Model-based propagation of attributes

• US 20070016393A1
• Filed: 06/29/2005
• Published: 01/18/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 06/29/2005
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
• Inventors: Tabbara, Bassam, Voloshin, Vitaly, Rajarajan, Vij, Mensching, Rob, Outhred, Geoffrey, Lakshminarayanan, Anand, Grealish, Kevin, Hydrie, Aamer, Welland, Robert, Vinberg, Anders, Hunt, Galen, Sanghvi, Ashvinkumar
• Application Number:
  US11/170,715
• Publication Number:
  US 20070016393A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 703/13
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2111/04 Constraint-based CAD
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 30/00 Computer-aided design [CAD]

Abstract

Model-based propagation of attributes allows a user to define one or more attributes, policies associated with the system and particular components, constraints associated with various components, and dependencies between components of the system. The user also defines the manner in which the attributes are to be propagated throughout a model of the system. The attributes are then propagated to the appropriate components in the model using information associated with the model of the system.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

identifying a model of a system that includes a plurality of components, wherein the model is a system definition model that describes the system;

identifying a plurality of attributes associated with the system;

determining a manner in which the plurality of attributes are to be propagated throughout the model; and

propagating the plurality of attributes throughout the model based on information associated with the model.

2. A method as recited in claim 1, further comprising identifying a business policy associated with the system.

3. A method as recited in claim 1, further comprising identifying a constraint associated with a particular component of the system.

4. A method as recited in claim 1, further comprising identifying a dependency between at least two components of the system.

5. A method as recited in claim 1, wherein the plurality of attributes are defined during development of the model of the system.

6. A method as recited in claim 1, wherein identifying a plurality of attributes associated with the system includes:

accessing a constraint information page in the model of the system; and

accessing a description page in the model of the system, wherein the description page is associated with at least one component of the system.

7. A method as recited in claim 1, wherein each of the plurality of components in the system has an associated page of data that defines an operation of the component.

8. A method as recited in claim 1, wherein each of the plurality of components in the system has an associated page of data that identifies relationships with other components in the system.

9. A method as recited in claim 1, further comprising interpreting policies and generating a message in response to a violated policy.

10. A method comprising:

identifying a model of a system that includes a plurality of components, wherein the model is a system definition model that describes the system;

identifying a plurality of attributes associated with the system;

identifying relationships between components of the system; and

propagating the plurality of attributes throughout the model based on information contained in the model of the system and the identified relationships between components in the system.

11. A method as recited in claim 10, wherein at least one of the plurality of attributes is a business-importance rating.

12. A method as recited in claim 10, further comprising interpreting a plurality of policies associated with the system.

13. A method as recited in claim 12, further comprising generating an alert upon detecting a violation of at least one of the plurality of policies associated with the system.

14. A method as recited in claim 10, wherein propagating the plurality of attributes throughout the model includes retrieving information pages associated with a plurality of components in the system.

15. A method as recited in claim 10, wherein each of the plurality of components in the system has a first associated page of data that defines an operation of the component and a second associated page of data that identifies relationships with other components in the system.

16. One or more computer readable media having stored thereon a plurality of instructions that, when executed by one or more processors, causes the one or more processors to:

retrieve a model of a system, wherein the model includes definitions of a plurality of components contained in the system;

identify a plurality of policies associated with the system;

identify a plurality of attributes associated with the system;

identify a plurality of relationships between components of the system; and

propagate the attributes throughout the model based on information associated with the model of the system.

17. One or more computer readable media as recited in claim 16, wherein the model of the system includes an information page associated with each component in the system, and wherein each information page defines an operation of the associated component.

18. One or more computer readable media as recited in claim 16, wherein the plurality of policies include business policies that restrict the operation of the system.

19. One or more computer readable media as recited in claim 16, wherein the one or more processors further propagate the attributes throughout the model based on relationships between components of the system.

20. One or more computer readable media as recited in claim 16, wherein the one or more processors further interpret the plurality of policies and check for compliance with the plurality of policies.