R308 - modelint/flatland-model-diagram-editor GitHub Wiki

R308 / Generalization

Box is an Envelope Box, Section Box, or Data Box

---

A Title Block Pattern is divided up into a number of sub-rectangles. The outermost rectangle is the Envelope Box. A partition of this Box results in two internal Boxes.

If neither is partitioned further, each becomes a Data Box where Metadata Items can be presented. But if one of the Boxes is further subdivided, that enclosing Box is a Section Box which simply encloses two other Boxes either or both of which may be a Section Box or a Data Box.

Sooner or later we are left with nothing but Data Boxes and the Title Block Pattern is complete. Envisioned as a binary tree, we can think of the Envelope Box as the root, intermediate nodes as Section Boxes and the leaves as Data Boxes.