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implied-relationships.md

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Implied relationships

By default, the Structurizr for .NET client library will not create implied relationships. For example, let's say that you have two components in different containers, and you create a relationship between them.

SoftwareSystem softwareSystem = model.AddSoftwareSystem("Software System", "");
Container container1 = softwareSystem.AddContainer("Container 1", "", "");
Component component1 = container1.AddComponent("Component 1", "", "");

Container container2 = softwareSystem.AddContainer("Container 2", "", "");
Component component2 = container2.AddComponent("Component 2", "", "");

component1.Uses(component2, "Sends data X to");

At this point, the model contains a single relationship between the two components, but there are three other implied relationships that could be added:

Implied relationships

  • Container 1 Sends data X to Component 2
  • Component 1 Sends data X to Container 2
  • Container 1 Sends data X to Container 2

To have the client library create these for you, set an ImpliedRelationshipsStrategy implementation on your model. Possible implementations are as follows.

DefaultImpliedRelationshipsStrategy

This strategy does not create any implied relationships.

SoftwareSystem softwareSystem = model.AddSoftwareSystem("Software System", "");
Container container1 = softwareSystem.AddContainer("Container 1", "", "");
Component component1 = container1.AddComponent("Component 1", "", "");

Container container2 = softwareSystem.AddContainer("Container 2", "", "");
Component component2 = container2.AddComponent("Component 2", "", "");

model.ImpliedRelationshipsStrategy = new DefaultImpliedRelationshipsStrategy(); // default
component1.Uses(component2, "Sends data X to");

Relationships that exist in the model:

  • Component 1 Sends data X to Component 2

CreateImpliedRelationshipsUnlessSameRelationshipExistsStrategy

This strategy creates implied relationships between all valid combinations of the parent elements, unless the same relationship already exists between them.

SoftwareSystem softwareSystem = model.AddSoftwareSystem("Software System", "");
Container container1 = softwareSystem.AddContainer("Container 1", "", "");
Component component1 = container1.AddComponent("Component 1", "", "");

Container container2 = softwareSystem.AddContainer("Container 2", "", "");
Component component2 = container2.AddComponent("Component 2", "", "");

model.ImpliedRelationshipsStrategy = new CreateImpliedRelationshipsUnlessAnyRelationshipExistsStrategy();
component1.Uses(component2, "Sends data X to");

Relationships that exist in the model:

  • Component 1 Sends data X to Component 2
  • Component 1 Sends data X to Container 2
  • Container 1 Sends data X to Component 2
  • Container 1 Sends data X to Container 2

CreateImpliedRelationshipsUnlessAnyRelationshipExistsStrategy

This strategy creates implied relationships between all valid combinations of the parent elements, unless any relationship already exists between them.

SoftwareSystem softwareSystem = model.AddSoftwareSystem("Software System", "");
Container container1 = softwareSystem.AddContainer("Container 1", "", "");
Component component1 = container1.AddComponent("Component 1", "", "");

Container container2 = softwareSystem.AddContainer("Container 2", "", "");
Component component2 = container2.AddComponent("Component 2", "", "");

model.ImpliedRelationshipsStrategy = new CreateImpliedRelationshipsUnlessAnyRelationshipExistsStrategy();
container1.Uses(container2, "Sends data to");
component1.Uses(component2, "Sends data X to");

Relationships that exist in the model:

  • Component 1 Sends data X to Component 2
  • Component 1 Sends data X to Container 2
  • Container 1 Sends data X to Component 2
  • Container 1 Sends data to Container 2

This strategy is useful when you want to show a summary relationship at higher levels in the model, especially when multiple implied relationships could be created between elements.