A relationship family corresponds to a database table that is used to relate two entity family tables. A relationship definition, for a given relationship family, is a rule that specifies which two entity families are related, which family is the predecessor, which family is the successor, and the cardinality of each. By setting up relationship definitions, you can define the various types and levels of connections that exist between entities. Show
For example, a piece of equipment might be related to items like:
After you have associated entity families with one another using relationship definitions, you can create business rules based on those relationships. In this way, individual entities, which are stored separately within the database can interact with, use information from, and can even be updated based on changes made to other, related entities. You can set up and maintain relationship definitions via the Configuration Manager. When deciding how many relationships to create, remember that too many relationships can create unnecessary system overhead. Too few relationships, on the other hand, will prevent you from defining them specifically enough to be useful to the end user. Each family can participate in numerous relationships. Consider that the Pressure Vessel family can be involved in the following relationships:
About Creating Relationship DefinitionCreating relationship definitions allow you to define, for a relationship family, which entity families are related to one another through that relationship. Each relationship definition consists of the following elements:
While defining a relationship definition, make sure that they do not spread to subfamilies. In other words, you must create relationship definitions for each specific predecessor and successor family that you want to participate in the relationship. For example, if the Manufacturer family has two subfamilies, Chinese Manufacturer and Canadian Manufacturer, and you want to be able to link Chinese Manufacturer records and Canadian Manufacturer records to Equipment records, you must create a relationship definition for both the Chinese Manufacturer family and the Canadian Manufacturer family. Defining a relationship for the Manufacturer family alone would not be sufficient. After you create relationship definitions, you must make sure that you assign family-level privileges, such that the users have permission to access all the families involved in the relationship definition, including the relationship family. Granting permission to only some of the families in a relationship will grant a user only partial access to the records that are linked to one another through that relationship. Note: You may want to avoid using inactive entity families in relationship definitions. Otherwise, when viewing a record in the Record Manager, and using the All Possible Families option, users will see ALL related families, including inactive families. About Successors and PredecessorsBefore creating a relationship definition, you must first decide which two families will participate in the relationship. Then, you must decide which family will be the predecessor and which will be the successor in the relationship. In many cases, the predecessor is the single part of the relationship equation and the successor is the multiple part. For example, if the relationship is Has Failure, and you determine that a piece of equipment, such as a pump, has a failure, then the pump experiencing the failure is the predecessor because there is one pump, whereas the failure is the successor because a pump might have many failures. Another way to look at predecessors and successors is to consider that the predecessor comes before the successor. For example, using this guideline, a piece of equipment could be the predecessor and a repair could be the successor because the equipment was in place before it was repaired. Note: These are guidelines. GE Digital APM will allow any type of setup that you feel best suits your needs. About CardinalityCardinality for a particular relationship definition specifies how many links can be created between records of the predecessor and successor families. Consider an example where the Has Maintenance relationship relates the Axial Compressor family to the Work Order family. Within this relationship definition, the cardinality would specify how many Work Order records could be linked to a given Axial Compressor record, and vice versa. The following list provides descriptions of the cardinality rules that can be defined for successors and predecessors. For the purposes of our examples, assume that the Axial Compressor family is the predecessor and the Work Order family is the successor in the Has Maintenance relationship.
Depending on the entity families and the relationship family involved in the relationship definition, some cardinality options may not be logical for your implementation. Via the Configuration Manager, administrative users can configure the cardinality between entity families according to your company's workflow. Based on the cardinality defined between entity families through a given relationship family, you will be limited to the number of links that you can create between records when working with the records in the GE Digital APM. For example, if your system is configured such that a Work Order record can be linked to only one piece of equipment, such as a Pump, you could create a link between Pump 101 and Work Order 1, but you could not link Work Order 1 to any other records. If you tried to do so, GE Digital APM would generate an error. In this way, cardinality prevents you from creating relationships that should not exist. You can choose to allow only one link between the entities of the predecessor family and entities of the successor family within a given relationship definition. Multiple links, however, are allowed, if the predecessor or successor family participates in additional relationship definitions. For example, your system could be configured such that the each Work Order record can be linked to only one Equipment. If an additional relationship definition existed for the Work Order family and the Functional Location family, however, then a Work Order record could be linked to an Equipment record even if it was already linked to a Functional Location record. Note: A given family can also act as the predecessor in one relationship and the successor in another. For example, the Equipment family is the successor in the Functional Location Has Equipment relationship and the successor in the Equipment Has Equipment relationship. About Relationship DataOne thing to consider when configuring relationships is whether or not information about the relationship will need to be stored. If so, fields can be defined for that relationship family, and a datasheet can be configured. Each time records are linked via the GE Digital APM, specific information about the link can be recorded in that datasheet. For example, suppose a pipe is connected to a pump in your facility. You record various types of information for the pipe in a Pipe record and different information for the pump in a Pump record. But when you link the Pipe record to the Pump record, you need to store information specific to that connection, such as weld type and material. Fields are defined at the relationship family level and are stored as columns in the relationship family table. Any relationship field that you define, therefore, will be available for any link between any predecessor and successor. So, you might need to create more specific relationship families if you plan to use relationship fields. What are predecessor relationships?Predecessor relationships indicate when successor work records and tasks can begin to ensure that tasks are completed in a designated order.
What is predecessor and successor meaning?Predecessor and Successor are the two terms in Mathematics that are most commonly used for the series and sequence of whole numbers. The predecessor is known as before numbers (that appear just before) and the successor is known as after numbers (that appear just after).
What is the relationship between a predecessor activity and a successor activity?A predecessor is an activity whose start or finish controls start or finish of another activity. And a successor is an activity whose start or finish is controlled by start or finish of another activity.
What is the difference between the predecessor of and the successor of?Predecessor refers to the previous term of a particular term while the successor refers to the next term of a particular term. In order to find the successor of a whole number, one must add one to the particular given number.
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