Objects and Metadata¶

An architecture object is a governed repository record representing something meaningful to Enterprise Architecture.

Standard object types¶

OpenEA Community 1.5.2 seeds twelve system object types:

Business Product
Business Capability
Business Process
Organization
Role
Application
Application Service
Data Object
Technology
Initiative / Project
Architecture Principle
Architecture Decision

Universal metadata¶

All architecture objects share a common set of repository fields, including:

Name
Description
Record Status
Governance Status
Lifecycle Stage, when applicable
Criticality
Owner Organization
Owner Role
Source
Confidence
Valid From / Valid Until
Last Reviewed / Next Review
Review Frequency
Aliases
Tags
Created / Updated timestamps
Archived timestamp

Type-specific metadata¶

Each object type adds fields defined by its metamodel schema. Examples:

Application adds business fit, technical fit, strategic fit, hosting model, vendor/product/version, retirement dates, RTO/RPO, data classification, and internet-facing status.

Technology adds category, vendor/product/version, lifecycle, strategic status, support-end dates, replacement technology, and approved-for-new-use status.

Business Capability adds parent capability, maturity, target maturity, and strategic importance.

The browser form is schema-driven. OpenEA rejects unknown properties, invalid types, invalid governed values, malformed dates, bad object references, and missing required properties.

Architecture Role vs application role¶

The Role object type is an Enterprise Architecture repository object representing a business or architecture responsibility. It is separate from OpenEA authorization roles such as Architect or Viewer.

This distinction is important:

Repository Role object
    "Digital Application Owner"

is not the same as

OpenEA application role
    "Architect"