Sparta Systems, Inc.

Ran J Flam

Steven R Cagle

Daniel Kogan

Alexander Koganov

A process control system that automatically monitors processes and performs activities based on conditions detected during monitoring. The information needed to do the monitoring and perform activities is contained in tables in a database system. The process control system may be configured by configuring entries in the tables. A parallel state machine permits activities to be performed for the process in parallel. The parallel state machine employs a task that is represented in the database tables. The task defines a set of activities that must all be performed in order for a state transition to occur and the parallel state machine causes a process's state to change only when the activities defined in the task have all been performed. In addition, a graphical user interface is disclosed for defining tasks.

Process control system utilizing a database system to monitor a project's progress and enforce a workflow of activities within the project

A highly-configurable process control system that uses process records in a database system to track a process. The database system relates process records, users, and projects. User permissions to view the process records include permissions for all process records related to a project to which the user is related, all such records that the user has created, all such records that a group the user belongs to have created, all such records that have been assigned to the user, and all such records that belong to an entity to which the user is related. The process records further include user-configurable fields. User permissions for the fields are provided according to group types which are related to groups to which the users belong. Included are permissions for inserting and deleting values in the user-configurable fields which are separate from the permission to edit the values.

Defining user access in highly-configurable systems

A process control system that automatically monitors processes and performs activities based on conditions detected during monitoring. The information needed to do the monitoring and perform activities is contained in tables in a database system. The process control system may be configured by configuring entries in the tables. An administrative query table has records that define administrative queries. Each administrative query has associated with it a query to be executed on a table of process records that indicate statuses of the processes being monitored, a scope that defines a subset of the process records upon which the query is to be executed, a schedule from which a time of next execution of the administrative query can be computed, and an activity. The activity is a set of one or more actions. When an administrative query is executed and the query associated with the administrative query is run on the table of process records and the result set is not empty, the activity is performed with regard to the process records of the result set. A plurality of activities may be associated with the administrative query, with the activity to be performed being selected on the basis of a state of a given process record with regard to the query.

System and method for automated process control

A process control system implemented in a database system that automatically monitors processes represented by process records in the database system. The monitoring is done by querying the process records. An administrative query table has records that define administrative queries which are repeatedly executed on the process records. Each administrative query has associated with it a query to be executed on the process records and an activity that is a set of one or more administrative actions. When an administrative query is executed, the activity is performed with regard to each of the process records of the result set. Among the administrative actions are administrative triggers. An administrative trigger specifies another administrative activity that is performed when the administrative activity to which the administrative trigger belongs is performed. The other administrative activity may perform a dynamic query.

Administrative triggers

Techniques used in configurable systems for providing audit trails for configuration changes. In the techniques, configuration tables in a database system are used to store configuration information. Code is associated with each of the configuration tables that causes changes in the configuration information to be recorded in configuration change tables and the audits are made by querying the configuration change tables. Audit area definition tables define two levels of subsets of the configuration tables and an audit may be limited to one of the defined subsets. An audit may also be limited to changes made by a particular person or changes made over a particular period of time. A simple GUI is used to indicate how the audit is to be limited. The preferred embodiment is implemented in a process control system.

Techniques for providing audit trails of configuration changes

A process control system that automatically monitors processes and performs activities based on conditions detected during monitoring. The information needed to do the monitoring and perform activities is contained in tables in a database system. The process control system may be configured by configuring entries in the tables. An administrative query table has records that define administrative queries. Each administrative query has associated with it a query to be executed on a table of process records that indicate statuses of the processes being monitored, a scope that defines a subset of the process records upon which the query is to be executed, a schedule from which a time of next execution of the administrative query can be computed, and an activity. The activity is a set of one or more actions. When an administrative query is executed and the query associated with the administrative query is run on the table of process records and the result set is not empty, the activity is performed with regard to the process records of the result set. A plurality of administrative activities may be associated with the administrative query, with the activity to be performed being selected on the basis of a state of a given process record with regard to the query. An administrative activity is made up of one or more actions; also disclosed is a graphical user interface for defining administrative queries, administrative activities, and administrative actions.

Graphical user interface for automated process control

Techniques for reconfiguring systems that are configured by modifying configuration tables in a database. Reconfiguration begins by making a copy of the production version to obtain the development version and a snapshot showing the current state of the configuration tables in the production version is made. The development version is then reconfigured and tested. Before the development version's configuration is migrated to the production version, the production version's configuration tables are compared with the snapshot to see whether the state of the production version's configuration tables has changed. If has not, the migration takes place; if it has, the production version's configuration tables have changed since the snapshot was made. In this case, a new development copy and snapshot must be made and the reconfiguration done over or if the user desires, a forced migration may be made by overwriting the production version's configuration tables with those of the development version.

Method for preserving changes made during a migration of a system's configuration to a second configuration

A process control system that automatically monitors processes and performs activities based on conditions detected during monitoring. The information needed to do the monitoring and perform activities is contained in tables in a database system. The process control system may be configured by configuring entries in the tables. An administrative query table has records that define administrative queries. Each administrative query has associated with it a query to be executed on a table of process records that indicate statuses of the processes being monitored, a scope that defines a subset of the process records upon which the query is to be executed, a schedule from which a time of next execution of the administrative query can be computed, and an activity. The activity is a set of one or more actions. When an administrative query is executed and the query associated with the administrative query is run on the table of process records and the result set is not empty, the activity is performed with regard to the process records of the result set. Also disclosed are a graphical user interface for defining administrative queries, administrative activities, and activity types and for posting activities as well as techniques for configuring activity types so that an activities of the type can set user-defined fields in a process record in conjunction with the posting of the activity with regard to a process. A disclosed use of the technique is mapping values from fields of records for posted activities to user-defined fields in the PR record for the process, which in turn makes it possible to query the PR records on those fields.

Growing community of inventors

Port Monmouth, NJ, United States of America

Ran J Flam