The ten binding points
The estate's entanglement is wide in reach but narrow at its root: four pinning components, two frozen contract packages, three core shared databases, and WCF as a transport. Cutting at these points releases whole populations of systems without touching them. Stage 2 of the programme is exactly this list.
| Binding point | Category | Systems bound | Released if cut alone | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| phenix-feature-service WCF-only feature flags on .NET Framework 4.7.2 with no tests. Consumers cannot leave the legacy platform while their flags live here. | Pinning component | 28 | 8 | What unlocks |
| mail-service WCF-only mail sending. Everything that emails still routes through this and its template pair. | Pinning component | 21 | 0 | What unlocks |
| mailtemplate-service WCF-only mail templating, paired with mail-service. | Pinning component | 18 | 0 | What unlocks |
| application-framework The legacy Phenix application framework libraries. Multi-targeting is under way; completing it releases its consumers. | Pinning component | 35 | 5 | What unlocks |
| transfers-provider-servicecontract Contract package frozen at .NET Framework 4.5.2. Consumers cannot move runtimes until it is re-published with modern targets. Consumers take it as a NuGet package, so the pinning is not always visible as a repository dependency edge. | Frozen contract package | 0 | 0 | What unlocks |
| phenix-passenger-configuration-service-contract Contract package frozen at .NET Framework 4.5.2. Consumers cannot move runtimes until it is re-published with modern targets. Consumers take it as a NuGet package, so the pinning is not always visible as a repository dependency edge. | Frozen contract package | 3 | 0 | What unlocks |
| sqlserver:Phenix The core Phenix database. Its schema exists only as an append-only change ledger, and every sharer moves in convoy on schema change. | Core shared database | 22 | 5 | What unlocks |
| sqlserver:EventLog Shared event logging database. | Core shared database | 14 | 2 | What unlocks |
| sqlserver:ContactCentre Shared database under every generation of the contact centre stack. | Core shared database | 9 | 3 | What unlocks |
| WCF transport WCF as a transport: the legacy Microsoft messaging technology stitching the estate together, with no direct successor on modern .NET. | Transport | 98 | 35 | What unlocks |
"Released if cut alone" counts systems whose only binding runs through this point: cut it and they leave the entangled core with no further work. Systems bound by several mechanisms need more than one cut, which is why the stage 2 actions are run as a set.