Selective Change Propagation for Model Merging
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current model merging techniques face challenges in efficiently merging business-oriented and technical models, particularly in propagating changes and resolving conflicts between transformed models, leading to manual and error-prone processes.
Innovation Solution
The development of selective change propagation techniques that enable the automatic propagation of changes from a technical model to a business-oriented model by performing enablement checks, creating objects in the business-oriented model, updating internal attributes, and correcting errors in the technical model to ensure successful merging without conflicts.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If automatic change propagation is implemented, then productivity is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The merge system is divided into separate functional modules: a merge function that combines models, a transformation function that converts between model representations, and an enablement check module that validates propagation conditions. This segmentation allows each module to specialize in one aspect of the merging process, improving automation capability while keeping individual module complexities manageable.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces an intermediary enablement check mechanism that acts as a mediator between the automatic propagation system and the model merging process. This intermediary validates whether propagation should occur before executing changes, providing a controlled interface that automates productivity-enhancing operations while maintaining system stability and reducing overall complexity.
2Manufacturing precision
If selective change propagation is implemented, then manufacturing precision is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The enablement check mechanism applies different validation rules and propagation criteria to different model elements based on their specific properties and contexts. Rather than applying a uniform propagation approach to all elements, the system evaluates each element's characteristics and applies appropriate propagation logic locally, thereby improving merge accuracy while avoiding the complexity of a completely customized approach for each element.
Solution Approach 2:
The system dynamically adjusts propagation parameters and enablement conditions based on the specific characteristics of the models being merged. The enablement check evaluates various parameters of model elements and modifies propagation behavior accordingly, allowing high precision in handling different element types without requiring separate complex systems for each case.
3Reliability
If enablement checks are performed before propagation, then reliability is improved, but loss of time increases
Solution Approach 1:
The enablement check is performed as a preliminary action before actual change propagation occurs. This preliminary validation ensures that only appropriate changes are propagated, maintaining merge consistency and reliability. The check is designed to be efficient, evaluating only the necessary conditions without performing full propagation logic, thereby minimizing time loss while ensuring reliability.
Solution Approach 2:
The enablement check mechanism allows the system to quickly evaluate and skip elements that do not meet propagation criteria without performing detailed validation or propagation operations on them. This skipping approach reduces the overall processing time by avoiding unnecessary operations on ineligible elements while still maintaining reliability through selective validation of elements that do qualify for propagation.
Data Source
AI summary
Certain example embodiments relate to selective change propagation techniques for supporting partial roundtrips in model-to-model transformations. In certain example embodiments, enablement checking is performed to determine whether a propagation operation can be performed for an object. If the object passes enablement checking, the propagation is executed by, for example, creating the object(s) in a business-oriented (e.g., EPC) model; updating relevant internal attributes of technical (e.g., BPMN) objects that allow for the successful merge; optionally correcting user-introduced errors in the technical model; and properly connecting the pulled-up objects with their surroundings. The connecting is performed so that the objects advantageously appear as if the current business-oriented model was used for the merge. According to certain example embodiments, the connecting may be deterministic, e.g., such that the result will be the same regardless of order or sequence in which the propagations are made.