Updatable Structured Content Generation via Reusable Typed-Templates
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing methods for updating software and web content struggle with representing dynamic or personalized content, especially when repetitive blocks or structures with variations are involved, such as multilingual content, due to the complexity of analyzing and propagating changes across codebases.
Innovation Solution
A system and method that generate reusable templates from definitions, incorporating markers or pointers to propagate changes from definitions to generated content and vice versa, allowing for efficient updates and maintenance of structured content across various contexts like web pages, computer programs, and clinical study documents.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Loss of time
If incremental compilation is used to update code, then compilation time is reduced for small changes, but it becomes very hard to analyze the impact of all code changes when referenced modules are changed or self-modifying code is used
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the codebase into discrete modules with well-defined interfaces and dependencies. Each module can be independently analyzed and compiled, allowing the system to track changes at the module level rather than requiring analysis of the entire codebase. This segmentation enables efficient incremental compilation while maintaining clarity about change impacts.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent implements a hierarchical module structure where modules can contain sub-modules, creating a nested organization. This nesting allows the system to analyze changes at appropriate levels of abstraction, compiling only the affected nested modules rather than the entire codebase, thus reducing compilation time while maintaining analytical clarity.
2Reliability
If traditional compilation methods are used to ensure code consistency, then reliability is improved, but the process requires recompiling the entire code base which reduces productivity
Solution Approach 1:
The patent performs preliminary analysis of module dependencies and interfaces before compilation. By pre-establishing the contractual relationships between modules and analyzing their dependencies in advance, the system can determine exactly which modules need to be recompiled when changes occur, ensuring consistency without requiring full codebase recompilation.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent implements a feedback mechanism that tracks module dependencies and interfaces throughout the development process. When changes are made to any module, the system uses this feedback information to automatically determine which other modules are affected and require updating, maintaining code consistency while optimizing the compilation process.
Data Source
AI summary
A system for generating updatable structured content includes a definition processor, a template selector, and a content generator. The definition processor processes an updatable definition to produce a plurality of reusable typed-templates, each typed-template having (1) an associated type and at least one insertion point at which another typed-template may be inserted and (2) a pointer to the updatable definition. The template selector selects at least one reusable typed-template and its associated type to store in a hierarchical structure as masterdata, where the masterdata contain a pointer to the typed-template. The content generator uses the selected reusable typed-template to produce the updatable structured content according to the associated type with pointers back to the updatable definition. A change made to the updatable definition may be propagated to the structured content and to the typed-templates.