Feature relationships

The Relationship Manager tool maintains two types of relationships between objects:

With the Relationship Manager tool, you can create, edit, and delete master-slave and collection relationships in your data.

Hierarchical relationships

Hierarchical relationships have designated master and slave features. A master-slave relationship is created to relate features comprising a navigational aid. Navigational aids are composed of two basic types of objects: structures and equipment. The structure object is considered the master feature, and all the related equipment the slave features. A lighted buoy is a good example of a master-slave relationship. The buoy is a master structure with different equipment attached to it, such as lights and navigational devices, which are considered slave features.

To create a master-slave relationship between two points, the two point features must share the same x,y geometry values. However, when line, area, and point geometry type features are grouped into a master-slave relationship, they do not have to share similar geometry values. There could be more than one slave feature, but only one master feature is allowed in a relationship. If you have selected two or more master features when creating a master-slave relationship, you have to choose which one is the master feature from the selection, and the remaining master features become slave features in the relationship.

The following tables list all allowable master-slave feature objects (subtypes in ArcGIS).

Master objects

Master features

Geometry

BCNCAR

Point

BCNISD

Point

BCNLAT

Point

BCNSAW

Point

BCNSPP

Point

BOYCAR

Point

BOYINB

Point

BOYISD

Point

BOYLAT

Point

BOYSAW

Point

BOYSPP

Point

BRIDGE

Point, line, area

BUISGL

Point, area

LITFLT

Point

LITVES

Point

LNDMRK

Point, line, area

MORFAC

Point, line, area

OFSPLF

Point, area

PILPNT

Point

SLCONS

Point, line, area

CRANES

Point, area

FLODOC

Line, area

FORSTC

Point, line, area

FSHFAC

Point, line, area

HULKES

Point, area

PONTON

Line, area

PYLONS

Point, area

SILTNK

Point, area

Master objects
NoteNote:

Master features can also be slave features.

Slave objects

Slave features

Geometry

DAYMAR

Point

LIGHTS

Point

FOGSIG

Point

RADSTA

Point

RDOSTA

Point

RETRFL

Point

RTPBCN

Point

SISTAT

Point

SISTAW

Point

TOPMAR

Point

Slave objects
NoteNote:

Slave features listed in the table above cannot be master features.

Peer-to peer-relationships

In peer-to-peer relationships, no feature's existence is dependent on another. Collections are considered a type of peer-to-peer relationship and can be grouped into two different object classes: aggregations (C_AGGR) or associations (C_ASSO).

Association objects (C_ASSO) depict at least one feature that, when associated, better represents certain navigational situations. For example, a buoy that marks a wreck can be associated in S-57 to help the mariner see that a danger lies in the area. The buoy is not dependent on the wreck nor is the wreck dependent on the buoy.

Aggregation objects (C_AGGR) are collections of features that form a higher-level collection object that better describes a system or defines a larger area. For example, an aggregation relationship can be used to form a traffic separation scheme from traffic separation lane parts, boundaries, and so forth. In the geodatabase, the collection object is stored in the PLTS_COLLECTIONS table, and its relationships to the features that make up the collection are stored in the PLTS_FREL table.

Related Topics


4/19/2012