EP0458495A2
Expired / Lapsed
EP
⏱️ 0.0 years remaining
Apparatus and method for managing versions and configurations of persistent and transient objects
Assignee: Texas Instruments Inc
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Filing: 1991-05-10
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Granted: —
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Expires: 2011-05-10
Abstract
Abstract A system (20) and method for managing change in software systems and applications manages change for both transient and persistent objects in a domain independent, non-intrusive, object-oriented fashion. The system (20) and method are designed and implemented as a combination of two abstract machines (22,24) consisting of a set of interface functions (25,26) visible to the application, and an internal or private state (27,28) which is hidden from such application. Applications use the interface functions (25,26) to obtain the services of this change management system (20) and method. Since the internal state of such system (20) and method is outside the application, change management is provided as a service without the need for altering or adding onto application data structures and interfaces.
Inventors
- 👤 John J. Vappala
- 👤 Craig W. Thompson
- 👤 Mark B. Shadowen
- 👤 John Chung-Lin Chen
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
EP
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-10-27 08:39
CPC Classifications
G; G06; G06F; G06F8/00; G06F8/70; G06F8/71; G06F9/00; G06F9/06; G06F9/44; G06F9/448; G06F9/4488; G06F9/4493; Y; Y10; Y10S; Y10S707/00; Y10S707/953; Y10S707/955; Y10S707/99951; Y10S707/99952; Y10S707/99954
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 21
Claim 1
Independent Claim
131 words
A method for managing change in applications wherein how the change is being managed remains transparent to the user comprising the steps of: inputting domain specific information as function parameters as well as object type information to a abstract machine via an interface; initializing user-preselected policies within said abstract machine; storing change management data structures in a private state of said abstract machine as a result of said requesting of a service, wherein said data structures are managed in a generic application- nondependent fashion; managing a name space containing at least one name; communicating with said application using only said at least one name; updating said stored change management data structures in response to said service request; and returning information to the application using un-typed pointer structures together with said names.
Claim 2
Independent Claim
131 words
A method for managing change in applications wherein how the change is being managed remains transparent to the user comprising the steps of: inputting domain specific information as function parameters as well as object type information to a abstract machine via an interface; initializing user-preselected policies within said abstract machine; storing change management data structures in a private state of said abstract machine as a result of said requesting of a service, wherein said data structures are managed in a generic application- nondependent fashion; managing a name space containing at least one name; communicating with said application using only said at least one name; updating said stored change management data structures in response to said service request; and returning information to the application using un-typed pointer structures together with said names.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
58 words
The method for managing change in applications of Claim 1, wherein said step of storing said change management data structures further comprising the steps of: creating change management data structures when an initial request is made to manage change for an object; and storing said created change management data structures in said private state of said abstract machine.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
33 words
The method for managing change in applications of Claim 1, wherein said step of managing a name space further comprises ensuring that the request for service only requires primitive data objects as arguments.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
24 words
The method for managing change in applications of Claim 1, wherein said step of returning information requires only using primitive data objects as arguments.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
87 words
The method for managing change in applications of Claim 1, after said step of communicating and before said step of updating, if said abstract machine requires more information from said application, further comprising the steps of: looking up the required parameter function, if any, within said abstract machine's state; requesting by said abstract machine from said application at least one function bearing said at least one name to be executed in a workspace of said application depending upon said requested service; and obtaining said domain specific information.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
31 words
The method for managing change in application of Claim 1, wherein said step of inputting further comprising inputting policy declarations, wherein said policy declarations further adjust behavior of said abstract machine.
Claim 8
Independent Claim
86 words
A system for managing change for decoupling such change management system from applications, comprising: an application interface consisting of a first and a second instruction sets; a version abstract machine for managing the evolution of objects, wherein said version abstract machine interacts with an application by using said first instruction set; and a configuration abstract machine for providing support for layered or hierarchically structured objects as well as for specifying compositions, wherein said configuration abstract machine interacts with an application by using said second instruction set.
Claim 9
Independent Claim
86 words
A system for managing change for decoupling such change management system from applications, comprising: an application interface consisting of a first and a second instruction sets; a version abstract machine for managing the evolution of objects, wherein said version abstract machine interacts with an application by using said first instruction set; and a configuration abstract machine for providing support for layered or hierarchically structured objects as well as for specifying compositions, wherein said configuration abstract machine interacts with an application by using said second instruction set.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim
73 words
The system for managing change of Claim 7, wherein if said version abstract machine desired to interact with said configuration abstract machine, said version abstract machine would use said second instruction set to call said configuration abstract machine as a service, while if said configuration abstract machine desired to interact with said version abstract machine, said configuration abstract machine would use said first instruction to call said version abstract machine as a service.
Claim 11
Dependent Claim
20 words
The system for managing change of Claim 7, wherein said first and second instructions sets are a collection of functions.
Claim 12
Dependent Claim
20 words
The system for managing change of Claim 9, wherein said collection of functions take arguments that are of type integer.
Claim 13
Dependent Claim
21 words
The system for managing change of Claim 9, wherein said collection of functions take arguments that are of type character string.
Claim 14
Dependent Claim
20 words
The system for managing change of Claim 9, wherein said collection of functions take arguments that are of type Boolean.
Claim 15
Dependent Claim
21 words
The system for managing change of Claim 9, wherein said collection of functions take arguments that are of type un-typed pointer.
Claim 16
Independent Claim
148 words
A system for providing change management for persistent and transient objects of all types, comprising: an abstract machine for receiving inputted domain specific information as function parameters as well as object type information from an application program via an interface, for initializing user-preselected policies within said abstract machine; a data structures storage apparatus residing in a private state of said abstract machine, for storing change management data structures resulting from a requested service, wherein said data structures are managed in a generic applications-nondependent fashion; a name space manager residing within said abstract machine, wherein said name space contains at least one name to be used for communicating with said application program; an apparatus for returning information to said application program using identifying structures together with said at least one name; and a service requester within said interface for requesting services of said abstract machine by said application program.
Claim 17
Independent Claim
148 words
A system for providing change management for persistent and transient objects of all types, comprising: an abstract machine for receiving inputted domain specific information as function parameters as well as object type information from an application program via an interface, for initializing user-preselected policies within said abstract machine; a data structures storage apparatus residing in a private state of said abstract machine, for storing change management data structures resulting from a requested service, wherein said data structures are managed in a generic applications-nondependent fashion; a name space manager residing within said abstract machine, wherein said name space contains at least one name to be used for communicating with said application program; an apparatus for returning information to said application program using identifying structures together with said at least one name; and a service requester within said interface for requesting services of said abstract machine by said application program.
Claim 18
Dependent Claim
39 words
The system for providing change management for persistent and transient objects of Claim 14, wherein said data structures storage apparatus contains a data structures updator for updating said stored change management data structures in response to a requested service.
Claim 19
Dependent Claim
28 words
The system for providing change management for persistent and transient objects of Claim 14, wherein said identifying structures are un-typed pointers when said returned information involves transient objects.
Claim 20
Dependent Claim
28 words
The system for providing change management for persistent and transient objects of Claim 14, wherein said identifying structures are non-pointer identifiers when said returned information involves transient objects.
Claim 21
Dependent Claim
28 words
The system for providing change management for persistent and transient objects of Claim 14, wherein said identifying structures are non-pointer identifiers when said returned information involves persistent objects.
References Cited (Backward Citations)
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