Configuration description language system

• US 6,219,659 B1
• Filed: 07/08/1998
• Issued: 04/17/2001
• Est. Priority Date: 07/08/1998
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Electronics For Imaging Incorporated
• Original Assignee: Electronics For Imaging Incorporated
• Inventors: Kliorin, Victor
• Primary Examiner(s): Powell, Mark
• Assistant Examiner(s): Khatri, Anil
• Application Number:
  US09/112,072
• Time in Patent Office: 1,014 Days
• Field of Search: 706/59-61, 706/45, 706/47, 707/100, 707/102, 707/200, 707/1, 707/104
• US Class Current: 706/47
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 30/00 Computer-aided design [CAD]

Abstract

A configuration description language system in a computer environment provides a mechanism to develop sets of rules intended to govern computing systems. A custom language is provided that the system designer uses to describe constraints and rules of target systems where a rule describes how a certain set of parameters of a computing system are determined based on an input set of desired characteristics. The desired characteristics pertain to certain tasks that the user wants to apply to such a system. The parameters (or constraints) are based upon system limitations such as memory configuration, processor speed and model number. The system designer creates rule sets using the custom language and compiler. The compiler ensures that the sets are complete and unambiguous and converts the custom language into a binary format that is compact, portable, and suitable for efficient searches, thereby minimizing execution times. A report tool is provided for the designer to verify the system'"'"'s parameters and traverses all of the rule sets and creates a table of all possible combinations of options or characteristics of the target system. The resulting rule database is then read using a database manager which applies the set of rules in the rule database to input jobs or choices that the user makes. Any desired characteristics that are not available or feasible in the target system are replaced with characteristics that do make sense with respect to the target system. The output from the database manager is a corrected or constrained set of choices. This allows the rule database and the database manager to be installed in a product internally or used as a front-end to a target system, thereby providing corrected input to the target system.

Claims

1. A configuration-management system, comprising:

a configuration-description language comprising base parameters which are user-configurable and derived parameters which depend from said base parameters;

a target system having a limited set of selectable functions and that constrains relationships between said base and derived parameters;

a compiler for generating a plurality of rule sets using said configuration-description language by verifying input-definition validity, wherein system definitions are converted into a portable, compact binary format;

a rule database for storing said plurality of rule sets in binary format and including a predetermined table of all possible characteristics combinations for the target system;

a database manager for providing a constrained set of choices to the target system after first applying said plurality of rule sets to an input job, and further providing for a replacement selection of functions in the target system when said input job includes otherwise infeasible choices; and

a report tool for verifying a system constraint parameter to a user, and providing for a traversal of any rules sets and for creating a table of all possible combinations of options or characteristics of the target system;

wherein, release-engineering maintainability is improved by an accurate reproduction of any prior configuration releases of the target system.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein:

the database manager and rule database are configured as a front-end filter for the target system, and the database manager receives any input jobs and user choices.

3. The system of claim 1, wherein:

the configuration-description language can be described in pseudo-Backus-Naur-Form (BNF), as follows;

4. The system of claim 1, wherein:

the compiler receives said plurality of rule sets created by said system designer from target system definitions, and validates any said base and derived parameters for completeness, and if any inconsistencies or errors exist, the compiler provides for a notification of said system designer with an error message, otherwise the compiler creates a binary form of the rule set in the rule database.

5. The system of claim 1, wherein:

the report tool provides for system designer verification of said parameters, and traverses all rule sets in the rule database, and it further provides for a table of all possible combinations of options or characteristics of the target system to be created.

6. The system of claim 1, wherein:

the compiler and report tool provide for said system designer to verify a design, including starting with any system requirements of the target system to recursively (a) define a rule set, (b) compile said rule set, and (c) correct said rule set.

7. The system of claim 1, wherein:

the report tool provides for the generating of a table of all possible combinations of base options and corresponding selections of derived ones, and said table is formatted by the report tool to include hypertext markup language (HTML) tags that allow said user to print it with an Internet browser.

8. The system of claim 1, wherein:

the compiler accepts rules sets, compiles the rule sets and creates a rule database;

the report tool reads the rule database and outputs a table containing all possible characteristic combinations according to the rule sets; and

the database manager accepts desired sets of characteristics 807 and applies the rule sets in the rule database to output a set of corrected characteristics.

9. A printing system method for processing input-print jobs, comprising:

inputting an input-print job to a printing system;

accessing a database through a database manager that correlates any base parameters with a preferred characteristic from said input-print job;

determining values of any derived parameters by using a set of rules defined for a printing system and a set of desired characteristics from said input-print job;

correcting all said desired characteristics in said input-print job; and

outputting a configuration file including any corrected characteristics from said printing system for further processing by a printer;

wherein, said input-print job is printed rather than being rejected for any invalid characteristics that may have been selected by a user.