Data Archive Segmentation for Variant Storage
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing methods for configuring human-machine interfaces to support multiple settings, such as language or geographical variants, face challenges in efficiently managing storage space and flexibility for adding new variants, as they often require extensive modifications to the source code, leading to increased storage requirements and complexity.
Innovation Solution
A data archiving method that separates data into a first portion for storage and a second portion for metadata, using entries with identifiers to indicate storage locations, allowing for efficient storage and retrieval of multiple variants while maintaining moderate storage space usage, and enabling easy updates and support for additional variants.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If different variants for data resources are implemented in the source code, then the system can support multiple settings (language, graphical output variants), but the storage space requirements increase and it becomes difficult to modify later to accommodate additional variants
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the data archive into two distinct portions: a first portion for storing actual data and a second portion for storing metadata entries. This segmentation allows the system to store multiple variants efficiently by maintaining separate entries for each variant in the metadata portion, rather than duplicating entire data sets, thereby reducing storage space requirements while maintaining adaptability.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces an intermediary index structure that maps data resources to their corresponding variants. This intermediary layer (the second portion containing entries with identifiers and storage location information) enables efficient access to multiple variants without storing redundant data, resolving the contradiction between supporting multiple variants and minimizing storage space.
2Adaptability or versatility
If different variants for data resources are implemented in the source code, then the system can support multiple settings, but it becomes difficult to modify at a later stage to accommodate additional variants
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements a dynamic data archive structure where the second portion can accommodate additional variants by simply adding new entries with unique identifiers and storage location information. This dynamic structure allows the system to easily modify and accommodate additional variants without extensive code changes, as new variants can be integrated by creating corresponding metadata entries rather than modifying the underlying source code structure.
3Adaptability or versatility
If all anticipated data for any setting are added in the source code, then the system can support all variants, but the storage space requirements become unfeasible
Solution Approach 1:
The patent uses a virtual copying mechanism where the second portion contains metadata entries that reference storage locations of variants in the first portion. Instead of physically duplicating all possible variant data in the source code, the system creates lightweight metadata copies that point to the actual data storage locations, enabling support for all variants while maintaining feasible storage space requirements.
Data Source
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AI summary
In a method of writing data to a data archive (21) and corresponding data processing apparatus, the data (24-27) are stored in a first portion (22) of the data archive (21) and an entry (31-34) indicative of a storage location of the data (24-27) stored in the first portion (22) is generated in a second portion (23) of the data archive (21). A further entry (35) comprising an identifier for the entry (33, 34) is generated in the second portion (23) when the data (26, 27) correspond to one of a plurality of variants for a given data resource. In a corresponding method of reading data from a data archive and corresponding data processing apparatus, a first entry (31-36) in a second portion (23) of the data archive (21) is accessed and, when the first entry (35) comprises an identifier for a second entry (33, 34) in the second portion (23), the second entry (33, 34) is accessed to retrieve information on a storage location of the data.