MASKS

A catalog is a complete 16 × 16 questionnaire: sixteen Scoring Factor Sets (SFSs), each containing sixteen Scoring Factors (SFs), for 256 question positions. A requirement mask selects the positions required for a particular check against that catalog. Different readers can apply different masks to the same completed assessment.

The catalog defines the questions; a mask selects them. A 1 in the mask means that the selected question must be satisfied. A 0 leaves the question outside this check; it does not require a negative answer or establish an exemption. Masks do not change the underlying question definitions.

Explore the draft examples

The current catalog contains unreviewed authoring placeholders. The examples below demonstrate the arithmetic from the manuscript; they do not define requirements for those placeholders. Selecting a position links to its current catalog page so that the question and its draft status remain visible.

Open the interactive MASKS library to choose a draft mask, inspect its catalog binding and compare a resolved profile.

Catalog masks

Catalog masks select requirements across the complete 16 × 16 questionnaire. Their editable JSON contains sixteen four-digit fields, one for each SFS 0–F. Set an unselected SFS to 0000. A catalog mask can select questions from several sets without requiring every question in those sets. Compare it with a complete sixteen-field assessment profile.

The draft catalog-example combines F000 in SFS 2 with EAB2 in SFS A. It selects thirteen positions and demonstrates how one comparison exposes unmet questions in different sets.

SFS masks

SFS masks select questions within one sixteen-question set. Their JSON declares the SFS index and a four-digit mask; the comparison tools expand other SFSs to 0000. Enter the four-digit assessed value for that SFS to compare its selected questions.

The draft manuscript-a selects nine positions in SFS A with EAB2. The draft recovery-example selects SFs 0–3 in SFS 2 with F000. Both remain bound to the same complete catalog, so the selected questions retain their definitions and positions.

Individual-SF masks

Individual SF masks select individual questions by an explicit list of SFS/SF position pairs. The questions may belong to different sets. The draft selected-factors-example selects SFS 2/SF 1, SFS A/SF 1 and SFS A/SF B.

Each pair occurs once. SF 1 in SFS 2 is a different question from SF 1 in SFS A; retain both indices when selecting or reviewing it. Resolve each selected SF as 1 or 0 to compare this form. An unanswered question remains pending and prevents a completed comparison.

All three mask forms bind to a complete catalog and normalize their selection to sixteen mask fields. SFS and individual-SF comparisons display their selected scope; they do not claim a complete assessment or assign negative outcomes to unselected questions. The forms change how a selection is authored, rather than creating smaller catalogs.

Read a comparison

Write each SFS as exactly four hexadecimal digits, including leading zeros. SF 0 is the leftmost bit; SF F is the rightmost. A complete catalog profile contains sixteen such SFS values, ordered from SFS 0 to F.

For a resolved assessment S and compatible mask M:

matched = S AND M
unmet   = matched XOR M
pass    = matched equals M

The comparison passes only when every selected position is satisfied. An unselected SFS is represented by 0000 in the mask. An assessment value of 0000 instead records sixteen resolved negative answers; missing or pending evidence must not be silently converted to that value.

The manuscript's recovery example supposes that four questions describe a recovery plan, a restoration test, an owner and a backup inventory. Those are illustrative definitions. The current records at SFS 2, SFs 0–3 remain placeholders. A mask over those positions therefore cannot yet assert that recovery requirements are met.

The hexadecimal value is a record of answers, not a ranking, risk score or compliance certificate. Reviewers should return to each unmet question and its evidence.

Prepare and promote a mask

1. Identify the complete catalog and its exact content digest. Published catalog editions use the manuscript's author/language/YYe convention; a branch or a latest-release link only helps find the artifact. The current draft has no published edition.
2. State the mask's purpose, author or maintainer, system boundary and evidence period. Explain why every selected question belongs to that purpose and retain supporting references.
3. Review the question definitions, ordering and scope before selecting positions. Keep the mask in draft while definitions or mappings remain unresolved.
4. Record review status and provenance, then publish an immutable reviewed mask against its catalog digest. A new content review gets a separate dated record; changes to the selection or catalog binding need a new revision.
5. Supply resolved answers for the input scope: all 256 answers for a catalog mask, all sixteen for an SFS mask, or each selected answer for an individual-SF mask. Use the same catalog and compatible system scope and evidence period. Retain the assessment, mask and evidence together so another reviewer can reproduce the comparison.

Edit the mask JSON

Keep one editable source record per mask in repo-sfs-masks/<language>/. The record declares its catalog digest, purpose, scope, evidence period, references and review status. Choose exactly one selection form:

{"type": "catalog", "fields": {
  "0": "0000", "1": "0000", "2": "F000", "3": "0000",
  "4": "0000", "5": "0000", "6": "0000", "7": "0000",
  "8": "0000", "9": "0000", "A": "EAB2", "B": "0000",
  "C": "0000", "D": "0000", "E": "0000", "F": "0000"
}}

{"type": "sfs", "sfsId": "A", "mask": "EAB2"}

{"type": "sf", "positions": [
  {"sfsId": "2", "sfId": "1"},
  {"sfsId": "A", "sfId": "1"},
  {"sfsId": "A", "sfId": "B"}
]}

Use the starter records in repo-sfs-masks/templates/ and the formal schemas/mask.schema.json to prepare a new record. Replace the illustrative metadata and selection with a reviewed mapping to the actual catalog. Keep status: "draft" until the required review is complete, and keep catalog.edition: null while the catalog remains unpublished. Optional revision and provenance fields retain maintainer and review information without inventing approval. Reviewed status requires a named maintainer, an accepted review with at least one named reviewer and a recorded review timestamp, alongside the published catalog edition.

The build derives the full comparison fields from selection; do not add a second top-level fields copy. If the bound catalog digest differs from the deployed catalog, review the definitions and update the mapping before comparison. A digest change alone does not prove compatibility.

MASKS here promotes discoverable, reviewable requirement selections. A draft example is not an approved benchmark. Excluding a question does not authorize an exception, and passing selected questions does not establish legal compliance.

Learn more about the catalog, question records, assessment, encoding and catalog versioning.