Words and terms in Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012: What’s the difference?

I am delighted to announce that we recently published a new product glossary of Microsoft Dynamics AX terms.

I would like to share insight into our glossary by offering some thoughts on the distinction we make between words and terms.

We use words to communicate all concepts – on every action pane, area page, form, report, and so on.

Words are not generally specialized for an application. They usually represent a meaning that is compliant with standard dictionary usage with no modifications to the concept offered in a dictionary.

However, some of the words that appear in the product represent a specialized application of the word that names a concept from a specific aspect or perspective; we call these specialized words terms. Terms represent real-world organization resource management domain concepts or software application concepts that are realized in the product. Our glossary comprises domain and application terms.

A domain term names a conceptual object, property, relationship, or activity in an organization resource management domain, such as in accounting, procurement, distribution, manufacturing, or marketing. There is a universal aspect to a domain term, and there is an industry market aspect to a domain term. There are also legal, economic, documentation, and accounting aspects to domain terms. The legal aspect requires terms that describe the contract formation process; the economic aspect requires terms that describe economic events and resource stock flows; the documentation aspect requires terms that describe how economic events are tracked; and the accounting aspect requires terms that describe how the money characteristic of economic events are recorded in journals when documents are journalized and accounts are summarized in ledgers.

Examples of domain terms include: commitment, compensation, journal, ledger, location, obligation, party, product, resource, segregation of duties, and source document.

An application term names a concept that originates in software system design that is realized in the product.

Examples of application terms include: reference data, surrogate key, valid time state table, and workflow element.

I invite you to look up a term or two in the Microsoft Dynamics AX glossary, and then to click the Feedback link at the bottom of the entry to let me know what you think.