Controlled Terminology

Glossary

Definitions used consistently across the QR system. Terminology drift is an architectural failure — these definitions govern.

QR Code: A machine-readable code that, when scanned, can trigger an action within a governed system.
Registered QR Code: A QR code that has been formally registered and issued a registration identity, making it operationally recognized within the QR system.Registered = Live. Registered ≠ Certified.
Certified QR Code: A QR code evaluated against applicable certification requirements by QR Certified.Certification does not perform registration.
Codex: The operational record environment that connects a registered QR to its dossier, state, relationships, event history and evidence.
Dossier: The assembled operational record associated with a registered QR object within the Codex.
Protocol: The governing authority for rules, standards and procedures that determine how QR-system operations are permitted to function.
Scan Event: The moment a QR code is read by a device, initiating the operating sequence under Protocol control.
State: The current operational condition of a registered QR object, which determines what actions are permitted.
Routing: The Protocol-governed determination of which domain or system handles a scan event and its resulting action.
Exception: A defined non-standard condition — failure, denial, or ambiguity — with a governed handling procedure.
Audit Record: The required recording of an event, decision or state change so that system behavior remains reviewable.
Jurisdiction: The bounded authority of a department: what it governs, and equally what it does not govern.
Lifecycle: The governed progression of a QR object from creation and registration through active operation, suspension, and retirement.
Physical Asset Domain: The field environment where QR media are produced, placed, inspected, replaced and retired under Protocol procedure.
QR Protocol: The rules, standards and governance department of the QR system. QRProtocol.us publishes the documentation that determines how applicable QR-system operations are permitted to behave.Protocol governs the rules. It does not hold operational records.
QRCodex: The operational core of the QR system. QRCodex.us maintains the authoritative record, dossier, state, event history and evidence associated with a registered QR identity.
QRRegistered: The registration department. QRRegistered.us performs registration and issues the registration identity required for operational recognition.Registration only. It does not certify.
QRCertified: The certification department. QRCertified.us determines whether applicable certification requirements have been satisfied.Certification only. It does not register.
QRCompliance: The compliance department. QRCompliance.us evaluates applicable requirements and determines compliance within the QR system.Its independent website and system are not completed.
Registration: The ecosystem event in which a QR identity is formally registered and issued the registration identity that makes it operationally recognized.
Certification: The determination that applicable certification requirements have been satisfied for a given QR object or its subject.
Compliance: The evaluation and resulting state indicating whether applicable requirements are satisfied within the QR system.
Authorization: The determination that the requesting actor, system or action holds the authority required to continue.
Validation: The determination that the data, condition or evidence presented satisfies the applicable requirement.
Verification: The confirmation that a claimed identity, record or condition corresponds to what the system holds.
Activation: The initiation of a permitted command, route or system action within the sequence.
Revocation: A state in which a QR object's operational authority is withdrawn. The physical label may still exist and the audit record remains.
Expiration: A state reached when an authorized period ends. Permitted behavior after expiration is determined by the applicable Protocol and the state held in the Codex.
QR Object: The governed operational object associated with a QR identity, as distinct from the printed symbol that represents it.
Physical Label: The printed or applied medium carrying the QR symbol. The physical label can continue to exist after the operational object is no longer active.