Customization Manager for Preserving Vendor Software Patches
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Solution Overview
Problem
Customized software from vendors poses challenges during upgrades and patch applications, as vendor-supplied fixes often overwrite customer-specific customizations, making it difficult for customers to apply patches or upgrade to newer versions without manual effort and potential data loss.
Innovation Solution
A customization manager system that stores and applies customer-specific customizations to vendor-supplied software, allowing for seamless integration of additional code into new versions, ensuring that customizations are preserved and easily re-applied across software updates.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If customization is applied to vendor software, then customer-specific requirements are met, but upgrading and applying patches becomes difficult
Solution Approach 1:
The patent divides the software system into vendor-supplied modules and customer customizations, storing customizations separately in a database. This segmentation allows the vendor software to be updated independently while customizations are preserved and re-applied automatically, resolving the contradiction between customization capability and upgrade ease.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces a customization manager as an intermediary system that handles the application of customizations to vendor software. This intermediary coordinates between vendor updates and customer customizations, automatically managing the re-application of customizations after upgrades without manual intervention.
2Reliability
If manual review and copying of custom code is performed during upgrade, then customizations can be maintained, but time and cost increase significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The customization manager performs self-service by automatically retrieving, reviewing, and re-applying customizations after vendor upgrades. The system independently manages the entire process without requiring manual intervention from customers, thereby maintaining reliability while significantly reducing upgrade time and cost.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent implements preliminary action by storing customizations in a database before upgrades occur. The customization manager proactively identifies and prepares customizations for re-application before the actual upgrade process, ensuring continuous availability and eliminating the need for manual code copying during upgrades.
3Reliability
If vendor patches are applied to customized software, then software reliability is improved, but customizations may be overwritten
Solution Approach 1:
The customization manager acts as an intermediary between vendor patches and customer customizations. It receives vendor patches, identifies affected customizations, and automatically re-applies them after patch application, preventing any loss of customization data while ensuring software reliability improvements are achieved.
Solution Approach 2:
The system implements feedback mechanisms where the customization manager continuously monitors the software system state, identifies customizations that may be affected by patches, and automatically adjusts the customization application accordingly. This feedback loop ensures that customization data is preserved while maintaining software reliability.
Data Source
AI summary
A customization includes a name of a module of source code in an existing generic version of application software, a specific position within the module, and a name of a file which contains additional software. An existing customized version of the application software is then prepared, to execute the additional software in executing the existing generic version at the existing specific position. When a new generic version of the application software is received, the existing customization is displayed if applicable to a module in the new generic version, followed optionally by receipt of an update to the existing specific position. On indication of user approval, a new customized version of the application software is prepared, to execute the additional software in executing the module in the new generic version, at the existing specific position or at an updated specific position, which depends on the optional receipt of the update.