ME.6.MC:5.3 - Compare orders by the result a later action consumes
A publication team proposes two arrangements for an edit and a review: edit then review, or review then edit. The required result is that the released artifact is the revision to which the review result applies. Review quality is a separate criterion; this comparison concerns revision correspondence.
Use state ((v,c,p)): (v) is the working revision, (c) the reviewed revision, and (p) the released revision. Initially the state is ((0,\bot,\bot)), where (\bot) means none. Model an edit (E) as incrementing (v), a completed review (K) as setting (c=v), and release (P) as setting (p=v). No other operation occurs in the initial model.
| Proposed order | States after its steps | Required result |
|---|---|---|
| (E;K;P) | ((1,\bot,\bot)), ((1,1,\bot)), ((1,1,1)) | (p=c) holds. |
| (K;E;P) | ((0,0,\bot)), ((1,0,\bot)), ((1,0,1)) | (p=c) fails. |
Both orders finish with working revision 1. A model retaining only (v) would make them look equivalent and lose the distinction needed by release. The separating trace rejects the second ordering for the stated criterion.
Now the environment permits an additional edit after review but before release. Even the first ordering admits
[ (1,1,\bot)\ \longrightarrow\ (2,1,\bot)\ \longrightarrow\ (2,1,2). ]
Its earlier result depended on excluding this intervention. The team also offers an arrangement that retains an immutable copy of the reviewed revision and releases that copy. In the same situation it releases revision 1, giving (p=c=1), while the workspace contains revision 2. This arrangement satisfies the revision-correspondence criterion if the copy and its review association are actually preserved. It leaves a different question: is releasing revision 1 still useful and permitted, or does the receiving work require revision 2? ME.3 and ME.6 retain that criterion and trade-off rather than silently replacing it.
The comparison supplies a condition for the release arrangement, not evidence that anyone performed the review or retained the copy. If source-copy retention or release selection needs implementation, that construction remains to be done.