About complex relation types

A complex relation is a characteristic that shows how two or more assets are related to one another. It can have attributes of its own, for example, Description and Priority. Technically, a complex relation is an entity that can't exist on its own. It exists only through its links to other assets. The complex relation type defines which relations and attributes a complex relation can have.

You can add a complex relation between assets if the complex relation type is in the relevant assignment of the asset type.

Note A complex relation can't have more than 32,767 relations to assets.

Example

When you add a complex relation, you are essentially adding one or more relations between the assets and the complex relation itself. The assets in those relations are always the head of the complex relation, while the complex relation is always the tail.

The following example creates a complex relation type named Code Mapping, with three relation types (source, target, and crosswalk) and two attribute types (Description and Transformation Logic).

As shown in the image, for each relation type in the complex relation type, you can select the head asset types. For each selected head asset type, a relation of the relevant type is created between the head asset and the complex relation. You can also add attribute types to the complex relation type, and set the minimum and maximum occurrences for each relation type and attribute type.

Cardinality of relation and attribute types in a complex relation type

You can associate two or more assets in a complex relation type and add attributes to the complex relation type. When creating a complex relation type, you can set the cardinality of relation types and attribute types to determine how many relations and attributes users can or must provide when they create a complex relation of that type. At least one relation type in a complex relation type must have a minimum cardinality of 1 or greater.