Core Entities & Functional Data
Beyond simple visual nodes, the EdgeNode platform enables deep analytical modeling by enriching graph elements with domain meanings. The Left Entities Panel is where you manage the foundational data building blocks that fuel our evaluation engine.
Unlike tracking engines that rely on absolute calendar timestamps, temporal properties such as beginning, ending, and pipeline are evaluated explicitly as states within an artifact's lifecycle. This allows you to model flexible, reusable pipelines regardless of external dates.
The Core Modeling Matrix
An analyst builds complete operational simulations by combining five distinct object primitives. Together, they map organizational capabilities, throughputs, resource costs, and business goals:
Figure 6.1: The Left Entities Panel layout tracking streams, contours, roles, assets, and validation goals.Streams
The logistical and transactional arteries of your architecture. Streams quantify what flows across structural edges. They explicitly reference an underlying artifact type (such as code, requirements, or digital assets) and a specific value unit to measure throughput capacity.
Contours
Logical contextual boundaries used to isolate domains, architectural layers, or departments. Contours allow you to map situational definitions—meaning nodes can exhibit completely unique transactional behaviors depending on which context layer they populate.
Roles
The human capital definition layer. Roles capture work capacities, calendar availability configurations, and custom financial parameters. Furthermore, roles establish data-driven responsibility matrix mappings (such as Accountable, Consulted, or Informed) tied directly to stream states.
Assets
Non-human resources, infrastructure, or operational tooling essential for system operations. Assets track financial parameters like Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) and expected lifespans. They are allocated dynamically to specific streams between matching lifecycle states.
Goals
The critical baseline targets anchoring your model to actual business outcomes. Goals define an objective pipeline threshold, identifying the precise quantities of specific artifact types required to reach a specific targeted state for success validation.