Automated Calculation Code Validation Against Specification
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Solution Overview
Problem
The manual validation of calculation code against calculation specifications in legacy Policy Administration Systems is tedious, effort-intensive, and challenging, especially when dealing with millions of policies and thousands of specifications, and existing automated approaches require additional effort-intensive tasks like generating software scripts that need to be rewritten for new specifications.
Innovation Solution
A method and system that receive a calculation specification with input and output fields, generate a schema by parsing spreadsheets, retrieve data from sources, execute intermediate calculations, and compare results to validate the code, displaying 'pass' or 'fail' to assist in debugging, allowing for efficient validation of calculation code against calculation specifications with minimal changes across different applications.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If manual validation approach is used, then validation can be performed, but it is tedious, effort-intensive and time-consuming
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs self-validation by automatically comparing calculation code outputs against calculation specifications without requiring manual intervention. The validation engine autonomously executes test cases, retrieves expected values from specifications, compares results, and generates validation reports, enabling the system to validate itself rather than requiring external manual validation efforts
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces the manual mechanical validation process with an automated computational system. Instead of manual comparison of calculation results against specifications, the system uses automated script execution, data retrieval, and result comparison algorithms to perform validation, substituting human manual operations with automated computational mechanisms
2Extent of automation
If automated validation scripts are developed, then validation automation is achieved, but additional effort-intensive task of developing software scripts is required
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a calculation specification document as an intermediary that serves as the bridge between requirements and validation. This specification document, written in a standardized format, automatically generates validation test cases and expected results, eliminating the need to develop separate validation scripts. The intermediary specification document translates business requirements into executable validation logic automatically
Solution Approach 2:
The validation system is designed to be universal and adaptable to different calculation specifications through configuration rather than code changes. The system can handle multiple types of calculations (premium calculations, claim calculations, etc.) by loading different calculation specification documents, making the validation approach multi-functional without requiring separate script development for each calculation type
3Reliability
If validation is performed for millions of policies against thousands of specifications, then comprehensive validation is achieved, but the manual approach becomes a big challenge
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the massive validation task into manageable units by organizing validation around individual calculation specifications and their associated test cases. Each calculation specification is validated independently with its own set of test cases, allowing the system to process millions of policies against thousands of specifications in a structured, modular manner that can be executed and monitored efficiently
Solution Approach 2:
The system performs preliminary actions by pre-processing calculation specifications to extract test cases, expected results, and validation criteria before actual validation execution. This preliminary preparation includes parsing specification documents, generating test data sets, and setting up validation configurations, so that when validation of millions of policies begins, the system is already optimized and ready to execute efficiently
Data Source
AI summary
The present invention generally relates to the field of automated functional testing, and, more particularly, to a method and system for validation of calculation code against calculation specification. Currently the validation is done manually which is time consuming and effort intensive. Embodiments of present disclosure provide an automated method of validation by generating a schema from the calculation specification, retrieving data based on the schema, executing the intermediate calculations, and comparing the result with the output from the calculation code. The method requires minimal manual input and is a fast, simple, resilient and low-code/no-code technique that can be extended to support any type of calculation code and calculation specifications with minimal or no change.