The Active Version of the Object ​

In Realith, state is most conveniently and most accurately read through the concept of the active version.

This makes it possible to avoid two mistakes:

• treating state as a separate abstract flag above the object;
• dissolving state into an unbounded flow of events.

What the active version is ​

The active version is the version of a structurally defined object that, in the current canon, is considered the valid basis for the further causal line.

In other words, it is through the active version that the network must answer the questions:

• what is currently considered the valid state of the object;
• from which version the next transition may admissibly be built;
• which prior version may no longer be silently used as current.

Why the active version is central ​

The object in Realith does not exist outside structure. That is why what may be active is not “an object version in general,” but only a version of an object that:

• corresponds to a specific structure version;
• preserves identity;
• is located in an applicable contour;
• occupies a place in the causal line;
• permits only transitions compatible with the structure.

The active version is needed precisely so that the object's line does not break apart into a set of disconnected updates.

What the active version does not mean ​

The active version:

• does not mean deletion of prior versions from history;
• does not mean the object ceases to have a past;
• does not mean any later record automatically becomes current;
• is not equal to “the last message by time.”

Activity here means only one thing: this version is recognized as the current basis for the next admissible step.

Why state collapses without it ​

If the network does not distinguish the active version explicitly, each party begins to answer the question of current state in its own way:

• by the time of receipt;
• by the local log;
• by the internal rule of an application;
• by the convenience of private reconstruction.

Then canonical state disappears as a shared basis of coordination.

What follows next ​

The active version by itself does not yet explain how the next one appears. That requires the next element of the model: the admissible transition.