Hi Yasser,
I completely understand your challenge - SID can feel overwhelming at first, especially when approached directly from the full XMI/UML model. It's a very broad and deep information model, and most practitioners never consume it "end-to-end."
From my experience, a more practical approach is to start with purpose rather than structure:
1. Begin with the business domain you are working in
SID is organized into many domains (Customer, Product, Service, Resource…).
Trying to read all of them at once makes it abstract.
A simpler entry point is:
Which Open APIs are you planning to use?
Which TMF component (Customer, Product, Service) does your use case belong to?
Then explore only that SID domain first.
2. Use Open API payloads as your primary navigation
A very effective workflow is:
Pick a TMF Open API (e.g., TMF620, TMF622, TMF641).
Identify its main objects.
Look up those exact classes inside the SID.
This way, SID becomes a "reference model" supporting something concrete, not a standalone maze.
3. Don't try to consume SID top-down
Practitioners rarely study the entire model.
Most work bottom-up, through:
Examples
API payloads
Real use cases
Mapping exercises (API → SID → internal model)
SID is meant to provide consistency and vocabulary, not a step-by-step design blueprint.
4. Useful beginner path
A lightweight learning flow that helps newcomers:
1. Pick a single use case (e.g., Product Ordering).
2. Read the corresponding Open API spec.
3. Open the SID domain referenced by that API (Product, Service…).
4. Trace only the classes used in that API.
5. Expand outward gradually when needed.
This makes SID feel structured instead of infinite.
5. Tools for more intuitive navigation
Rather than loading the raw XMI, it helps to use:
Simplified UML views available in some TMF user guides
Model browsers that allow filtering by domain or class hierarchy
Smaller curated excerpts focused on one capability (many projects internally use such subsets)
Conclusion:
SID becomes manageable once you stop treating it as "one big model" and start consuming it as a set of domain-specific reference maps that support concrete APIs or scenarios.
If you share which area you're starting with (Customer, Product, Service, etc.), the community can also point you to the most relevant slices of SID.
Best regards,
Furooshin
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Furooshin Firoz
TO BE VERIFIED
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Original Message:
Sent: Dec 05, 2025 18:40
From: Yasser Assiry
Subject: Struggling to Get Started with SID & Open API Modeling
Hello TM Forum Community,
I am reaching out because I am facing tremendous difficulty in getting started with the SID model and the TMF modeling documentation. I'm finding it very challenging to practically engage with the SID at the modeling level.
Over the past few days, I spent many hours trying to explore the SID by importing the official XMI files into Enterprise Architect. I eventually managed to convert and load the XMI, but I still do not have a clear, intuitive way to navigate or understand the SID structure.
I'm struggling to answer basic questions such as:
Where should I start when trying to comprehend the SID?
Which packages or domains are most important for beginners?
How do practitioners typically explore the SID (beyond just browsing the UML diagrams)?
Is there a recommended workflow or methodology for consuming the SID when designing TMF-compliant systems?
Are there simplified views, learning paths, or curated subsets of the SID for newcomers?
Right now, I feel overwhelmed because the model is very large, and I couldn't find an easy, guided way to discover or navigate it. My goal is to design systems aligned with SID and Open APIs, but I'm not yet confident about how to start consuming and applying the SID in a practical, end-to-end way.
I would really appreciate any advice, recommended documents, learning paths, or best practices from the community.
If there are tools, tutorials, or example workflows that help make the SID more approachable, please let me know.
Thank you in advance for your support.
Best regards,
Yasser
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Yasser Assiry
Saudi Telecom Company
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