Relationships

The connections that form the Semantic Graph.

In Balarhinos, no object is an island. Relationships define how Smart Geometry objects interact with each other to form a cohesive Semantic Graph.

Types of Relationships

Relationships can be categorized into three main types:

1. Spatial Relationships

These are automatically computed based on geometry proximity:

adjacent-to: Objects that share an edge or are within a certain distance.
intersects: Geometry that overlaps in space.
closest-to: Finding the nearest neighbor (e.g., the closest road to a plot).

2. Hierarchical Relationships

These define ownership and containment:

contained-by: A plot is contained by a block.
part-of: A facade is part of a building mass.
parent-of / child-of: The primary way parameters are inherited.

3. Functional Relationships

Manual connections defined by the user:

references: A viewpoint sensor that references a specific landmark target.
grouped-with: Logical grouping for analysis or visibility.

How Relationships are Created

Automatic Discovery: The Intelligence Kernel constantly scans for spatial relationships (e.g., detecting which building is on which plot).
Procedural Generation: Services like Plot Division create relationships automatically as they generate geometry.
Manual Assignment: Users can link objects together using the Relationship Manager in the UI.

Why Relationships are Powerful

Relationships are what enable Contextual Intelligence:

Reactive Updates: If you move a road, all buildings adjacent-to it can be notified to update their setbacks.
Data Inheritance: A building can automatically know its zoning rules by looking up its contained-by relationship with a plot.
Advanced Analysis: View studies use relationships to identify which occluders are most critical to a specific viewpoint.

graph LR
    Block[Block] -->|contains| Plot[Plot]
    Plot -->|adjacent-to| Road[Road]
    Plot -->|parent-of| Building[Building]
    Building -->|has| Facade[Facade]