← Back to Patent Explorer
US5911074A Expired / Lapsed US ⏱️ 0.0 years remaining

Process for manipulating data models used in software engineering

Assignee: TRANSTAR
•
Filing: 1996-12-06
•
Granted: 1999-06-08
•
Expires: 2016-12-06
📄 Original PDF 🌐 Google Patents 🔄 Sync Now

Abstract

Abstract The present invention relates to a process for manipulating data models for the transfer of models between a plurality of software engineering tools (Ta, Tb, Tc, Td, etc.) and for the application of transformation rules to a model, wherein the transformation of data models is carried out by means of gateways (Ba, Bb, Bc, Bd, etc.) which make it possible to convert the format of one tool to the format of another tool by passing through a unique neutral intermediate format (NIM). The present process is remarkable in that the development of the gateways, in accordance with the so-called object-oriented approach, is carried out in an executed language, the gateways being executables which allow the transformation of a data model in several steps activated successively, in a systematic or conditional way, by means of a command language which describes a logic for dynamic concatenation of the steps, concatenation being a named, parameterized procedure. Each step is an executable whose code is developed from an array of reusable classes, while the activation of a procedure requires simply that the name and the parameters of the corresponding procedure be supplied.

Inventors

  • 👤 Elisabeth Leprince
  • 👤 Robert Carosso
  • 👤 James Kiso
  • 👤 Edward Strassberger

Bibliographic Details

Application Number —
Jurisdiction US
Data Source google_patents
Last Synchronized 2026-10-29 13:14
CPC Classifications
G; G06; G06F; G06F8/00; G06F8/70; G06F9/00; G06F9/06; G06F9/44; G06F9/448; G06F9/4488

Claims Analysis

Total Claims: 14
Claim 1
Independent Claim 155 words
A process for manipulating data models for the transfer of said data models among a plurality of software engineering tools having an initial format and for the application of transformation rules to one said model, transforming the data models by means of gateways to convert the initial format of one tool into a format of another tool by passing the initial format through a unique neutral intermediate format, developing the gateways, in accordance with an object-oriented approach, in an executed language, the gateways being executable which allow the transformation of a data model in several steps, activating the steps successively, in a systematic or conditional way, using a command language which describes a logic for dynamic concatenation of the steps, concatenation being a named, parameterized procedure, each step being an executable whose code is developed from an array of reusable classes, and providing the name and the parameters of the corresponding procedure to be activated.
Claim 2
Dependent Claim 155 words
A process for manipulating data models for the transfer of said data models among a plurality of software engineering tools having an initial format and for the application of transformation rules to one said model, transforming the data models by means of gateways to convert the initial format of one tool into a format of another tool by passing the initial format through a unique neutral intermediate format, developing the gateways, in accordance with an object-oriented approach, in an executed language, the gateways being executable which allow the transformation of a data model in several steps, activating the steps successively, in a systematic or conditional way, using a command language which describes a logic for dynamic concatenation of the steps, concatenation being a named, parameterized procedure, each step being an executable whose code is developed from an array of reusable classes, and providing the name and the parameters of the corresponding procedure to be activated.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim 76 words
The process for manipulating data models according to claim 1, characterized in that in order to develop a gateway, a reusable class is created which makes it possible to represent models and metamodels stored in memory in a repository or in an external file, using a dynamic allocation of the modeling objects, the objects of said class integrating an array of memory structures and supplying functions for manipulating the data of a model loaded into memory.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim 132 words
The process for manipulating data models according to claim 1, characterized in that in order to develop a gateway, a reusable class is created which makes it possible to code and decode different tool export file formats, which reusable class encapsulates the tool export records and is used to describe the record formats of an import file, whereas upon initialization, while a metamodel of a tool is read with the aid of the class for representing the models and metamodels sorted in memory from a text file, the code of the gateway makes it possible to read the tool export file, to access the member fields of the records and to create the objects and their properties using the functions of the class for representing the models and metamodels stored in memory.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim 57 words
The process for manipulating data models according to claim 1, characterized in that in order to develop a gateway, a reusable class is created for manipulating character strings, making it possible to handle allocations, concatenations and comparison operators with the substring and dynamic memory reallocation functions while preserving compatibility with the character strings of a C-type language.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim 132 words
The process for manipulating data models according to claim 2, characterized in that in order to develop a gateway, a reusable class is created which makes it possible to code and decode different tool export file formats, which reusable class encapsulates the tool export records and is used to describe the record formats of an import file, whereas upon initialization, while a metamodel of a tool is read with the aid of the class for representing the models and metamodels sorted in memory from a text file, the code of the gateway makes it possible to read the tool export file, to access the member fields of the records and to create the objects and their properties using the functions of the class for representing the models and metamodels stored in memory.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim 57 words
The process for manipulating data models according to claim 2, characterized in that in order to develop a gateway, a reusable class is created for manipulating character strings, making it possible to handle allocations, concatenations and comparison operators with the substring and dynamic memory reallocation functions while preserving compatibility with the character strings of a C-type language.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim 57 words
The process for manipulating data models according to claim 3, characterized in that in order to develop a gateway, a reusable class is created for manipulating character strings, making it possible to handle allocations, concatenations and comparison operators with the substring and dynamic memory reallocation functions while preserving compatibility with the character strings of a C-type language.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim 57 words
The process for manipulating data models according to claim 5, characterized in that in order to develop a gateway, a reusable class is created for manipulating character strings, making it possible to handle allocations, concatenations and comparison operators with the substring and dynamic memory reallocation functions while preserving compatibility with the character strings of a C-type language.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim 155 words
A process for manipulating data models for the transfer of said data models among a plurality of software engineering tools having an initial format and for the application of transformation rules to one of said models, comprising developing gateways for transformation of data models and conversion of the initial format of one tool into a format of another tool, passing the initial format through a unique neutral intermediate format, carrying out the development of the gateways in an executed language and in accordance with an object-oriented approach, the gateways being executable, transforming a data model in several steps activated successively, in a systematic or conditional way, dynamically concatenating the steps using a command language which describes a logic for concatenation, concatenation being a named, parameterized procedure, each step being an executable whose code is developed from an array of reusable classes, and supplying the name and the parameters of the procedure to activate the procedure.
Claim 11
Dependent Claim 155 words
A process for manipulating data models for the transfer of said data models among a plurality of software engineering tools having an initial format and for the application of transformation rules to one of said models, comprising developing gateways for transformation of data models and conversion of the initial format of one tool into a format of another tool, passing the initial format through a unique neutral intermediate format, carrying out the development of the gateways in an executed language and in accordance with an object-oriented approach, the gateways being executable, transforming a data model in several steps activated successively, in a systematic or conditional way, dynamically concatenating the steps using a command language which describes a logic for concatenation, concatenation being a named, parameterized procedure, each step being an executable whose code is developed from an array of reusable classes, and supplying the name and the parameters of the procedure to activate the procedure.
Claim 12
Dependent Claim 68 words
The process for manipulating data models according to claim 9, wherein to develop a gateway, a reusable class is created to represent models and metamodels stored in memory in a repository or in an external file, using a dynamic allocation of the modeling objects, the objects of said class integrating an array of memory structures and supplying functions for manipulating the data of a model loaded into memory.
Claim 13
Dependent Claim 123 words
The process for manipulating data models according to claim 10, wherein to develop a gateway, a reusable class is created to code and decode different tool export records, which reusable class encapsulates the tool export records and is used to describe the record formats of an import file, whereas upon initialization, while a metamodel of a tool is read with the aid of the class for representing the models and metamodels sorted in memory from a text file, the code of the gateway makes it possible to read the tool export file, to access the member fields of the records and to create the objects and their properties using the functions of the class for representing the models and metamodels stored in memory.
Claim 14
Dependent Claim 56 words
The process for manipulating data models according to claim 10, characterized in that in order to develop a gateway, a reusable class is created for manipulating character strings, making it possible to handle allocations, concatenations and comparison operators with substring and dynamic memory reallocation functions while preserving compatibility with the character strings of a C-type language.

References Cited (Backward Citations)

EP0495279A1 Cited
US5689709A Cited
US5339434A Cited
US5627979A Cited
US5701483A Cited
US5692047A Cited

USPTO Annuity & Maintenance Windows

Annuity Stage Window Opens Payment Deadline Surcharge Period Until Estimated Fee Status
3.5 Years (Year 4) 2002-06-07 2002-12-07 2003-06-08 $2000.00 Window Closed / Lapsed
7.5 Years (Year 8) 2006-06-07 2006-12-07 2007-06-08 $3760.00 Window Closed / Lapsed
11.5 Years (Year 12) 2010-06-07 2010-12-07 2011-06-08 $7700.00 Window Closed / Lapsed

Assigned Categories & Tags

No categories assigned to this patent yet.

Assign Category Tag