Re: Entities - what are they?

I agree with you absolutely, a process can certainly have attributes and are objects in their own right. But, I would not define them as **business** objects - they are more like the links between business objects.

For example, a warehouse may have a goods received note, a warehouse storage record and a goods despatched note to track items in, stored and out - all of these would be business objects and design entities. The storage of items received would be recorded as allocation of a goods received note to a storage location / record and preparation for despatch as the allocation of a storage location to a goods despatched note. Both of these, although they most certainly have attributes essential to the operation of the business, I would consider to be processes that act upon the entities themselves.

The distinction between the two types would be that entities have direct links to the 'outside' world (beyond the scope of the system) and can be 'created' by sources outside the business, whereas the processes operate between entities and are internal to the business operation. Obviously, if the system were to deal only with despatch of goods once delivered to the despatch office for delivery, then the storage location record would be an entity in that case.

In terms of systems analysis, you are absolutely correct in what you say, but in terms of business analysis, there is a clear distinction.

On Sun, 16 Jan 2000 16:26:22 GMT, Kyle Lahnakoski <kyle_at_arcavia.com> wrote:

>Mark Preston wrote:
>
>> 2. Strictly, an entity is a business *object* and the borrowings would
>> be a business *process* rather than an entity.
>
>I would differ with you on this. Even a process has attributes, and in
>this way it can be seen as an object. Processes are just a subset of
>objects. Actually, in my data modeling, I have only objects. I have
>yet to see anything that looks otherwise.
>
>Maybe someone, or you, can give me a measurable to show that a process
>can fall outside the sphere of objects. Or maybe you all agree and the
>conversation ends.
>
>----------------------------------------------------------------------
>Kyle Lahnakoski Arcavia Software Ltd.
>(416) 892-7784 http://www.arcavia.com
 

-- 
Mark A Preston BSc, FIAP
Business Manager, MicroFix Systems Solutions
mark_at_mpreston.demon.co.uk