NUMERICAL GRAPHICAL FLOW DIAGRAM CONVERSION AND COMPARISON

• US 20120110487A1
• Filed: 10/29/2010
• Published: 05/03/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 10/29/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Kudikala, Shravan K., Shah, Amar A., Sugandhi, Swikar K.
• Granted Patent: US 9,134,960 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 715/771
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 30/00 Computer-aided design [CAD]
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 40/143 Markup, e.g. Standard Generalized Markup Language [SGML] or Document Type Definition [DTD]
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 8/10 Requirements analysis; Specification techniques
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/451 Execution arrangements for user interfaces
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/067 Enterprise or organisation modelling
• CPC Class Codes: Y04S 10/50 Systems or methods supporting the power network operation or management, involving a certain degree of interaction with the load-side end user applications

Abstract

Each of a group of user interface element representations that each represents one node of a captured graphical logic flow is translated, by a computing device, into one of a group of numerical strings that represents the respective node and connections to and from the respective node. The group of numerical strings is sequenced based upon the connections to and from each represented node.

Claims

1. A method, comprising:

translating, via a computing device, each of a plurality of user interface element representations that each represents one node of a captured graphical logic flow into one of a plurality of numerical strings that represents the respective node and connections to and from the respective node; and

sequencing the plurality of numerical strings based upon the connections to and from each represented node.

2. The method of claim 1, where translating, via a computing device, each of a plurality of user interface element representations that each represents one node of a captured graphical logic flow into one of a plurality of numerical strings that represents the respective node and connections to and from the respective node comprises:

traversing the plurality of user interface element representations; and

enumerating each represented node as one of the plurality of numerical strings based upon a node type of each represented node and a terminal type of each input and output terminal associated with each connection to and from each represented node.

3. The method of claim 2, where enumerating each represented node as one of the plurality of numerical strings based upon a node type of each represented node and a terminal type of each input and output terminal associated with each connection to and from each represented node comprises:

creating, for each represented node, an element information structure (EIS) within a memory using at least one enumeration table that comprises at least one numerical representation that defines at least one of the node type and the terminal type of each input and output terminal associated with each connection to and from each represented node.

4. The method of claim 3, where sequencing the plurality of numerical strings based upon the connections to and from each represented node comprises:

forming an array of the element information structures created for each represented node within the memory, where each element information structure comprises information associated with the respective represented node and connection information for each other node to which the respective represented node is connected;

sorting the array of the element information structures based upon each connection to and from each represented node using the connection information for each other node to which each respective node is connected;

re-ordering the array of the element information structures in response to sorting the array of the element information structures;

assigning sequence numbers to each element information structure of the array of the element information structures based upon a position of each element information structure within the re-ordered array of the element information structures;

populating sequence numbers within the connection information within each element information structure for each node to which each respective represented node is connected based upon the assigned sequence numbers of each element information structure; and

sorting the array of the element information structures using the populated sequence numbers.

5. The method of claim 1, where sequencing the plurality of numerical strings based upon the connections to and from each represented node comprises sorting the plurality of numerical strings into a numerically increasing sequence.

6. The method of claim 1, where sequencing the plurality of numerical strings based upon the connections to and from each represented node comprises logically grouping the plurality of user interface element representations based upon at least one characteristic of each represented node selected from a group consisting of a node type, input connections to the represented node, and output connections to the represented node.

7. The method of claim 1, where the plurality of user interface element representations comprises a plurality of user interface element representations captured in a structured language comprising extensible markup language (XML).

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

comparing the sequenced plurality of numerical strings with a second sequenced plurality of numerical strings that represent a second plurality of user interface element representations; and

determining whether the plurality of user interface element representations and the second plurality of user interface element representations are logically equivalent based upon the comparison of the sequenced plurality of numerical strings to the second sequenced plurality of numerical strings.

9. The method of claim 8, further comprising outputting to a display device an indication of whether the plurality of user interface element representations and the second plurality of user interface element representations are logically equivalent.

10. A system, comprising:

a memory; and

a processor programmed to;

translate each of a plurality of user interface element representations that each represents one node of a captured graphical logic flow into one of a plurality of numerical strings that represents the respective node and connections to and from the respective node; and

sequence the plurality of numerical strings based upon the connections to and from each represented node.

11. The system of claim 10, where, in being programmed to translate each of a plurality of user interface element representations that each represents one node of a captured graphical logic flow into one of a plurality of numerical strings that represents the respective node and connections to and from the respective node, the processor is programmed to:

traverse the plurality of user interface element representations; and

enumerate each represented node as one of the plurality of numerical strings based upon a node type of each represented node and a terminal type of each input and output terminal associated with each connection to and from each represented node.

12. The system of claim 11, where, in being programmed to enumerate each represented node as one of the plurality of numerical strings based upon a node type of each represented node and a terminal type of each input and output terminal associated with each connection to and from each represented node, the processor is programmed to:

create, for each represented node, an element information structure (EIS) within the memory using at least one enumeration table that comprises at least one numerical representation that defines at least one of the node type and the terminal type of each input and output terminal associated with each connection to and from each represented node.

13. The system of claim 12, where, in being programmed to sequence the plurality of numerical strings based upon the connections to and from each represented node, the processor is programmed to:

form an array of the element information structures created for each represented node within the memory, where each element information structure comprises information associated with the respective represented node and connection information for each other node to which the respective represented node is connected;

sort the array of the element information structures based upon each connection to and from each represented node using the connection information for each other node to which each respective node is connected;

re-order the array of the element information structures in response to sorting the array of the element information structures;

assign sequence numbers to each element information structure of the array of the element information structures based upon a position of each element information structure within the re-ordered array of the element information structures;

populate sequence numbers within the connection information within each element information structure for each node to which each respective represented node is connected based upon the assigned sequence numbers of each element information structure; and

sort the array of the element information structures using the populated sequence numbers.

14. The system of claim 10, where, in being programmed to sequence the plurality of numerical strings based upon the connections to and from each represented node, the processor is programmed to sort the plurality of numerical strings into a numerically increasing sequence.

15. The system of claim 10, where, in being programmed to sequence the plurality of numerical strings based upon the connections to and from each represented node, the processor is programmed to logically group the plurality of user interface element representations based upon at least one characteristic of each represented node selected from a group consisting of a node type, input connections to the represented node, and output connections to the represented node.

16. The system of claim 10, where the plurality of user interface element representations comprises a plurality of user interface element representations captured in a structured language comprising extensible markup language (XML).

17. The system of claim 10, where the processor is further programmed to:

compare the sequenced plurality of numerical strings with a second sequenced plurality of numerical strings that represent a second plurality of user interface element representations; and

determine whether the plurality of user interface element representations and the second plurality of user interface element representations are logically equivalent based upon the comparison of the sequenced plurality of numerical strings to the second sequenced plurality of numerical strings.

18. A computer program product comprising a computer readable storage medium including computer readable program code, where the computer readable program code when executed on a computer causes the computer to:

translate each of a plurality of user interface element representations that each represents one node of a captured graphical logic flow into one of a plurality of numerical strings that represents the respective node and connections to and from the respective node; and

sequence the plurality of numerical strings based upon the connections to and from each represented node.

19. The computer program product of claim 18, where, in causing the computer to translate each of a plurality of user interface element representations that each represents one node of a captured graphical logic flow into one of a plurality of numerical strings that represents the respective node and connections to and from the respective node, the computer readable program code when executed on the computer causes the computer to:

traverse the plurality of user interface element representations; and

enumerate each represented node as one of the plurality of numerical strings based upon a node type of each represented node and a terminal type of each input and output terminal associated with each connection to and from each represented node.

20. The computer program product of claim 19, where, in causing the computer to enumerate each represented node as one of the plurality of numerical strings based upon a node type of each represented node and a terminal type of each input and output terminal associated with each connection to and from each represented node, the computer readable program code when executed on the computer causes the computer to:

create, for each represented node, an element information structure (EIS) using at least one enumeration table that comprises at least one numerical representation that defines at least one of the node type and the terminal type of each input and output terminal associated with each connection to and from each represented node.

21. The computer program product of claim 20, where, in causing the computer to sequence the plurality of numerical strings based upon the connections to and from each represented node, the computer readable program code when executed on the computer causes the computer to:

form an array of the element information structures created for each represented node, where each element information structure comprises information associated with the respective represented node and connection information for each other node to which the respective represented node is connected;

sort the array of the element information structures based upon each connection to and from each represented node using the connection information for each other node to which each respective node is connected;

re-order the array of the element information structures in response to sorting the array of the element information structures;

assign sequence numbers to each element information structure of the array of the element information structures based upon a position of each element information structure within the re-ordered array of the element information structures;

populate sequence numbers within the connection information within each element information structure for each node to which each respective represented node is connected based upon the assigned sequence numbers of each element information structure; and

sort the array of the element information structures using the populated sequence numbers.

22. The computer program product of claim 18, where, in causing the computer to sequence the plurality of numerical strings based upon the connections to and from each represented node, the computer readable program code when executed on the computer causes the computer to sort the plurality of numerical strings into a numerically increasing sequence.

23. The computer program product of claim 18, where, in causing the computer to sequence the plurality of numerical strings based upon the connections to and from each represented node, the computer readable program code when executed on the computer causes the computer to logically group the plurality of user interface element representations based upon at least one characteristic of each represented node selected from a group consisting of a node type, input connections to the represented node, and output connections to the represented node.

24. The computer program product of claim 18, where the plurality of user interface element representations comprises a plurality of user interface element representations captured in a structured language comprising extensible markup language (XML).

25. The computer program product of claim 18, where the computer readable program code when executed on the computer further causes the computer to:

compare the sequenced plurality of numerical strings with a second sequenced plurality of numerical strings that represent a second plurality of user interface element representations; and

determine whether the plurality of user interface element representations and the second plurality of user interface element representations are logically equivalent based upon the comparison of the sequenced plurality of numerical strings to the second sequenced plurality of numerical strings.