Integrated Visualization for Model Customizations

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Solution Overview

Problem

Customizations in business systems often lead to compatibility issues with updates and maintenance, as they overwrite base application models, causing conflicts and complicating the developer's user experience.

Innovation Solution

An integrated view is generated for model elements being customized, showing both the base system and extensions, allowing for editing of extension documents without altering the base models, and storing customizations separately to be compiled and applied at runtime without modifying the base system.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Adaptability or versatility

If customizations overwrite base application models, then the business system meets specific organizational requirements, but updates and maintenance become incompatible and problematic

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvecustomization capabilityVSAvoidupdate compatibility

Core Design Contradiction:

Adaptability or versatilityVSReliability

Solution Approach 1:

The patent segments the application model into base models and extension documents. Customizations are stored as separate extension documents that reference base models without overwriting them. This segmentation allows the base system to remain intact and updatable while customizations are applied as add-on layers, resolving the contradiction between customization capability and update compatibility.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #1Segmentation

2Adaptability or versatility

If customizations overwrite base application models, then organizational requirements are met, but conflicts arise during maintenance of the base product

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvecustomization capabilityVSAvoidmaintenance ease

Core Design Contradiction:

Adaptability or versatilityVSEase of manufacture

Solution Approach 1:

By segmenting customizations into separate extension documents, the patent enables independent maintenance of base models and customizations. Developers can maintain base product code without conflicts since customizations are stored separately and applied at runtime, significantly improving maintenance ease while preserving full customization capability.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #1Segmentation

3Loss of information

If only added customizations are shown in the development view, then the view focuses on changes, but the developer's user experience is limited and customization becomes more difficult

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvecontext informationVSAvoidcustomization ease

Core Design Contradiction:

Loss of informationVSEase of operation

Solution Approach 1:

The patent merges the view of base model elements with their corresponding extension document elements in the development environment. This combined view provides developers with full context of both original and customized elements simultaneously, making it easier to understand relationships and perform customizations without losing contextual information or increasing operational difficulty.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #5Merging (Combining)

Data Source

PatentUS9280319B2Integrated visualization for modeled customizations

Publication Date: 2016.03.08 MICROSOFT TECHNOLOGY LICENSING LLC

AI summary

An integrated view is generated for a model element being customized. The integrated view shows an integrated visualization of the model element in the base system as well as a plurality of different extensions to the model element. The integrated view also facilitates editing of an extension document that represents a customization currently being made.