Workflow Customization via Segmented Storage and Merge Logic

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Solution Overview

Problem

Customer customizations in workflow management products often interfere with upgrades, leading to conflicts and the need for either not upgrading the product or losing customizations.

Innovation Solution

Implementing a layered workflow structure where read-only and customizable rules are separated, allowing upgrades to occur without affecting user customizations by storing restricted and customizable parts on different storage resources and using constraint logic to manage their retrieval and execution.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Adaptability or versatility

If customer customizations are allowed in workflow management products, then adaptability and user needs satisfaction are improved, but conflicts with product upgrades occur and customization loss happens

Engineering Contradiction:

Improveworkflow customization capabilityVSAvoidupgrade compatibility

Core Design Contradiction:

Adaptability or versatilityVSReliability

Solution Approach 1:

The patent divides the workflow into separate layers: a read-only layer containing foundational business rules that cannot be modified, and a customizable layer containing rules that users can modify. This segmentation allows the system to maintain both upgrade compatibility (through the immutable read-only layer) and customization capability (through the modifiable customizable layer), resolving the contradiction between adaptability and upgrade reliability.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #1Segmentation

2Productivity

If product upgrades are performed, then product functionality and performance are improved, but customer customizations are lost or conflicted

Engineering Contradiction:

Improveproduct upgrade capabilityVSAvoidcustomization data loss

Core Design Contradiction:

ProductivityVSLoss of information

Solution Approach 1:

The patent establishes the layered workflow structure with protection flags before any customization or upgrade occurs. By pre-defining which rules are customizable and which are read-only, and by implementing version tracking for customizable rules, the system prepares the groundwork to preserve customizations during upgrades, preventing customization data loss while allowing product improvements.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #10Preliminary action

3Adaptability or versatility

If customizable rules are allowed to be modified, then user adaptability is improved, but system stability and rule consistency may deteriorate

Engineering Contradiction:

Improverule customization flexibilityVSAvoidworkflow rule consistency

Core Design Contradiction:

Adaptability or versatilityVSStability of the object's composition

Solution Approach 1:

The patent applies different properties to different parts of the workflow rules. The read-only layer maintains strict consistency and cannot be modified, while the customizable layer allows modifications with version tracking. This local differentiation of rule properties enables flexibility where needed while maintaining stability and consistency in the foundational business rules, resolving the contradiction between adaptability and system stability.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #3Local quality

Data Source

PatentUS10909487B2Workflow customization

Publication Date: 2021.02.02 MICRO FOCUS LLC

AI summary

In one implementation, a workflow system can include a storage engine and a merger engine. The storage engine maintains a restricted workflow part on a first storage resource and maintains a customizable workflow part on a second storage resource. The merger engine retrieves the restricted workflow part based on the product version and merge the restricted workflow part with the customizable workflow part associated with the restricted workflow part.