constant
Give an agent a durable, checkable way to recognise a constant, record what state it is in, and decide what may be done with it.
Generated draft, first pass
This model was drafted by rule from what the registry knows about the thing. It proposes which bundles a real model will need and which questions research must answer. It is not researched and no sentence in it is sourced.
Generator: vr.draft.v3
Bundle → Layer → Finding → Questions Derived, awaiting review
4 bundles · 8 layers · 10 findings · 28 questions
Identity, naming and classification How an agent tells one constant from another, and a constant from things that resemble it.
Recognition comes before every other claim. Without stable identity nothing else in the model can be trusted to be about the same thing twice.
Names and identifiers
The names this thing goes by and the identifiers that survive translation and time.
Preferred name, aliases and local names
Which name to use, which names mean the same thing, and which merely sound similar.
- What identifies and describes the name of a constant, and in what units or vocabulary? definition
- Who or what asserted this about the name of a constant, by which method, and when was it true? provenance
- What may an agent decide or do once the name of a constant is known, and what must it refuse? action
Stable identifiers and external keys
Identifiers that keep pointing at this kind of thing across systems and languages.
- What identifies and describes an identifier for a constant, and in what units or vocabulary? definition
- Who or what asserted this about an identifier for a constant, by which method, and when was it true? provenance
- What may an agent decide or do once an identifier for a constant is known, and what must it refuse? action
Classification and granularity
Where a constant sits among kinds, and how finely a task needs to cut it.
Kind, parents and neighbouring kinds
The classes this thing belongs to and the ones it is next to.
- What identifies and describes the kind of a constant, and in what units or vocabulary? definition
- Who or what asserted this about the kind of a constant, by which method, and when was it true? provenance
- What may an agent decide or do once the kind of a constant is known, and what must it refuse? action
Distinguishing features
What separates a constant from the things most often confused with it.
- What identifies and describes what distinguishes a constant, and in what units or vocabulary? definition
- Who or what asserted this about what distinguishes a constant, by which method, and when was it true? provenance
- What may an agent decide or do once what distinguishes a constant is known, and what must it refuse? action
State and lifecycle The states a constant passes through and the events that move it between them.
Most decisions about a thing depend on what state it is in now, which is a claim with a time on it, not a property.
Lifecycle stages
From coming into existence to ceasing to be one of these.
Stages and transitions
The stages worth naming and what moves a constant between them.
- What identifies and describes the lifecycle of a constant, and in what units or vocabulary? definition
- Who or what asserted this about the lifecycle of a constant, by which method, and when was it true? provenance
- What may an agent decide or do once the lifecycle of a constant is known, and what must it refuse? action
Observations and current status
What is observed about a constant, how often and by whom.
Observation record
How an observation of a constant is recorded so that it can be superseded rather than overwritten.
- What identifies and describes an observation of a constant, and in what units or vocabulary? definition
- Who or what asserted this about an observation of a constant, by which method, and when was it true? provenance
- What may an agent decide or do once an observation of a constant is known, and what must it refuse? action
Definition, dimension and realisation What constant is defined as and how it is realised in practice.
A unit is not the quantity it measures, and its definition has a history that older data still depends on.
Definition and dimension
The defining relation and the quantity it measures.
Definition, body and date
What defines it now, and what defined it before.
- How is constant defined, by which body, and since when? definition
- What was the previous definition, and what data still depends on it? provenance
Conversion and compatibility
Relations to other units, exact or approximate.
Conversions and their exactness
Factors, and whether each is exact by definition.
- What conversions relate constant to other units, and which are exact by definition? measurement
- Where does rounding a conversion change a decision, and how should that be recorded? action
Provenance, evidence and time Where every claim about a constant came from and when it held.
A claim without a source and a time cannot be superseded, only overwritten, and an agent that overwrites loses the ability to explain itself.
Source and authority
Who said it, on what evidence, and how strongly.
Claim provenance and confidence
The authority behind each claim about a constant and how confident it is.
- What identifies and describes a claim about a constant, and in what units or vocabulary? definition
- Who or what asserted this about a claim about a constant, by which method, and when was it true? provenance
- What may an agent decide or do once a claim about a constant is known, and what must it refuse? action
Time, versions and supersession
When a claim was true, when it was learnt, and what replaced it.
Validity period and supersession
How an old claim about a constant is retired without being erased.
- What identifies and describes the validity of a claim about a constant, and in what units or vocabulary? definition
- Who or what asserted this about the validity of a claim about a constant, by which method, and when was it true? provenance
- What may an agent decide or do once the validity of a claim about a constant is known, and what must it refuse? action
Classifiers Filled
- Family
- Thing Registry
- Category
- Cross-cutting context
- Entry kind
- unit, quantity or measure
- Plane
- XCT
- Domain
- XCT.QTY
What it is Derived, awaiting review
A cross-cutting notion registered under XCT.QTY. The registry names it; this draft has not been given a definition yet.
Why it exists Derived, awaiting review
Give an agent a durable, checkable way to recognise a constant, record what state it is in, and decide what may be done with it.
Distinguishing features Derived, awaiting review
- Described in 21 Wikipedia languages, which is a measure of how widely the thing is known, not of how important it is.
What robots and AI may and may not do Derived, awaiting review
May
- observe it, measure it, record its state
Moral aspects Missing, in the backlog
Not described yet. This gap is in the card backlog.
Owners Missing, in the backlog
Not described yet. This gap is in the card backlog.
Links to other meta-models Missing, in the backlog
Not described yet. This gap is in the card backlog.
What else AI and robots need to interact with it Incomplete
Identity and identifiers required Missing, in the backlog
Not described yet. This gap is in the card backlog.
Direct properties not applicable Not applicable
- Made of: an abstraction with no physical instance
- Does nothing on its own; everything it does, something else did to it.
- These come from the domain this entry sits in rather than from the entry itself, so treat them as a first guess about the whole domain applied to one thing.
Recognition optional Derived, awaiting review
- Nothing to see: a unit is a convention. What is seen is an instrument reading in it.
Capabilities and actions required Derived, awaiting review
- observed and measured
Hazards and failure modes required Missing, in the backlog
Not described yet. This gap is in the card backlog.
Standards and interfaces required Missing, in the backlog
Not described yet. This gap is in the card backlog.
Context of use required Derived, awaiting review
- Described in 21 Wikipedia languages, which measures how widely it is written about rather than how important or how common it is.
Sources Missing, in the backlog
Not described yet. This gap is in the card backlog.
Open questions
- Which of the bundles below does a real task actually need, and which are ceremony?
- What does this thing have that the facets do not capture at all?
- Which neighbouring kind is most often confused with a constant, and on what evidence are they told apart?
- What may an agent decide or do once the name of a constant is known, and what must it refuse?
- What may an agent decide or do once an identifier for a constant is known, and what must it refuse?
- What may an agent decide or do once the kind of a constant is known, and what must it refuse?
Machine files
Provenance
thing registry, generated draft (pass 1) · not researched
Built from: models/draft_model.php, wikidata
Generated by rule from registry facets. No source was read; every derived section awaits the research pass.