Patterns are at the heart of OSA. They bring together a number of elements in order to show how the practitioner can solve a specific architectural problem with a known quality solution. The elements are:

• Description of the pattern including strategic intent or considerations.
• When to use, and when not to use.
• A diagram that show the architectural relationship of the main components, with annotated control references.
• A list of the controls referenced with links to the catalog.
• Some additional attributes to record the version, authors and so on.

To make this easier we have a standard pattern template that you can edit in Open Office or your preferred HTML editor (such as gedit). We also have a diagram template in SVG format that you can use with vector packages such as Inkscape (remember to download the icon pack too).