Life cycles
In addition to having data, a record has something associated with it called its state. A record's state is used to associate the record with a phase in its life cycle.
Human beings have a life cycle that consists of such phases as infant, toddler, child, adolescent, and adult. Records also have phases in their life cycle. The phases that a particular record goes through in its lifetime depend on the business object from which it was created.
For many records, the life cycle is very simple. They have only one phase that is typically called "new" or "created".
Some records have a more complicated life cycle. For example, a record that describes a book might use these states to describe the phases of its life cycle:
| State | Description |
|---|---|
| Work in Progress | The record has this state while the book is being written. |
| Prepublication | The state of the record after the book has been written and while the book is being prepared for publication. |
| Published | The book has been published. |
| Abandoned | Publication of the book has been abandoned. |
| Out of Print | The book was published but is no longer being published. |
The state of a record changes in response to an action. We will illustrate this by continuing the example of a business object that describes a book.
When the book is created, its state is Work in Progress. When the book is complete, the state changes to Prepublication. While the book is in prepublication, its release may be delayed for marketing purposes. When the book is printed, the state changes to Published. If the book is abandoned when its state is Work in Progress or Prepublication, its state becomes Abandoned. If the book is abandoned when its state is Published, its state becomes Out of Print.