ME.21:4.2 - Preserve what the destination cannot carry

A pattern may present the reusable action and still leave a worked derivation, local convention, dataset or detailed instruction at its source. State what remains there and how to recover it. A promised self-contained use cannot depend on an undisclosed omission.

When contributions merge, retain the reason that their common action is usable under the resulting conditions. When they split, preserve the action-changing difference and the relation between the resulting accounts. Shared terminology, publication order and apparent granularity are not sufficient reasons for either decision.

The allocation concerns source contributions and their uses. It is not a Method-composition result. Actual Method parts are independently identified Methods related through B.1.5; a pattern body, tool, source fragment or source-recovery step is not a part by position.