SIE.5:4 - Solution
Frame identity as a source-qualified, grain- and interval-specific disposition for one receiving use. Preserve every source identifier and issuer. Compare the entity criteria, relation evidence, version/effectivity, and authoritative decisions that matter. Return same, different, part, version, variant, alternate-description, family, or unresolved only at the precision supported; do not force every useful relation into identity.
SIE.5:4.1 - Pattern-Use Unfolding
- Name the receiving identity question. State which mapping, claim composition, query, or decision needs an identity premise and what a wrong merge or split would change.
- Fix entity grain and interval. Name the relevant individual or occurrence kind, part-whole level, version/configuration, lifecycle state, jurisdiction or organization, and time/effectivity interval.
- Bind source endpoints. Reference each
SIE.2identifier scheme, issuer/owner, syntax, resolution behavior, restrictions, identified-entity claim, edition, and source provenance. - Separate candidate relation kinds. Consider same individual at the stated grain, different individuals, part/whole, earlier/later version or specialization, variant, alternate description, family membership, or unresolved. Do not use one boolean until the use truly needs only that distinction.
- Collect discriminating evidence. Use issuer records, source assertions, configuration/effectivity, provenance, physical or domain characteristics, event histories, and counterexamples. A shared string or co-occurrence is only candidate evidence.
- Recover authority. Name who may decide scheme-local identity, master identity, authoritative values, or the domain relation. SIE may record and use a bounded disposition; it does not acquire those authorities.
- Assign the narrowest warranted disposition. State conditions, confidence or uncertainty where meaningful, rejected alternatives, and unresolved evidence. Preserve source IDs even for accepted same-entity rows.
- Propagate the premise explicitly. Reference the disposition from every mapping, claim composition, interface row, and identity test that relies on it. Never copy only the merged key.
- Test difficult cases and reopen. Include identifier reuse, split/merge, version/configuration change, part-whole confusion, contradictory source events, and absent-link cases. State the source or observation change that reopens the row.
SIE.5:4.2 - Record the Result
| Identity position | Required content |
|---|---|
| identity question and use | receiver, dependent action, wrong-merge/wrong-split consequence |
| entity boundary | kind and grain, part-whole level, version/configuration, interval/effectivity, relevant context |
| source identifiers | scheme, identifier, issuer/owner, syntax/resolution/restrictions, source edition and provenance |
| candidate relations | same, different, part, version/specialization, variant, alternate description, family, unresolved alternatives |
| warrant | evidence, counterevidence, counterexamples, uncertainty/confidence, rejected alternatives |
| authority | scheme-local, master-data, domain, and receiving-decision scopes |
| disposition | narrowest warranted relation or unresolved result, conditions, source-ID preservation rule |
| downstream and reopen | mapping/composition/interface/test references and exact change or observation that reopens |
SIE.5:4.3 - What Changes in Practice
The integration stops minting a common key as proof of identity. Every load-bearing join points to a disposition with grain, interval, source identifiers, evidence, and authority. Unresolved identity becomes an explicit interface and validation branch instead of a row silently dropped or merged.