Addition of new Association Relationships file

In the MAG the requirement for the new Association Relationships (previously called "Additional Relationships") has been identified.

Although they will take the same form as the Inferred Relationships, and therefore be stored in the same format as the Inferred Rel's in the RF2 package, there was still a discussion on whether or not they should be held in the Inferred Rel's file or completely separate files (one for the Inferred, and one for the concrete rel's).

The arguments for retaining them in the Inferred File are:

• The format is the same, and therefore it could be confusing to users for them to be in a separate file

• Slightly smaller overhead to maintain and upload

The arguments for putting them into separate files (with the same format as the existing files) are:

• The precedent for implementing new types of content is to hold them in a separate file, in order to:
  
  

  • ...allow for backward compatibility (to allow users to continue to use the Inferred file standalone)

  • ...make it clear for users that this is a new type of content (even though it happens to be in the same format)

  • ...prevent confusion for users who might not see them as different from the existing Inferred Relationships

• The source of these Association Relationships (which are almost stated relationships) are different from the Inferred Relationships (which come from the classifier), and there is a potential for confusing systems by adding in a new source to the same file.

• The maintenance of the ID's could therefore potentially be impacted by having them in the same file.

The arguments for the latter, therefore, appear to be more compelling, and so it is MAG's recommendation to add 2x new files into the International release:

1. AssociationRelationship file                    

2. AssociationRelationshipConcreteValues file

However, if anyone has any strong opinions either way then please raise them now?