Thursday, May 26, 2016

Hmmm... a relatively curious bit of code...

At approximately 8:25am AEST on Saturday 28 May 2016, I wrote the following code:

public void execute(PostsynapticChannel channel)throws CliqueSpaceException{
    //...

    Identity author=this.authorSurrogate.asQuale();

    // The receiver's identity will always be signed by this Client Device's Sovereign.
   Subscription su=this.subjectSignal.asSubscription(
    channel.getThisDeviceRepresentative().getIdentity());

   if(!su.getCarrier().contemplate(su,author,channel)){
      su.dispose();
   }
}

This particular code, comprising the non-trivial part of the SubscriberMessage's execute method will dispose of a subscription, created or retrieved from the signal disclosed in this subscriber message, if the carrier's contemplate method returns false.

The subscription's carrier is the object that contains the subscription. The carrier will be the subscription itself if the subscription is an Enabling or Limiting Constraint, otherwise (if the subscription is a principle's subscription), will be the principle that contains the subscription. Principles convey specific information about the specific context represented by the subscription. Principles are customised by Media Profile vendors to create subscriptions that exhibit a certain behaviour.

The carrier is a very important structure because it provides the opportunity for the subscription to behave in ways that are appropriate for the specific subscription. It is like providing for a mechanical system the opportunity to think in ways that are as diverse as say, thinking about what to do about having a drink versus the visceral feeling of having a thirst that needs to be quenched. While both of these are the products of neural activity, the first is a product of cognition that needs to be remembered so that the physiological arousal given in the second example can be meaningfully satiated. Once the urge is satisfied, its accordant state can be forgotten, without forgetting the cognitive process of quenching one's thirst.

Hence, a carrier can treat its subscriptions according to that carrier's particular function; does that carrier remember something about how to quench one's thirst, or does the carrier perhaps provide something toward the arousal of thirst. Both carriers are necessary cognitive facilities in the individual, and both have their own particular contexts. The contemplate method customises the carrier's behaviour in relation to this context. Principles hence implement the contemplate method with appropriate behaviour.

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