RE: Artifacts

I thought some context might help.

Definition provided by  Merriam-Webster www.m-w.com .

Main Entry: ar·ti·fact
Pronunciation: 'är-ti-"fakt
Function: noun
Etymology: Latin arte by skill (ablative of art-, ars skill) + factum,
neuter of factus, past participle of facere to do -- more at ARM, DO
Date: 1821
1 a : something created by humans usually for a practical purpose;
especially : an object remaining from a particular period <caves containing
prehistoric artifacts> b : something characteristic of or resulting from a
human institution or activity <self-consciousness... turns out to be an
artifact of our education system -- Times Literary Supplement>
2 : a product of artificial character (as in a scientific test) due usually
to extraneous (as human) agency


Definition provided by Rational.  RUP glossary of terms.

artifact
(1) A piece of information that (1) is produced, modified, or used by a
process, (2) defines an area of responsibility, and (3) is subject to
version control. An artifact can be a model, a model element, or a
document. A document can enclose other documents.
 A piece of information that is used or produced by a software development
process. An artifact can be a model, a description, or software. Synonym:
product.

Regards,
Tom Carroll
W.W. Grainger


                                                                                                                                          
                      "Cutler, Roger                                                                                                      
                      (RogerCutler)"              To:       "'David Orchard'" <dorchard@bea.com>, "Cutler, Roger (RogerCutler)"           
                      <RogerCutler@Chevron         <RogerCutler@ChevronTexaco.com>, www-ws-arch@w3.org                                    
                      Texaco.com>                 cc:                                                                                     
                      Sent by:                    Subject:  RE: Artifacts                                                                 
                      www-ws-arch-request@                                                                                                
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                      10/11/2002 10:51 AM                                                                                                 
                                                                                                                                          
                                                                                                                                          





Meaning what?

-----Original Message-----
From: David Orchard  [mailto:dorchard@bea.com]
Sent: Thursday, October 10, 2002 10:32  PM
To: 'Cutler, Roger (RogerCutler)';  www-ws-arch@w3.org
Subject: RE: Artifacts


Roger,

The  term artifact has been used in software for quite some time.

Cheers,
Dave
-----Original Message-----
From: www-ws-arch-request@w3.org  [mailto:www-ws-arch-request@w3.org]On
Behalf Of Cutler, Roger  (RogerCutler)
Sent: Thursday, October 10, 2002 6:35 PM
To:  'www-ws-arch@w3.org'
Subject: Artifacts



I would like to propose the following glossary  entry:

Artifact - 1) A remnant of something that is dead  and gone, as in "The
shard of pottery found in the Yucatan was an artifact of  the high Mayan
civilization"; 2) A defect or error in something otherwise  regular and
useful, as in "Sixty cycle interference is a common artifact in  monitors
sited too close to power sources".

Perhaps you can add other meanings for the  word?  I think you should if
you are going to insist on using it.

Listening to how you folks are using the word  artifact, I hear it meaning
different things at different times.  The  most common meaning that I
infer, however, is that it refers to a piece of  information which is
emitted by some actor in the drama under consideration  and potentially
consumed by another actor.  Uh, isn't that what I would  call a message?  I
have this weird feeling that there is an extreme  shyness about using the
word message, as if some other discipline has dibs on  it.  Well, I think
that the archeologists more or less have dibs on  artifact, and I would
really like to hear words that I understand more clearly  in the context
that you are using them.

Best Wishes --

Roger (a.k.a. Andy Rooney, curmudgeon).

Received on Friday, 11 October 2002 16:22:39 UTC