Cloud Data Source Extensions for Customer-Specific Field Selection
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Solution Overview
Problem
Cloud platforms serving multiple customers face performance and maintenance issues due to retrieving all data fields, which are not always needed by each customer, leading to inefficiencies and overwhelming developers with irrelevant data field options.
Innovation Solution
Implementing data source extensions that allow individual customers to customize and extend their data sources by selecting specific fields not included in the base data source, stored as extensibility metadata, enabling user interface customization without affecting other customers and ensuring lifecycle stability.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If all data fields are retrieved for multiple customers, then complete data availability is ensured, but system performance deteriorates and unnecessary data processing increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the data retrieval process by customer, creating individual data source extensions for each customer that include only the specific fields they need. This is achieved through customer-specific metadata that defines unique field sets, allowing the system to retrieve and process only relevant data for each customer rather than all data fields universally.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent applies local quality by allowing different data field configurations for different customers. Each customer can have customized data source extensions with fields tailored to their specific needs, rather than applying a uniform data structure to all customers. This enables optimal data retrieval performance for each customer's specific requirements.
2Adaptability or versatility
If all data fields are provided to developers, then complete data options are available, but developer complexity increases due to overwhelming field selection
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts only the necessary data fields for each customer's specific needs, removing irrelevant fields from the developer's consideration. By creating customer-specific data source extensions that include only required fields, the system eliminates the overwhelming complexity of choosing from all available fields, while still providing the adaptability needed for custom data requirements.
3Productivity
If data source extensions are implemented for individual customers, then data retrieval efficiency improves, but system complexity increases due to extension management
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces an intermediary layer in the form of data source extension metadata that sits between the base data source and the customer application. This intermediary metadata layer manages the complexity of customizations by providing a standardized mechanism for defining customer-specific field sets, thereby improving data retrieval efficiency without proportionally increasing system complexity.
Data Source
AI summary
The present disclosure involves systems, software, and computer implemented methods for enabling data source extensions for individual customers of a cloud platform. One example method includes receiving an extension request, from a particular customer, to extend a data source used to populate an application output. A selection is received of at least one field to be included in a data source extension that extends the data source. Extensibility metadata is stored, in association with the particular customer, that defines the data source extension. The extensibility metadata identifies the data source, the particular customer, and the selected at least one field. A data request is received, from a client device of a user of the customer, for a field included in the data source extension. The data source extension is used to retrieve a field value for the field and the field value is provided in response to the data request.