Purpose
The 
is a 
that is used to specify the format of all 
included in a release. The data type and meaning of the referenced component and each additional field within each is described by this .
descriptor can be used to define
- The order of appearance of additional attributes (other than those mandatory for all );
- The name and purpose of the additional attributes;
- The data types for the additional attributes.
This allows for a to be validated using the metadata embedded within the descriptor in the following ways:
- the data type of its attributes may be validated against the data type declared in the descriptor;
- the column order can be checked against the descriptor.
Data structure
The 
is a 
- - Integer that specifies the structure of reference sets. Its structure is shown in the following table.
At least one row must exist for each included in a release. This row must have an 
value of '0' and an 
of ' 
type' (or one of its 
). The 
identifies the defined by the descriptor.
There is one additional row for each additional column present in the specified .
Creation of descriptor data is mandatory when creating a new in the 
or in a 
.
Creation of a descriptor is optional when creating a in another 
. If a descriptor is not created, the descriptor of the closest 
of the is used when validating member records.
Metadata
The following metadata in the |Foundation metadata 
| 
supports the descriptor .
The 
Descriptor is specified by the 
in the metadata hierarchy.
Values in the are populated from:
Descriptor Template
The table below shows the descriptor that defines the structure of the . Note that this descriptor is itself part of the that it describes!
refsetId | referencedComponentId (Referenced component) | attributeDescription (Attribute description) | attributeType (Attribute type) | attributeOrder (Attribute order) |
|---|
| | | | 0 |
| | | | 1 |
| | | | 2 |
| | | | 3 |