Auditing data using observable and observer objects

• US 20020165878A1
• Filed: 05/03/2001
• Published: 11/07/2002
• Est. Priority Date: 05/03/2001
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Lam, Thanh V.
• Granted Patent: US 6,978,442 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 715/507
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/284 Relational databases

Abstract

An observable object represents a feature to be audited. The observable object provides a decentralized location that includes logic responsible for auditing its own data. Should the audit detect a change in the data, a modifier object is created, which includes modify logic to accommodate the change. The modifier object is added to a pool of modifier objects, and at the appropriate time, one or more observers retrieve the modifier object and run the modify logic.

Claims

1. A method of auditing data of data entry forms, said method comprising:

providing an observable object for a field of a data entry form to be audited, said observable object including logic to be used for auditing data of the field; and

auditing data of the field using the observable object.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the observable object provides a decentralized location for auditing the data of the field.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising building a modifier object for the field, in response to the auditing determining that a specified event has occurred.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the specified event includes a change in the data of the field.

5. The method of claim 3, further comprising forwarding the modifier object to a pool of one or more modifier objects.

6. The method of claim 5, further comprising:

retrieving, by an observer, the modifier object from the pool; and

running a modifier method of said modifier object to accommodate the specified event.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein the modifier method comprises a modify method, and running the modify method causes changed data to be stored in a storage medium.

8. The method of claim 6, further comprising informing the observer that the modifier object has been added to the pool of one or more modifier objects.

9. The method of claim 6, wherein the observer is a test observer used for debugging.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein the modifier method comprises a test method used for debugging.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein there are a plurality of fields to be audited, and wherein said providing comprises providing an observable object for each field of said plurality of fields to be audited.

12. The method of claim 11, further comprising automatically building a modifier object for each field of said plurality of fields that includes changed data, as determined by the auditing.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein there are a plurality of fields to be audited, and wherein said providing comprises providing an observable object for each field of said plurality of fields to be audited.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein said building comprises automatically building a modifier object for each field of said plurality of fields that includes changed data.

17. The method of claim 16, further comprising building a modifier object for each component of said plurality of components determined by the auditing to have had a specified event for that component occur.

18. The method of claim 17, wherein the specified event for a component is related to one or more operating conditions of the component.

19. The method of claim 17, further comprising forwarding each modifier object to a pool of modifier objects.

20. The method of claim 19, further comprising:

retrieving, by one or more observers, the one or more modifier objects of the pool; and

running, by the one or more observers, one or more modify methods of the one or more modifier objects retrieved from the pool to accommodate one or more specified events.

13. A method of auditing data of a data entry form, said method comprising:

providing an observable object for a field of the data entry form to be audited, said observable object including logic to be used for auditing data of the field;

auditing data of the field using the observable object;

building a modifier object for the field, in response to the auditing determining that a change has occurred in the data;

forwarding the modifier object to a pool of one or more modifier objects;

informing an observer that the modifier object has been added to the pool of one or more modifier objects;

retrieving, by the observer, the modifier object from the pool; and

running, by the observer, a modify method of the modifier object to accommodate the change in the data.

16. A method of auditing data of components of a self-monitoring framework, said method comprising:

providing an observable object for each component of a plurality of components of multiple components of said self-monitoring framework to be audited, each observable object including logic to be used for auditing data of its associated component; and

auditing data of said each component using the observable object corresponding to that component.

21. A system of auditing data of data entry forms, said system comprising:

means for providing an observable object for a field of a data entry form to be audited, said observable object including logic to be used for auditing data of the field; and

means for auditing data of the field using the observable object.

22. The system of claim 21, wherein the observable object provides a decentralized location for auditing the data of the field.

23. The system of claim 21, further comprising means for building a modifier object for the field, in response to the auditing determining that a specified event has occurred.

24. The system of claim 23, wherein the specified event includes a change in the data of the field.

25. The system of claim 23, further comprising means for forwarding the modifier object to a pool of one or more modifier objects.

26. The system of claim 25, further comprising:

means for retrieving, by an observer, the modifier object from the pool; and

means for running a modifier method of said modifier object to accommodate the specified event.

27. The system of claim 26, wherein the modifier method comprises a modify method, and the modify method causes changed data to be stored in a storage medium.

28. The system of claim 26, further comprising means for informing the observer that the modifier object has been added to the pool of one or more modifier objects.

29. The system of claim 26, wherein the observer is a test observer used for debugging.

30. The system of claim 29, wherein the modifier method comprises a test method used for debugging.

31. The system of claim 21, wherein there are a plurality of fields to be audited, and wherein said means for providing comprises means for providing an observable object for each field of said plurality of fields to be audited.

32. The system of claim 31, further comprising means for automatically building a modifier object for each field of said plurality of fields that includes changed data, as determined by the auditing.

33. A system of auditing data of a data entry form, said system comprising:

means for providing an observable object for a field of the data entry form to be audited, said observable object including logic to be used for auditing data of the field;

means for auditing data of the field using the observable object;

means for building a modifier object for the field, in response to the auditing determining that a change has occurred in the data;

means for forwarding the modifier object to a pool of one or more modifier objects;

means for informing an observer that the modifier object has been added to the pool of one or more modifier objects;

means for retrieving, by the observer, the modifier object from the pool; and

means for running, by the observer, a modify method of the modifier object to accommodate the change in the data.

34. The system of claim 33, wherein there are a plurality of fields to be audited, and wherein said means for providing comprises means for providing an observable object for each field of said plurality of fields to be audited.

35. The system of claim 34, wherein said means for building comprises means for automatically building a modifier object for each field of said plurality of fields that includes changed data.

37. The system of claim 36, further comprising means for building a modifier object for each component of said plurality of components determined by the auditing to have had a specified event for that component occur.

38. The system of claim 37, wherein the specified event for a component is related to one or more operating conditions of the component.

39. The system of claim 37, further comprising means for forwarding each modifier object to a pool of modifier objects.

40. The system of claim 39, further comprising:

means for retrieving, by one or more observers, the one or more modifier objects of the pool; and

means for running, by the one or more observers, one or more modify methods of the one or more modifier objects retrieved from the pool to accommodate one or more specified events.

36. A system of auditing data of components of a self-monitoring framework, said system comprising:

means for providing an observable object for each component of a plurality of components of multiple components of said self-monitoring framework to be audited, each observable object including logic to be used for auditing data of its associated component; and

means for auditing data of said each component using the observable object corresponding to that component.

41. A system of auditing data of data entry forms, said system comprising:

an observable object provided for a field of a data entry form to be audited, said observable object including logic to be used for auditing data of the field; and

a computing unit to audit data of the field using the observable object.

42. A system of auditing data of a data entry form, said system comprising:

an observable object provided for a field of the data entry form to be audited;

auditing logic of the observable object to audit data of the field;

a modifier object built for the field, in response to the auditing logic determining that a change has occurred in the data;

a pool of one or more modifier objects to receive the modifier object; and

an observer informed that the modifier object has been added to the pool of one or more modifier objects, wherein the observer retrieves the modifier object from the pool, and runs a modify method of the modifier object to accommodate the change in the data.

43. A system of auditing data of components of a self-monitoring framework, said system comprising:

an observable object provided for each component of a plurality of components of multiple components of said self-monitoring framework to be audited, each observable object including logic to be used for auditing data of its associated component; and

a computing unit to audit data of said each component using the observable object corresponding to that component.

44. At least one program storage device readable by a machine, tangibly embodying at least one program of instructions executable by the machine to perform a method of auditing data of data entry forms, said method comprising:

providing an observable object for a field of a data entry form to be audited, said observable object including logic to be used for auditing data of the field; and

auditing data of the field using the observable object.

45. The at least one program storage device of claim 44, wherein the observable object provides a decentralized location for auditing the data of the field.

46. The at least one program storage device of claim 44, wherein said method further comprises building a modifier object for the field, in response to the auditing determining that a specified event has occurred.

47. The at least one program storage device of claim 46, wherein the specified event includes a change in the data of the field.

48. The at least one program storage device of claim 46, wherein said method further comprises forwarding the modifier object to a pool of one or more modifier objects.

49. The at least one program storage device of claim 48, wherein said method further comprises:

retrieving, by an observer, the modifier object from the pool; and

running a modifier method of said modifier object to accommodate the specified event.

50. The at least one program storage device of claim 49, wherein the modifier method comprises a modify method, and running the modify method causes changed data to be stored in a storage medium.

51. The at least one program storage device of claim 49, wherein said method further comprises informing the observer that the modifier object has been added to the pool of one or more modifier objects.

52. The at least one program storage device of claim 49, wherein the observer is a test observer used for debugging.

53. The at least one program storage device of claim 52, wherein the modifier method comprises a test method used for debugging.

54. The at least one program storage device of claim 44, wherein there are a plurality of fields to be audited, and wherein said providing comprises providing an observable object for each field of said plurality of fields to be audited.

55. The at least one program storage device of claim 54, wherein said method further comprises automatically building a modifier object for each field of said plurality of fields that includes changed data, as determined by the auditing.

57. The at least one program storage device of claim 56, wherein there are a plurality of fields to be audited, and wherein said providing comprises providing an observable object for each field of said plurality of fields to be audited.

58. The at least one program storage device of claim 57, wherein said building comprises automatically building a modifier object for each field of said plurality of fields that includes changed data.

60. The at least one program storage device of claim 59, wherein said method further comprises building a modifier object for each component of said plurality of components determined by the auditing to have had a specified event for that component occur.

61. The at least one program storage device of claim 60, wherein the specified event for a component is related to one or more operating conditions of the component.

62. The at least one program storage device of claim 60, wherein said method further comprises forwarding each modifier object to a pool of modifier objects.

63. The at least one program storage device of claim 62, wherein said method further comprises:

retrieving, by one or more observers, the one or more modifier objects of the pool; and

running, by the one or more observers, one or more modify methods of the one or more modifier objects retrieved from the pool to accommodate one or more specified events.

56. At least one program storage device readable by a machine, tangibly embodying at least one program of instructions executable by the machine to perform a method of auditing data of a data entry form, said method comprising:

providing an observable object for a field of the data entry form to be audited, said observable object including logic to be used for auditing data of the field;

auditing data of the field using the observable object;

building a modifier object for the field, in response to the auditing determining that a change has occurred in the data;

forwarding the modifier object to a pool of one or more modifier objects;

informing an observer that the modifier object has been added to the pool of one or more modifier objects;

retrieving, by the observer, the modifier object from the pool; and

running, by the observer, a modify method of the modifier object to accommodate the change in the data.

59. At least one program storage device readable by a machine, tangibly embodying at least one program of instructions executable by the machine to perform a method of auditing data of components of a self-monitoring framework, said method comprising:

providing an observable object for each component of a plurality of components of multiple components of said self-monitoring framework to be audited, each observable object including logic to be used for auditing data of its associated component; and

auditing data of said each component using the observable object corresponding to that component.