I would like to be able to use synonyms in the inspector for Relationship for Character, Character Group, and other relevant Item Types.
Semantically, there are primitive relationships like Server / Recipient (that one happens to have an inverse relationship, which is a great feature). Depending on context, the particular form of that relationship could be Provider / Receiver, Caregiver / Patient, Benefactor / Beneficiary, Agent / Client, Representative / Customer, etc. In this example, all the terms on the left side the slashes are relationally synonymous with each other. All the terms on the right sides of the slashes are relationally synonymous with each other.
Unless I’m overlooking something, I would have to create each relationship separately. There is no current way to add a list of synonymous terms for a primitive term and later be able to subselect the desired synonym in the inspector. Instead, each synonym would have to be created as a separate relationship. Is this correct?
Conventionally, synonyms relate to each other laterally rather than hierarchically. They would not usually have a parent, though that could work when there is a primitive relationship that can serve as the parent. In this example, Beneficiary could have a parent, Recipient. This would establish the semantic relationship, but I don’t think it would deliver the pick list of synonyms I want.
One approach may involve creating a ‘Synonym’ relationship item that applies only to other relationship items. (Is that similar to how ‘See also’ is intended to be used?) So, for example, when creating a ‘Client’ relationship, its ‘Synonym’ field would have a pick list including ‘Customer’. This could be a way to fit the term more closely to its context. Again, I don’t see a way to implement this.
Any ideas?