Process automation system and method employing multi-stage report generation
First Claim
1. A system for generating reports within a process automation system comprising:
- a post processor module to scan through a log file and responsively generate a set of properties and specified diagnostics information from the log file; and
a report generator to generate one or more reports using both the set of properties and the specified diagnostics information.
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Accused Products
Abstract
The embodiments of the invention described herein employ sophisticated techniques for managing distributed processes in a process automation system. Specifically, one embodiment of the invention implements a general purpose property mechanism in which arbitrary data is attached to any object in the system (e.g., projects, procedures, jobs, job steps, resources, etc), thereby providing a convenient way to configure the system without modifying the underlying program code. In addition, in one embodiment, a three-tier hierarchy of data object is employed: “projects,” “procedures,” and “steps” (or “projects,” “jobs” and “job steps” during runtime). A property may be attached to any object on any tier of the hierarchy to configure that object and (potentially) all of the objects which reference the property. The properties and property sheets may be attached both statically (before runtime) and dynamically (during runtime). Moreover, one embodiment of the invention employs a unique property substitution syntax to allow the value for a particular property to be located and substituted dynamically at runtime.
In addition, advanced report generation techniques are described below in which the report generation process is logically separated into a data gathering stage and a report generation stage. The data gathering stage extracts certain specified properties and diagnostic information from each job step. The extracted information is then stored in a highly flexible, reusable data format which is used to create different types of user-configurable reports.
52 Citations
21 Claims
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1. A system for generating reports within a process automation system comprising:
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a post processor module to scan through a log file and responsively generate a set of properties and specified diagnostics information from the log file; and a report generator to generate one or more reports using both the set of properties and the specified diagnostics information. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)
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8. A method for generating reports within a process automation system comprising:
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scanning through a log file and responsively generating a set of properties and specified diagnostics information from the log file; and generating one or more reports using both the set of properties and the specified diagnostics information. - View Dependent Claims (9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14)
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15. A machine-readable medium having program code stored thereon which, when executed by a machine, causes the machine to perform the operations of:
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scanning through a log file and responsively generating a set of properties and specified diagnostics information from the log file; and generating one or more reports using both the set of properties and the specified diagnostics information. - View Dependent Claims (16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21)
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Specification