Theory of Documentation

Base Elements and Sets

• There exist a superset of things, in which each element is in a certain state, as well as respective associated actions on, or performed by, those things.
  
  • Each state of a thing is a separate element--That is, things with multiple states are actually multiple elements of individual things, each with their own singular, certain state.
    
  • An action can be the change of state, or the cause of a change of state.
    
  • A thing has a seperate state for each associated action it performs.
    
  • Multiple things can be associated with a single action as well as multiple actions with a single thing--things and actions have n-way associations, where n is a positive integer.
    
• A sequence formed of a single thing with an associated action is called an event.
  
  • A sequence formed of multiple events using the shared associations of things or actions in each preceding or following event is called a sequence of events.
    
  • The set of events that occur due to being caused by another events action are called secondary events.
    
  • A contrary set of events that do not occur as the result of other events actions, are primary events.
    
• The things in these primary events are called primary actors.
  
  • A thing in a state with an associated action of which there is no event with an action that causes a change to that state.
    
  • Primary actors are the start of every sequence of events (Including staged "circular" events).
    
• Under this model, secondary events can be thought of as autonomous events.
  

With this model people could be considered the primary actors, and events external of this model have the actions that cause the thing-state of the primary actors to perform actions in primary events.

The computer information systems we are dealing with can be broken down into things, actions, events, sequences and actors.