Scope of Uniqueness

DDI 3.2 supports scoping the uniqueness of identifier to the parent Maintainable or to the Agency (subagency). This choice affects the structure of the ID as it appears within the Canonical URN (see Type of Identifier in this section). Essentially, when the ID is scoped to the Agency the unique identification of an object requires the Agency, ID of the object, and Version Number of the object. When the ID is scoped to the Maintainable the unique identification of a non-Maintainable object requires the Agency, ID of the parent Maintainable, the ID of the object, and the Version Number of the object. The attribute scopeOfUniqueness is required and must contain either “Agency” or “Maintainable”. This attribute defines how the ID will be expressed in the Canonical URN and what is required for a complete reference to the object within the Maintaining Agency.