Frank used agent-based models and the theory of autonomous agents with cognitive abilities (see multi-agent system) to operationalize measuring pragmatic information content. The transformation between the received message and the executed message is defined by the agents rules; the pragmatic information content is the information in the transformed message, measured by the methods given by Shannon. The general case can be split in (deterministic) actions to change the information the agent already has and the optimal decision using this information. To measure the pragmatic information content is relevant to assess the value of information received by an agent and influences the agents willingness to pay for information - not measured by Shannon communication information content, but by the received pragmatic information content.