Record lengths [Was: Re: [r-t] Extensions and calls acting on more than one row]

[Richard Smith]

Philip Saddleton wrote:

> You didn't - it was apiece of paper provided by a nice fresher. I still have 
> it, and it says:
>
> Records
> -------

[snip]

This, I think, is a major amiguity in current decisions, and 
one that could easily be resolved.

The current decision on record length peals, (D).D, states 
that "the Record Length Peal in a method or group of methods 
on a given number of bells shall be the longest length 
complying with parts A to D".  What precisely is meant by a 
"group of methods"?

A pedantic interpretation of the decision suggests that each 
distinct combination of methods should have its own record 
length.  This, however, is not how anyone actually seems to 
interpret this decision, and I find it hard to believe that 
it was ever intended to be interpreted in this way.

This begs the question, what are the categories of peals for 
which length records are kept?

The usual interpretation seems to be that the peal's "title" 
is used -- that is, a peal described as "Spliced Surprise 
Major (10m)" might be a record length in the "Spliced 
Surprise Major" category, an so on.  But this just moves the 
problem as we now have to decide what the peal titles exist.

Clearly decisions (D)B and (D)C are the first place to look 
for this.  They define terms such as "Variable Cover" and 
"Spliced", presumably for use in peals' titles, but they say 
nothing about whether method classes (and perhaps the term 
"Differential") should be included in a peal's title. 
Certainly, when you see peals in more than one method in the 
Ringing World, they are usually published with a method 
class in the peals' title.

This, in turn leads to an ambiguity as to which method 
class(es) should be used -- a peal of Spliced Little 
Surprise could equally be described as just Spliced 
Surprise, or more generally as Spliced Treble Dodging or 
just Treble Dodging.

If length records were kept in these categories, could a 
record length in one category also hold the record in 
broader category?  For example, the recent 50,400 would be 
the current "Treble Dodging Minor" record holder: is it also 
the overall "Minor" record holder, or would that category be 
reserved for peals with various treble paths?

It seems that, as this is issue of interpretation of the 
decisions, the Methods Committee need to clarify how this 
decision is supposed to be interpreted.  Are any of the 
Methods Committee members on this list able to comment?

Richard