Dissertation (Chapter 4)

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4       Modelling electronic language

 

     This chapter outlines the resources for making meaning in computing and computer controlled contexts. So often books about computing focus on the resources available to operate a computer, or to operate a particular program, and do not focus on the resources for making meaning when using the computer or the program. The central focus of identifying the resources in this chapter is to elucidate not only that the resource exists, but how each resource works with other resources combining to form structures, or recognisable patterns, through which particular meanings can be made. A central theme in this chapter centres on the notion that electronic language reconstitutes spoken and written language, integrating spoken and written language with attendant semiotics providing the user with a seamless set of semiotic potential.

     Novices because of a lack of experience with computers simply do not know what is going on. Experienced users have learnt, often by trial and error, what can be done and how things work. What seems to be a major problem, though, is that in many circumstances experienced users do not seem to be able to communicate adequately with novices and thereby attempt to short circuit some of the time necessary needed to purely learn by experience.

     This chapter and the one following are constructed with the prime purpose of identifying a method of making sense of this “blooming confusion”^[1] that daunts novices and which experienced users find it difficult to discuss. There is a language of computing ¾ electronic language ¾ an understanding of which can aid in the discussion of how meaning is made in computing contexts.

     This dissertation uses the word language both because of its literal connection with communication  and its metaphoric potential . This dual play on the word language aids in the primary goal of this project; that is to model language, not as language expanded, but as language made new and re-valued in the Saussurean sense. Such a project requires us to consider what is involved in a theory of language. In this model of electronic language, abstract terms that naturally arise in the discussion of spoken and written language are introduced as they would naturally occur linguistic theory . As each term is introduced, the aim of this project is to evaluate how illuminating such a term is for description of language when seen from the perspective of a computing machine in the context of elaborating a notion of electronic language ¾ a semiotic  that is neither speaking  or writing  only.

     This chapter draws upon notions introduced by semioticians and linguists who have extensively emphasised the semiotic  nature of language : Saussure (1913/1959) , Firth (1957) , Halliday (1974a; 1974b; 1978; 1989; 1990) . The emphasis here is on drawing from Halliday’s conceptions to form a model of electronic language but there is a considerable wealth of semiotic conceptualisation that is developed through the influence of others who have used a similar base: for example, O’Toole (1994). From these perspectives a semiotic model is to be constructed to illustrate the diverse resources that are brought to bear in a computing context. This model does not picture electronic language as a “super” model of language, where the dictionary is simply a super dictionary, or a word now becomes a super semiotic unit, but in fact sees within the computing context a new semiotic reality. There is a new set of dimensions to which we must attend. In this setting, abstract terms that are introduced may ultimately take on, in their electronic application, meanings quite different from those in the traditional meta-languages of linguistics.

Semiotic stratification

     Stratification, in modelling  language , is introduced because we cannot handle the processes of communication  in a single statement to take into account both the content and its realisation or expression in semiotic  reality. It is impossible to account for semiotic patterning of language in one direct statement between what is experienced as a cultural activity  and what is demonstrated as a part of language as it is written and spoken. There are different orders of patterning that must be invoked and these demand of the theory, a number of levels. In modelling speaking  and writing , semantics  explains one order of patterning, grammar  explains another order, and graphology  or phonology  explains an order of patterning at the level of expression. This is to say that semantics is realised in grammar and grammar is realised in phonology or graphology. What separates the different levels of order is the fact that we attend to a different unit at each level; we pay attention to text  as a semantic unit, sentence or clause as a grammatical unit and tone group or foot as a unit of sound .            

     Electronic resources can be seen to be organised at three levels of abstraction  that are analogous to the three levels of organisation we attend to in spoken and written language :

·        a semantic or cultural-meaning level, where the unit we attend to in electronic language  is microworld ;

·        a grammatical-like level of electronic synthesis, where cultural activity  is realised in the formal unit of system;

·        an expression level where synthesis  is realised in digital units - the expression of electronic language  is named as the level of Digitology.

Diagram 14: Relationship of the levels of Electronic Language

     At the level of form, akin to the grammatical level in spoken and written language , a rank scale  handles the different formal units, in a similar way that a clause in grammar  is composed of phrases, and phrases composed of words, and words composed of morphemes. In electronic language, there are three ranks, each centred on a particular semiotic  pattern. The rank of system centres on a structure that is composed of two or more programmes; the rank of program centres on a complex patterning of files, objects and active units; and the rank of instruction  centres on a patterning of instructions that control the way a computer  operates.

     Electronic language  at the rank of program and instruction  is programmable; this is to say that it is possible to insert a different set of units at the ranks of Instruction and Program to handle a different semiotic . A different set of instructions is instantiated as a different program; but a different program  is not what allows for a different semiotic. It is the fact that formal units akin to phrase, word and morpheme in spoken and written language are changed. The set of instructions instantiates a different set of active units ¾ if the programmed semiotic is:

·        written language , then the active unit in electronic language is character, objects (words) are composed of characters, and files composed of objects;

·        drawing , then the active unit is drawing element, such as dot, line, fill pattern, etc., objects (representations) are composed of drawing elements, and files composed of those drawn objects;

·        photograph , then the active unit is a pixel  or dot, objects (photographic subjects) are composed of pixels, and files composed of those photographic objects.

Cultural activity

     The cultural-semantic level pictured is analogous to Halliday ’s (1974a:28) context of situation or perhaps closer to Wittgenstein ’s (1974:11) language games . There are specific activities we perform; we know about these activities through an acquaintance with specific cultural forms ¾ Wittgenstein called these language games. In these cultural constructs the computer  plays an important enabling part.

     Electronic language  as a linguistic resource at the level of cultural meaning is a particularly potent resource. In our everyday lives computing has permeated every facet of our culture , such that all business  activities and many artistic and communicative pursuits are centred on computing activity  in one way or another. Computers allow us to manage finances, prepare printed materials, record artistic endeavours, and even allow us to compose films , such as in the current films “Toy Story” or “Babe”. Meaning, in the context of electronic language, has to do with communicative and functional activities; it is by way of a computing device that we culturally function and act in particular ways in order to communicate. This is to suggest that preparing a printed text  by way of a computer  is functionally and communicatively a different activity when using a computer.

     It is sometimes difficult to determine when the activity  is a computing or electronic activity and when it is not; this may not be important, however, for the understanding of the culture  but it may cause confusion for people who have been used to achieving cultural ends through using other tools. Computing is not necessarily the important activity - it is most likely the secondary activity - business  transactions, state of the nation or conditions of weather or other information  are more than likely to be the primary topic. However, in that a computing device is in use, particular meanings are possible because of that computing device. A particular human culture is extended and radically altered. The number of hours of work required to achieve a goal is altered, pay conditions, mode  of work, people hired to achieve that work, the resultant text  and value of that text are often dramatically altered through introduction of computing methods.

     Electronic language  as a resource for meaning making allows freedoms of action, and possibilities of communication  not previously known; adoption of computing methods to achieve goals is an exercise in freeing people from repetitious work, allowing the computer  to take over many of those tasks. However, a computer is also a tool that provides a human additional power to act - it is by way of resources in electronic language that it is possible for a single person to prepare a large scale printed document  in a very short space of time, allowing for effortless re-drafts, inclusion of photographs, preparation of a multi-coloured text , etc. and having it printed in full “print -like” copy in just a matter of minutes rather than a whole team as required when other methods were employed - it has put in the hands of one person the capability to produce a “printed” document.

     Cultural activities involved in making meaning when using a computer  is a semiotic  structure. Halliday  (1978:122-5; 1985:12) identifies the semiotic structure of context of situation as being formed out of three variables: field  (what is happening), tenor  (who is taking part) and mode  (what part the language  is playing). In cultural activities within which the computer plays an important part, these three variables suggest we should focus on:

·        field ¾ what is happening, the nature of the social action that is taking place, what is it that participants are engaged in, in which electronic language  figures as some essential component;

·        tenor ¾  who is taking part, their statuses and roles, including those people who are not apparent, such as the programmers , composers of electronic text , or other people connected to the computer  on which the activity  is occurring via a computer network or the Internet ;

·        mode ¾ what part the language  is playing, the channel and its function in the context; there are numbers of channels we must consider in the context where a computer  is used ¾ digital sound, computer monitor , computer printer, the network or Internet ; we must also consider the semiotic  in use in a particular program  as a channel.

Social interaction take a linguistic form which is called text. The text composed through social interaction  in a cultural activity  is called here a microworld. A microworld is composed through text generating activity ¾ making simultaneous and successive choices in meaning ¾  and is realised in electronic structure or form. Electronic form is centred on the notion of program, the combination of programmes being a computer  system, and the use of programmes being actualised in object  construction.

     There are many hundreds of cultural activities within which computers are incorporated as a primary meaning making tool and with which microworlds are created. Table 7 provides an example set of activities to which we can attend. This example set is outlined here to examine the way each activity  has distinct boundaries, and each of which can be understood in terms of a theoretical model.

 

Activity	Field, Tenor, Mode
Home banking	Field: the computer  user is seeking information  and requires to re-organise accounts on the bank’s computer. Tenor: the computer  user, programmers  who have established a method of transacting with the bank’s computer, banking company. Mode: the computer  is connected to the bank via the Internet , and a set of programmes to supervise the activity  to allow only a limited range of activity is prescribed by the bank; security measures are also in place to ensure that private information  is not obtainable by third parties, particularly those third parties on the Internet.
Surfing the Internet	Field: the computer  user is seeking entertainment by linking with computers across the world  via a web  browser  and an assortment of helper applications. Tenor: the computer  user, programmers  who have constructed the browser  and helper applications, composers of web  sites, other users, controllers of the networks where each computer is based. Mode: the computer  is connected to the Internet  via a dial-up line, information  is constructed as html hypertext to allow interlinking of texts from site-to-site, electronic language  enables the computer user to move from site-to-site seamlessly following information or interesting leads.
Preparing print	Field: the computer  user is seeking to construct a document  that is to be bound and used as would any other printed document. Tenor: the computer  user, programmers  of the word processing  document . Mode: a computer  program  in electronic language  sets up the parameters within which a computer user can construct a document  that looks like print ; the document can be constantly modified in electronic language until it is committed to print; successive copies in print can be constructed by re-printing .

Table 7: Computer-based cultural activities

     Boundaries for each of these activities are sometimes physical contextual boundaries, but any contextual boundary is not the essential nor defining boundary. For example, ‘home banking ’  is most often practiced at home; there is no reason why an individual at work cannot also practice home banking at work using her/his personal connection to the Internet  or banking network. The essential activity  of home banking is a focus on personal finances as opposed to corporate or business  finances which entails a different set of accounting and banking forms. Surfing the Internet is bound by a connection to the Internet and selection of devices used when that connection is invoked. Preparing print  has as its key boundaries human activity of composing  text  which is constrained by the selection of a particular computer  program  and a specific computer printer.

     A microworld  is the computational equivalent of cultural activity  ¾ an electronic unit of meaning that is composed through a cultural activity. When a person is surfing the Internet  a selection of a particular browser  (a program ) is connected to a series of servers (another program) that forms a system whereby particular meaning can be made. A microworld is bounded by beginning to work on a computer  and ends when a person ceases to work on a computer. While a microworld must be considered as both product  and process (Halliday  & Hasan , 1985:10), both something that can be recorded and studied as well as a continuous process of semantic choice, the notion of microworld emphasises by its nature the notion of “text ” as process. It is possible to record a particular microworld on a computer by setting a macro record setting so that each choice can be replayed. Electronically a microworld is coded or composed of programmes connected one with another forming a system within which there are particular selections that have been chosen in order to make meaning. Similar to spoken and written language  (Halliday, 1985:10) although a microworld appears to be made out of files, programmes and systems, it is really made out of meanings.

     Fundamentally a microworld  is an interactive event , similar to the interactive event nature of spoken and written language , that is a social exchange of meanings. However, in electronic language it is not always apparent with whom a social exchange is being encountered. When a computer  is used not connected to a network, a computer user may think that it is a lone activity , but in fact it is a highly social activity, albeit removed from its composers through programming . The computer user participates in programmed interaction ¾ interaction with a team of people who have programmed computer interaction. When surfing the Internet  using a web  browser  selections are being made to visit one site or another; each site is a composition of one or more people ¾ links are programmed interaction points. Syntagmatically a text  is being woven through following the links on one page  that lead to another page ¾ for example, as indicated in the following series of frames:

1.      In the first page , the Weather Center button was chosen to reveal the search page;

2.      and a search was instituted for Sydney indicating which country, zip code and state;

3.      the next page  shows the resultant page ¾ a weather map indicating the currently expected weather in Sydney for that day.

 

Diagram 15: Frame 1 of the example syntagm

Diagram 16: Frame 2 of the example syntagm

Diagram 17: Frame 3 of the example syntagm    

It would seem, in the above exchange, that a human is interacting with a computer . The activity  of making one selection after another causes two computer programmes separated by many thousands of miles but joined by a computer network to interact with each other. Through this selection process a microworld  is composed. While the human user of the computer may seem to be interacting with another computer, in reality s/he is interacting with other people, albeit a programmed interaction with those other people. The electronic text, or microworld, is an instance of social meaning in a particular context of situation. The human programmers , in this instance, have created a series of web  pages  from which the browser , or human reader, can make a number of selections to choose what will be read next. The microworld that is constructed is composed by the interaction of the selection the browser makes in his/her browsing program , the selection of site (eg. http://pathfinder.com), the selection of pages on that site. The social meaning constructed in that microworld is a result of the interaction of the human browser with the programmers of the browsing program and the site page  authors.

     Most often when a computer  is used in a cultural setting , the computer constitutes the activity ; this is to suggest that most of the cultural activities within which computers are involved are constructed by the new semiotic. Or put another way, if the computer was taken away there would be no cultural activity. The cultural activity and microworld  of surfing the Internet  is constituted by computer activity; without the computer there would be no activity. It is through the new semiotic of electronic language  that reality is constructed in these contexts. Additionally, there are also a number of contexts where the use of electronic language, through the construction of a microworld has reconstructed cultural activities -such as the writing  of a book using a computer.

Semantic stratum

     A conscious decision has been made to avoid working with a separate semantic stratum. This is oriented very much towards the way Firth  (1935/1957) modelled language . There is, however, another and more pressing reason to have designed the model of electronic language in this way. In practice, the way people in the various computing cultures work suggest that meaning is not separated from activity. That is, meaning is doing; the cultural activity  is the meaning and the doing combined.

     What has stood out in working with and being a part of hundreds of people using electronic language  for serious business  purposes has been the way that people talk about electronic meanings. Very rarely in a lecture, group discussion, or person-to-person dialogue do people talk about the meanings of what is seen on the computer  screen. It is usually a matter of having the view of a computer monitor  displayed on a large screen and what is meant is demonstrated. When people work to get things done, they rarely sit to contemplate the meaning they were driving at in electronic language. If any discussion of meaning takes place it is in terms of the semiotic  at hand. Bricolage as a manner of working emphasises this practical emphasis towards making meaning with a computer. People think materially, and work through problems by trial and error. This is the whole emphasis of the culture of simulation  ¾ “we try”, “we decide”, “we accept/reject” is the motto of one group of computer experts located in the banking industry.

     Therefore, it is considered that cultural activity  is realised directly in Synthesis and not in a “semantic” stratum. What is suggested by this is that activity and meaning are combined in one unit and this unit is realised in Synthesis in terms of System, Program and Instruction. This emphasises the Wittgenstinian (1974:11) view of language  being an integral part of activity; there are “special methods” that we know, “forms of life” which people master in order to gain a capacity within a particular cultural setting.  

Distributed resources

     A predominant theme of computing in the 1990s is that of the model of distributed computing . This is a cultural notion that is sponsored by the fact that we now have large scale connectivity both within organisations from one computer  to another, and by the fact that we have the most comprehensive networking device ever in the form of the Internet  allowing connection of computing devices the world  around. Distributed computing, however, is not only about large scale connectivity across networks, it is also about the connection of one program  to another, one piece of data  to another, and so on, so as to allow for the maximum efficiency  in handling data and information  in cultural contexts.      

     It is largely through activities of distributed computing  that electronic language  has been brought to the fore in business  and other cultural contexts where handling of data  and information  is important. Prior to high levels of world  wide connectivity, the predominant force of computing was about preparing data and information in other formats than electronic formats - such as the preparation of print . During this period, word processors were of major importance in preparing the printed word for producing paper  documents. Now, through the advent of high connectivity from one computer  to another, text  does not need to be in paper format - it can remain in electronic format. The rise in importance of e-mail for example, is due to the fact that computers are becoming so well connected, and the fact that computing now focuses on distributing computing devices, programmes and data so as to allow for distribution of messages from one location to another.

     Distributed computing emphasises the distribution of all resources of electronic language . At all levels of abstraction , electronic language resources become widely distributed. At the level of digitology , it is only as resources at this level have become widely distributed that electronic language has become a dominant means whereby individuals can make meaning. The PC revolution that changed the emphasis from main-frame computing to desktop  activity  allowed the distribution of computing power, and peripheral activity. It is therefore possible for an individual to have storage mechanisms, printing  devices and other peripherals close at hand to participate in electronic language activities.

     At the level of synthesis , resources can now be distributed, allowing for a relatively equal access to making meaning electronically. While the distribution of programmes in each individual machine is possible, the distributed programming  model also allows for the connection of distributed machines to be connected to large main-frame computers. Thus, where it is possible to distribute devices of synthesis, it can be accomplished; but where it is not possible to distribute the actual devices, then it is possible to distribute the access to those more complex devices.

     Therefore, at the level of cultural meaning, the culture  itself is able to be distributed. This means that cultural activities of business , that once were confined to the site of the office rooms can now be accessed from outside an office, to allow people to participate in those activities from other sites as though they were in that office. The result of these possibilities is the primary force of telecommuting - the ability to work from home, or other site, and yet participating in cultural activities of the office. Distributed computing, or in other words, the distribution of electronic language  potential , is also the key to major changes in the financial and banking industry, where main-frame computing devices form the power of a bank to calculate and maintain records relating to millions of transactions, and access to this power is now being made available to each and every customer across the Internet  connecting home with bank. Microworlds are therefore constructed through the interaction of people distributed across a country, or even across the world .

Synthesis

     Synthesis, like its analogous counterpart of grammar  in spoken and written language , is the level of form. Synthesis is the resource for computing meanings, that is synthesis  is the means for constructing meanings through use of electronic organisation on a computing device. This involves both the definition of units whereby digitisation  and computation of culturally understandable elements can be effected, such as the construction of alphanumeric characters on a screen, and the combination of those units to compose structured “texts”. Similar to lexicogrammatical resources in spoken and written language, resources at the abstraction level of synthesis are combined in particular culturally acceptable ways.

     The notion in spoken/written language  is that something is considered to be grammatical; in electronic language, culturally acceptable digitisation  is considered to be efficient rather than grammatical; amongst its various meanings primarily efficiency is about reducing the requirement of work through linking and automated updating of information  already supplied to the computing device, and in reproducing those efforts the device also needs to be efficient. In spoken and written grammar , the notion of efficiency in meaning is a factor, through selection of particular words, phrases and through sentencing. However, in electronic language this notion of efficiency - getting a job done better, faster, and more accurately - is of more pressing concern. It is because of the efficiency of making meaning on a computer  and handling large quantities of work in making meaning that large scale business  has spent millions of dollars installing computing devices.

     Along with efficiency, the focus of synthesis  is combination and connectivity. Synthesis is about both the construction and combination of electronic objects, memory and screen objects, and the connection of those objects one to another in order to improve the efficiency of making meaning in a cultural context. All electronic language  activity  is made possible with specialised screen and memory objects - programmes - however, programming  is not a prior activity to working with electronic language. Programming is just as much an activity of electronic language as is the use of programmes to construct other objects; programming is just another activity of combination and connection of memory and screen objects. A programmer uses a program , such as the programming environment of C++, in order to construct other programmes.

     Combination of objects requires the prior activity  of the definition of objects. Objects are defined through programming  and/or using other programmes depending upon the complexity of the object . For example, the programming of Corel Draw  has provided a wide range of drawing  elements - lines, curves, 3 dimensional objects, etc. - and through use of Corel Draw it is possible to define highly complex objects for reuse in almost any other Corel Draw file  (or Memory Object). New drawing objects are constructed by combining already predefined smaller objects. The important features, though, of any program  is not the reuse of those objects in the same program, but the reuse of those objects in other programmes. Use of these objects in other file types is made possible through connectivity and combination capabilities.  

     The unit to which we pay attention at the level of synthesis  is system. A computer  system is composed of two or more programmes one of which is a program  that initialises hardware  of the computer to work in a particular way, and the other is a program used to establish a particular semiotic  as the central semiotic. Numbers of other programmes may be added to a system to enable a mixture of semiotics . It is in systems that microworlds are realised.

     There are five different orders of organisation  (see Diagram 14) we must account for at this level of synthesis :

1.      A group of programmes collected together to function as an operational unit realising a specific microworld  is identified here as a system and is likened to a clause in spoken and written language . This order of organisation is made of a combination of two or more programmes.

2.      Another order of organisation is that of program . A program is characterised as a group of options that belong together because they are used together and usually focus on a single semiotic  domain. Word  for Windows , as a word processor, is a program that focuses on the written language  semiotic. Windows Draw is a program that focuses on the semiotic of drawing  with specific attention to what might be termed as crayon drawing.

3.      A program , however, is composed of three different orders of organisation , the first of which is file . Options are made available to a program in files. This is a comparable unit to phrase in spoken and written language.

4.      Files, as a unit of program , are composed of objects, such as graphic objects, or characters. These are similar to words.

5.      Objects are composed of active units, an organisational unit similar to morphemes.

6.      The fifth type of organisation is that of instruction . Programmes, composed as they are of files, objects and active units, are realised as instructions. It is the task of computer  programmers  to work at building a program  through orchestrating a series of instructions. This is the enabling form of organisation that makes it possible for electronic language  to encode more than one semiotic .

     The theory of electronic language  suggests that all semiotics  able to be presented electronically are subsumed in synthesis. It is the unit of instruction  and instantiated in program  that handles the diversity of semiotics and it is the combination of programmes in a system that makes available two or more semiotics to be used in a particular cultural activity .

     Synthesis, in respect to electronic language , is akin to “grammar ” in spoken and written language. A functional grammar is designed to account for how the spoken/written language is used. Everything that is said or written shapes the language and a functional grammar is a “natural “ grammar that explains how this shaping has now evolved (Halliday  1985:xv). A functional “synthesis ” in electronic language is designed to account for how electronic language is used. Everything that is composed on a screen shapes the language. That shaping is influenced by programmers , composers of electronic texts , and everyday users of those texts. A “synthesis”, similar to “grammar”, provides an explanation of the way that electronic language is organised with respect to the way human needs of communication  are satisfied.

     The purpose of both this “synthesis” is not to represent the networks or systems of electronic language . Rather, the purpose is to show:

1.      parameters of synthesis

2.      discuss efficiency  as a concept in synthesis  

3.      outline the units to which we must attend.

The aim of this chapter is to construct an introduction to the language  - that is, how to use electronic language when peering at a computer  screen. There are many different purposes that a person may wish to use a computer and therefore many purposes in using electronic language including to compose a written-like text , reconstruct a photograph , communicate with other people across a network, surf the Internet , etc. This synthesis  cannot provide a total introduction to how the language is used to achieve all those purposes. Rather, the synthesis provided here aims to show how electronic language is used in computer contexts to lead to understandings about the language - a display of its potential  - and understandings of how computer can be better utilised if the language is understood rather than only part of one’s intuition that leads a computer user to stab at the potential of the machine through guesswork. 

Parameters of synthesis       

     The rank of system is a significant point of delineation in the language  - it marks the barrier beyond which the language is taken to be something else than electronic language. At the level of cultural activity , electronic language is taken to be “print ”, a “photograph ” or some other simulated communication  device. Synthesis can provide pertinent statements about the organisation of those simulations - particularly in the way that the simulation  is organised on a computer  in comparison with its organisation in its native environment. However, synthesis  is centrally about how programmes work to achieve systematic, reusable and predictable results that can be introduced in a business, or other important setting where computers are used, to achieve identifiable goals.

     When working with written/spoken language  it is very tempting to consider the use of that language as product  - a text  as an object  or thing. Electronic language, in this respect is quite different; it is difficult for people to understand electronic language as a thing that can be turned into an object in order to be able to attend to it. It is possible to turn electronic language into a “text” or a “thing” but it is to its advantage that it is more difficult to consider electronic language as an object or thing. Hjelmslev (1943) thought of text as process, that is “system and process” and that through considering it as process we obtain a more relational view of language. Electronic language is more understandable as process - that is, the way it is done in a particular context. It is more informative that we consider the way electronic language is done and analyse the structure of that doing rather than to take a snapshot of a “thing” and analyse its members.

     The point of a synthesis  considered as process - that is to consider the structure of electronic language  activity  - is to identify the ways of maximising linguistic potential  through the structure of process. This is to suggest that in a particular business  context, the way programmes are used and are set up in particular microworlds determines the usefulness of the system for making meaning electronically and in reducing effort to achieve particular goals. Electronic language and a study of its synthesis can lead to understandings of how people interact with a computer  to gain efficiency  in communicating with other people.

Efficiency

     The concept of efficiency is about reducing the usage of available resources required to complete a task. This can be about getting a job or task completed in as fewer steps or option selections as possible; this may or may not be time effective for the machine, but may reduce the time the human operator needs to put into the task to complete it. For example, it may be time effective for the human operator to leave the machine running all night to complete a task, but not necessarily reducing the time the computer  needs to operate to get the task done. However, if there was an alternative that also reduced the time the computer needs to take to get the task done, then that alternative would be the more efficient. An illustration  of efficiency would serve to further explain the concept of efficiency.

     To complete a task of including a picture of another program in a text  document , such as has been done several times in the course of this chapter (see Diagram 31), the following two methods could be used:

 

Method One	Method Two
1.      Display the program for which a picture is required.	1.      Display the program for which a picture is required.
2.      Press the “Print Screen” key on the keyboard.	2.      Press two keys together “Alt” and “Print Screen”.
3.      Start “Paintbrush” program.	3.      Open a Word  document  and press two keys together “Control” and “V”. The “Control Panel” will be inserted in the document.
4.      Select “Edit / Paste” in that program.
5.      A picture of the whole screen will be shown. From this the “Control Panel” can be cut.
6.      Select “File / New” in paintbrush.
7.      In this new file , select “Edit / Paste” and the “Control Panel will now be shown as the only object  in the screen.
8.      Select “Save As” and name the file .
9.      Open a Word  document  and select “Insert / Picture” and select the name of the saved file  for insertion into the current document.

Table 8: Two methods of inserting a bitmap  screen picture in a document  file .

     The more efficient method is Method Two as it requires the least number of steps and therefore completes the task in a time efficient manner.

     But efficiency  is not only about savings in using the resource of time; it is also about savings of human and computer  effort and in the use of disk space, RAM, screen space, paper  (in a computer printer), key strokes, and so on, effectively. It is also about using the least number of files and having a logical and clear method of storing files in directories and sub-directories. In the example in Table 8, Method Two is more efficient in terms of disk space use and file  creation. Method One  produces a file xxx.bmp as well as a xxx.doc file; when the xxx.bmp is copied into the xxx.doc file extra disk space is used to house these two files. In Method Two, there is a single file the xxx.doc file. Because Word  maintains a register of file origins, simply by double-clicking the left hand mouse button starts Paintbrush and allows the picture to be edited.

     The notion of efficiency  is particularly relevant at the rank of program , and the sub-ranks of file , object  and active unit. It is a formal notion - the most efficient form of interoperative elements that can achieve the task at hand. Instantiation in System  of choices made at the rank of program brings into play an efficient form that can within a cultural activity  bring about an efficient method of completing a cultural task. In the discussion of program and its sub-ranks, the notion of efficiency will be raised in combination with program types.

The synthetic rank scale

     There are two ranks of constituent items we must attend to in a discussion of synthesis : the system - program - instruction  scale, and the sub-ranks of file  - object  - active unit. Units of form, at the level of synthesis, revolve around the essential notion of system. It is the view developed here that the unit of system is clause-like and is the central organising principle of synthesis in a similar way to clause being a major organising principle of grammar , while the sub-ranks of file, object and active unit are more like phrase, word and morpheme in spoken and written language . The rank of Instruction has no equivalent in spoken and written language; it is the rank of Instruction that we must attend to in order to understand the multi-semiotic  nature of electronic language.

System

     A system is a combination of programmes that operate together in a computing environment; computing environments can be as simple as a sole personal computer , or it can be a number of machines that work in synchronisation across a large network, such as the Internet , or other public network.

     A system can be viewed in one of two ways:

1.      as an arrangement of programmes that work in synchronisation with each other;

2.      as multifunctional strands of activity .

The latter of these two descriptions is of such importance that it will be the subject of the next chapter. The description of a system provides a physical view of a system ¾ how a system is set out across a number of computers on a network. The purpose of providing this description is to demonstrate its constituent nature. A system is shown to be a functional mechanism composed of a number of programmes that have a definite syntagmatic arrangement.

     The following overview provides a general introduction to a complex computer  system. Following this overview, a number of general statements drawn from the illustration  extends our view of this aspect of electronic language .

Internet  Banker : dedicated system

     Internet  Banker  is a large scale Internet computer  system that connects customers of a bank across the Internet to a banking main-frame computer and to the overall inter-bank transaction system of Australia. The system allows customers to connect to their own bank, view bank statements, move money from one account to another and to pay amounts of money to any other known account in Australia. Diagram 18 is a technical illustrators view of Internet Banker as a system. Each of the items depicted in the illustration  is a computer on which is a program  or set of programmes that form the system proper.

     On each dedicated computer  of the system resides one or more programmes. Each of these programmes plays a part in the operation  of the overall system. Dedicated programmes that are part of the system include:

·        Browser - a client program  that uses Hypertext Markup Language and is normally used as a medium of file  exchange and display on the World Wide Web . This program is installed on a personal computer and is used for accessing computers located across the Internet  (See Diagram 18 the device marked with a spider’s web ).

Diagram 18: Internet  Banker  - a large scale computer  system

·        Secure Client - a small program  that operates as a helper application to the web  browser  on the customer’s computer  that interprets interface files to create applications that talk with the host  system. The secure client  receives encrypted messages and decrypts those messages for display in the client interface. When message are required to be forwarded to the bank, messages are re-encrypted and forwarded.

·        Transaction Server - a software  device that accepts logical connections from browser  software and maintains a record of those transactions for maintenance of the communication  link.

·        Switch Server - a software  device that accepts data , decides within a set range of parameters how that data is to be handled and where that information  is to be forwarded.

·        Data Server - a software  device that maintains a database of Secure Client interfaces  that allow the secure client  connection with the host  trading information  generated on the Secure Client with the Host and vice versa; the Data Server also maintains a log of information about the activities of the entire system, as well as information about each customer, what facilities were used, also keeping a register for charging use of the system.

·        Key Management Server - a software  and hardware  device that manages the encryption and decryption of data , and maintains a database of all public encryption keys for each user.

·        Data Broker - a software  device that translates data  from its native format to a format that is acceptable for host  interaction.

·        Host - a hardware  computing mechanism on which resides data  in soft database format, that handles large quantities of data in very large tables often referred to as main frame computers.

·        Internet  - the network of networks that operates world  wide to provide pervasive connection between one computing site and another.

How the system operates      

     A customer of the bank using an ordinary web  browser  on the Internet  connects to the bank’s web site^[2]. Once connected to the web site, the customer can choose to use the Electronic Bank . Through selecting the Electronic Bank, the customer automatically starts the Electronic Bank interface program  - pictured in Diagram 18 as the Secure Client.

 

Diagram 19: Internet  Banker  secure client.

     The Secure Client connects the user to the Transaction Server which maintains a record of all customer connections to the Electronic Bank . Through use of a menu on the Secure Client, the customer indicates to the Transaction Server that activity  behind the security wall is required. A message is forwarded from the Secure Client to the Transaction Server, and this is passed on to the Switch Server. The Switch Server forwards this information  to the Key Management Server which decrypts the message and forwards this back to the Switch Server. The message is then divided, between information that is required by the host  and information required by the Data Server where interface information is maintained.

     Data returning from the Host is accepted by the Switch Server. In the Switch Server an interface to display the data  on the Secure Client is identified from the Data Server. Additionally, usage information  is passed to the Data Server for inclusion on user logs. The Switch Server accepts interface information from the Data Server, and wraps the data with the interface. Interface with data and messaging  to the user program  are then forwarded to the Key Management Server. In the Key Management Server the information is encrypted and forwarded back to the Switch Server. At the Switch Server the fully encrypted information is forwarded to the Secure Client where it is decrypted and displayed on the screen using the Secure Client.

Program types

     It is argued here that an efficient system consists of a mix of programmes that minimises input of human operators. In certain locations in every system human interaction is required; but where it is not required programmes that take control of the context are the most efficient.

     Programmes in a system can be identified as functioning in one of four different ways. There are four types of program  each based upon one of the four common functioning principles:

·        cybernetic - the major feature of this type of program  is that it is predominantly composed of files and objects that provide control over the context within which it operates using provided data  to govern within a set of given parameters;

·        command - a program  of this type predominantly consists of files and objects that uses names or labels to identify a location or activity ; usually a DOS  program;

·        graphical - the major feature of a graphical program  is that it is composed of files and objects that construct a graphical interface and provide a comprehensive set of contextual clues as to what the program sets out to accomplish; a program is considered to be “graphical” in that all other programmes tend to be “alphabetic-text ” based by default;

·        controlled - files and objects presented in such a program  provide action within a program, but it is highly controlled by the program as to what can be accomplished.

     A system is always composed of two or more program  types; at the minimum, in a client-server arrangement where a client program operates on a personal computer  and a server works on a computer accessed across a network. The program operating  on the personal computer would most likely be a graphical program  for a computer user to access, and the program working across the network, a cybernetic program  ¾ operating within a set range of limits with little or no human intervention.

 

Program	Function Type	Position in the system
Browser	Graphical	Primary user program
Secure Client	Graphical	Helper application that must be used with a browser .
Transaction Server	Cybernetic	Receives messages from a browser  and on forwards to the Switch Server. Could forward messages to any other machine but can only receive messages from a browser or helper.
Switch Server	Cybernetic	Receives messages and forwards messages to/from Transaction Server, Data Server, Key Management Server, Data Broker.
Data Server	Cybernetic	Receives messages from the Switch Server, but can also allow connections to it from other system within the organisation to allow new information  to be placed on the system.
Key Management Server	Cybernetic	Receives messages from the Switch Server, but can also allow connections to it from other system within the organisation to allow new information  to be placed on the system.
Data Broker	Command	Translates messages taken from Switch Server and forwards them translated to the Host.
Host	Controlled	Receives messages from the Data Broker and can only respond in one of a very few ways.

Table 9: Internet  Banker  System  programmes classified.

     A system is highly syntagmatic; each program  must be put together across the network in a particular order otherwise the system will not work. However, just as words can be re-arranged within a sentence to make a different meaning, so too can programmes be re-arranged to work differently. For example, the same program elements can be put together in another manner to construct a different system; the Merchant Virtual Network product  is composed of the same programmes but placed in a different order. It therefore functions ¾that is, means differently.

Program

     The term program is a name for a complex set of files that have a common general purpose and are used in coordination with each other. It must not be suggested that a program is composed of files ¾ there is no such unitary object  as a program. The concept of a program is a logical notion that is used in common technical talk used in reference to a set of files that have a common general purpose and usually associated with one method of working with a particular semiotic . A program is a set of files, that in turn are composed of objects, and these objects are composed of active units; in combination they form a program. Programmes are a complex grouping of files including:

·        one or more executable files

·        library files often called “dll” files ¾ usually adds functionality to a program  from a standard library, or from another program, or from a shared library for the entire system, such as adding date, time, or other common elements that are often shared on the system

·        data  files ¾ organised by the program  in according to read and write statements

·        resource files  ¾ including graphic elements, character sets, functions, mathematical algorithms,

·        graphic files  ¾ different to resource files , these may be less permanent often having a graphic that is updated on the fly

·        database files  ¾ organised in a standard database table form so that other programmes can read and write to the database

·        help files  ¾ provides instruction  as to how the program  or parts of it should be used

·        template files  ¾ outlines as to how data  can be organised within the program  environment

·        registration files  ¾ details of ownership of the program , parts of the program installed, and current updates added to the program.

 

Diagram 20: The interface of a graphical program

     A discussion of program is a discussion that concerns itself with the files, objects and active units with which the entire program is constructed.

     A program  is classified as one of four types ¾  cybernetic, graphical, command, control ¾ by force of the appearance of the program when seen operating  on a computer  and the number and purpose of the files that are coordinated to operate the program environment. A graphical program  is a set of files that include an executable file  (.exe) and resource files  that compose the graphical user interface  ¾  see Diagram 20 for a sample interface from a graphical program.

     A cybernetic program  is a set of files that is active in making decisions or sorting data  while also maintaining its operation  through use of data in resource files , or data it obtains from messages as it operates. A cybernetic program may or may not have an interface that can be seen on a screen. Usually, cybernetic programmes operate as services in the background.

     A command program  is so named because of its mode  of operation . Files from such a program are raised into action only when a command is issued. This may be issued from another program or by a human from a command line ¾ an interface that allows for only one character input at a time as displayed in Diagram 21.

 

 

     A controlled program  is a set of files that is controlled by a static array of menu items, allowing a limited range of activity  by the user. Often, the range of options available at any point in the program is limited, and that array changes as and when each input is selected by the user.

 

Diagram 21: A command line

File

     The notion of file  in computing terms has a dual reference which most people conflate; similar to the problem noted by Halliday  (xx:xxx) where people do not separate the notion of grammar  and grammatics. People often talk about a file on the disk and having to retrieve the file from the disk ¾ the notion of file is one of a container wherein things are stored or put. There is also the notion of file as process ¾ the thing in computer  memory that changes as a human interacts with a computer. Computer users often suggest that, for example in a program  such as Word  for Windows , they will “open a file” ¾ the container is being opened so that its contents can be inspected, worked upon, modified and then saved. Intuitively, the notion of file in the way people use it when working on a computer suggests that a file is composed of or made of smaller units ¾ this is why we must open the file and inspect its contents.

 

Diagram 22: Windows  File Manager showing file  names in each of the two right hand windows.

     There is, however, another reality in computing to which we must attend when examining the reason for saying that we “open a file  to inspect its contents”. On a computer  when files are stored we can inspect them as those storage units, or containers in a program  ¾ in a Windows  operating  system it is File Manager where we see file names (Diagram 22). In this state of storage, we cannot see what is in a file as it is hidden from view. As soon as a file is selected, in that it has an association with a particular program, that program is started, meaning that other files that allow us a view of the selected files are activated, so that a view of the selected file can be had in the screen of the computer.

 

Diagram 23: A file  viewed without its interpretive set of files.

     All files when inspected on a screen without their other interpretive files look strange to the viewer ¾ they look as though the file  contains garbage, a random assortment of characters that have some order but to which we are not privy (See Diagram 23). There are a range of different files on a computer  which can be seen when considering the naming of files ¾ in File Manager we see extensions to file names that label the type of file, such as “.lib” and “.exe” (See above in Diagram 22). Different to the view of files we might have when inspecting them in their raw state, all files contain objects. Without the interpretive framework of the associated files, we cannot view the objects as objects when looking at a file in the raw.

     All files group around a central program file  which is primarily an interpretive file; there always must be a program file to which we add other files when it is used. On the one hand we can add files that will give us additional functionality ¾ an executable file, such as a “.dll” which is a file containing a library of functionality that can be shared by programs. On the other hand, additional files can be called to aid a central program file that carry data , this can be in the form of textual data, graphic or picture data, spreadsheet data, and so on. There are also data templates, that provide an organising form for particular textual forms and are the basis for starting a document  file; for example, a “.dot” is the underlying template for a .”doc” file - in the “.dot” is found the stylesheet for the “.doc” file. Template files are databases which provide refined options for program operation , ie, they provide refined paradigmatic choice. For example, it is using a template that the syntagm “.doc” can be constructed in a more refined way, using a particular set of options. Particular programs use a base data-file type - Microsoft  Word  uses .doc files as its base, Microsoft Excel uses “.xl”, Corel Xara uses “.xar”. Added to these base files additional data can be inserted in each of these programs to work with the base file to form a composite file. For example, it is possible to add pictures to a “.doc” file in word. Using the Insert Picture option, a “.doc” file can be extended to include any picture format.

 

Function	File type	File manager label
Program	Executable	.exe .bat, .dll,
Text input	Data	.doc, .htm, .html, .txt
Numeric/textual	Spreadsheet	.123, .xl
Graphic representation	Picture	.bmp, .gif, .zar, .wmf, .jpg, .pct, .tif, .wpg
Textual/numeric	Templates	.xlt, .pot, .dot

Table 10: File types found in programs.

     When we consider that a file  is composed of a smaller unit, this consideration is not in terms of the raw state in which a file is stored, but rather in terms of when the file is in its process state, visible on a screen, or activating other files. In a document  production program , such as Word  for Windows , the objects to which we attend are “words”. Should we attend to a file without the interpretive framework, the objects we observe in a file are an odd assortment of characters. This odd assortment of characters, though, are apparent as objects with white space between one and another, as the other files in the program provide a view of the file as having a set of characters with white space between. Other objects are observable through their bordering, such as tables, figures and diagrams. The program “Word for Windows” is an interpretive framework, or set of files, that sets up the “print -like” semiotic  that allows us to work with objects that are “book-like”. If we were to use another program, Corel Xara, a drawing  program, the objects to which we attend are drawing objects, bounded by the borders of that interpretive framework.  

     Files in their raw state are phrasal by nature ¾ the file  displayed in Diagram 24 has the following objects:

·        a header  ¾ which contains information  about how this file  is to be interpreted by other files of the program  for which this file is intended;

·        an identifier  ¾ indicating the program  for which this file  is normally used with;

·        the body  ¾ a number of objects that is displayed on a screen complete with interpretation marks indicating how this objects in this file  are to be interpreted by the other files of the program;

·        the end marker  ¾ indicating any objects that must be included with this file  and what other files would be supplied to this file for interpretation.

Normally, the file  as displayed in Diagram 24 would not be seen compete with each of the phrasal objects on display. What is seen of a file is an interpretation of the file ¾ an interpretation that is composed by the combination of other files interacting with the file. To show this “.doc” file in this way, it was renamed a “.txt” file and read into a textual viewer to expose the phrasal objects of the file.

 

Diagram 24: A .doc file  displayed in a text  viewer

Each of the phrases in Diagram 24 can be seen by the variation in density of characters, and with an overall view of the screen looking for variation in patterning of the seemingly random set of characters. Each file  type has a different phrasal layout, however, it is not the layout of the file that we attend to in order to gain a clear indication of the phrasal nature of the file but rather the extension on the file name, eg. “.txt”, “.exe”. The different phrasal nature of each type of file makes it impossible for a “.txt” file to be read in its native form into Corel Xara which works with the native form of “.xar”. A .txt file, however, has no naming and identifying phrases as does as “.xar” file. Often we see .txt files represented on the screen as fixed space text  objects, as shown in Diagram 25. But the program  files of Corel Xara do not have the necessary resource to interpret a text file. It is possible though to move these objects in a text file to Xara.

 

Diagram 25: A .txt file  displayed in Notepad.

A file , in its non-interpreted state, contains a set of objects that set out where information  of one type is kept in that file. The header  keeps information about the way that file is to be interpreted by other files, the body  keeps data  which are objects, within that interpretive framework, that can be extracted from the file and displayed on a screen. In its interpreted state, though, a file contains objects according to the interpreted view. While there may only be four objects in a particular file phrase in its non-interpreted state, there may be thousands of objects in its interpreted state. A Word for Windows  file in its non-interpreted state, as a file phrase, has four objects (header, identifier , body and end marker ), in its interpreted state it is composed of words, each of which is bounded by white space, which may number into the thousands per file.

     There is an interpretive mechanism we refer to as a clipboard. This is a program , or set of files, that allows the user to select a number of interpreted objects , such as words, interprets these objects into a file  structure ¾ the phrasal structure of one file type ¾ in terms of the phrasal structure of another type of file. The clipboard operates only as process; it is not possible to run a file through an interpreter and change it to another file type with clipboard. What can be done, though, is a group of objects, such as a paragraph of text , can be selected and cut from a window displaying text, and paste into a Xara window which normally displays drawings.

Object

     In discussing files, it has been identified that there are two types of objects ¾ non-interpreted objects , such as a header, identifier, body, end marker and interpreted objects, such as words, drawing  elements, and so on. It has also been suggested that files are phrasal in that they combine a number of objects, in a similar way that phrases combine a number of words in grammar. What is to be attended to here, in terms of objects, is the word-likeness of objects. This must focus on the word-likeness of objects with two points of reference, file objects  and interpreted objects.

     File objects are not immediately recognisable as being like words because of the interpretive problems we have as humans looking at an apparent set of garbage. While it is possible for us to attend to the boundaries of objects in files, it is more difficult for use to attend to each object  and distinguish between one object and another. We may attend to a file  in such a way, but this is not the manner in which we work with files. We nearly always use them in their interpreted state. However, we do have an understanding as to the function of each object in a file. Each object in a file has a meaning and this can be interpreted through reference to a resource library  ¾ a file that provides a translation from the morpheme-like units of objects in a file, to the objects that we see on the screen in a program . Just like words, each file object is a coded structure to which meanings are attributed because of its association with objects before and after in a phrase, and also because of the interpretation of its morphemic units.

     File objects are most unlike words, however, in that there are so many morphemic units that are combined to form one word-like structure that we cannot easily distinguish one word from another. This, however, is not unlike the German practice of joining morphemes together into huge word-arrays that we as English speakers find difficult to break into their components.

     It is easier to identify objects in their interpreted form when working in a program , although it is not as easy as one might first imagine. While we intuitively work with words in a word processing program, and see little problem in identifying a word as an object  in a program, when we work with other semiotics  what constitutes an object is not quite so apparent.

 

Diagram 26: Illustration of objects in a drawing .

 

     Take for example the drawing  in Diagram 26. While we might guess that the entire Eiffel Tower drawing might be an object in terms of this page , in its own interpretive framework of Corel Xara the drawing is composed of a hundred or so objects ¾ drawing elements. As is shown in a partial disassembly of the drawing, lines and other geometric shapes are the objects which compose this drawing. But what makes this drawing environment powerful is that a device called grouping can be used to shift the unit from one rank to another. The entire drawing in Diagram 26 can be grouped to form a single object; thus while we might have originally built the tower from a series of objects, when combined it then can be used over and over again as a single object itself.

 

 

Diagram 27: Graphic objects available in Powerpoint.

     Objects have boundaries so that we can attend and work with them. In a text  file , we have word objects which have a space object  as the demarcation unit. The spelling program , and the Thesaurus  in Word for Windows  recognises words as objects. The auto correct function scans newly typed characters and when the space bar is depressed, it considers the characters as a word and checks to see if it is a common mis-typed word ¾ such as hte instead of the. Graphic files, such as in a Microsoft  Powerpoint  drawing  environment, provides a set of objects that can be used to construct diagrams . The range of these graphic objects available for building into a composite diagram are displayed on buttons when working in this drawing environment as shown in Diagram 27.

 

Diagram 28: An object  with its markers in Corel Xara.

By depressing one of the buttons, the mouse pointer is enabled to drop a graphic object  on the drawing  page . Once a drawing is complete, or a drawing that was composed by some other person is attended to, it is possible to determine what constitutes an object in a drawing only by pointing the mouse at an object and depressing the left-hand mouse button. When this is done, small black boxes mark the boundaries of an object as shown in Diagram 28 ¾ in this case, the whole drawing has been grouped and therefore constitutes one object including some background indicated by the fact that the black markers are extended away from the main body  of the drawing marking where the background ends.

Active unit

     Objects are composed of active units. Word  objects in a text  file  are composed of characters which are active units. Each active unit, in the case of word objects, is automatically built through selection of a character from a character set, such as displayed in Diagram 29, plus a font style, a colour chart to colour the character, and a position map to place the character in a particular position on the screen.

 

Diagram 29: Unicode character map.

Active units need not been in the form of characters; they can also be programmed as geometrical shapes, such as a line, a curve, or a circle.

     Active units are akin to morphemes in grammar ; these are the smallest meaningful units to a human user; these are the units which are typed when using a keyboard, or units which are manipulated when moving a mouse. An active unit may be as small as a single pixel  on the screen in a drawing  program . Complex active units can be constructed using a drawing programme’s group function ¾ that is, a number of active units can be grouped together to form an object, but then through grouping the object can be saved as an active unit and used as such in other contexts.

     The smallest meaningful units in synthesis  are not active units ¾ the smallest meaningful units are binary units found in the rank of Instruction. Active units are programmed through combining in a program  instruction  of one or more binary units; for example, a character such as “A” is composed of binary units that indicate the character as one of a particular character set, its shape as indicated by a font table, its colour as indicated from data  in a colour table, its location as indicated by the screen map, and the duration of its display on the screen as indicated in the screen display map.

Instruction

     The rank of instruction  is most unlike a grammatical rank. The units to which we attend, Instructions, are not observable by a human being, nor are they normally manipulable. To work with program instructions, a special programming  semiotic  name a programming language is loaded into the program sub-rank scale . When textual objects and active units are composed in a specific format, they form human readable instructions that are interpreted by a human in the context of a programming metaphor.

     The programming  metaphor provides a semiotic  framework within which the cryptic textual messages can be interpreted by a programmer as to what it will accomplish when it is compiled as computer  readable instructions. Upon compiling these textual instructions, files are formed which contain machine readable code coded in binary form. These files are called binary files  and are the realisation of textual programming files, objects and active units. The form of a binary file  is a series of characters that are not readable by a human user, but can be seen on a screen as a series of what looks like garbage; these are the smallest meaningful units to a computer system. Realised on the expression level, binary files are digitological units.

     The role of instruction  must be understood in terms of not only what programmers  do, but also in terms of the computer  user. A programmer has access to and composes “.exe” files, amongst many others, but it is the role of the computer user that constructs other files ¾ those that we commonly call data  files. Data files and their objects and active units are realised in the rank of Instruction ¾ these are instructions given to the computer as to what to and how to store the information . Additionally, data files are instantiated as files through their Instruction form; digital units are instantiated as instructions, and these instructions are instantiated as program files, objects and active units.

     It is also through the rank of Instruction that files are grouped together to form interpretive frameworks within which a data  file  can be transformed from a “garbage” file to a fully interpreted semiotic. The header  of a file contains data which at this rank of Instruction, links one file to another, so that it is recognised by the computer  that a particular data file is to be used in coordination with a particular executable, template, character schemes, colour schemes and screen map.

Digitology

     Having considered the level of Synthesis in some detail we now must pay attention to the level of Digitology (see Diagram 14). The unit to which we pay attention to at this level of abstraction is digital signals. At this level, digital signals are constructed in random access memory , stored on disk, CD-ROM, tape or other storage device, and used to drive computer  peripherals, such as printers, monitors, scanners and such. People do not see and cannot handle digital signals; rather a computer user works with digital signals through synthesis .

     At the level of synthesis  the computer  user copies a file  from one computer to another, or deletes a file on a disk. A file is a name in synthesis for a digitised structure at the level of digitology ; that is, a file is realised in digitology as a group of digital signals. In synthesis we use a program called file manager  to be able to copy files from one location to another in a storage mechanism such as a disk. There are actually no storage places called directories, the name we have for digital repositories; directories are logical structures used at the level of synthesis that are realised in digitology as particular tracks, or portions of tracks on a disk. It is thus that we have, as humans, a window into the hidden world  of digital electronics.

     Digitology is analogous with phonology  and graphology  in that all these are expressions of language . Phonology realises the grammar  in sound , while graphology realises the grammar in writing. Digitology realises synthesis  in digital signals. This, however, is about as far as the analogy can be taken in that digitology , as an expression of language, is largely hidden and silent. Rather than being the medium for communication  to other human beings, digitology is the medium for storage, suspension and transmission of language for use by other computers. This is the level of abstraction at which computers are connected across the Internet  and other networks. It is also the level at which the computer  through digital signalling drives printers, scanners and other peripheral devices.

     Largely digitology  is hidden from human activity  - it is the medium for computer  to computer activity, and it is only by listening to the whirling of the drive, the movement of the print  head, and the flickering of modem lights that the human gains an appreciation as to what is going on. Strictly speaking , these whirling sounds and flickering lights are not a part of the language , but in the absence of indicators  now becoming a little more common in programmes, many of us who have worked with computers over time have developed a sense of when computer activity has ceased and when it is operating  normally even though there is no apparent activity. In a bid to provide more information  for users, particularly on the less than reliable Internet, many programmers  include indicators of digital activity  - for example, the counter that indicates how much of a file  has been copied from one computer to another across the Internet.

     Even though the digital activity is hidden from human visibility, it is through human interaction with the computer  that digital operation  is set in motion. A wide range of options in programmes sets in motion quite complex digital activity, most of which is not required to be known. One  of the most complex operations that can be set in motion is one computer, using a network protocol, connecting to another computer to complete an activity, such as copying a file . At the rank of operating  system, network protocol settings are established. Example protocol settings for the network protocol TCP/IP  are displayed in Diagram 30 showing just one of three dialog boxes within which settings are displayed. These settings are realised in digitology  causing the computer to have a network address of “139.130.127.33” and using the gateway to the Internet  of a known computer “192.150.129.2” - the local access service provider.

 

           

Diagram 30: TCP/IP  protocol settings.

     Once a computer  is connected to the Internet , constant activity  is invoked keeping the connection between the computer and the gateway computer alive. Keeping the connection alive is the equivalent of two humans ensuring each other is still listening by verbal prodding - “are you still listening …” “of course I am …” - only that this is repeated every five seconds while no other activity is actuated. Doing something as simple as copying a file  from one computer to another involves complex digital activity  using a protocol like “File Transfer Protocol” (FTP ). The program Winsock_FTP (Diagram 31) is a software  tool used to set in motion file transfer between two computers. Setting digital activity in motion using a tool such as the FTP tool, invokes a series of computer digital actions  all of which is undetectable to even the experienced computer user.

     Realisation in digitology  of settings and computer  activity  using a tool, such as the FTP Tool,  creates in digitology a digital intelligence  that is in turn interpreted by the realisation of the FTP program . What is set in motion in digitology is a range of paradigmatic options  and together with a particular syntagm - such as the copying of a file  “data .doc” from computer “192.150.129.2” to computer “139.130.127.33”. The digital realisation of the FTP program sets in motion copying of this file, and in the same realisation provides a set of paradigmatic options should the syntagm differ from that which is expected. Digital activity invoked here automatically proceeds establishing cybernetic controls to guide the digital action until the selected syntagm is complete.

 

Diagram 31: File transfer protocol tool.

     What installs in computers an intelligence  is that within a given set of parameters, choices can be made by the computer  automatically without reference to a human operator. This is crux of computer activity  as a human labour saving device - the computer can take over repetitious tasks completing them with cybernetic guidance until they are completed. It is important to understand the semiotic  chain of meaning making involved when setting a computer to work to complete tasks in such a fashion. There is a chain of semiotic activity that is in human control - from a specific cultural activity such as invoice data entry, through to realisation of that data entry at the level of synthesis  in a microworld, and a further realisation of settings and attendant data in cybernetic digital activity . In this complex semiotic chain, there are perhaps more than 500 options of which a human operator may mistake one or more selections, and a plethora of possible data entry errors which may cause automated digital activity to complete a task but with poor accuracy.

     Fortunately, paradigmatic options  realised in digitology  are stored on a disk or in computer  memory so that these options can be repeatedly used. As well, complex syntagms are stored digitally as data . This makes it possible to not only construct new something which has already been constructed, but also to replay something constructed before for revision, modification and further replay.

 

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^[1]  A 50 year-old computing novice, with whom I worked at considerable length, described computer  activity  as a “blooming confusion”.

^[2] The system described here can be seen on the Internet  in one of several locations. The Advance Bank at “www.advance.com.au”, Commonwealth Bank at “www.cba.com.au”.

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