Attribute type groups can be used in ARIS to group ERM attributes (see Figure 1). The connection type is:
- ERM attribute belongs to attribute type group.
Attribute type groups can be assigned only to entity types and relationship types. The connection types are:
- Attribute type group is attribute type group entity type
- Attribute type group is attribute type group relationship type.
Figure 1: Attribute type group in ARIS
This way of modeling (see Figure 1) is most commonly used in customer projects. In this case the information
- Customer first name is describing for customer
- Customer last name is describing for customer
is only available via assignment connection types on definition level (!) if the connections are modeled in an eERM attribute allocation diagram assigned to the respective entity type.
Two alternatives for assigning attribute type groups and their attributes are shown in Figure 2 and Figure 3.
Figure 2: Modeling attribute type groups in ARIS (Alternative 1)
In the above example the information
- Customer name is attribute type group customer
is lost, even if modeled in an eERM attribute allocation diagram assigned to the respective entity type. The reason why is: In the ARIS method there is no assignment connection type available between an entity type and an attribute type group. Therefore, this kind of modeling attribute type groups should be avoided.
In the model shown in Figure 3 all relevant information are available. But the layout of the model can be confusing, especially if there are several attribute type groups assigned directly to the entity type via the connection type „is attribute type group“.
Figure 3: Modeling attribute type groups in ARIS (Alternative 2)