Status Schema Model for Runtime Process Step Control
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Solution Overview
Problem
As software systems become larger and more complex, managing the state of objects in a coherent and less burdensome manner is challenging, as programmers face difficulties in understanding and accounting for all constraints based on object states, leading to inefficiencies in determining whether actions can be performed.
Innovation Solution
A status schema model is defined at design-time and stored on a computer-readable medium, which includes preconditions for performing actions and a modeling element that indicates a process step that can be switched on or off at runtime, allowing the status of a data object node instance to determine whether a particular action is allowed to be performed.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If programmers directly code state constraints into objects themselves, then action permissions are accurately controlled, but programming complexity and burden increase significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts state constraint logic from individual objects and places it in a separate status schema model. The model defines preconditions for actions independently, allowing objects to rely on this external model rather than embedding constraints within themselves. This reduces programming complexity while maintaining accurate action permission control.
Solution Approach 2:
The status schema model acts as an intermediary between objects and state constraints. Instead of objects directly managing their own constraints or relying on unrelated objects to enforce them, the patent introduces a dedicated modeling element that mediates action permissions based on object status, simplifying the overall system architecture.
2Ease of operation
If unrelated objects are used to enforce state constraints, then programming burden on primary objects is reduced, but determination of action permissions becomes independent of actual object state
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies local quality by having the status schema model specifically tailored to each object type's state characteristics. The modeling element defines preconditions that are locally relevant to the particular object's status attributes, ensuring that action permissions are determined based on the actual state of the specific object rather than generic unrelated objects.
3Reliability
If all preconditions are evaluated at runtime, then action permissions are accurately determined, but processing time increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces dynamic evaluation of preconditions through the adaptable process step mechanism. The system dynamically determines which preconditions need evaluation based on the current process context and object state, rather than statically evaluating all preconditions. This reduces unnecessary runtime processing while maintaining accurate permission determination.
Data Source
AI summary
Techniques are described for using a design-time status schema model to describe the progress of a data object through a computing process. The status schema model includes status variables, processing actions and constraints for performing actions. The status schema model also includes preconditions for performing actions and a modeling element where the modeling element indicates a process step for a business process where the process step can be switched on and off at runtime. A precondition belonging to the process step identifies how a status affects whether an action is to be allowed to be performed at runtime by a data object node instance having the status. At runtime, the status schema model is used to control processing performed by, or on, an instance of a data object corresponding to the status schema model. The precondition is evaluated at runtime only if the process step is switched on.