Tracking usage of data elements in electronic business communications

• US 20060106755A1
• Filed: 11/21/2005
• Published: 05/18/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 11/12/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: SAP SE
• Original Assignee: SAP AG (SAP SE)
• Inventors: Stuhec, Gunther
• Granted Patent: US 7,818,342 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/258 Data format conversion from or to a database
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/84 Mapping; Conversion
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/10 Office automation; Time management

Abstract

A computer program product that is tangibly embodied in an information carrier is described. The computer program product includes instructions that, when executed, perform operations for tracking data elements that are used in electronic documents. The method includes identifying an instance of a data element in a first electronic document comprising one or more data elements, modifying stored information based on the identification of the data element, periodically retrieving the stored information specifying a number of times a data element is used during a time interval, applying a calculation process to the information to determine a usage trend for the data element, and providing a visual display on a display device that shows an identifier for the data element and the usage trend.

Claims

1. A computer program product tangibly embodied in an information carrier, the computer program product including instructions that, when executed, perform operations for tracking data elements that are used in electronic documents, the method comprising:

identifying an instance of a data element in a first electronic document comprising one or more data elements;

modifying stored information based on the identification of the data element;

periodically retrieving the stored information specifying a number of times a data element is used during a time interval;

applying a calculation process to the information to determine a usage trend for the data element; and

providing a visual display on a display device that shows an identifier for the data element and the usage trend.

2. The computer program product of claim 1, wherein the operations further comprise using the usage trend to map the data element in the first electronic document to a data element in an intermediate document.

3. The computer program product of claim 2, wherein the operations further comprise mapping the data element in the intermediate document to a data element in a second electronic document.

4. The computer program product of claim 1, wherein the stored information is stored in a schema comprising a definition associated with the data element.

5. The computer program product of claim 4, wherein the operations further comprise deleting or modifying the definition based the usage trend for the data element.

6. The computer program product of claim 4, wherein the operations further comprise generating a recommendation to delete or modify the definition based on the usage trend for the data element.

7. The computer program product of claim 4, wherein the operations further comprise receiving a revised definition for the schema.

8. The computer program product of claim 4, wherein the periodic retrieval comprises aggregating the retrieved stored information with previously retrieved stored information specifying a number of times the data element was used during a previous time interval.

9. The computer program product of claim 8, wherein the periodic retrieval further comprises resetting the stored information.

10. The computer program product of claim 1, wherein the calculation process comprises ordering the information according to a time series model.

11. The computer program product of claim 10, wherein the time series model comprises a component selected from a group consisting of a smooth trend component, a cyclic trend component, a seasonal trend component, and an irregular trend component.

12. The computer program product of claim 11, wherein the displayed usage trend comprises one component.

13. The computer program product of claim 10, wherein the calculation process further comprises applying a statistical smoothing procedure to the time series model.

14. The computer program product of claim 13, wherein the smoothing procedure comprises a linear regression calculation, an exponential smoothing calculation, or both.

15. The computer program product of claim 13, wherein the statistical smoothing procedure generates an estimate for a future trend usage.

16. The computer program product of claim 1, wherein the usage trend for the data element is displayed as a single symbol.

17. The computer program product of claim 16, wherein the usage trend varies graphically based on a value of the usage trend.

18. The computer program product of claim 16, wherein a selection of the symbol displays a usage trend graph.

19. The computer program product of claim 1, wherein the usage trend indicates that the data element may be deleted because the element has not been used for a determined amount of time.

20. A computer program product tangibly embodied in an information carrier, the computer program product including instructions that, when executed, perform a method for tracking usage data for a data element, the method comprising:

creating a schema having definitions associated with data elements;

periodically retrieving stored information specifying a number of times each data element is used during a time interval;

applying a calculation process to the information to determine a usage trend for each data element;

providing a visual display on a display device that shows an identifier for a data element and a usage trend associated with the data element; and

receiving a revised schema definition.

21. A computer program product, tangibly embodied in an information carrier, the computer program product being operable to cause data processing apparatus to:

receive an electronic document comprising instances of business data elements, the electronic document having a format corresponding to a business communication schema, wherein the business communication schema includes a set of predefined business data elements for use in transacting electronic business;

identify an instance of a particular business data element in the electronic document; and

increment a counter associated with the particular business data element in response to identifying an instance of the particular business data element.