Method of configuring a set of objects in a computer
AssigneeBaan Development, B.V.
InventorHans Jorgen Skovgaard
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Abstract
This invention relates to a method of configuring a set of objects in a computer, each object having at least one possible value, each value being determined or undetermined, and at least one of said object values being accessible to a user for assigning at least one value to be determined or undetermined, said values being constrained by a rule base defining a number of relationships between the values. The undetermined object values are searched in order to find at least one first subset of values, said first subset and a subset of determined values defining at least one first possible configuration of object values satisfying the rule base if said first subset exists, said search being initiated when at least one value of an object is changed or said search being initiated upon a user request.
Claims20
A method of configuring a set of objects in a computer, each object having at least one possible value, each value being determined or undetermined;
- at least one of said object values being accessible to a user for assigning at least one value to be determined or undetermined,
- said values being constrained by a rule base defining a number of relationships between the values, the method comprising the steps of:
- searching the undetermined object values in order to find at least a first subset of values,
- which first subset in combination with a subset of determined values defines at least a first possible configuration of object values satisfying the rule base if said first subset exists;
- searching the undetermined object values in order to find at least a second subset of values comprising at least one value of an altered object, which second subset in combination with a subset of determined values defines at least a second possible configuration of object values satisfying the rule base if said second subset exists;
- wherein said altered object is obtained by temporarily assigning a value to the altered object, said value being different from the value of the same object in the first possible configuration and providing for a second possible configuration if such a value exists;
- and
- assigning the objects, if any, of being altered, to be unbound;
- and assigning the objects, if any, incapable of being altered, to be bound.
A computer readable medium encoded with a program to make the computer execute a procedure of configuring a set of objects in a computer, each object having at least one possible value, each value being determined or undetermined, at least one of said object values being accessible to a user for assigning at least one value to be determined or undetermined, said values being relationships between the values, which procedure when running on the computer is to:
- search the undetermined object values in order to find at least a first subset of values, which first subset in combination with a subset of determined values defines at least a first possible configuration of object values satisfying the rule base if said first subset exists;
- search the undetermined object values in order to find at least a second subset of values comprising at least one value of an altered object, which second subset in combination with a subset of determined values defines at least a second possible configuration of object values satisfying the rule base if said second subset exists;
- wherein said altered object is obtained by temporarily assigning a value to the altered object, said value being different from the value of the same object in the first possible configuration if such a value exists;
- and
- assign the objects, if any, of being altered, to be unbound;
- and assign the objects, if any, incapable of being altered, to be bound.
A computer system with means to make the computer execute a procedure of configuring a set of objects in a computer, each object having at least one possible value, each value being determined or undetermined;
- at least one of said object values being accessible to a user for assigning at least one value to be determined or undetermined, said values being constrained by a rule base defining a number of relationships between the values, which procedure when running on the computer is to:
- search the undetermined object values in order to find at least a first subset of values, which first subset in combination with a subset of determined values defines at least a first possible configuration of object values satisfying the rule base if said first subset exists;
- search the undetermined object values in order to find at least a second subset of values comprising at least one value of an altered object, which second subset in combination with a subset of determined values defines at least a second possible configuration of object values satisfying the rule base if said second subset exists;
- wherein said altered object is obtained by temporarily assigning a value to the altered object, said value being different from the value of the same object in the first possible configuration if such a value exists;
- and
- assign the objects, if any, of being altered, to be unbound;
- and assign the objects, if any, incapable of being altered, to be bound.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.