{"schema":"https://ver.cy/schemas/card/1.0.0","id":"vr.tr.chain-quantity","code":"thing-chain-quantity","url":"https://ver.cy/models/thing/chain-quantity/","name":"chain","alternateNames":["engineer's chain","nautical chain"],"kind":"thing","status":"published","version":"0.2.0-wave.2","language":"en","classifiers":{"family":"Thing Registry","category":"Cross-cutting context","entryKind":"noun.quantity","plane":"XCT","domain":["XCT.QTY"],"industry":[],"navPath":"","tags":[],"facets":{"substance":"abstract","origin":"conceptual","agency":"inert","mobility":"not-applicable","scale":"not-applicable","affordances":["observable"]}},"whatItIs":"A unit of length used historically in land surveying, the surveyor or Gunter chain of sixty-six feet divided into one hundred links, of which eighty make a mile and ten square chains make an acre, together with variants such as the engineer or Ramsden chain of one hundred feet and the nautical chain of fifteen feet; the chain shaped land division and railway measurement in English-speaking countries and survives in property records, railway mileposts and sports fields.","purpose":"Let an agent explain the chain as a unit of length and its variants, support conversions to feet, metres and related units, describe its role in surveying and land records, and support historical measurement questions.","scope":{"in":[],"out":[],"boundaries":[]},"distinguishingFeatures":["Decimal links","Acre relation","Surveying origin","Variants by field"],"structure":{"bundles":[{"id":"understand","name":"Understand","description":"What the chain is.","layers":[{"id":"concept","name":"Concept","description":"Definition and variants.","findings":[{"id":"concept-finding","name":"Concept","description":"Concept.","questions":[{"text":"What is the chain as a unit, and how do surveyor, engineer and nautical chains differ?","kind":"definition"},{"text":"Which variant or sense is meant?","kind":"boundary"}]}]},{"id":"relations","name":"Relations","description":"Relations to other units.","findings":[{"id":"relations-finding","name":"Relations","description":"Relations.","questions":[{"text":"How does the chain relate to links, rods, furlongs, miles, acres and metres?","kind":"definition"},{"text":"Which entry fits the imperial system?","kind":"action"}]}]}]},{"id":"convert","name":"Convert","description":"Conversion and use.","layers":[{"id":"convert","name":"Convert","description":"Converting.","findings":[{"id":"convert-finding","name":"Convert","description":"Conversion.","questions":[{"text":"How can this length be converted between chains, feet and metres?","kind":"action"},{"text":"Which units apply?","kind":"measurement"}]}]},{"id":"records","name":"Records","description":"Reading records.","findings":[{"id":"records-finding","name":"Records","description":"Records.","questions":[{"text":"How should chains and links in old survey plans and deeds be interpreted?","kind":"action"},{"text":"Which entry fits land surveying?","kind":"action"}]}]}]},{"id":"history","name":"History","description":"History and legacy.","layers":[{"id":"surveying","name":"Surveying","description":"Surveying history.","findings":[{"id":"surveying-finding","name":"Surveying","description":"Surveying.","questions":[{"text":"How did Gunter chain shape land division and surveying in English-speaking countries?","kind":"provenance"},{"text":"Which entry fits the history of surveying?","kind":"action"}]}]},{"id":"legacy","name":"Legacy","description":"Modern legacy.","findings":[{"id":"legacy-finding","name":"Legacy","description":"Legacy.","questions":[{"text":"Where does the chain survive today, in railways, sports fields and property records?","kind":"provenance"},{"text":"Which references are standard?","kind":"provenance"}]}]}]},{"id":"learn","name":"Learn","description":"Teaching.","layers":[{"id":"teach","name":"Teach","description":"Teaching.","findings":[{"id":"teach-finding","name":"Teach","description":"Teaching.","questions":[{"text":"How can historical units like the chain be taught?","kind":"action"},{"text":"Which misconceptions arise?","kind":"provenance"}]}]},{"id":"instrument","name":"Instrument","description":"The physical chain.","findings":[{"id":"instrument-finding","name":"Instrument","description":"Instrument.","questions":[{"text":"How was the physical measuring chain made and used in the field?","kind":"provenance"},{"text":"Which entry fits surveying instruments?","kind":"action"}]}]}]}]},"agentConduct":{"may":["Explain the surveyor's chain and its variants.","Convert chains to feet, metres, links and acres, stating which chain is meant.","Interpret historic survey records that use chains."],"mustNot":["Convert without saying which chain variant was assumed.","Confuse the unit with a physical chain or other senses of the word.","Present a converted historic boundary as a legal survey.","Round conversions in a way that changes a property area."],"requiresHuman":["Using a converted historic measurement to settle a boundary or land dispute."]},"ethics":{"considerations":["Old land records in chains still define boundaries; errors affect property rights.","Cricket pitches and railways still use the chain; clarity avoids confusion."],"affectedParties":["Landowners","Surveyors","Historians"]},"owners":{"steward":"Nobody: a unit held in common; national measurement bodies define legal units.","roles":[],"masterSystems":[]},"relations":[{"target":"oewn-13624548-n","type":"parent","note":"registry parent class"},{"target":"unit of length","type":"related","note":"category"},{"target":"hundredweight","type":"related","note":"another traditional unit entry"},{"target":"boundary","type":"related","note":"boundaries measured in chains"},{"target":"arable land","type":"related","note":"land measured in acres derived from chains"}],"interaction":{"identity":{"applicability":"required","items":["Vercy registry: vr.tr.chain-quantity","Open English WordNet: oewn-13674612-n"]},"properties":{"applicability":"not-applicable","items":[]},"recognition":{"applicability":"optional","items":["Sixty-six feet, one hundred links","Surveyor, engineer and nautical chains","The rod is a quarter chain; the furlong is ten chains; the mile is eighty chains","Not physical as a unit; historically a physical measuring chain."]},"capabilities":{"applicability":"required","items":["explain the unit and variants","support conversions","describe surveying role","support historical questions"]},"hazards":{"applicability":"required","items":["Confusing chain variants","Conversion errors","Confusing the unit with the physical chain or other senses"]},"interfaces":{"applicability":"required","items":["Historical weights and measures legislation","Land survey conventions","Metrication policies"]},"context":{"applicability":"required","items":["Surveying unit of length.","surveyor or Gunter chain","engineer or Ramsden chain","nautical chain","chain as a physical instrument","chains in railway and sports measurement"]}},"sources":[{"title":"Open English WordNet 2024, synset oewn-13674612-n","url":"https://en-word.net/id/oewn-13674612-n","note":"sense and gloss of the concept"},{"title":"Wiktionary: chain","url":"https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/chain","note":"word senses and usage"}],"openQuestions":["Should the Gunter chain be a separate entry?","How should survey records be linked?","How should historical metrology resources be linked?"],"resources":{"spec":"/models/things/publications/thing-chain-quantity/spec.json"},"provenance":{"origin":"thing registry research (pass 2)","builtFrom":["models/things/publications/thing-chain-quantity/spec.json"],"providers":["Claude"],"researchStatus":"unreviewed","generatedAt":"2026-09-12T05:47:46Z","builder":"tools/build_cards.py@1.0.0"},"completeness":{"sections":{"classifiers":"filled","whatItIs":"filled","purpose":"filled","distinguishingFeatures":"filled","structure":"filled","agentConduct":"filled","ethics":"filled","owners":"filled","relations":"filled","interaction.identity":"filled","interaction.properties":"not-applicable","interaction.recognition":"filled","interaction.capabilities":"filled","interaction.hazards":"filled","interaction.interfaces":"filled","interaction.context":"filled","sources":"filled"},"notes":{"_gate":"Published through the thing publication gate 1.0 on 2026-10-07T12:16:27+00:00: completeness 1.00; sense: WordNet gloss; 2 live sources; review by codex: pass","interaction.properties":"Plane XCT: no invented physical properties."},"score":1.0}}