Un-orphaned

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Frances Kemmish - 06 Jan 2007 16:50 GMT

My husband just asked me what word means the opposite of "orphaned"
(he's not talking children - he is writing computer code).

He checked google, and got "parented" which sounds quite wrong to me. My
first shot was "adopted": "orphaned" means you lost your parents;
"adopted" means you got parents.

Is there a standard term in computing circles that mean the opposite of
orphaned?

Fran

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Garrett Wollman - 06 Jan 2007 17:06 GMT

>Is there a standard term in computing circles that mean the opposite of
>orphaned?

No: there are many "opposite[s] of orphaned" so you have to be more
specific about what you mean. In the specific case of a strict tree
structure, "parented" would be correct, as in "When a process is
orphaned, it will be automatically reparented to 'init' (process 1)."
But in some cases the antonym may be "unorphaned", if the meaning of
"orphan" is sufficiently complicated or not directly related to a tree
structure. For example, IEEE Std. 1003.1-2001 defines "orphaned
process group" as:

    A process group in which the parent of every member is either
    itself a member of the group or is not a member of the group's
    session.

"Parented" cannot be used here because process groups do not have a
tree structure and thus do not have parents, so one would either say
"unorphaned" or (depending on context) spell out a more specific
condition.

-GAWollman

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tinwhistler - 06 Jan 2007 19:51 GMT

[snip]

> "Parented" cannot be used here because process groups do not have a
> tree structure and thus do not have parents, so one would either say

[snip]

The OED has a couple of citations, both 19th century, for "filiated,
a." One of them is Thomas Jefferson speaking of the US as a "filiated
society," ie, parented by another society. I have no particular
affinity for this adjective, however.

Aloha ~~~ Ozzie Maland ~~~ San Diego

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Roland Hutchinson - 07 Jan 2007 00:50 GMT

>>Is there a standard term in computing circles that mean the opposite of
>>orphaned?
[quoted text clipped - 16 lines]
> "unorphaned" or (depending on context) spell out a more specific
> condition.

In the case of "orphaned" software products, the opposite is "supported".

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Prai Jei - 06 Jan 2007 21:07 GMT

Frances Kemmish (or somebody else of the same name) wrote thusly in message
<50a2abF1fc1r5U1@mid.individual.net>:

> My husband just asked me what word means the opposite of "orphaned"
> (he's not talking children - he is writing computer code).
[quoted text clipped - 7 lines]
>
> Fran

In computer jargon usage, for something to have become "orphaned" generally
implies that something has gone wrong somewhere creating an anomaly, e.g.
there's an order from a non-existent customer and/or calling up
non-existent items. (Both scenarios are familiar from my own database
work!) The general idea is of a reference field which either hasn't been
filled in, or points to something that doesn't exist or has been deleted,
hence the figurative use of "orphaned". What is the opposite of anomaly?

I would say there isn't really an opposite, though if pressed for a word or
phrase I would offer "valid" or "correctly linked".

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Frances Kemmish - 08 Jan 2007 14:53 GMT

> My husband just asked me what word means the opposite of "orphaned"
> (he's not talking children - he is writing computer code).
[quoted text clipped - 5 lines]
> Is there a standard term in computing circles that mean the opposite of
> orphaned?

Thanks to everyone who made suggestions: the responses have allowed him
to clarify his thought processes somewhat. He has decided that
"orphaned" may give the wrong impression, and will probably use
"detached" and "attached" instead.

Fran

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Discussion Groups / English Usage / January 2007

Un-orphaned