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Every other page here describes one link in a chain. This one is the chain: how a system you connected on Monday becomes a number in front of you on Friday.

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The five steps

Step 4 is the one people expect to be a black box and is not: every published value states its inputs and method in Definitions.

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Where each step is documented

Steps 1 and 2

What Beacon reads, and what each connection unlocks.

Step 3

The stage rails a record is placed on.

Step 4

The five things measured about a stage.

Step 5

The objects, values and doors.

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Two places the chain stops

A source that is not connected stops the values that need it. A figure whose inputs are not all available is not computed on a partial basis and quietly published. It is withheld and named, or published on a declared reduced basis that travels with the value. Nothing is estimated to fill the gap. See When a source is missing. The chain does not run when you ask. Steps 2 to 4 happen on a schedule. Reading a figure returns the value already computed — it does not trigger a fresh calculation, which is why the same question returns the same answer to every reader at every hour. See Boundaries.

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Why it is worth knowing the shape

When a number looks wrong, the shape tells you where to look. A figure that is stale is a step 2 problem. A figure on the wrong account is step 3. A figure you disagree with is step 4, and the definition will tell you what went into it. A figure you cannot see at all is step 5, and it is usually access. See Troubleshooting.