What Is Artificer ?

[dtognola]

Hi all,

I've read the docs I could find and run the web interface (via docker - nice one !) - but I'm still a bit lost here. Could someone please confirm/correct/add/clarify my summary:

1. Artificer provides a modeling engine / framework
2. It is generic in the sense that it lets you create your own ontologies (meta models)
3. There are a few ontologies bundled with it (cf. sec. 3 of the Artificer User Guide)
4. User could create their own artefact types such as "Fruit" with own attributes "Colour" and "Taste"
5. There are extensive client APIs to interact with the Artificer engine, allowing to manipulate metamodel and model instances
6. There is currently no GUI available that allows to manipulate metamodel and model instances
7. If for example I wanted to create a Enterprise Repository tool for a large company, I would have to create my own web front, typically not a generic one but one that is aware of the meta-model. It would have explicit CRUD screens for e.g. "Router", "Endpoint" and "Release" as well as searches. The backend would build on top of Artificer, i.e. the web application would interact with an Artificer instance, let's say via RESTful interface. All CRUD and search functionality, as well as fancier stuff such as graph creation could be delegated to Artificer.

Am I totally off track here ?

Cheers,

Diego

[brmeyer]

Hey Diego, here's some responses:

Artificer provides a modeling engine / framework

Sure, we provide the comprehensive data model, bindings/interfaces/protocols, etc.  But there's a lot more to it.  Artificer is a full-blown, out-of-the-box application, rather than simply a platform that needs work in order to be useful.  Of course, it's heavily extensible and customizable, but it's useful from the beginning.

It is generic in the sense that it lets you create your own ontologies (meta models)

There are a few ontologies bundled with it

I think you mean data models (ie, XSD, WSDL, etc.).  Data models provide all the artifact-specific metadata.  Ontologies are simply hierarchical classifiers ("tags").  You can also create your own data models, properties, relationships, etc., either ad-hoc during runtime or through our ArtifactBuilder contract.  Note that a new plugin architecture is on the roadmap...

User could create their own artefact types such as "Fruit" with own attributes "Colour" and "Taste"

Yep.  Again, either ad-hoc at runtime, or up front using the ArtifactBuilder contract.

There are extensive client APIs to interact with the Artificer engine, allowing to manipulate metamodel and model instances

Absolutely

There is currently no GUI available that allows to manipulate metamodel and model instances

If for example I wanted to create a Enterprise Repository tool for a large company, I would have to create my own web front

Incorrect -- Artificer provides a powerful web UI.  When the server is running, it's available at http://localhost:8080/artificer-ui

[dtognola]

Thank Brett. Yes, I did mean data model. Looks like I missed a few things in the WebUI, I'll have another play and raise questions more specifically if I get stuck. Cheers.