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Use Case Tree Method
Story/Concept Relationship
EKGF/ekg-method

Story/Concept Relationship

Defines how a Story uses a specific Concept (e.g., as input, output, or dependent)

What is a Story/Concept Relationship?

A Story/Concept Relationship explains how a Story interacts with a Concept.

It's not enough to say that a story "uses" a concept; we need to know if the concept is something the user provides (Input), something the system returns (Output), or something used behind the scenes to filter or calculate data (Dependent).

Why it Matters

  • Data Requirements: Clearly identifies what data points are needed to fulfill a business requirement.
  • Impact Analysis: If a concept changes, we know exactly which stories (and therefore which business capabilities) are affected.
  • Consistency: Ensures that the same concept is used consistently across different stories and use cases.

Concept Usage Types

The relationship between a Story and a Concept is modeled via a relationship-object to capture the specific nature of the usage:

  • Input Concept: A required or optional input parameter for the story (e.g., a filter criteria or a value to be saved).
  • Output Concept: Defines the data returned by the story (often a complex object or "shape").
  • Dependent Concept: A concept referenced in the implementation (e.g., used in a WHERE clause or a join) but not directly exposed as input or output.

Traceability

By modeling these relationships explicitly, the EKG can automatically generate data lineage and requirement maps, showing exactly how business logic translates into data consumption and production.

Facts

About these facts

We're not prescribing a full OWL ontology here. These are minimal facts you can use to build your own ontology, schema, or graph model.

Story/Concept Relationship

  • Opaque universally unique identifier: A UUID representing this specific relationship instance.
  • Source Story: A reference to the Story that owns this relationship.
  • Target Concept: A reference to the Concept being used.
  • Usage Type: One of Input, Output, or Dependent.

Ownership

  • Owned by Story: A Story/Concept Relationship is part-of a Story. If the Story is deleted, the relationship object is deleted.