Method and apparatus to support mass changes to business objects in an integrated computer system

• US 7,860,841 B2
• Filed: 09/09/2005
• Issued: 12/28/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 09/09/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: SAP SE
• Original Assignee: SAP AG (SAP SE)
• Inventors: Kohlmaier, Klaus, Finke, Sabine
• Primary Examiner(s): Wassum; Luke S.
• Assistant Examiner(s): Bromell; Alexandria Y
• Application Number:
  US11/221,712
• Publication Number:
  US 20070061293A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,936 Days
• Field of Search: 707/687, 707/674
• US Class Current: 707/674
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/252 between a Database Management System and a front-end application

Abstract

A tool for use in a computer system revises a large set of transaction records, for example hundreds or thousands of records, with a convenient user interface. An operator builds a query for a database to retrieve transaction records. The tool generates temporary copies of the transaction records that are responsive to the query and applies a specified data revision operation to each of the temporary copies. The operator may review and approve the data revision before it is committed to the database system. After receiving approval from an operator, the computer system substitutes the revised temporary copies for the transaction records in the database.

Claims

1. An entity relationship management data correction tool for revising and replacing data records of a data set accessible by different computer applications, comprising:

a processor;

a display device for presenting a graphical user interface;

a storage device connected to a processor for storing in a relationship database data replaced with a replacement metric, the relationship database storing data records related to an entity'"'"'s relationships; and

a processor executing instructions according to a relationship management application, the instructions causing the processor to correct data transaction records managed by the relationship management application comprising;

applying a data correction rule to data records in the relationship database, the data correction rule defining a search criterion and a replacement metric, the replacement metric being data to replace data stored in the relationship database;

in response to the application of the data correction rule, searching the relationship database using the search criterion from the data correction rule for data records that contain data that matches the search criterion;

upon identifying data matching the search criterion in the data correction rule, generating temporary copies of the data records with matching data;

presenting in the graphical user interface the temporary copies in a search results panel of the graphical user interface and, in a revised records panel of the graphical user interface, presenting data records incorporating the replacement metric included in the data correction rule to form replacement data that will replace the matching data in the data records; and

in response to an approval input to the graphical user interface, committing the data records incorporating the replacement metric presented in the revised records panel of the graphical user interface to the data record stored in the relationship database that had the matching data,

wherein the graphical user interface comprises a revised records panel for display of revised data records to be obtained by global application of the replacement metric upon the data records presented in a search results panel during execution of a data revision operation, wherein the revised records panel includes a user control to select and remove data records from the data replacement operation and a user control to commit revised data records containing the replacement metric to the data records.