In JAXR, relationships are modeled using Association objects. Internally, CentraSite uses these objects extensively to establish relationships between many system-related objects in the registry. For example, Associations are used to relate an organization to its set of registry objects. CentraSite automatically generates and maintains these types of underlying associations when you create or modify system-related objects using CentraSite GUIs or APIs.

Besides the implicit relationships that CentraSite maintains for system-related objects, CentraSite also allows you to explicitly establish relationships between registry objects through the use of relationship attributes. A relationship attribute is part of an object's metadata.

An object can have many relationship attributes reflecting the many types of relationships it has with other objects. For example, a Web service asset might include a relationship attribute called Uses, which relates the service to its constituent artifacts (that is, assets that it uses or otherwise depends upon). The same asset might also include a relationship attribute called Used By which relates the service to its dependents.

Relationship attributes can be predefined or ad hoc. Predefined relationship attributes are ones that are part of an asset's type definition. When a relationship attribute is predefined, the attribute is present in all assets of that type. Ad hoc relationships are ones you can create as necessary for an individual instance of an asset.

For more information about defining relationship attributes, see the CentraSite Administrator’s Guide.