ProductFocus

Overview

ProductFocus identifies the primary analytical focus of a research product — what the report is fundamentally *about* rather than what it merely mentions. It is the central classification mechanism that contextualises every other tag in the Context package, indicating whether the research centres on a specific issuer, sector/industry, country, region, asset class, asset type, security type, index, or is deliberately unfocused. The element carries two required attributes: focus (from FocusEnum) which names the dimension of focus, and primaryIndicator (YesNoEnum) which marks whether this entry is the dominant focus when multiple are present. ProductFocus works hand-in-hand with primaryIndicator attributes on the corresponding classification elements (Issuer, SectorIndustry, Country, Region, etc.) to establish an unambiguous content hierarchy that drives search, routing, filtering, and compliance workflows in research distribution platforms.

Usage

ProductFocus is a child of ProductDetails within the Context package. Cardinality - In the full schema from v2.3 onward: optional, zero-or-more occurrences (sources: release-notes-2.3 p.4, data-dictionary-2.5.1 p.50, level-one-2.5 p.18). - In v2.1/v2.2 (full schema): required, one-or-more occurrences [user-guide-2.1 p.32]. - In Level One profiles (v2.2 through v2.4): exactly one occurrence, with primaryIndicator required to be Yes (sources: level-one-2.2 p.27, level-one-2.3 p.21, level-one-2.3.1 p.21, level-one-2.4 p.21). Level One v2.5 relaxes this to zero-or-more, aligning with the full schema [level-one-2.5 p.18]. Typical patterns - Company / issuer report — set focus to Issuer and ensure at least one Issuer has primaryIndicator='Yes'. - Sector / industry report — set focus to SectorIndustry and mark the relevant SectorIndustry as primary; use focusLevel to pin the hierarchical level. - Country / region report — set focus to Country or Region and mark the corresponding Country or Region as primary. - Compilation / morning-call report — set focus to Unfocused (added in v2.3) or omit the element entirely; all primaryIndicator attributes on context elements should be No. Multiple ProductFocus instances are permitted in the full schema to describe products with several distinct focus dimensions (e.g. a country-and-sector cross-cut), with one marked primary.

Rules

• MUSTTag values on ProductFocus must identify what the report is primarily about, not topics it merely mentions in passing.[RIXML Implementation Guide v2.5.1 p.23]
• SHOULDPublishers should specify ProductFocus on each research product so consumers can understand the primary subject matter and so dependent tag requirements can be determined.[RIXML Implementation Guide v2.5.1 p.22] [Company Report (Basic) Sample v2.4]↗ [Morning Call Report (Basic) Sample v2.4]↗
• MUSTWhen focus is set to Issuer, at least one Issuer element must have primaryIndicator set to Yes.[RIXML User Guide v2.1 p.33] [RIXML Implementation Guide v2.5.1 p.23]
• MUSTWhen focus is set to Country, at least one Country element must have primaryIndicator set to Yes.[RIXML User Guide v2.1 p.32] [RIXML Research Data Dictionary v2.5.1 p.61]
• MUSTWhen focus is set to Security, at least one Security element must have primaryIndicator set to Yes.[RIXML User Guide v2.2 p.38] [RIXML Research Data Dictionary v2.5.1 p.56]
• MUSTWhen focus is set to SectorIndustry, at least one SectorIndustry element must have primaryIndicator set to Yes.[RIXML Research Data Dictionary v2.5.1 p.17]
• SHOULDReports about an industry within a particular country should set focus to SectorIndustry rather than Country, because the primary subject is the industry analysis.[RIXML Research Data Dictionary v2.5.1 p.16]
• SHOULDIndustry overview reports should have focus set to SectorIndustry and omit company-specific Issuer identifiers unless those companies are themselves discussed in depth.[RIXML Implementation Guide v2.5.1 p.23]
• SHOULDFor compilation reports covering multiple companies in one sector, choose focus = Issuer if readers searching for those companies would want to find the report, or SectorIndustry if it provides quick comparative sector context.[RIXML Research Data Dictionary v2.5.1 p.16]
• SHOULDCompilation reports (such as morning calls) should either omit ProductFocus or set focus to Unfocused, with all primaryIndicator attributes on context elements set to No.[RIXML Research Data Dictionary v2.5.1 p.17] [RIXML Research Data Dictionary v2.5.1 p.20] [Best Practices for Publishing RIXML p.18]
• MUSTIn Level One profiles for versions 2.2 through 2.4, ProductDetails must contain exactly one ProductFocus element with primaryIndicator set to Yes.[RIXML Level One Addendum v2.2 p.27] [RIXML Level One Addendum v2.3 p.21] [RIXML Level One Addendum v2.3.1 p.21] [RIXML Level One Addendum v2.4 p.21]
• MAYFrom v2.3 onward in the full schema, ProductFocus is optional and may be omitted when focus information is unavailable, rather than defaulting to an arbitrary value.[RIXML Release Notes v2.3 p.4]
• MUSTfocusLevel must be used together with ProductFocus to identify which hierarchical level of the sector classification represents the product's primary focus.[RIXML Research Data Dictionary v2.5.1 p.64] [RIXML User Guide v2.3 p.44] [RIXML Level One Addendum v2.3.1 p.19]

Relationships

• child-ofProductDetails — ProductFocus is a child of ProductDetails within the Context package. Cardinality is optional/zero-or-more in the full schema from v2.3 onward, and exactly one in Level One profiles through v2.4.
• qualifiesProductClassifications — ProductFocus coordinates with the classification elements inside ProductClassifications to establish which classification represents the product's primary subject.
• requiresIssuer.primaryIndicator — When focus = Issuer, the matching Issuer must be marked primary via primaryIndicator = Yes.
• requiresSectorIndustry.primaryIndicator — When focus = SectorIndustry, the relevant SectorIndustry must be marked primary via primaryIndicator = Yes.
• requiresCountry.primaryIndicator — When focus = Country, the relevant Country must be marked primary via primaryIndicator = Yes.
• requiresSecurity.primaryIndicator — When focus = Security, at least one Security must be marked primary via primaryIndicator = Yes.
• requiresRegion.primaryIndicator — When the product focuses at the region level, at least one Region must be designated primary via primaryIndicator = Yes.
• qualifiesSectorIndustry.focusLevel — focusLevel works alongside ProductFocus to indicate which hierarchical level of the sector taxonomy is the report's primary subject.
• uses-typeFocusEnum — The required focus attribute draws its value from FocusEnum, whose members include Issuer, SectorIndustry, Country, Region, AssetClass, AssetType, SecurityType, Index, and (from v2.3) Unfocused.
• qualifiesSubject — Subject identifies triggering events or topics that prompted the report and complements ProductFocus by providing finer-grained topical metadata beyond the basic focus classification.