Method and system to perform work units through action and resource entities

A method as in 1 where the sequence of execution of work units of actions of a higher level work unit of an action is dependent on the completion states of lower level work units of actions.

A method as in 1 where only the work unit actions of the lowest level of the action hierarchy or the tip of the branches furthest from the tree root, process inputs to produce outputs or results, and the work units for action levels above the said lowest level or the branches leading up to the said tip of the branches, only serve to group work units into parent work units.

A method as in 3 where the number of levels or number of branches leading up to the lowest level or tips of branches is not necessarily the same for all work units processing inputs to produce outputs or results.

A method as in 4 where the role of a user of the method determines which types of work unit he may have access to and which access rights he has:

• read, update, add new or delete, and combinations of these.

A system as in 1 where each level of the hierarchy or each branch of the tree is handled by a new object of a class of an object oriented software component.

A system as in 5 where each level of the hierarchy or each branch of the tree is handled by a new object of a class of an object oriented software component.

A method to perform a work unit action by a so called action entity whereby the said action entity has a repertoire of actions it can perform and processes inputs to produce outputs or results for said work unit action where the said repertoire of actions models work unit actions for producing product(s) or performing service(s), internal or external to an organization.

A system as in 8 where each action entity component is an object of a class of an object oriented software component.

A method to perform a work unit action by a so called resource entity whereby the said resource entity has a repertoire of actions it can perform and processes inputs to produce outputs or results of a collection of same type resources or assets of an organization.

A system as in 10 where each resource entity component is an object of a class of an object oriented software component.

A method as in 8 whereby the action entity receives an action string from the work unit entity describing a business rule consisting of a list of one or more actions to perform which may call upon other action or resource entities to process inputs to produce outputs or results.

A method as in 10 whereby the resource entity receives an action string from the work unit entity describing a business rule consisting of a list of one or more actions to perform which may call upon other action or resource entities to process inputs to produce outputs or results.

A method as in 1 where attribute information items of work unit entities are held in tables and each separate item is identified by a unique name and a type name in addition to a fixed set of values of different types describing the attribute.

A method as in 8 where attribute information items of action entities are held in tables and each separate item is identified by a unique name and a type name in addition to a fixed set of values of different types describing the attribute.

A method as 10 where attribute information items of resource entities are held in tables and each separate item is identified by a unique name and a type name in addition to a fixed set of values of different types describing the attribute.

A method as in 1 where input and output or result information items are held in tables and each separate item is identified by a unique name and a type name in addition to a fixed set of values of different types describing the input or output or result.

A method as in 8 where input and output or result information items are held in tables and each separate item is identified by a unique name and a type name in addition to a fixed set of values of different types describing the input or output or result.

A method as in 10 where input and output or result information items are held in tables and each separate item is identified by a unique name and a type name in addition to a fixed set of values of different types describing the input or output or result.

A method and system as in 1 where there exists a table keeping action strings describing business rules which is accessed when the system user pushes a button on a work unit entity screen to retrieve an action string which specifies actions to be performed using attribute and/or input and output or result information items.

A method and system as in 8 where there exists a table keeping action strings describing business rules which is accessed when the system user pushes a button on a work unit entity screen to retrieve an action string which specifies actions to be performed using attribute and/or input and output or result information items.

A method and system as in 10 where there exists a table keeping action strings describing business rules which is accessed when the system user pushes a button on a work unit entity screen to retrieve an action string which specifies actions to be performed using attribute and/or input and output or result information items.

A method as in 1 where template work unit actions are used to set up new work units.

A method as in 1 where template work unit hierarchies are used to set up new sets of work units and work unit actions which allow for the production of product(s) or the performance of service(s), where said template work units and work unit actions specify which resources, which parts or one time use items (consumables) are needed to perform the work units, which inputs are needed and which outputs or results are to be produced.

A method and system as in 24 to schedule manually or automatically the resources to be used or the parts or consumables to be used.

A method and system to process business rules consisting of a string of sentences where each of said sentences describes:

• an action, its actor which performs the said action and which has one or more execution states, its input(s) and output(s)/result(s) and their origins and destinations when needed by said action, the next action(s) to perform depending on the completion state of said action or the execution state(s) of other actions or other actor(s) or other condition(s), the states of said action during its execution if needed by other actions, receiver(s) of said action if those are not the same as said actor which also has one or more execution states, and condition(s) which must be fulfilled for said action to be performed if any.

A method and system as in 26 where said action, said actor, said input(s) and output(s)/result(s), said completion state, said execution state(s) of other actions, said states of said action during execution, and said receiver(s) are each identified by a name which refers to additional details of the way the object identified by said name is to be used and said condition(s) are identified by a name or by an expression using names and symbols to relate them which evaluates to a true or false condition.

A method and system as in 26 where any of said actions may be decomposed into other actions.

A method and system as in 27 where said names of said input(s) and output(s)/result(s) refer to a data item identified by said name, a type name and a fixed set of values of different types describing said input(s) and output(s)/result(s).