CodeChronicle

Reading the verification rail

What the marks on the in-force band mean, and the status it reports

Every search result carries an in-force band whose body is the verification rail: it times the provision you are reading against the e-Laws consolidations that can independently vouch for it. The bar runs from the version’s in-force start (left) to its end — or current (right); your query date sits on it as a tick. How much of the bar is solid, and what marks sit on it, say how directly the text is confirmed on that date.

Symbols

Solid line — Attested stretch — the text is directly backed by a consolidation here.
Dashed line — Unattested stretch — inferred between consolidations, or a recent tail no consolidation has reached yet.
Consolidation — A dated e-Laws republication used to confirm the text. A pair of arrowheads ◄ ► marks one that spans a date range.
Enacting regulation — The original O. Reg. itself — the attestation when no consolidation applies.
Reconstructed date — The in-force start was inferred; no consolidation pins exactly when this version began.
Query date — The date you searched, placed on the timeline.
Margin rule — Holds a consolidation that falls entirely outside this version's in-force window.

Each status

Strongest confirmation first. Each badge and sentence is exactly what a real result shows.

In force
Verified · covered Verified — the version in force on the query date was checked against a dated e-Laws consolidation whose published range covers that date.
In force
Bracketed · unchanged Bracketed — consolidations before and after the query date carry identical text, so the version is unchanged across the gap, even though none lands exactly on the date.
In force
Bracketed · date reconstructed Bracketed, with a reconstructed start — surrounding consolidations confirm the text, but the exact in-force start was inferred because none pins it (◯).
In force
Open tail · unchanged Open tail — confirmed through the latest consolidation and unchanged since, but no newer consolidation has yet attested the most recent stretch (dashed).
In force
Open tail · date reconstructed Open tail, reconstructed — the text changed after the last consolidation; the new in-force start was inferred (◯), and no later consolidation has confirmed it.
In force
Introduced · not yet consolidated Not yet consolidated — this version was introduced after the most recent consolidation, so nothing independent has confirmed it yet.

Before e-Laws, the original O. Reg. is the attestation — a filled ▪ square instead of a ◆ consolidation.

In force
Open tail · unchanged Verified at enactment by the enacting regulation (▪), then unchanged — but with no consolidation since, the later stretch isn't independently attested.

The examples above use illustrative dates; in a real result the consolidation and regulation labels link to the official source on e-Laws.