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However, a deployment specification seems to be a bit of both. You can create a new deployment spec and specify a classifier for it, and you can drag it onto a diagram and create an instance from it. This is weird. Artifacts behave the same way (and I believe a deployment spec is in fact an extension of an Artifact).
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So there are several other classifier types which do not result in Objects. And the distinction between classifiers and instances is not clear-cut. In EA, at least -- not sure what the standard says.
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/Uffe
All facts aren't so difficult.
1. Marketing of Sparx declares: "Ultimate Modeling Power / Precise and effective / Based on UML 2.5 - plus" ("
http://sparxsystems.com/products/ea/index.html")
2. We take the UML 2.5 specification - "
http://www.omg.org/spec/UML/2.5/PDF"
3. What is DeploymentSpecification? We look:
19.5.5 DeploymentSpecification [Class]
A deployment specification specifies a set of properties that determine execution parameters of a component artifact that
is deployed on a node. A deployment specification can be aimed at a specific type of container. An artifact that reifies or
implements deployment specification properties is a deployment descriptor.
19.5.5.3 Generalizations -> Artifact
3. What is Artifact? We look:
19.5.1 Artifact [Class]
An artifact is the specification of a physical piece of information that is used or produced by a software development
process, or by deployment and operation of a system. Examples of artifacts include model files, source files, scripts, and
binary executable files, a table in a database system, a development deliverable, or a word-processing document, a mail
message. An artifact is the source of a deployment to a node.
19.5.1.3 Generalizations -> Classifier, DeployedArtifact
It turns out that DeploymentSpecification is Classifier!

It is intuitively clear that "instances" of a type of "Classifier" can be formed.
4. What is the "instance"? We look:
9.8 Instances
9.8.1 Summary
InstanceSpecifications represent instances of Classifiers in a modeled system. They are often used to model example configurations of instances. They may be partial or complete representations of the instances that they correspond to.
9.8.3 Semantics
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The InstanceSpecification may represent:
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* The kind of instance, based on its classifiers. For example, an InstanceSpecification whose classifier is a Class describes an instance of that Class, while an InstanceSpecification whose classifier is an Association describes a link of that Association. If no classifiers are given, then the InstanceSpecification does not constrain the kind of instance represented. If classifiers of different kinds are given, then the semantics are not defined.
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Interestingly that the concept "Object" as a formal element of the UML specification isn't applied (I didn't find).

It turns out that the Instance of DeploymentSpecification is on all signs there has to be either a Instance, or some specialization of a Instance of Classifier.
Now it isn't understood that such DeploymentSpecification Instance in EA at all. Definition of "Run states" that is logical is available to it. But how to understand from model of data of EA that this element is a Instance - not clearly.