Virtual Business Object Node Associations via UI Metadata
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Solution Overview
Problem
In service-oriented architectures, the existing modeling of associations between business objects is inadequate, particularly when service consumers access backend services in different ways, leading to incomplete data retrieval due to unmodeled associations and deployment concerns, where associations between business objects in different software logistics layers are not accounted for.
Innovation Solution
The solution involves creating and leveraging metadata in the UI component model to define cross-business object and intra-business object associations, using foreign key relationships to establish virtual associations between business objects, even if these associations are not modeled within the business object metadata, allowing for data retrieval and management across different business objects.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If associations are modeled within business object metadata, then data retrieval is enabled, but deployment flexibility and adaptability to different service consumers are reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the association modeling into two separate layers: business object metadata (for structural definitions) and UI component model (for runtime associations). This allows business objects to remain deployment-flexible while UI components handle the specific association requirements for data retrieval, resolving the contradiction between reliability and adaptability.
Solution Approach 2:
The UI component model acts as an intermediary layer between service consumers and business objects. It receives association requirements from service consumers, resolves them against the business object model, and retrieves appropriate data without requiring the business objects themselves to be aware of or modified for each specific consumer requirement.
2Measurement precision
If all possible associations are modeled, then data retrieval accuracy is improved, but model complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
Instead of modeling all possible associations exhaustively, the patent uses a partial approach where only necessary associations are explicitly modeled in the UI component model for each service consumer scenario. This selective modeling maintains data retrieval accuracy for required data while avoiding the complexity of complete association enumeration.
Solution Approach 2:
The business object model serves a universal purpose by defining the structural schema once, while the UI component model handles the variable association requirements for different service consumers. This multi-functionality allows accurate data retrieval for multiple scenarios without requiring separate complete models for each.
3Ease of operation
If cross-business object associations are added, then data accessibility is improved, but software logistics layer boundaries are violated
Solution Approach 1:
The patent adds a new dimension to the architecture by introducing the UI component model as an additional layer that operates independently of business object layers. This allows cross-business object associations to be established through the UI component model without violating the stability and boundaries of the underlying business object layers, resolving the contradiction between accessibility and compositional stability.
Data Source
AI summary
A computer-implemented system may include reception of an instruction to create an association for an element of a UI component model, determination of a first business object model of the association, determination of a second business object model of the association, definition of foreign key parameters associating an attribute of the first business object model with an attribute of an element of the second business object model, reception of an instruction to bind the element of the UI component model to a second attribute of the element of the second business object model, and creation of metadata in the UI component model associating the element of the UI component model with the second attribute of the element of the second business object model, the metadata comprising the foreign key parameters.