AgentSkillsCN

entity-or-enum

在MD-DDL建模过程中，判断某个概念应作为一等实体、枚举，还是作为关系属性。在建模时发现新概念，或当用户问“这应该是个实体吗？”“这只是个类型吗？”时使用此功能。

SKILL.md
--- frontmatter
name: entity-or-enum
description: Decide whether a concept should be a first-class entity, an enum, or a relationship attribute in MD-DDL. Use when discovering a new concept during modeling, or when user asks "should this be an entity?" or "is this just a type?"

Entity or Enum Classification

Quick Decision Framework

Ask these questions in order:

  1. •

    Is it owned by a different business team with distinct requirements?

    • •YES → Entity
    • •NO → Continue to question 2
  2. •

    Does it have >3 unique attributes beyond just type/classification?

    • •YES → Entity
    • •NO → Continue to question 3
  3. •

    Does it have distinct governance, compliance, or lifecycle requirements?

    • •YES → Entity
    • •NO → Continue to question 4
  4. •

    Is it just a controlled vocabulary or classification?

    • •YES → Enum
    • •NO → Continue to question 5
  5. •

    Is it only meaningful in the context of a relationship?

    • •YES → Relationship Attribute
    • •NO → Entity (when in doubt)

Common Pattern: Party Role Specialization

This pattern appears across industries (banking, insurance, telecom, healthcare):

Scenario: Modeling Customer, Merchant, Subscriber, Policy Holder, Patient, etc.

Ask user: "Are these concepts managed by different business teams with different requirements?"

If YES:

  • •Make each a first-class entity
  • •Each specializes an abstract parent (Party Role, Coverage Type, etc.)
  • •Each team owns their entity with specific attributes and governance

If NO:

  • •Use enum for role type
  • •Single Party Role entity with Role Type enum attribute

Questions to Ask User

  • •"Is {concept} owned by a different business team?"
  • •"Does {concept} have unique attributes beyond just its type or name?"
  • •"Does {concept} have separate compliance, retention, or security requirements?"
  • •"Does {concept} have its own lifecycle (created, activated, closed, etc.)?"

Examples by Industry

Banking (using BIAN):

  • •✅ Customer as entity (Customer team owns, KYC attributes, compliance requirements)
  • •✅ Merchant as entity (Merchant Services owns, different agreements, different risk)
  • •❌ Account Status as enum (simple classification: Active, Dormant, Closed)

Insurance (using ACORD):

  • •✅ Policy Holder as entity (distinct from Claimant or Beneficiary, different ownership)
  • •✅ Claim as entity (Claims team owns, complex lifecycle, distinct attributes)
  • •❌ Coverage Type as enum (Auto, Property, Life - simple classification)

Telecommunications (using TM Forum):

  • •✅ Customer as entity (Customer Care owns, distinct from Subscriber)
  • •✅ Subscriber as entity (Network team owns, technical subscriptions)
  • •❌ Service Type as enum (Mobile, Broadband, TV - simple classification)

Healthcare (using FHIR):

  • •✅ Patient as entity (distinct from Practitioner, different attributes)
  • •✅ Practitioner as entity (Provider team owns, credentialing requirements)
  • •❌ Encounter Type as enum (Inpatient, Outpatient, Emergency - classification)

Output Format

Entity Summary (in domain.md)

markdown
### Customer
A party that holds accounts, uses products/services, or has an active relationship with the institution. First-class business concept with distinct ownership and governance.
- specializes: [Party Role](entities/party-role.md)
- detail: [Customer](entities/customer.md)
- references: [BIAN BOM - Party Role](https://bian-modelapi-v4.azurewebsites.net/BOClassByName/PartyRole)

Enum Summary (in domain.md)

markdown
### Account Status
Current operational status of an account (Active, Dormant, Frozen, Closed).
- detail: [Account Status](enums/account-status.md)
- references: [BIAN BOM - Account](https://bian-modelapi-v4.azurewebsites.net/BOClassByName/Account)

Relationship Attribute

markdown
### Transaction Involves Parties
Transactions link to Parties in various roles (Debtor, Creditor, Instructing Agent).
- detail: [Transaction Involves Parties](relationships/transaction-involves-parties.md)

# In the relationship detail file:
attributes:
  Role in Transaction:
    type: enum:Party Role Type
    description: The role this party plays in this specific transaction

When to Load Detailed Guidance

Load guidance.md when:

  • •User's domain doesn't fit standard banking/insurance/telecom patterns
  • •First time modeling party/role abstraction
  • •Dealing with concepts that seem to be "both" entity and enum
  • •User challenges the classification decision
  • •Need complete worked examples from multiple industries
  • •Handling edge cases (e.g., "what if attributes are added later?")

Related Skills