Expressions Management Service for Data Sheet Applications
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Solution Overview
Problem
Small organizations lack the necessary programming skills and resources to develop and maintain full-fledged applications, making it challenging for them to make their products and services accessible via easy-to-use applications.
Innovation Solution
An expressions management service that allows users to define and store expressions independently of data sheets, enabling on-demand evaluation and automated propagation of updates, thereby simplifying application development and enhancing security.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of manufacture
If small organizations hire programming staff or outsource application development, then application development capability is improved, but cost increases significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces an expressions management service as an intermediary between data sheets and application components. This service enables small organizations to access professional application development capabilities without hiring staff or outsourcing, by providing a managed intermediary layer that handles expression evaluation, propagation, and coordination between data sources and UI components.
Solution Approach 2:
The system creates virtual copies of expressions that can be evaluated on-demand without modifying the original data sheets. The expressions management service maintains copies of expression definitions and evaluates them dynamically, allowing multiple application instances to access the same data sheets without direct coupling, thus reducing development complexity and cost.
2Adaptability or versatility
If conventional application development techniques are used, then application functionality is achieved, but code-build-test-deploy cycle time increases
Solution Approach 1:
The expressions management service pre-evaluates and caches expression results when data sheets are accessed, rather than waiting for changes to occur. This preliminary action reduces the time needed for subsequent updates, as the system already has the expression logic ready and can quickly propagate changes to dependent components without full re-evaluation.
Solution Approach 2:
The system implements dynamic expression propagation where changes in data sheets automatically trigger updates to dependent application components through the expressions management service. This dynamic mechanism eliminates manual testing and deployment steps, as the system adapts automatically to data changes and propagates updates through the expression dependency graph in real-time.
3Stability of the object's composition
If expressions are evaluated immediately upon data change, then data consistency is improved, but computation resource usage increases
Solution Approach 1:
The expressions management service evaluates only the subset of expressions that are actually affected by data changes, rather than re-evaluating all expressions in the system. By tracking dependency graphs and identifying only the necessary expressions to propagate, the system achieves data consistency for affected areas while avoiding unnecessary computation resources for unaffected expressions.
Solution Approach 2:
The system implements periodic evaluation of expressions based on change detection rather than continuous evaluation. When data sheets are accessed or modified, the expressions management service schedules evaluation of dependent expressions at appropriate intervals, balancing data consistency requirements with computation resource consumption by evaluating expressions periodically rather than continuously.
4Device complexity
If expressions are stored with data sheets, then storage simplicity is improved, but security and independence of expressions are worsened
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the storage of expressions from data sheets by introducing a separate expressions management service that maintains independent expression definitions. This segmentation allows expressions to be stored, managed, and evaluated independently from the data sheets they reference, improving security and independence while maintaining storage simplicity through the service's centralized expression repository.
Data Source
AI summary
A unique identifier of an expression which refers to a cell of a data sheet is stored in a repository. In an application comprising an operation based on evaluating the expression, the expression is indicated by the unique identifier. In response to detecting a write directed to the cell, a modified version of contents of the cell is stored without re-evaluating the expression. The expression is re-evaluated in response to determining that the operation of the application is to be implemented.