Datasheet

RAIS 3.0 Programmer’s Guide – Part I : Advanced Customization

4 Entity Relationship Diagrams

The following Entity-Relationship Diagrams are based on the database model contained in

the original distribution of RAIS, common to all official IAEA languages. Only the major

entities (information items) and their relations are detailed in the following sections. The

reader should be aware that these diagrams may vary, depending upon customizations of

database tables with the RAIS Creator.

Following relationship structures are used in RAIS 3.0 database model:

1. Multiple (Double) path structure: as, for example in the following figure:

This structure allows for example to enter generator models, or generator manufacturer or

both and correctly preserving their relationship. This feature contributes to the “reality

attribute” of RAIS 3.0. i.e. the ability of dealing with incomplete data.

2. Junction tables: as in the following figure

Those tables provide for n-n relationships and correspond at the Front-End level to multiple

selection fields. In RAIS 3.0 Creator, those fields are called “multiple lookup” fields.

3. “Static” vs. “Dynamic” data: For many information items, e.g. sources,

authorizations, inspections and workers, RAIS database model make a differentiation

between data which are fixed attributes of the item itself, such as serial number or

type, and data which change with time and are rather attributed to the status of the

item in its workplace as for example source status or the stage of the authorization

process. The former are called “static” and are stored in tables with no date reference

while the later are called “dynamic” and are stored in “History tables”.

Note that multiple history tables may exist for the same information item. This is the case, for

example, for sealed sources. They have two history tables: [sealed history] and [sealed asso

history].