Reltio relationship types
Learn about what relationship types are and how to define them in the Reltio Connected Data Platform.
Use this overview to help you understand the relationship data types, the elements you can use to define them, and how to use them to create richer connections in all your data.
Relationships are important, right?
A relationship type describes the links or connections between two specific entities. Together, a relationship type and the entities described to form a graph. Reltio graphs let you model entity trees to use on profile displays. To learn more about Reltio graphs, see Graph Types.
Common relationship types and available elements
- Individual to Location
- HasAddress
- Individual to Organization/Organization to Individual
- Affiliated with
- Employee of/Contractor of
Why define relationship types?
Relationship types are essential to your entity modelling in the Reltio solutions. The connections you define enable you to make powerful use of the platform. You can also define several attributes for a relationship type, such as name, description, direction (undirected, directed, and bi-directional), start and end entities, and more. Attributes of one relationship type can inherit attributes from other relationship types.
After you define your entity types, you can link them together by defining relationships between them. More specifically, you can post a relationship independently to link two entities together, or you can mention a relationship in a JSON file. The JSON file then posts the relationship to the software and the two entities at once. For a detailed example of how relationship types work together, see Configuring Relationship Types.
Elements available for definition
The platform enables you to define metadata properties and attributes for relationship types. For a full list of metadata properties, see Configuring Relationship Types.
How are hierarchical relationships defined?
The Reltio software defines hierarchies through the definition of relationship subtypes. For example, if you define Family as a relationship type, you can define Parent as a subtype. A single hierarchy contains one or many relationship types; all the entities connected by these relationships form a hierarchy. Entity A > HasChild (Entity B) > HasChild (Entity C). Then A, B, and C form a hierarchy. In the same hierarchy, you can add Subsidiary as a relationship and if Entity D is subsidiary of Entity C, then A, B, C, and D all become part of single hierarchy.