Object-based modeling using model objects exportable to external modeling tools

• US 8,930,487 B2
• Filed: 05/29/2009
• Issued: 01/06/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 05/29/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Red Hat, Inc. (International Business Machines Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Red Hat, Inc. (International Business Machines Corporation)
• Inventors: Williamson, Eric
• Primary Examiner(s): GREENE, JOSEPH L
• Application Number:
  US12/475,439
• Publication Number:
  US 20100306340A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,048 Days
• Field of Search: 709/217, 321/7
• US Class Current: 709/217
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/06 Resources, workflows, human or project management; Enterprise or organisation planning; Enterprise or organisation modelling

Abstract

Embodiments relate to systems and methods for object-based modeling using modeling objects exportable to external modeling tools. A modeling client can host modeling logic and an application programming interface (API) to create, access, manipulate, and import/export modeling objects used in modeling applications, such as engineering, medical, financial, and other modeling platforms. In aspects, the source data accepted into the modeling client can be consumer or business-level applications, whose cell, database, or other data content can be extracted and encapsulated in an object-oriented format, such as extensible markup language (XML) format. The modeling client can exchange one or more resulting modeling object directly with external platforms, such as mainframe platforms, middleware databases, and others, via the application programming interface (API) on a programmatic basis. Costs and maintenance savings over mainframe-based modeling tools can thereby be achieved, while providing greater power than consumer or business-level tools.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

executing an instance of a first application on a client machine, the instance of the first application comprising spreadsheet source data;

invoking a second application, wherein the second application selects a portion of the spreadsheet source data and extracts a set of data elements and a set of functional relationships describing computations between the set of data elements of the portion of spreadsheet source data;

generating, by the second application, a model object for a model by encapsulating the set of data elements and the set of functional relationships;

generating, by the second application via a processor, a modified model object for the model by performing a modeling operation on the model object, wherein the modified model object further encapsulates data elements and functional relationships resulting from the modeling operation, and wherein the modified model object is a functional object importable by an analytic module executing a set of mainframe modeling operations on a mainframe platform;

sending the modified model object for the model to the mainframe platform using a network;

receiving, using the network, an updated version of the modified model object from the mainframe platform, wherein the updated version of the modified model object comprises a changed set of data elements; and

converting, by the second application via the processor, the updated version of the modified model object to an input for the first application.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the spreadsheet source data further comprises database data, word processing data, or presentation data.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein sending the modified model object to the mainframe platform comprises:

accessing the modified model object via a modeling application programming interface (API).

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the model object is generated via a modeling module hosted in the client machine.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the spreadsheet source data is stored in local storage of the client machine or remote storage.

16. The method of claim 1, wherein the financial analysis operation is a Black-Scholes operation.

6. A client system, comprising:

an interface to access spreadsheet source data; and

a processor, to communicate with the spreadsheet source data via the interface, the processor to;

execute an instance of a first application on the client system, the instance of the first application comprising spreadsheet source data,

invoke a second application, wherein the second application selects a portion of the spreadsheet source data and extracts a set of data elements and a set of functional relationships describing computations between the set of data elements of the portion of spreadsheet source data,

generate, by the second application, a model object for a model by encapsulating the set of data elements and the set of functional relationships,

generate, by the second application, a modified model object for the model by performing a modeling operation on the model object, wherein the modified model object further encapsulates data elements and functional relationships resulting from the modeling operation, and wherein the modified model object is a functional object importable by an analytic module executing a set of mainframe modeling operations on a mainframe platform

send the modified model object for the model to the mainframe platform using a network,

receive, using the network, an updated version of the modified model object from the mainframe platform, wherein the updated version of the modified model object comprises a changed set of data elements, and

convert, by the second application, the updated version of the modified model object to an input for the first application.

7. The system of claim 6, wherein the spreadsheet source data further comprises database data, word processing data, or presentation data.

8. The system of claim 6, wherein sending the modified model object to the mainframe platform comprises:

accessing the modified model object via a modeling application programming interface (API).

9. The system of claim 6, wherein the model object is generated via a modeling module hosted in the client system.

10. The system of claim 6, wherein the spreadsheet source data is stored in local storage of the client system or remote storage.

17. The system of claim 6, wherein the financial analysis operation is a Black-Scholes operation.

11. A non-transitory computer system readable medium comprising instructions that, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to perform operations comprising:

executing an instance of a first application on a client machine, the instance of the first application comprising spreadsheet source data;

invoking a second application, wherein the second application selects a portion of the spreadsheet source data and extracts a set of data elements and a set of functional relationships describing computations between the set of data elements of the portion of spreadsheet source data;

generating, by the second application, a model object for a model by encapsulating the set of data elements and the set of functional relationships;

generating, by the second application via the processor, a modified model by performing a modeling operation on the model object, wherein the modified model object further encapsulates data elements and functional relationships resulting from the modeling operation, and wherein the modified model object is a functional object importable by an analytic module executing a set of mainframe modeling operations on a mainframe platform;

sending the modified model object for the model to the mainframe platform using a network;

receiving, using the network, an updated version of the modified model object from the mainframe platform, wherein the updated version of the modified model object comprises a changed set of data elements; and

converting, by the second application via the processor, the updated version of the modified model object to an input for the first application.

12. The non-transitory computer system readable medium of claim 11, wherein the spreadsheet source data further comprises database data, word processing data, or presentation data.

13. The non-transitory computer system readable medium of claim 11, wherein sending the modified model object to the mainframe platform comprises:

accessing the modified model object via a modeling application programming interface (API).

14. The non-transitory computer system readable medium of claim 11, wherein the model object is generated via a modeling module hosted in the client machine.

15. The non-transitory computer system readable medium of claim 11, wherein the spreadsheet source data is stored in local storage of the client machine or remote storage.

18. The non-transitory computer system readable medium of claim 11, wherein the financial analysis operation is a Black-Scholes operation.