Relation Stereotypes

Relation stereotypes decorate binary and n-ary relations, naming the UFO relation notion each one instantiates.

As with class stereotypes, this vocabulary is open: the schema stores stereotype as a plain non-empty string (see Decoratable), so the values below are the recommended standard set from the OntoUML profile, not a closed enumeration.

Standard values

Grouped by the kind of entity they relate:

• Endurants: material, comparative, characterization, mediation, externalDependence, componenthood, membership, subCollection, subQuantity.
• Events: historicalDependence, participation, creation, termination, manifestation, structural, temporal, participational.
• Situations: triggering, bringingAbout, presence, exemplification.
• Multi-level (types): instantiation.

Common stereotypes at a glance

Stereotype	Meaning
material	A relation with material content, founded on a relator — e.g. studies in, founded on an Enrollment.
mediation	The existential dependence of a relator on the endurants it connects — e.g. an Enrollment mediating a Student.
characterization	The dependence of a mode or quality on the endurant that bears it — e.g. a Symptom characterizing a Patient.
componenthood	Parthood between a functional complex and one of its functional parts — e.g. an Engine as component of a Car.
participation	The involvement of an endurant in an event — e.g. a Player participating in a Match.
instantiation	The relation between a higher-order type and the instances that instantiate it — e.g. Ship Type instantiated by Ship.

Example

The «material» studies in relation connecting Student and University, with its stereotype recorded on the BinaryRelation:

{
  "type": "BinaryRelation",
  "id": "relation_studies_in",
  "name": { "en": "studies in" },
  "stereotype": "material",
  "isDerived": false,
  "isAbstract": false,
  "properties": ["end_source", "end_target"],
  "customProperties": null,
  "created": "2024-09-04",
  "modified": null,
  "alternativeNames": [],
  "description": null,
  "editorialNotes": [],
  "creators": [],
  "contributors": []
}

Source of truth

These values come from the OntoUML profile, not from this serialization schema. See the OntoUML Metamodel for the formal definitions and constraints of each stereotype. Because stereotype is an unconstrained string (Decoratable), custom values are allowed — prefer the standard vocabulary for interoperability.

Parthood ends

Parthood stereotypes (componenthood, membership, subCollection, subQuantity) mark the whole end through its aggregationKind.