodes). It can be accommodated in either way:

  1. a single node, with P107 as relationship, that is a resource-instance that takes either a Group or a Person
  2. two nodes, each with P107 as relationship, each is a resource-instance, one has only a Group the other only a Person

This seems related to / would have an impact on #3485 as well ... one might be easier to process incoming create/update requests.

Habennin commented 6 years ago

Hi Rob,

I'm jumping in on this issue because I think I had a similar question in mind. I believe I also encountered a version of this question vis a vis properties like p67 refers to E1 CRM Entity. There, intuitively, it does not seem to me to be practical to create a resource model around an E1, but on the other hand, I am not sure if there is a mechanism to point at multiple different 'reference models'.

So if I read you right the two ways that this actually can be dealt with in Arches designer is:

  1. make the link once and build a model for a reference resource that allows you to document One or another kind of thing. So the reference resource model actually covers multiple real world entities, you fill out info for the one you need

  2. make the link multiple times and restrict to just the resource model that you would need for a specific type of resource instance as referent

If those are the two methods, my initial lean would be towards option 2. I think the model of putting multiple resource models together would probably lead to having to redo models that had already been done elsewhere.

azaroth42 commented 6 years ago

Right :) And I think I agree, but I'm not sure about the knock-on effects to other parts of the system.

In the graph designer preview, is it option 2:

screen shot 2018-07-09 at 9 09 22 am

Where Sub-Group is: Group P107 Group [resource-instance/Group] And Member is: Group P107 Person [resource-instance/Person]

Or is it Option 1: Group P107 Actor [resource-instance/Group,Person]