Section 3. Subclassing Existing Entities

This section covers allowable scenarios for subclassing existing entities in the Ed-Fi data model and extensions.

3.1. Subclass Domain Entities and Associations

Domain Entities and Associations may be subclassed when an entity needs additional data to support a specialization of the model.  Currently, only the subclassing of abstract entities, such as EducationOrganization and GeneralStudentProgramAssociation (formerly StudentProgramAssociation in v2.x), is supported.*

• MUST NOT contain any identity properties.
• MUST contain at least one property.
• SHOULD NOT contain properties included in the parent entity unless additional context is provided.
• SHOULD follow the same naming conventions as are applicable for the parent entity.
• MAY subclass domain entities and associations only.
• MUST NOT subclass a subclassed entity.

* Note that the MetaEd IDE will offer in an upcoming release an override for subclassing non-abstract entities. Users should be aware that this capability is unsupported, as there are complexities with generating physical models given this capability and known downstream issues when subclassing "concrete" entities. Those using this feature are advised to conduct thorough testing of any models that include subclassed concrete types to ensure full model functionality.