Representing Graphical Connections

ArchiMate Connections

In order to represent a graphical connection instance of an ArchiMate relationship in XML, a <connection> tag is created with a relationshipRef attribute referencing an ArchiMate relationship that is declared elsewhere in the XML document.

For example:

Declare two <element> tags within the <elements> tag:

<element identifier="id-123" xsi:type="BusinessActor">
    <name xml:lang="en">Customer</name>
</element>
<element identifier="id-124" xsi:type="BusinessRole">
    <name xml:lang="en">Customer Role</name>
</element>

Declare a <relationship> tag within the <relationships> tag that references these two elements as source and target elements:
```
<relationship identifier="id-125" source="id-123" target="id-124" xsi:type="Assignment" />
```

Declare two <node> tags within a parent <node> tag, or a parent <view> tag. The elementRef attributes should have the same values as the identifier attribute of the referenced elements declared above. Ensure that the xsi:type attributes have the value “Element”:

<node identifier="id-3732" elementRef="id-123" xsi:type="Element" x="610" y="360" w="150" h="120">
    <style>
        <fillColor r="255" g="255" b="181" a="100" />
        <lineColor r="92" g="92" b="92" />
        <font name="Segoe UI" size="9">
            <color r="0" g="0" b="0" />
        </font>
    </style>
</node>
<node identifier="id-3733" elementRef="id-124" xsi:type="Element" x="810" y="380" w="150" h="120">
    <style>
        <fillColor r="255" g="255" b="181" a="100" />
        <lineColor r="92" g="92" b="92" />
        <font name="Segoe UI" size="9">
            <color r="0" g="0" b="0" />
        </font>
    </style>
</node>

Declare a <connection> tag within a parent <view> tag. The relationshipRef attribute should have the same value as the identifier attribute of the referenced relationship. The source attribute should have the same value as the identifier attribute of the referenced source <node> and the target attribute should have the same value as the identifier attribute of the referenced target <node>. Ensure that the xsi:type attribute has the value “Relationship”:
```
<connection identifier="id-145" relationshipRef="id-125" xsi:type="Relationship" source="id-3732" target="3733">
    <style>
        <lineColor r="0" g="0" b="0" />
        <font name="Segoe UI" size="9">
            <color r="0" g="0" b="0" />
        </font>
    </style>
</connection>
```

Representing Other Types of Graphical Connections

In order to represent a graphical connection that does not reference an ArchiMate relationship, such as a plain line, a <connection> tag is created without a reference to an ArchiMate relationship.

For example, to represent a line that connects a label node to another node:

Declare a <connection> tag within a parent <view> tag. Ensure that the xsi:type attribute has the value “Line”:

<connection identifier="id-1234" xsi:type="Line" source="id-9876" target="id-8654">
    <style>
        <lineColor r="0" g="0" b="0" />
        <font name="Segoe UI" size="9">
            <color r="0" g="0" b="0" />
        </font>
    </style>
</connection>