| Relationships |
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| Parents |
Element
| A data Element. This is the top level term in the PCS Data Dictionary, to which all other terms (Elements) are hierarchically linked. An Element can be of any size or granularity, from a single data value to a Message or suite of Messages. |
| Children |
Event
| A Context in which some act happens: for example, a person is born, a Work is Performed, a Product is released, a File is Downloaded. In an Event, some attribute is changed. In PCS the terms "Act" and "Event" are treated as synonymous (even though they are typically represented in everyday language respectively by a verb and a noun). For example, the act "Adapt" or "Adapting" is the verb of which a particular "AdaptingEvent" is an instance, and these terms are treated as interchangeable in PCS. So, for example, a permission to "Adapt" or for "Adapting" is synonymous with a permission to be the Agent in an "AdaptingEvent". Differences in tense and plurality are similarly ignored at the global level: for example, "Create", "Creates", "Created" and "Creating" are all treated as the same term whose particular tense or plurality can be determined unambiguously from its specific context. |
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State
| A Context in which some Resource or Party exists in an unchanging state: for example, a Person lives, a Product is Available, an error is present. Changes are brought about by Events, which give rise to new States. It is not that no attributes of a Resource or Party change, only that that their defined attributes within that Context do not change. For example, if a Person is resident in Canada from 2001 to 2003, this means that their resident status does not change in that period. The fact that they may get married or sign a recording contract in that period does not affect the unchanging nature of their State of residence. |