subvalues

Subvalue is a term used informally to refer to a value that arises as part of a larger value through a decomposition, componentization, or hierarchical representation. It is not a standard mathematical object with a universal definition, and its exact meaning varies by field. In general, a subvalue is any constituent value that participates in a decomposition of a higher-level value; the original value can often be reconstructed from its subvalues together with some metadata.

In numerical representations, subvalues include digits of a number, bytes or bits of an integer, or components of a fixed-size representation. For example, the decimal digits of 2379 are subvalues of that number; the bytes 0xAB and 0xCD are subvalues of the 16-bit value 0xABCD. In data structures, subvalues can be fields within a record, elements within a tuple, or components of a composite object. In color science, an RGB color has three subvalues: the red, green, and blue channels.

In mathematics and computer science more broadly, subvalues arise in decompositions such as factorization, coordinate projections, or sections of a vector; the term is less formal than “coordinate components” or “subobjects” and is used primarily to describe parts of a representation rather than an independently defined object.

Applications include encoding and decoding, error checking, and partial information analysis when some subvalues are missing. Limitations: the subvalue notion depends on the chosen decomposition, and not all decompositions yield a canonical or unique set of subvalues.

See also: component, digit, field, substructure, decomposition.