Model-Driven Version Management for Distributed Entity Instances
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional version management systems are inflexible and inefficient in tracking changes across distributed entity instances, particularly in hierarchical systems, as they lack the ability to precisely control versioning of subsets of related entity instances and fail to consider relationships across different nodes, leading to high analysis complexity and costs.
Innovation Solution
A device and method for version management that reads entity and versioning models to generate an instance versioning model, allowing precise control over which entity instances are versioned based on predefined policies, and tracks changes across nodes, focusing on changes impacting the service offered to customers.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If conventional version management systems track all entity instances across distributed nodes, then complete version history is obtained, but analysis complexity and costs increase significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The system segments entity instances into different scopes (service scope, customer scope, inventory scope) and applies version tracking selectively to relevant segments. The versioning mechanism is divided into instance-level versioning and scope-level versioning, allowing granular control over what is tracked and at what level, thereby reducing overall complexity while maintaining necessary completeness.
Solution Approach 2:
Different versioning strategies are applied to different scopes and entity types based on their specific requirements. Service instances use service scope versioning, while inventory instances use inventory scope versioning. This localized approach ensures that version tracking is applied only where necessary and appropriate, reducing unnecessary complexity in areas where full tracking is not needed.
2Reliability
If version management tracks changes of all related child service instances, then impact analysis becomes possible, but the system becomes inflexible with hardcoded scopes
Solution Approach 1:
The versioning scope is made dynamic and configurable rather than hardcoded. Administrators can define and modify versioning scopes (service scope, customer scope, inventory scope) based on changing business requirements. The system adapts the versioning behavior dynamically based on the configured scope, allowing flexible impact analysis without requiring system reconfiguration or redeployment.
Solution Approach 2:
The versioning mechanism is designed to be universal and applicable across multiple scopes and entity types. The same core versioning infrastructure supports service instances, inventory instances, and scope definitions, allowing the system to provide impact analysis capability across different contexts without requiring separate specialized systems for each scope.
3Adaptability or versatility
If model-driven versioning with configurable scopes is implemented, then flexibility increases, but system complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system implements a nested model structure where scope definitions contain entity type specifications, which in turn contain versioning configuration. This nested organization allows complex versioning logic to be structured in manageable layers, reducing the perceived complexity by providing clear hierarchical organization and separation of concerns.
Solution Approach 2:
The system uses model templates and schemas that can be copied and reused across different scopes and entity types. Once a versioning configuration is defined for a particular scope, it can be replicated and adapted for similar scenarios, reducing the effort and complexity of configuring versioning for multiple entity types while maintaining consistency.
Data Source
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AI summary
The present invention provides a device and a system for version management of entity instances with a distributed relationship. The version management, provided by the device and system is model driven, in particular based on an entity model (107) and on a version model (108). The device (100) is in particular for version management of a plurality of entity instances (101, 102, 103, 104, 105). The device (100) comprises a processor (106) configured to read an entity model (107) and a versioning model (108) from a storage (109), wherein the entity model (107) describes a plurality of entities and a relationship of each entity in the plurality of entities, and wherein the versioning model (108) describes a relationship for versioning of entities in the entity model, generate an instance versioning model (110), based on the entity model (107) and the versioning model (108), wherein the instance versioning model (110) describes a relationship of a first entity instance (101) and a second entity instance (102), assign, in case of a version change of the first entity instance (101) or the second entity instance (102), a new version (111) to the first entity instance (101), based on the instance versioning model (110), and store the new version (111) in the storage (109).