Creating a partial instance of component in response to user specifying a value for a dynamic attribute of a selected component
US8245020B1 · kind B1 · utility
Assignee
Inventor
Key dates
| Filing date | May 12, 2009 |
| Grant date | Aug 14, 2012 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Aug 13, 2030 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC G)Physics
- CPC primaryG06F8/71
- WIPO fieldComputer technology
- WIPO sectorElectrical engineering
Abstract
The present invention provides a configuration system, method, and software program for efficiently configuring products with dynamic components. Component definitions in the configuration system can include both static and dynamic attributes. Static attributes are fixed and are defined prior to the user configuring a product. Dynamic attributes are defined during a configuration session, and the values of dynamic attributes are unique to a configuration session. When an attribute of a dynamic component is specified or changed during the configuration process, the configurator creates only a partial instance of the component with the specified dynamic attribute, and it associates a state of the configuration process with such partial instance. When the configurator executes a constraint that involves a component with one or more dynamic attributes, the configurator uses, for each dynamic attribute, the most recent partial instance of the component with a value for that attribute.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.