Transaction Mode Records for Reversible Price Updates
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Solution Overview
Problem
Modern retailers face challenges in managing large volumes of price information across multiple locations, requiring efficient methods to create, store, and apply changes transparently without immediately affecting existing data, while also allowing for temporary changes and easy reversal of updates.
Innovation Solution
The system employs immediate mode and transaction mode records in a relational database, allowing changes to be stored and applied in a self-contained manner, with transaction mode records including indicators for management and reversal, enabling transparent viewing of changes without affecting current data until committed.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If changes to price data are stored and applied immediately, then the database reflects current updates, but the ability to review and reverse changes is lost
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary actions by storing changes in transaction mode records before they are committed to immediate mode. This allows the database to prepare for updates without actually applying them, enabling review and reversal capabilities while maintaining data integrity. The transaction definition record with posting date field implements this by scheduling changes to take effect only at a specified future time.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces transaction mode records as an intermediary layer between the original data and the final committed changes. These records act as a buffer that holds proposed modifications, allowing the system to review changes before application and to reverse them if needed. The transaction definition record serves as a mediator that controls when and how transaction mode records are converted to immediate mode.
2Productivity
If temporary price changes are distributed to stores, then stores can access updated pricing, but permanent database changes occur unintentionally
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments price data into two distinct modes: immediate mode records representing permanent database changes, and transaction mode records representing temporary or proposed changes. This segmentation allows the system to distribute temporary price changes to stores without committing them to the permanent database, thus maintaining database integrity while enabling efficient price updates. The mode field in each record implements this segmentation.
Solution Approach 2:
The system dynamically converts transaction mode records to immediate mode records based on the posting date field. Before the posting date, changes exist only in transaction mode and can be reversed or modified. After the posting date, they are automatically converted to immediate mode, making them permanent. This dynamic conversion ensures that temporary changes are distributed efficiently while permanent changes occur only when intended.
3Adaptability or versatility
If all price changes are assembled in a common repository, then data accessibility is improved, but the complexity of managing permanent vs. temporary changes increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent creates a universal record structure that handles both immediate mode and transaction mode records using the same table and fields. The mode field distinguishes between permanent and temporary changes, while the posting date field controls when transaction mode records convert to immediate mode. This universal structure improves data accessibility without requiring separate systems for managing different types of changes, thus reducing overall complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
The system uses parameter changes (the mode field and posting date field) to control the behavior and lifecycle of price change records. By changing the mode parameter, the system can switch between immediate and transaction modes. The posting date parameter automatically triggers the conversion from transaction mode to immediate mode, simplifying the management of permanent versus temporary changes through parameter-based control rather than complex procedural logic.
4Ease of operation
If changes are made to existing database entries, then updated information is available, but the history of changes is lost
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements copying by creating transaction mode records that replicate the structure and data of immediate mode records. When a change is proposed, a copy of the original record is created in transaction mode, allowing the system to preserve the original data while testing the proposed changes. This copying mechanism enables complete change history tracking, as each transaction mode record represents a snapshot of the change before it is committed to the permanent database.
Data Source
AI summary
A method and systems are provided for managing database data. A data repository stores existing immediate mode data in the form of immediate mode database records. Transaction mode database records for modifying and adding to the immediate mode records are created and stored, with the transaction mode records being organized into transactions. Each transaction includes a definition, such as a transaction definition record, and transaction mode records are associated with a transaction using a field in each transaction mode record including a reference to a transaction. A transaction can be posted, causing values stored in the transaction mode records associated with the transaction to be used to create added or modified immediate mode records. Transactions can also be used in operations providing views to show the effects of the transaction mode records, or to create data structures for export.