Decisions¶
Why things are done as they are: one record per decision, dated, in Michael Nygard's form. Each record states its decision as it stands; when a decision changes, its record is rewritten, with one line saying what it said before, and git keeps the history (decision 1). The table gives each rule in one sentence, from its record's Rule line; the record says why.
| # | Decision | The rule | Date | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Record decisions as ADRs | Each decision is one dated record here, stating it as it now stands; a changed decision's record is rewritten, with one line on what it said before. | 2026-11-03; changed 2026-11-13 | accepted |
| 2 | Nothing that makes sound, light or motion is changed remotely | Settings that make sound, light or motion (beeps, lamps, flash, lens motors) are changed by hand only; the owner may approve one harmless change at a time. | 2026-10 (first kit) | accepted |
| 3 | The Screen Reader only with headphones in | The camera's Screen Reader is turned on remotely only with headphones in and its volume at the lowest first, and only with the owner's word each time. | 2026-11-01 | accepted |
| 4 | Never delete or format the cards | No Format or Delete is ever sent remotely, and Playback > Delete is never opened: card actions are the owner's, by hand. | 2026-11-01 | accepted |
| 5 | Settings resets for proofs: the narrowest, never Initialize | For a proof, only the narrowest reset (Camera Settings Reset), the owner's file put back after; Initialize and Reset Network Set. are never pressed. | 2026-11-01 | accepted |
| 6 | No hand-made settings files | The kit, and whoever maps a camera, changes settings on the camera, never by editing a file, and uploads only files the camera wrote, checked by their bytes. | 2026-11-01; changed 2026-11-05 and 2026-11-08 | accepted |
| 7 | The C4 key only where it is safe | C4 only as guarded Help or a per-run go-ahead on menu, option, panel or editor screens; never in Playback, with a picture shown or shooting; C1-C3, C5-C7 never. | 2026-11-01 to 2026-11-03; changed 2026-11-06 and 2026-11-11 | accepted |
| 8 | By hand only: USB, language, region and network identity | USB, Language, NTSC/PAL, Area/Date and network identity are changed by the owner's hand, never remotely; Auto Power OFF Temp. remotely only when a run names it. | 2026-10 (first kit); changed 2026-11-02 and 2026-11-11 | accepted |
| 9 | Credentials are never read or stored | The camera's login lives only in a file the owner writes; the kit never types, reads, OCRs, screenshots or stores a password, nor opens Access Authen. Info. | 2026-10 (first kit); changed 2026-11-05 | accepted |
| 10 | The camera is free for tests | Camera tests run without asking; the owner is asked only for physical actions (switches, dials, cables) and visual checks, and menu routes are tried first. | 2026-10 (first kit) | accepted |
| 11 | The editor's schema is the contract, and it only grows | The definition, the kit's contract with the editor, only grows: the kit adds fields first, and outside the file block the editor ignores those it does not know. | 2026-10-27; changed 2026-11-06 | accepted |
| 12 | A universal app | The editor is for any owner of a supported camera: no filters, categories or features shaped to one owner's workflow. | 2026-10 | accepted |
| 13 | Sony's help text stays private | The camera's own help text is Sony's: kept for private use and never published; the proof viewer, which shows it, stays local. | 2026-11-01; changed 2026-11-03 | accepted |
| 14 | One source per fact | Each fact is edited in one place; pages are rendered from their sources, and the few generated files committed are rebuilt by their tool, never by hand. | 2026-11-03; changed 2026-11-06 | accepted |
| 15 | Every run starts from a known file and ends restoring it | A run saves the camera's settings first and restores them at its end, checking nothing differs; it is stopped with a STOP file, never killed with a dialog open. | 2026-10 (first kit) | accepted |
| 16 | The owner's values never reach the schema or the docs | The definition and the docs hold names and meanings only, never the owner's values: two owners who map the same model and firmware get the same definition. | 2026-10-29 | accepted |
| 17 | The docs are built with Zensical | The docs site is built with Zensical from mkdocs.yml; MkDocs, Material for MkDocs and mkdocs-macros are no longer used. | 2026-11-03 | accepted |
| 18 | One public codebase, with a private overlay | All the code lives in one public repository; what must not be published is data, kept in private/, a repository of its own beside the code and ignored by it. |
2026-11-03; changed 2026-11-11 | accepted |
| 19 | Definitions are files, one per model and firmware | Camera definitions are files, one per model and firmware, never built into the editor: a camera mapped with the kit works the same day, with no new release. | 2026-11-04; carried out 2026-11-06; changed 2026-11-11 | accepted |
| 20 | The editor holds no camera facts | The editor holds no camera facts: each, the file's layout included, is in the definition, and an unknown kind is refused; the kit's move into the camera's data. | 2026-11-04; carried out 2026-11-06; changed 2026-11-13 | accepted |
| 21 | On the shooting screen, no key but MENU unless it is named | On the shooting screen no key but MENU goes out unless the run names that key for that press, since there a key does whatever the body assigns to it. | 2026-11-10 | accepted |
| 22 | OCR alone only for a plain reading, the reader on every doubt | OCR alone settles only a plain reading; on any doubt the reader is asked first, and where they differ a fresh frame and a third vote decide. | 2026-11-13 | accepted; in place in stages |