Description
IHTSDO has a Deprecation policy, a Deprecation process (described below), and Deprecation template (available from the Google Drive templates folder). Those documents should be consulted for a full overview. What follows is a short summary.
"Deprecation" means marking an artifact as obsolete to warn against use in the future so that an artifact may be phased out either entirely or for a specific use case. Deprecation indicates that future use should be avoided, typically because the artifact has been superseded.
A "deprecated artifact" means an artifact that has been deemed no longer suitable for new implementation or future use. The artifact may continue to exist to provide historical information and backward compatibility. An artifact may be deprecated with support (meaning it continues to be supported by IHTSDO for a specified period of time) or without support (meaning IHTSDO no longer provides support, maintenance or updates).
Deprecation Process
The full Deprecation Process is attached here:
Below is a summary:
Stage 1: Initiation of Deprecation
- Step 1: Initial discussions
- Step 2: CEO selects a staff lead; staff lead selects support staff
- Step 3: The staff lead drafts the Deprecation Document using the Deprecation Template
- Step 4: The staff lead shares the Deprecation Document with the rest of the MT and solicits input
Stage 2: Review of Proposal for Deprecation
- Step 5: CEO sign-off to proceed
- Step 6: MB sign-off to proceed
Stage 3: Deprecation Consultation
- Step 7: Announcement that deprecation consultation will commence
- Step 8: Consultation
Stage 4: Deprecation Decision
- Step 9: Analysis of the data
- Step 10: CEO sign-off on decision and plan
- Step 11: MB sign-off on or approval of decision and pla
- Step 12: GA approval of decision and plan, or GA is informed of MB decision
Stage 5: Issuing of Deprecation Notice
- Step 13: Issue the deprecation notice
- Step 14: Artifact is "Artifact Deprecated With Support"
- Step 15: Artifact is "Artifact Deprecated Without Support"
Stage 6: Evaluation
- Step 16: Evaluation of the deprecation process
