NAME: Optional Element when helpful CATEGORY: Pattern structure and Semnatics
- PROBLEM:How do you communicate essential information that does not fit well into the mandatory
elements?
- CONTEXT: You are writing a pattern and have applied Mandatory Elements Present.
- FORCES:
- All patterns do not require the same kinds of information to be effectively communicated.
- Capturing all elements regardless of need only clutters many patterns.
- SOLUTION:
The following sections may be included if they make the pattern easier to understand or provide better linkage between
the pattern in question and related patterns:
Indications: The symptoms that might indicate that the problem exists.
Resulting Context: The context that we find ourselves in after the pattern has been
applied. It can
include
one or more new problems to solve. This sets us up for applying more patterns, possibly the next pattern(s) in a language.
Related Patterns: Other patterns that may be of interest to the reader. The kinds of patterns
include:
Other solutions to the same problem,
More general or (possibly domain) specific variations of the pattern,
Patterns that solve some of the problems in the resulting context (set up by this pattern)
Examples: Concrete examples that illustrate the application of the pattern.
Code Samples: Sample code showing how to implement the pattern.
Rationale: An explanation of why this solution is most appropriate for the stated problem within this
context.
Aliases: Other names by which this pattern might be known.
Acknowledgments: You should acknowledge anyone who contributed significantly to the development of the
pattern (or language) or the techniques
described in it. If your pattern has been through a "shepherding process" or "writer's workshop", significant contributors (such as the
shepherd!) are candidates for being acknowledged.
- RATIONALE:All patterns do not require the same kinds of information to be effectively communicated. So the
question is how do you communicate essential information that does not fit well into the mandatory elements?
- DIAGRAM:
