Repository

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A Repository is a managed Resource that stores, preserves, and provides access to retained content.

A Repository can retain:

• Data
• Records
• Documents
• Models
• Schemas
• Configurations
• Source code
• Compiled code
• Artifacts
• Executable Artifacts
• Test Definitions
• Test Runs
• Test Results
• Baselines
• Evidence
• Other managed content

A Repository can provide capabilities for:

• Submitting content
• Storing content
• Organizing content
• Retrieving content
• Preserving content
• Updating content
• Removing content
• Controlling access
• Managing Versions
• Maintaining content digests
• Maintaining relationships among retained items
• Recording changes
• Recording access
• Supporting discovery
• Supporting retention
• Supporting archival
• Supporting backup and recovery
• Preserving Provenance
• Maintaining Traceability

A Repository can identify:

• Its identity
• Its name
• Its description
• Its Repository type
• Its owner
• Its operator
• Its custodian
• Its governing Authority
• Its supported content types
• Its storage locations
• Its interfaces
• Its applicable Endpoints
• Its access controls
• Its retention rules
• Its preservation rules
• Its version-management rules
• Its capacity
• Its availability
• Its operational status
• Its backup and recovery arrangements
• Its applicable Policies
• Its applicable Governance Policies
• Its Provenance
• Its Traceability

managed Resource that stores, preserves, and provides access to retained content

Adapted from:

• Resource
• Catalog
• DIDO Reference Architecture
• DIDO Reference Implementation Conceptual Model
• DIDO-TE draft Requirements Register

This definition establishes Repository as the general concept from which specialized repositories, including Artifact Repository, can derive.

A Repository differs from a Catalog:

• A Repository stores, preserves, and provides access to retained content
• A Catalog describes subjects and enables their discovery

A Catalog can reference content stored in one or more Repositories.

A Repository can provide Catalog capabilities. Providing those capabilities does not make Repository and Catalog synonymous.

A Repository differs from a Registry:

• A Repository stores and preserves retained content
• A Registry records subjects under an identified registration authority and registration process

A Repository can store the records maintained by a Registry. The same system can provide both capabilities when it satisfies both definitions.

A Repository differs from an Inventory:

• A Repository stores and preserves retained content
• An Inventory accounts for subjects held, controlled, allocated, available, or otherwise tracked within a defined scope

A Repository can maintain an Inventory of its retained content.

A Repository differs from a storage facility:

• A storage facility provides storage capacity
• A Repository manages retained content and provides controlled mechanisms for storing, preserving, and accessing it

A file system, object store, database, or storage device does not necessarily constitute a Repository. It becomes part of a Repository when management capabilities govern the retained content.

A Repository differs from an archive:

• A Repository supports the active or continuing management of retained content
• An archive emphasizes long-term preservation and controlled retention

A Repository can include archival capabilities.

A Repository can be:

• Logical or physical
• Local or remote
• Centralized or distributed
• Independent or federated
• Public or private
• Temporary or persistent
• General-purpose or domain-specific
• Read-only or writable
• Connected, disconnected, or air-gapped

A logical Repository can use multiple physical storage facilities. Multiple logical Repositories can also use the same physical storage facility.

A distributed Repository can store replicated or partitioned content across multiple locations while presenting a managed Repository capability.

A federated Repository can provide access to content managed by independently governed Repositories without transferring ownership or control of that content.

Storing multiple copies of the same content does not necessarily create multiple Versions. The applicable identity and versioning rules determine whether the copies represent the same Version.

Removing a reference from a Catalog does not necessarily remove the referenced content from a Repository. Removing content from a Repository does not necessarily remove every Catalog Entry that references it.

A Repository should preserve sufficient information to establish:

• The identity of retained content
• The applicable Version
• The content digest when required
• The content source
• The submission time
• The submitting Actor
• The applicable access controls
• The applicable retention rules
• The applicable Provenance
• The applicable Traceability

A DIDO-TE Repository retains:

• Approved Test Definition Versions
• Test Environment configurations
• Executable Artifacts
• Test Run records
• Test Results
• Evidence
• Approved Baselines

A Test Definition Catalog contains Catalog Entries that describe and reference the Test Definitions retained in the Repository.

When a User selects a Test Definition, DIDO-TE:

• Uses the Catalog Entry to identify and locate the Test Definition
• Retrieves the identified Test Definition Version from the Repository
• Verifies the applicable content digest
• Records the Repository reference in the Test Run
• Preserves Provenance and Traceability to the retrieved Test Definition

The Catalog supports discovery. The Repository stores, preserves, and provides access to the Test Definition.