Integrating a Construction Jobsite System With External Tools

• US 20160379146A1
• Filed: 06/29/2015
• Published: 12/29/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 06/29/2015
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Evolve MEP LLC
• Original Assignee: Applied Software Technology, Inc.
• Inventors: Faulkner, Jason
• Granted Patent: US 10,147,061 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/06311 Scheduling, planning or task assignment for a person or group
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 50/08 Construction
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/02 based on web technology, e.g. hypertext transfer protocol [HTTP]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/34 involving the movement of software or configuration parameters network booting or remote initial program loading [RIPL] G06F9/4416

Abstract

Systems and methods presented herein can allow a user to integrate an existing construction jobsite system with external tools, such as spreadsheet software or a database. An integration platform can allow a user to create, select, and configure plugins that interface with a wrapper on the construction jobsite system to translate procedure calls, files, and data between the construction jobsite system and the external tools. The integration platform may generate execution commands based on the plug in configurations, and the user may cause the execution command to be executed or scheduled for execution. The execution command can facilitate data synchronization between the external tools (e.g., endpoints) and the construction jobsite system, solving a major problem with construction jobsite systems.

Claims

1. A system for integrating a construction jobsite system with a plurality of endpoints, the system comprising:

a non-transitory computer-readable medium containing instructions;

a communication interface that receives user inputs;

a processor in communication with the interface and the computer-readable medium, the processor instantiating a wrapper that extends application program interface for the construction jobsite system;

a plurality of plugins stored on the non-transitory computer-readable medium, wherein each of the plurality of plugins extends an abstract interface to the wrapper and includes connection information to the endpoint; and

an integration platform executed by the processor, the integration platform performing stages including;

providing an extension interface that receives user inputs including;

a first input defining connection information for the construction jobsite system from the endpoint; and

a second input selecting a first plugin from the plurality of plugins;

creating a configuration file for the first plugin using the connection information; and

creating an execution command based on the configuration file;

wherein the execution command causes the processor to perform further stages including;

retrieving configuration information from the configuration file, the configuration information including the connection information;

initializing the first plugin using the configuration information, wherein initializing the plugin includes sending the instance of the wrapper to the plugin;

converting, via the plugin, a first procedure compatible with the endpoint to a second procedure compatible with the wrapper;

converting, via the wrapper, the second procedure to a third procedure compatible with the construction jobsite system; and

translating, via the instance of the wrapper, data between the construction jobsite system and the endpoint.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the stages performed by the processor further include calling functions at the wrapper based on instructions in the first plugin based on the configuration information.

3. The system of claim 2, wherein the stages performed by the processor further include creating the first plugin, wherein the first plugin references the integrator platform, the wrapper, a logger class, and a configuration file library.

4. The system of claim 1, wherein the processor executes the execution command as part of a scheduled task.

5. The system of claim 1, wherein translating the command includes sending a command from the endpoint to the instance of the wrapper, wherein the instance of the wrapper converts the command to an HTTP uniform resource locator call and utilizes the configuration information.

6. The system of claim 1, wherein executing the first plugin includes executing an initialization method that is passed to the instance of the wrapper, an instance of a logger, and the configuration information.

7. The system of claim 1, wherein the first plugin includes code defining a task to be done between the endpoint and the construction jobsite system, wherein performance of the task is impacted by configuration, and wherein the code is executed based on the execution command.

8. The system of claim 7, wherein the first plugin performs file synchronization, and wherein the configuration information includes field mapping.

9. The system of claim 8, wherein the synchronization includes, for a first file, calculating a hash value and checking the calculated hash value against a hash value of an alternate data stream of the first file.

10. The system of claim 8, wherein the synchronization includes editing metadata of a first file associated with a location of the first file without altering binary information of the first file.

11. The system of claim 8, wherein the synchronization includes comparing a last synchronization date to a modified date of an alternate data stream of a first file, and determining whether to delete the first file based on the comparison.

12. A non-transitory computer-readable medium containing instructions that are executed by a processor, causing the processor to perform stages including:

receiving user selection of a plugin and a configuration file for interfacing an endpoint with a wrapper of a construction jobsite software;

generating a command for execution based on the selected plugin and configuration file; and

at the start time, executing the command, wherein executing the command includes;

retrieving configuration information from the configuration file;

instantiating an instance of the wrapper using the configuration information, wherein the wrapper extends an abstract class based on an application program interface for the construction jobsite system;

initializing the selected plugin based on the configuration information, wherein initializing the plugin also includes sending the instance of the wrapper to the selected plugin;

converting, via the instance, a first procedure compatible with the endpoint to a second procedure compatible with the construction jobsite system; and

translating, via the instance, data between the construction jobsite system and the endpoint.

13. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 12, wherein the configuration file contains mapping information for translating the first procedure to the second procedure.

14. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 12, wherein the selected plugin includes database replication instructions.

15. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 12, wherein the selected plugin performs file synchronization, and wherein the configuration information includes field mapping.

16. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 15, wherein the synchronization includes, for a first file, calculating a hash value and checking the calculated hash value against a hash value of an alternate data stream of the first file.

17. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 15, wherein the synchronization includes editing metadata of a first file associated with a location of the first file without altering binary information of the first file.

18. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 15, wherein the synchronization includes comparing a last synchronization date to a modified date of an alternate data stream of a first file, and determining whether to delete the first file based on the comparison.

19. A system for integrating a construction jobsite system with a plurality of endpoints, the system comprising:

an interface that receives connection information, a first selection of a plugin, and a second selection of configuration information, wherein the interface generates an execution command;

a processor that executes the execution command to perform stages including;

reading the configuration information to initialize a plugin, wherein the plugin connects to an endpoint;

sending an instance of a construction jobsite wrapper to the plugin, wherein the wrapper connects to the construction jobsite system;

mapping a first file at the endpoint to a second file at the construction jobsite system; and

modifying the first file based on the second file.

20. The system of claim 19, wherein the stages further comprise:

calculating a hash value for the first file and comparing the calculated hash value against a hash value of an alternate data stream of the first file;

editing location metadata of the first file without altering binary information of the first file; and

comparing a last synchronization date to a modification date of an alternate data stream of a first file, and determining whether to delete the first file based on the comparison.