A.6:4.5 - Where statements go (classification examples)
Informative. Classification examples for learning the discipline; they do not add requirements beyond A.6:7.
The table below intentionally uses near‑everyday spec phrases. The same visible words appear in different quadrants depending on what they do.
The A.7 primary layer field below identifies the claim’s EntityOfConcern, with its kind when needed; it is not a layer selected from the quadrant. The concern may itself be a Description episteme or publication carrier and remains separate from the episteme carrying the claim.
| ID | Example statement (typical wording) | Matrix quadrant | Put it under… | A.7 primary layer |
|---|---|---|---|---|
L-1 | “op f is defined iff P(x) holds.” | L | Signature → Laws (Definition:) | Operation f; the relation of x to f is unresolved |
L-2 | “For all requests, idempotencyKey is unique per subject.” | L | Signature → Laws (Invariant:) | Requests’ idempotencyKey values; the request population and subject are unresolved |
A-1 | “The mechanism may be applied only if tokenValid.” (rewrite as predicate: admissible(req) implies tokenValid(req)) | A | Mechanism → AdmissibilityConditions (entry gate) | Entry predicate admissible(req) implies tokenValid(req) |
A-2 | “A request is admissible only if header X is present.” | A | Mechanism → AdmissibilityConditions | Request-entry predicate requiring header X |
D-1 | “Client implementers MUST satisfy A-2.” | D | Norms-and-commitments: a general prescription unless one exact A.2.8 individual commitment and actual bearer are also identified; reference the gate by ID or canonical location | Normative rule requiring client implementers to satisfy A-2 |
D-2 | “Authors MUST publish a versioned MVPK face for this boundary.” | D | Conformance Checklist and publication norms (authoring plane) | Normative rule requiring authors to publish this boundary’s versioned MVPK face |
D-3 | “Operators SHOULD rotate keys every 90 days.” | D | Norms: state the prescription; if an individual duty is claimed, identify its actual bearer, direct A.2.8 predicate, and any separately obtaining system-role assignment used only for applicability | Normative rule recommending that operators rotate keys every 90 days |
D-4 | “Implementers MUST expose audit‑log carriers via endpoint /audit.” | D | Norms-and-commitments (exposure duty) about carriers | Normative rule requiring implementers to expose audit-log carriers via /audit |
D-5 | “The vendor commits to 99.9% availability over window T (SLA).” | D | Commitments and SLA: identify the actual admitted vendor System or other A.2.8 party as duty bearer, the direct commitment predicate, constitutive rule, required basis, window, and exclusions; any system-role assignment is only a possible applicability ground | The vendor’s individual availability commitment |
E-1 | “LedgerBalance-L17 changed from 80 to 65 across interval T under the stated account-continuity rule.” | E | A.3/A.3.4 actual transformation claim; no Work is inferred from the delta alone | Change of LedgerBalance-L17 across T |
E-1-EVID | “AuditRecord-L17 evidences E-1 for audit use under the stated source, window, and A.10 path.” | E | Evidence relation and carrier for the already named change | A.10 support relation from AuditRecord-L17 to claim E-1 for audit use |
D-6 | “Operators MUST retain audit‑log carriers for 30 days.” | D | Retention policy (deontic) about carriers | Normative rule requiring operators to retain audit-log carriers for 30 days |
E-2 | “latency_p95 ≤ 200ms under workload W using measurements recorded in carrier LatencyMetricSeries from collector C.” | E | Measured-property claim with measurement conditions; subject unresolved | Entity whose latency is measured: unresolved; LatencyMetricSeries is the measurement carrier, not that missing referent |
Notes:
- The classification is not just about modal verbs. “Shall” can be D (a duty) or A (a gate behavior). “Guarantees” can be D (a commitment) or E (a measured property). The matrix forces disambiguation.
- If a sentence combines a duty with an entry condition, split it into (A) a gate predicate (
A-*) and (D) either a general prescription or a claim about one exactU.Commitmentborne by an actual System or other admitted party (D-*referencing the gate by ID or canonical location). When observability matters, add an E claim only on a separate actual observation or result basis. A requirement to produce or retain logs is D; an expectation or plan supplies no actual E result. A system-role kind or assignment may establish applicability only through an independently obtaining rule; neither bears the duty. - When something needs to be enforceable but is mathematical, prefer predicate blocks rather than deontic language in the L/A blocks, per E.8’s deontics vs admissibility guidance.