Product
RIXML 2.5 Element
Represents a distinct research publication or idea within the RIXML framework. Contains a mandatory productID attribute that must be a UUID for Level One compliance. Level One excludes Legal and RelatedProduct child elements.
Product refers to a unique "research idea", as opposed to an actual research publication. It is possible to publish multiple documents or other files (called "resources") with the same productID, provided they all refer to the same discrete research idea. Examples of a product include a research note, research report, conference call webcast, and morning meeting compilation. Examples of multiple resources published with the same productID are (1) a document published in English, with exact translations in German, French, and Japanese, (2) an audio file of a presentation and the transcript of the publication or (3) a single report that consists of a PDF and an Excel file.
Usage
Required element appearing exactly once within Research element. Must include productID attribute as UUID. For Level One, this UUID should match the researchID and resourceID values.
Business Context
Central to research product identification and tracking throughout distribution chains, enabling precise referencing and duplicate detection across research management systems.
Specification Guide
Overview
Product represents a unique research concept or idea rather than a specific document file, serving as the core container for all research content within RIXML. It encompasses intellectual content that can be expressed through multiple resources, formats, or languages while maintaining conceptual unity. The Product element acts as the primary organizing unit for research distribution, separating analytical concepts from their physical manifestations and enabling flexible content delivery across different media types, languages, and distribution channels.
Usage
Product is required as a child of the Research element and must include the productID attribute for unique identification. In Level One compliance, exactly one Product appears per Research element, while full RIXML allows multiple Products within a Research bundle. The Product contains four major information groups: Source, Content, Context, and StatusInfo, with Legal and RelatedProduct as optional children. Multiple resources can share the same productID when they represent different formats, translations, or related materials of the same research idea. The eventIndicator attribute helps identify event-related content for specialized processing, while the sequence attribute enables ordering within multi-product bundles.
Rules
- MAYMultiple resources can be published with the same productID provided they all refer to the same discrete research idea[RIXML User Guide v2.2 p.15]
- MUSTRIXML Level One compliant files must include all applicable Level One tags for the specific publication type[RIXML Getting Started Guide p.11]
- INFORMATIVELegal and RelatedProduct elements are not required by Level One compliance[RIXML Level One Addendum v2.2 p.11] [RIXML Level One Addendum v2.5 p.6]
- SHOULDPublishers should include all relevant tags rather than just required ones to maximize functionality[RIXML Getting Started Guide p.12]
- SHOULDESG content classification requires tagging within taxonomy based on report content rather than the nature of the subject company's business[RIXML All-Member Meeting June 2023 p.13]↗
Relationships
- contained-byResearch — Product is a required child element of Research, with exactly one Product in Level One compliance
- containsStatusInfo — StatusInfo provides publication status context and version details for the research product
- containsSource — Source provides attribution information for the research content
- containsContent — Content contains the descriptive metadata and resource information
- containsContext — Context provides contextual metadata including classifications and subject matter
- requiresProduct.productID — A unique research idea can be published as multiple resources with the same productID, provided they all refer to the same discrete research concept
- usesProduct.eventIndicator — When eventIndicator is set, it signals downstream parsing processes to handle the product as event-focused content for more efficient processing
Where It Fits
Canonical Path
Definition
| Type | ProductType |
| Namespace | http://www.rixml.org/2017/9/RIXML |
| Min Occurs | 1 |
| Max Occurs | 1 |
Attributes
productIDstring |
This is to facilitate the unique identification of a particular product. To ensure uniqueness it is recommended that a Universal Unique IDentifier (UUID) be used as the productID. UUIDs can be generated on any computer, regardless of platform or operating system. A UUID is a 128-bit (16-byte) integer that is virtually guaranteed to be unique in the world across space and time. The Open Software Foundation (OSF) created UUIDs, as part of their Distributed Computing Environment (DCE). requiredSince 2.1 |
eventIndicatorYesNoEnum |
A cue from the publisher that this product is really about an event, so that a hypothetical downstream parsing process might proceed more effectively and efficiently. optionalSince 2.1 |
sequenceinteger |
Used to indicate any meaningful ordering of the Products contained in this Research item. Particularly useful in publishing compendium products made up of multiple sub-products. Ordering is ascending. optionalSince 2.1 |
Children
StatusInfo(complex)1..unbounded |
requiredSince 2.1 |
RelatedProduct(complex)0..unbounded |
optionalSince 2.1 |
Source(complex)1..1 |
requiredSince 2.1 |
ContentContentType1..1 |
requiredSince 2.1 |
ContextContextType1..1 |
requiredSince 2.1 |
LegalLegalType0..unbounded |
optionalSince 2.1 |
Example
<Product productID="f47ac10b-58cc-4372-a567-0e02b2c3d479">
<StatusInfo> ... </StatusInfo>
<Source> ... </Source>
<Content> ... </Content>
<Context> ... </Context>
</Product>Version History
Unchanged since introduction in RIXML 2.1
The Product element has been a core component since RIXML 2.1, representing research concepts rather than physical documents. In version 2.2, the eventIndicator and sequence attributes were introduced to support event-related content identification and multi-product ordering. Version 2.4 expanded the element's role in research lifecycle management. Version 2.5 maintained backward compatibility while refining Level One compliance requirements. In the proposed version 3.0, the eventIndicator attribute and EventDetails functionality are planned for removal due to low adoption [RIXML All-Member Meeting June 2023 p.33]↗. Additionally, version 3.0 proposes removing the nested Product structure to flatten the overall RIXML hierarchy [RIXML Research Suite Data Dictionary v3.0 (DRAFT) p.11]↗.
Business Rules
The startDateTime must be later on the time scale than the value of Product publicationDateTime
The endDateTime must be later on the time scale than the value of Product publicationDateTime
For Level One compliance, the productID must be a UUID and should match the researchID and resourceID
Level One compliance excludes Legal and RelatedProduct elements as children of Product
The identifiers researchID, productID, and resourceID must share the same UUID value in Level One
All identifiers in Level One must be UUIDs
A Universal Unique Identifier (UUID) is recommended for productID to ensure uniqueness across different systems
Design Decisions
The productID attribute must be a UUID and should be identical to researchID and resourceID for Level One compliance
To ensure unique identification and consistency across related elements in Level One implementations
RIXML Level One Addendum v2.5, p.6
Product cardinality restricted to exactly one in Level One Research element
To substantially reduce complexity for both publishers and vendors, alleviating implementation costs
RIXML Level One Addendum v2.5, p.24
productID must be a UUID in Level One
To ensure uniqueness and standardization, unlike the full schema which only recommends UUIDs
RIXML Level One Addendum v2.5, p.25
Semantic Relationships
Qualifies4 relationships
Research ID identifies a particular bundling of products while Product ID identifies individual research ideas, enabling result set labeling in distribution systems
RIXML Research Data Dictionary v2.5.1, p.21— Research
Publication status qualifies the product state and indicates whether it has been released, revised, or deleted
RIXML Implementation Guide v2.5.1, p.17— Level One
Product type qualifies the nature of the research content, indicating whether it is a report, comment, model, or other publication format
RIXML Implementation Guide v2.5.1, p.17— Level One
Report focus defines the primary subject matter of the research, enabling precise categorization as issuer-focused, sector-focused, or country-focused research
RIXML Implementation Guide v2.5.1, p.22— Identifying report focus is critical
Implies1 relationship
Event indicator serves as a processing cue that the product is about an event, enabling more effective downstream parsing and handling of event-related content
RIXML Research Data Dictionary v2.5.1, p.22— eventIndicator (Strongly Recommended, YesNoEnum)
Requires5 relationships
Related product references must link to valid product IDs through the relatedProductID attribute, establishing connections between associated research items
RIXML Research Data Dictionary v2.5.1, p.23— RelatedProduct
EventVenue is required when Product eventIndicator is set to Yes
RIXML Research Data Dictionary v2.5.1, p.47— EventVenue
Content producers must write once and send everywhere, maintaining a single process for transmitting research content to all aggregation vendors and clients
RIXML Implementation Guide v2.5.1, p.22— Content producers must be able to write once, send everywhere
Level One requires researchID and productID to share the same UUID value
RIXML Level One Addendum v2.5, p.25— Identifiers
Level One requires productID and resourceID to share the same UUID value
RIXML Level One Addendum v2.5, p.25— Identifiers
Constrains6 relationships
Minor version releases maintain backward compatibility and are numbered as point releases, while major version releases break backward compatibility and use full-number increases
RIXML Implementation Guide v2.5.1, p.10— How can I provide feedback?
SecurityID tag is only included when the publication discusses specific securities, as it would not apply to economic overviews or company-agnostic research
RIXML Implementation Guide v2.5.1, p.17— Level One
Language identification for Product and Resource objects must use ISO 639-2/T specification three-letter codes rather than alternative language identifiers
RIXML Implementation Guide v2.5.1, p.29— Language Codes
In Level One compliance, the Research element must contain exactly one Product element, not multiple products
RIXML Level One Addendum v2.5, p.6— Research
For Level One compliance, the productID must be a UUID and should match the researchID value
RIXML Level One Addendum v2.5, p.6— Research
For Level One compliance, the productID should match the resourceID value
RIXML Level One Addendum v2.5, p.6— Research