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ProEthica Color Scheme

This document defines the color scheme used throughout ProEthica visualizations for consistency and clarity. Colors map directly to the Nine-Component Framework entity types and pipeline steps.

Entity Type Colors

ProEthica extracts 9 entity types (the Nine-Component Framework) organized into 4 steps. Each type has a distinct color for easy identification.

Step 1 - Context (Foundation)

Type Code Color
Role R Blue
State S Purple
Resource Rs Teal

Step 2 - Normative (Requirements)

Type Code Color
Principle P Orange
Obligation O Red
Constraint Cs Gray
Capability Ca Cyan

Step 3 - Temporal (Dynamics)

Type Code Color
Action A Green
Event E Yellow

Step 4 - Synthesis (Analysis)

Type Phase Color
Code Provision Reference 2A Gray
Precedent Case Reference 2B Gray
Ethical Question 2C Cyan
Ethical Conclusion 2C Green
Canonical Decision Point Phase 3 Slate
Resolution Pattern 2E Slate
Causal-Normative Link 2E Slate
Question Emergence 2E Slate

Pipeline Step Colors (Standardized Terminology)

The extraction pipeline uses consistent colors for each step. Each step contains Pass 1 (Facts) and Pass 2 (Discussion) extractions.

Step Name Hex Entities Extracted
Step 1 Contextual Framework #3b82f6 (Blue) Roles (R), States (S), Resources (Rs)
Step 2 Normative Requirements #8b5cf6 (Purple) Principles (P), Obligations (O), Constraints (Cs), Capabilities (Ca)
Step 3 Temporal Dynamics #14b8a6 (Teal) Actions (A), Events (E)
Step 4 Synthesis & Analysis #64748b (Slate) Provisions, Precedents, Questions, Conclusions, Decision Points, Resolution Patterns, Causal-Normative Links, Question Emergence

Terminology Reference

Term Meaning
Step Major pipeline stage (1-4, Step 5 planned)
Pass 1 Facts section extraction within Steps 1-2
Pass 2 Discussion section extraction within Steps 1-2
Phase Sub-stages within Step 4 (2A-2E, 3, 4)
Reconcile Entity deduplication between Steps 3 and 4

See Pipeline Terminology for complete definitions.

Step 4 Phases

Phase Name Description Parallelism
2A Code Provisions NSPE code reference extraction 2A runs in parallel with 2B
2B Precedent Cases Precedent case reference extraction 2B runs in parallel with 2A
2C Questions & Conclusions Ethical questions and board conclusions After 2A
2D Transformation Case transformation classification 2D runs in parallel with 2E
2E Rich Analysis Resolution patterns, causal-normative links, question emergence 2E runs in parallel with 2D
3 Decision Points E1-E3 algorithmic synthesis + LLM fallback Sequential
4 Narrative Timeline and scenario seed Sequential

Step Filter Colors

The graph filter buttons use neutral colors that group entity types by their extraction step.

Step Name Color Includes
1 Context Blue R, S, Rs
2 Normative Purple P, O, Cs, Ca
3 Temporal Teal A, E
4 Synthesis Slate Provisions, Precedents, Q, C, Decision Points, etc.

Flow Graph (Reasoning Flow)

The Flow tab shows how NSPE provisions inform questions and conclusions.

Node Type Color Shape
Provision Dark Gray Rectangle
Question Cyan Diamond
Conclusion Green Rounded
Entity Blue Circle/Rounded

Precedent Network

The Similarity Network uses colors to indicate case outcomes.

Outcome Color
Ethical Green
Unethical Red
Mixed Orange
Current Case Blue

Edge thickness indicates similarity strength between cases.

View-Context Overrides

The entity-type palette above is the default mapping for ontology graph and pipeline visualizations. A specific view may locally override an entity-type color when the canonical hue collides with a load-bearing semantic palette inside that view.

Precedence rule: when an entity-type color and a load-bearing semantic color (success and failure, fulfilled and violated, accept and reject, and similar pairings) compete in the same view, the semantic color is retained and the entity-type color is locally overridden. Each override is registered below with the file location of the affected markup and a short statement of the collision. A registered override is the difference between a principled deviation and an unflagged regression; contributors who notice a divergence from the entity-type tables above should consult this section before "correcting" the local CSS.

Validation Study Timeline View

File: app/templates/validation_study/case_evaluation.html, tab pane #timeline-pane.

The Timeline view renders obligation-state activation pills in #198754 green (fulfill), #dc3545 red (violate), and #d6a405 amber (raise at stake). These three colors disambiguate the Likert items, which ask participants to rate how well the view conveys obligations being placed at stake, fulfilled, or violated. The fulfill, violate, and raise palette is therefore load-bearing for the rating instrument and is preserved.

The canonical Action green (#198754) collides with the fulfill pill, the canonical Event yellow (#ffc107) sits adjacent to the raise pill, and the previously deployed Event red (#dc3545) collides with the violate pill. Action and Event in the Timeline view are therefore rendered in alternate hues outside the obligation-state palette, with the icon glyphs (bi-person-walking for Action, bi-lightning for Event) carrying the primary type-discrimination load. The specific replacement hex values are recorded in the CSS scoped to #study-timeline in the same template; this section records the rationale for the deviation rather than the hex codes themselves, which may be retuned without further amendment to this document so long as the obligation-state palette and the Action/Event hues remain disjoint.