Architecture teminology
I propose the following terms for describing the various kinds of archives we want the system to be able to create, and the things archived within them:
workflow specification : A definition of a workflow that may or may not include bindings to specific input data sets or parameters. A.k.a workflow.
workflow run : The event of running a workflow on a particular set of input data. A.k.a. run.
workflow archive
: A packaging of a workflow specification and optionally the actor packages, system extensions, and 3rd-party packages the workflow depends on.
self-contained workflow archive
: A workflow archive that includes within in it all the dependencies required for running the workflow in a particular standard distribution of Kepler.
run archive
: A packaging of a (possibly self-contained) workflow archive with all of the data bindings and parameter values for a workflow run and optionally including the actual data input to and produced by the run (rather than just references), intermediate data products, and the data dependencies that comprise the provenance of the output data.
self-contained run archive
: A run archive that includes, at minimum, a self-contained workflow archive, and all of the data input to and produced by a run.
ad hoc Kepler distribution
: A packaging of one or more self-contained workflow archives with a distribution of Kepler the included workflows can run in.
I've moved the glossary that was in the Framework Team Charter to it's own page.
Also, I'd like to propose that the Extension Framework be defined as the set of software subsystems and tools that together are used to support extension of Kepler. These could include an Extension Loader that is part of the Kepler Kernel, and a Kepler Extension SDK that includes the libraries, APIs, and tools used by engineers to implement and package extensions.