RELREC may reference SUPP-- datasets that v4.0 replaces

Rule

NS-008

Category

Structural

Basis

Confirmed Traceable to the published specification text cited below.

Detectability

Data required The Define-XML cannot settle this. Answering it needs the datasets themselves.

Finding type

Question

Applies to

SDTMIG 3.2, 3.3, 3.4

What changes in v4.0

RELREC records relationships between records or datasets by naming a dataset in RDOMAIN and a key in IDVAR and IDVARVAL. Where a relationship involves a supplemental qualifier dataset, the SUPP-to-NS conversion changes the structure on the other end of it: the dataset is renamed, the one-row-per-QNAM shape becomes one row per parent record, and the character IDVARVAL is replaced by the numeric IDVARVLN. Any RELREC entry that referenced the old structure has to be re-expressed or retired. This study declares both RELREC and at least one supplemental qualifier dataset, which is the condition under which that question arises. Whether any RELREC record actually references a SUPP-- dataset is in RELREC's rows, and this scan reads metadata only.

What to do about it

Read RELREC and list every record whose RDOMAIN names a supplemental qualifier dataset. For each, decide what the relationship means once the SUPP-- dataset no longer exists in that form — several become redundant, because a non-standard variable sitting in its parent's NS-- record needs no relationship to express what it belongs to. Re-express the rest against the NS-- structure, and check any downstream ADaM or reporting code that reads RELREC for the same references.

What the scan can and cannot see

That both datasets are declared is conclusive. Whether any RELREC record references a SUPP-- dataset is carried in RELREC's own rows — RDOMAIN, IDVAR, IDVARVAL and RELID are data, not metadata — so this scan raises the dependency and does not claim to have found one.