ArchiMate Relationships MetaModel
ArchiMate relationships are all sub-MetaClasses of the ArchiMate Concept Relationship MetaClass.
• ArchiMate Association can link any ArchiMate concepts (elements or relationships), as can structural relationships to or from Groupings.
• ArchiMate Element Relationships can be used to link two ArchiMate Elements. The Relationship subtypes are then available for each relationship type defined in ArchiMate®
ArchiMate Relationships
As a rule, relationships are oriented and follow a source / target generic pattern. They are presented accordingly in properties as outgoing / incoming relationships.
ArchiMate Relationships pattern
For more details on the use of ArchiMate Relationships in diagrams, see "Create an ArchiMate Relationship", page 33.Direct relationships
In ArchiMate®, some relationships are direct and form the core structure of the language; they are typically contained in the MetaModel diagrams throughout the ArchiMate standard specification.
Indirect relationships
Indirect relationships are also available; these are obtained by applying derivation rules to the direct relationships. They are defined in the tables in appendix to the ArchiMate® standard.
Indirect relationships are available as relationships in HOPEX for the ArchiMate Framework, they are identified in the interface
• By a star '*' symbol following the relationship type name in the relationship creation box,
• By a dark grey color in the diagrams
Indirect relationships can be identified through an ArchiMate Indirect Relationship abstract MetaClass and are activated, and desactivated, in the diagram thanks to the Indirect relationships diagram view.
HOPEX for the ArchiMate Framework does NOT provide the means to infer the derived relationships based on the model occurrences (objects), which is the other use case mentioned in the ArchiMate® standard.