Added a description of Object.

diff --git a/doc/design.xml b/doc/design.xml
index 47cbb25..a2387ac 100644 (file)
--- a/doc/design.xml
+++ b/doc/design.xml
@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@
 <!--
       XML documentation system
       Original author :  Arjen Baart - arjen@andromeda.nl
-      Version         : $Revision: 1.6 $
+      Version         : $Revision: 1.7 $
 
       This document is prepared for XMLDoc. Transform to HTML,
       LaTeX, Postscript or plain text with XMLDoc utilities and
@@ -48,7 +48,26 @@ and is based upon the development manifest.
 <heading>Architecture</heading>
 
 <para>
-The architecture of <strong>gnucomo</strong> is shown in the
+The systems that are being monitored in <strong>gnucomo</strong> are called
+<emph>Object</emph>.
+These may be computers, routers, switches or other active components that
+are capable of sending reports about their internal workings
+to the <strong>gnucomo</strong> server.
+An <emph>Object</emph> plays a central role in the <strong>gnucomo</strong> system.
+Two separate aspects of an <emph>Object</emph> are monitored: the static state and the
+dynamic behaviour.
+The static state of an <emph>Object</emph> is represented by a set of paremeters
+and the values of these parameter's attributes.
+The dynamic behaviour of an <emph>Object</emph> is characterized by events that
+happen on an <emph>Object</emph>.
+One obvious way to collect a report of these events is to scan the log files of the
+system and its processes.
+<emph>Objects</emph> run services and these services are configured with a set
+of parameters. Also, services produce entries in log files.
+</para>
+
+<para>
+The dataflow architecture of <strong>gnucomo</strong> is shown in the
 data flow diagram below:
 </para>