Issue 2168:  Property-sets for non-Attributable relationships (pdm-rtf)
Source:  (, )
Nature:  Uncategorized Issue
Severity: 
Summary: Summary: Problem: The DocumentRevision (2.7.3.4), DesignSupplier (2.7.3.3) and 
 PartSupplier (2.7.3.17) relationships inherit from PdmReferencesRelationship. 
 These relationships have no specified attributes, and 
 PdmReferencesRelationship is not Attributable.  But the factories for 
 these relationships take a PropertySet parameter.  How does the client 
 subsequently reach any property values so attached?
 A similar problem exists with the PartData, PartDataIteration, 
 PartStructure, PartStructureIteration and PartMasterComposition
 relationships (which inherit from PdmContainmentRelationship), but a 
 previous issue recommends deletion of the factories for Containment
 relationships.
 A related problem exists for Alternate and Substitute and Usage
 relationships, which also inherit from PdmReferencesRelationship
 and are not Attributable.  In their case, only the properties
 defined as "attributes" in the specification are accessible.
 

Resolution: 
Revised Text: 
Actions taken:
November 4, 1998: received issue
August 24, 1999: closed issue
Discussion: 

End of Annotations:=====
Return-Path: <edbark@cme.nist.gov>
From: Ed Barkmeyer <edbark@cme.nist.gov>
Date: Wed, 4 Nov 1998 12:47:56 -0500 (EST)
To: issues@omg.org
Subject: PDM Enablers issue:  Property-sets for non-Attributable
relationships
X-Sun-Charset: US-ASCII

Reference: PDM Enablers section 2.7

Problem: The DocumentRevision (2.7.3.4), DesignSupplier (2.7.3.3) and 
PartSupplier (2.7.3.17) relationships inherit from
PdmReferencesRelationship. 
These relationships have no specified attributes, and 
PdmReferencesRelationship is not Attributable.  But the factories for 
these relationships take a PropertySet parameter.  How does the client

subsequently reach any property values so attached?
A similar problem exists with the PartData, PartDataIteration, 
PartStructure, PartStructureIteration and PartMasterComposition
relationships (which inherit from PdmContainmentRelationship), but a 
previous issue recommends deletion of the factories for Containment
relationships.
A related problem exists for Alternate and Substitute and Usage
relationships, which also inherit from PdmReferencesRelationship
and are not Attributable.  In their case, only the properties
defined as "attributes" in the specification are accessible.

Recommendation:
a.  Delete the PropertySet parameter from the factory method for
DocumentRevisionRelationship.  (This is consistent with the separate
solution for PartData and PartStructure, for which the Containment
relationship can have no attributes, but the contained objects can.)

b.  Make DesignSupplier, PartSupplier, Alternate, Substitute and
Usage inherit from Attributable -- this allows attachment of 
preference attributes.

-Ed

P.S. Note also that none of these relationships is Baselineable.
But that should be addressed in the existing Baseline semantics
issues.