SBVR_ — The unary fact type/characteristic "category is inactive"

The unary fact type/characteristic "category is inactive" is included in the business-facing vocabulary (Clause 11).

This characteristic was originally intended to document that "a vocabulary management decision was taken to have this concept as a category even though it may never play any role in any fact type."

Note, however, that the meaning of this fact type says that its instances are automatically derived for all (and only) cases of a category that does not participate as a role in a fact type, so this "vocabulary management decision" is not a direct one; it is a function of the ‘decision’ to define a category and then that category not currently being used in any fact type. In other words, any 'unused' category in an SBVR vocabulary will automatically be deemed to be “inactive”.

Now that 'role' has been specialized as ‘situational role’ and ‘fact type role’, no tool/technique should assume that a role that does not participate in a fact type is an error. Thus, the "category is inactive" fact type is not needed to communicate that the category is intentional/not an error.

Furthermore, the meaning of "is inactive" as specified by this entry is not the typical sense in the business world that makes core use of categorization schemes – e.g., marketing research product category schemes and financial charts of account (to name two). In those contexts, "is inactive" means the category is retained for historical reference/reporting while specifying that the category is not to be used for current population. Presenting this same verb phrase in the SBVR business-facing vocabulary with a vastly different business meaning will be confusing.

Resolution:

Simplify the Clause 11 Vocabulary and remove the potential misunderstanding by deleting the "category is inactive" fact type.

Simplify the Clause 11 Vocabulary and remove the potential misunderstanding by deleting the "category is inactive" fact type.