Object-Oriented Business Application Model Version Comparison
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Solution Overview
Problem
Legacy business application systems face difficulties due to the physical separation of business data and rules, making it challenging to understand, create, debug, and modify them effectively, as relationships between configuration data and rules are not clearly defined, leading to complex and error-prone modifications.
Innovation Solution
The system employs object-oriented programming (OOP) modeling to translate business applications into user-friendly objects, allowing for easier understanding, manipulation, and modification by comparing different versions of OOP models and assigning the current version, thereby improving the management and maintenance of business applications.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of manufacture
If business data and rules are stored in physically separate table data structures, then data storage and retrieval are simplified, but understanding and manipulating relationships between configuration data and rules becomes difficult
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines configuration data and rules into a unified object-oriented model where both are represented as interconnected objects. This merging allows the system to maintain the storage efficiency of separate tables while providing a unified view that makes relationships between configuration data and rules explicit and easy to understand through object references and associations.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces a new dimensional layer by creating an object-oriented representation that sits above the physical table structures. This OOP model adds a conceptual dimension where configuration data and rules are linked through object relationships, enabling users to navigate and understand relationships without being constrained by the physical table separation.
2Ease of manufacture
If configuration data and rules are stored in separate tables, then database management is simplified, but debugging and modifying business applications becomes error-prone
Solution Approach 1:
The object-oriented model provides feedback mechanisms that track relationships between configuration data and rules. When modifications are made to either configuration data or rules, the system can trace dependencies and identify affected areas, reducing errors during debugging and modification by providing visibility into the impact of changes.
Solution Approach 2:
The OOP model acts as an intermediary layer between the physical database tables and the business logic. This intermediary provides abstraction that protects against direct manipulation errors, allowing developers to work with high-level object representations while the system handles the complex table relationships, thereby improving reliability of modifications.
3Ease of operation
If business applications are represented as object-oriented models, then understanding and manipulation becomes easier, but version comparison and merging complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the version comparison process into distinct components: identifying differences between OOP model versions, determining which version to associate with the first version, and assigning the current version. This segmentation breaks down the complex version management task into manageable steps, making the overall process more controllable and less error-prone.
Solution Approach 2:
The system manages version complexity by tracking parameter changes between different OOP model versions. By focusing on specific parameters and attributes that have changed rather than comparing entire models, the system simplifies the version comparison process while maintaining the benefits of object-oriented representation.
Data Source
AI summary
Exemplary methods and systems consistent with the present invention allow a user to compare different versions of a business application using an object-oriented model of the business application. By transforming business application structures into object-oriented structures, such as object-oriented language constructs, structures, and other elements, individual differences between versions of the business applications may be identified and displayed to a user, for example, on a user interface. A user may display object-oriented models of the business application representing, for instance, the latest control version, the latest deployed version, and a test version including test modifications. Having all three versions represented in object-oriented models allows a user to perform a three-way comparison between the object-oriented models, increasing productivity and efficiency of maintaining, debugging, modifying, controlling and deploying the business application.