User-Created Application Components With Layered ALM Metadata
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Solution Overview
Problem
Low-code application platforms (LCAPs) historically exclude user-created components from benefiting from comprehensive application lifecycle management (ALM) processes, limiting their development and operational efficiency.
Innovation Solution
Implementing a solution component framework (SCF) that extends ALM processes to user-created components by storing metadata for customization, defining dependencies, and using graphical user interfaces to manage layering and protection, enabling no-code customization and reliable operation.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If ALM processes are extended to user-created components, then operational reliability and development efficiency are improved, but device complexity and metadata management overhead increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the component system into multiple layers (base components, customizations, dependencies) with distinct metadata structures for each layer. This segmentation allows ALM processes to operate on individual components independently while maintaining overall system reliability, without requiring complex holistic management of the entire application ecosystem.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces a temporal dimension to component management through version control and lifecycle states. By adding this dimension, the system can track component evolution over time, manage updates and rollbacks, and maintain reliability without overwhelming complexity in the spatial organization of metadata.
2Productivity
If comprehensive ALM processes are implemented for user-created components, then development time is reduced, but ease of operation decreases due to increased customization management
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements self-service mechanisms where the system automatically generates metadata, resolves dependencies, and manages component lifecycles without requiring manual intervention. This automation reduces development time while maintaining ease of operation by eliminating the need for users to manually manage complex ALM processes.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent uses template-based component creation where standardized metadata structures and ALM processes are copied and applied to new components. This approach accelerates development by reusing proven patterns while keeping operation simple through consistent, predictable workflows.
3Adaptability or versatility
If metadata is stored for all customizations, then adaptability and component reusability are improved, but loss of information and storage overhead increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts only the essential customization metadata needed for component reusability and ALM operations, storing it separately from the core component definition. This selective extraction maintains adaptability by preserving key customization information while reducing storage overhead by excluding redundant or unnecessary metadata.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent applies different metadata storage strategies to different components based on their specific needs. Critical components with complex dependencies receive comprehensive metadata management, while simpler components use streamlined metadata structures, optimizing the balance between adaptability and storage efficiency locally for each component.
Data Source
AI summary
The examples described herein extend application lifecycle management (ALM) processes (e.g., create, update, delete, retrieve, import, export, uninstall, publish) to user-created application platform components. First and second components are generated within an application platform. The first component is customized at least by indicating whether the first component is subject to localization, defining a layering of the first component, and indicating whether the first component is protected from downstream modification. The second component is customized in accordance with customizing the first component, and is further customized by defining a dependency of the second component on the first component. The components are deployed in a target environment with metadata representing the customizations and enabling the ALM processes.