- From: <Tom_Carroll@grainger.com>
- Date: Fri, 11 Oct 2002 15:15:22 -0500
- To: RogerCutler@ChevronTexaco.com
- Cc: dorchard@bea.com, RogerCutler@ChevronTexaco.com, www-ws-arch@w3.org, www-ws-arch-request@w3.org
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@ w3.org 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