What is technically considered an attack?

[smcmike]

This is what is intended. It is decidedly not what is written. If we are talking about RAW, this is not how it is determined. (edit: 2 fails as per my argument above)

Edit: yes thank you. If it is explicitly called an attack, it is an attack, regardless of whether it involves an attack roll. But that is a separate point.

Technically, my formulation follows the RAW in not stating the negative, so I'm not sure how 2 fails - if you make an attack roll, you've got yourself an attack.

The question is what happens in the negative case. I think you are asking for overformalized language, but I suppose I see your point.