ArchiMate Relationship Summary

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ArchiMate Relationship Summary

Relationship Classifications

Structural relationships, which model the static construction or composition of concepts of the same or different types

Dependency relationships, which model how elements are used to support other elements • The serving relationship represents a control dependency, denoted by a solid line • The access relationship represents a data dependency, denoted by a dotted line • The influence relationship represents an impact dependency, denoted by a dashed line • The association relationship represents a dependency not covered by any of the other relationships

• Dynamic relationships, which are used to model behavioral dependencies between elements

• Other relationships, which do not fall into one of the above categories

Relationship Direction(s)

Structural – Composition, Aggregation, Assignment

Structural relationships represent the “static” coherence within an architecture. The uniting (composing, aggregating, assigned, or realizing) concept (the “from” side of the relationship) is always an element; for assignment and realization it can be an element or a relationships connector. The united (being composed, aggregated, assigned to, or realized) concept (the “to” side of the relationship) may in some cases also be another relationship or relationship connector.

Structural – Realizations

The interpretation of a realization relationship is that the whole or part of the source element realizes the whole of the target element.

Dependency Relationships

Arrows that represent such supporting, influencing, serving, or realizing dependencies point “upwards” towards the client/user/business (unlike UML).

Dynamic Relationships

Traditional flow or triggering direction.

Other – Specialization / Generalization

The specialization relationship represents that an element is a particular kind of another element. The arrow points from the "kind" to the element, i.e. The Specialized Element points up to the Generalized Element (same as UML).

Table: Relationships

Structural RelationshipsNotationRole Names
CompositionRepresents that an element consists of one or more other concepts.img← composed of → composed in
AggregationRepresents that an element combines one or more other concepts.img← aggregates → aggregated in
AssignmentRepresents the allocation of responsibility, performance of behavior, storage, or execution.img← assigned to → has assigned
RealizationRepresents that an entity plays a critical role in the creation, achievement, sustenance, or operation of a more abstract entity.img← realizes → realized by
Dependency RelationshipsNotationRole Names
ServingRepresents that an element provides its functionality to another element.img← serves → served by
AccessRepresents the ability of behavior and active structure elements to observe or act upon passive structure elements.img← accesses → accessed by
InfluenceRepresents that an element affects the implementation or achievement of some motivation element.fig26← influences → influenced by
AssociationRepresents an unspecified relationship, or one that is not represented by another ArchiMate relationship.imgassociated with ← associated to → associated from
Dynamic RelationshipsNotationRole Names
TriggeringRepresents a temporal or causal relationship between elements.img← triggers → triggered by
FlowRepresents transfer from one element to another.img← flows to → flows from
Other RelationshipsNotationRole Names
SpecializationRepresents that an element is a particular kind of another element.img← specializes → specialized by
Relationship ConnectorsNotationRole Names
JunctionUsed to connect relationships of the same type.img

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