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 Relationships | Notation | Role Names | |
---|---|---|---|
Composition | Represents that an element consists of one or more other concepts. | ![]() | ← composed of → composed in |
Aggregation | Represents that an element combines one or more other concepts. | ![]() | ← aggregates → aggregated in |
Assignment | Represents the allocation of responsibility, performance of behavior, storage, or execution. | ![]() | ← assigned to → has assigned |
Realization | Represents that an entity plays a critical role in the creation, achievement, sustenance, or operation of a more abstract entity. | ![]() | ← realizes → realized by |
Dependency Relationships | Notation | Role Names | |
Serving | Represents that an element provides its functionality to another element. | ![]() | ← serves → served by |
Access | Represents the ability of behavior and active structure elements to observe or act upon passive structure elements. | ![]() | ← accesses → accessed by |
Influence | Represents that an element affects the implementation or achievement of some motivation element. | ![]() | ← influences → influenced by |
Association | Represents an unspecified relationship, or one that is not represented by another ArchiMate relationship. | ![]() | associated with ← associated to → associated from |
Dynamic Relationships | Notation | Role Names | |
Triggering | Represents a temporal or causal relationship between elements. | ![]() | ← triggers → triggered by |
Flow | Represents transfer from one element to another. | ![]() | ← flows to → flows from |
Other Relationships | Notation | Role Names | |
Specialization | Represents that an element is a particular kind of another element. | ![]() | ← specializes → specialized by |
Relationship Connectors | Notation | Role Names | |
Junction | Used to connect relationships of the same type. | ![]() |