U.S. patent application number 12/691515 was filed with the patent office on 2010-08-12 for component based interface to handle tasks during claim processing.
This patent application is currently assigned to Accenture LLP. Invention is credited to George V. Guyan, Robert H. Pish.
Application Number | 20100205013 12/691515 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 23180363 |
Filed Date | 2010-08-12 |
United States Patent
Application |
20100205013 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Guyan; George V. ; et
al. |
August 12, 2010 |
COMPONENT BASED INTERFACE TO HANDLE TASKS DURING CLAIM
PROCESSING
Abstract
A computer program is provided for developing component based
software capable of handling insurance-related tasks. The program
includes a data component that stores, retrieves and manipulates
data utilizing a plurality of functions. Also provided is a client
component that includes an adapter component that transmits and
receives data to/from the data component. The client component also
includes a business component that serves as a data cache and
includes logic for manipulating the data. A controller component is
also included which is adapted to handle events generated by a user
utilizing the business component to cache data and the adapter
component to ultimately persist data to a data repository. In use,
the client component is suitable for receiving a plurality of tasks
that achieve an insurance-related goal upon completion, allowing
users to add new tasks that achieve the goal upon completion,
allowing the users to edit the tasks, and generating a historical
record of the tasks that are completed.
Inventors: |
Guyan; George V.;
(Bethlehem, PA) ; Pish; Robert H.; (Minneapolis,
MN) |
Correspondence
Address: |
ACCENTURE CHICAGO 28164;BRINKS HOFER GILSON & LIONE
P O BOX 10395
CHICAGO
IL
60610
US
|
Assignee: |
Accenture LLP
San Jose
CA
|
Family ID: |
23180363 |
Appl. No.: |
12/691515 |
Filed: |
January 21, 2010 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
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Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
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11017086 |
Dec 20, 2004 |
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12691515 |
|
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09305331 |
May 4, 1999 |
7013284 |
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11017086 |
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Current U.S.
Class: |
705/4 |
Current CPC
Class: |
G06Q 10/06311 20130101;
G06Q 10/06316 20130101; G06Q 40/02 20130101; G06Q 40/08 20130101;
G06Q 10/063114 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
705/4 |
International
Class: |
G06Q 10/00 20060101
G06Q010/00; G06Q 40/00 20060101 G06Q040/00 |
Claims
1. A computerized method for automatically generating tasks to be
performed in an insurance organization, said method comprising the
steps of: monitoring with a server a transaction database
comprising information relating to an insurance transaction;
identifying with a processor an event associated with a change in
said information relating to the insurance transaction; retrieving
rules stored in a rules database in response to said identified
event, said retrieved rules being associated with said identified
event; transmitting characteristics related to the insurance
transaction; determining a task to be completed based on said
retrieved rules and based on matching the transmitted
characteristics; assigning said task to an employee for completion;
providing said task to a client component accessible by the
assigned employee; displaying information associated with said task
on a user interface on a display device; identifying said task as
completed; recording the completion of said task in said
transaction database; receiving at least one new rule into a
library rules interface on the display device; and storing said at
least one new rule in said rules database; identifying with said
processor a new event associated with another change in said
information relating to the insurance transaction; retrieving the
new rule stored in the rules database in response to the identified
new event, said retrieved new rule being associated with said new
identified event. transmitting characteristics related to the
insurance transaction; determining a new task to be completed based
on said retrieved new rule and based on matching the transmitted
characteristics.
Description
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
[0001] The present invention relates to task management and more
particularly to handling task during insurance claim processing
utilizing a computer system.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0002] Computers have become a necessity in life today. They appear
in nearly every office and household worldwide. A representative
hardware environment is depicted in prior art FIG. 1, which
illustrates a typical hardware configuration of a workstation
having a central processing unit 110, such as a microprocessor, and
a number of other units interconnected via a system bus 112. The
workstation shown in FIG. 1 includes a Random Access Memory (RAM)
114, Read Only Memory (ROM) 116, an I/O adapter 118 for connecting
peripheral devices such as disk storage units 120 to the bus 112, a
user interface adapter 122 for connecting a keyboard 124, a mouse
126, a speaker 128, a microphone 132, and/or other user interface
devices such as a touch screen (not shown) to the bus 112,
communication adapter 134 for connecting the workstation to a
communication network (e.g., a data processing network) and a
display adapter 136 for connecting the bus 112 to a display device
138. The workstation typically has resident thereon an operating
system such as the Microsoft Windows NT or Windows/95 Operating
System (OS), the IBM OS/2 operating system, the MAC OS, or UNIX
operating system.
[0003] Object oriented programming (OOP) has become increasingly
used to develop complex applications. As OOP moves toward the
mainstream of software design and development, various software
solutions require adaptation to make use of the benefits of OOP. A
need exists for these principles of OOP to be applied to a
messaging interface of an electronic messaging system such that a
set of OOP classes and objects for the messaging interface can be
provided.
[0004] OOP is a process of developing computer software using
objects, including the steps of analyzing the problem, designing
the system, and constructing the program. An object is a software
package that contains both data and a collection of related
structures and procedures. Since it contains both data and a
collection of structures and procedures, it can be visualized as a
self-sufficient component that does not require other additional
structures, procedures or data to perform its specific task. OOP,
therefore, views a computer program as a collection of largely
autonomous components, called objects, each of which is responsible
for a specific task. This concept of packaging data, structures,
and procedures together in one component or module is called
encapsulation.
[0005] In general, OOP components are reusable software modules
which present an interface that conforms to an object model and
which are accessed at run-time through a component integration
architecture. A component integration architecture is a set of
architecture mechanisms which allow software modules in different
process spaces to utilize each others capabilities or functions.
This is generally done by assuming a common component object model
on which to build the architecture. It is worthwhile to,
differentiate between an object and a class of objects at this
point. An object is a single instance of the class of objects,
which is often just called a class. A class of objects can be
viewed as a blueprint, from which many objects can be formed.
[0006] OOP allows the programmer to create an object that is a part
of another object. For example, the object representing a piston
engine is said to have a composition-relationship with the object
representing a piston. In reality, a piston engine comprises a
piston, valves and many other components; the fact that a piston is
an element of a piston engine can be logically and semantically
represented in OOP by two objects.
[0007] OOP also allows creation of an object that "depends from"
another object. If there are two objects, one representing a piston
engine and the other representing a piston engine wherein the
piston is made of ceramic, then the relationship between the two
objects is not that of composition. A ceramic piston engine does
not make up a piston engine. Rather it is merely one kind of piston
engine that has one more limitation than the piston engine; its
piston is made of ceramic. In this case, the object representing
the ceramic piston engine is called a derived object, and it
inherits all of the aspects of the object representing the piston
engine and adds further limitation or detail to it. The object
representing the ceramic piston engine "depends from" the object
representing the piston engine. The relationship between these
objects is called inheritance.
[0008] When the object or class representing the ceramic piston
engine inherits all of the aspects of the objects representing the
piston engine, it inherits the thermal characteristics of a
standard piston defined in the piston engine class. However, the
ceramic piston engine object overrides these ceramic specific
thermal characteristics, which are typically different from those
associated with a metal piston. It skips over the original and uses
new functions related to ceramic pistons. Different kinds of piston
engines have different characteristics, but may have the same
underlying functions associated with it (e.g., how many pistons in
the engine, ignition sequences, lubrication, etc.). To access each
of these functions in any piston engine object, a programmer would
call the same functions with the same names, but each type of
piston engine may have different/overriding implementations of
functions behind the same name. This ability to hide different
implementations of a function behind the same name is called
polymorphism and it greatly simplifies communication among
objects.
[0009] With the concepts of composition-relationship,
encapsulation, inheritance and polymorphism, an object can
represent just about anything in the real world. In fact, the
logical perception of the reality is the only limit on determining
the kinds of things that can become objects in object-oriented
software. Some typical categories are as follows: [0010] Objects
can represent physical objects, such as automobiles in a
traffic-flow simulation, electrical components in a circuit-design
program, countries in an economics model, or aircraft in an
air-traffic-control system. [0011] Objects can represent elements
of the computer-user environment such as windows, menus or graphics
objects. [0012] An object can represent an inventory, such as a
personnel file or a table of the latitudes and longitudes of
cities. [0013] An object can represent user-defined data types such
as time, angles, and complex numbers, or points on the plane.
[0014] With this enormous capability of an object to represent just
about any logically separable matters, OOP allows the software
developer to design and implement a computer program that is a
model of some aspects of reality, whether that reality is a
physical entity, a process, a system, or a composition of matter.
Since the object can represent anything, the software developer can
create an object which can be used as a component in a larger
software project in the future.
[0015] If 90% of a new OOP software program consists of proven,
existing components made from preexisting reusable objects, then
only the remaining 10% of the new software project has to be
written and tested from scratch. Since 90% already came from an
inventory of extensively tested reusable objects, the potential
domain from which an error could originate is 10% of the program.
As a result, OOP enables software developers to build objects out
of other, previously built objects.
[0016] This process closely resembles complex machinery being built
out of assemblies and sub-assemblies. OOP technology, therefore,
makes software engineering more like hardware engineering in that
software is built from existing components, which are available to
the developer as objects. All this adds up to an improved quality
of the software as well as an increased speed of its
development.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0017] A computer program is provided for developing component
based software capable of handling insurance-related tasks. The
program includes a data component that stores, retrieves and
manipulates data utilizing a plurality of functions. Also provided
is a client component that includes an adapter component that
transmits and receives data to/from the data component. The client
component also includes a business component that serves as a data
cache and includes logic for manipulating the data. A controller
component is also included which is adapted to handle events
generated by a user utilizing the business component to cache data
and the adapter component to ultimately persist data to a data
repository. In use, the client component is suitable for receiving
a plurality of tasks that achieve an insurance-related goal upon
completion, allowing users to add new tasks that achieve the goal
upon completion, allowing the users to edit the tasks, and
generating a historical record of the tasks that are completed.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0018] The foregoing and other objects, aspects and advantages are
better understood from the following detailed description of a
preferred embodiment of the invention with reference to the
drawings, in which:
[0019] Prior Art FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of the present
invention; and
[0020] FIG. 2A is block diagram of one embodiment of the present
invention.
[0021] FIG. 2B is a flowchart showing how components generally
operate in accordance with one embodiment of the present
invention.
[0022] FIG. 2C is a flowchart showing how the UI Controller
operates in accordance with one embodiment of the present
invention.
[0023] FIG. 2D is a flowchart showing the interactions between the
CCA, the CCI, and the Server Component in accordance with one
embodiment of the present invention.
[0024] FIG. 3 shows the life cycle of a typical User Interface and
the standard methods that are part of the Window Processing
Framework.
[0025] FIG. 4 is an illustration showing how different languages
are repainted and recompiled.
[0026] FIG. 5 is a block diagram of an Architecture Object.
[0027] FIG. 6 is an illustration showing the physical layout of
CodeDecode tables according to one embodiment of the present
invention.
[0028] FIG. 7 is a logic diagram according to one embodiment of the
present invention.
[0029] FIG. 8 is a block diagram of the security framework and its
components.
[0030] FIG. 9 is an illustration showing the relationships between
the security element and other elements.
[0031] FIG. 10 is an illustration of the Negotiation component of
one embodiment of the present invention;
[0032] FIG. 11 is a flow diagram of the operations carried out by
the Organization component of one embodiment of the present
invention;
[0033] FIG. 12 is an illustration of the Participant component of
one embodiment of the present invention;
[0034] FIG. 13 is a flow diagram of the operations carried out by
the Task Assistant component of one embodiment of the present
invention;
[0035] FIG. 14 is an illustration of the Event Processor in
combination with other components of the system in accordance with
on embodiment of the present invention; and
[0036] FIG. 15 is an illustration of the Task Engine in accordance
with one embodiment of the present invention.
DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION
[0037] Programming languages are beginning to fully support the OOP
principles, such as encapsulation, inheritance, polymorphism, and
composition-relationship. With the advent of the C++ language, many
commercial software developers have embraced OOP. C++ is an OOP
language that offers a fast, machine-executable code. Furthermore,
C++ is suitable for both commercial-application and
systems-programming projects. For now, C++ appears to be the most
popular choice among many OOP programmers, but there is a host of
other OOP languages, such as Smalltalk, Common Lisp Object System
(CLOS), and Eiffel. Additionally, OOP capabilities are being added
to more traditional popular computer programming languages such as
Pascal.
[0038] The benefits of object classes can be summarized, as
follows: [0039] Objects and their corresponding classes break down
complex programming problems into many smaller, simpler problems.
[0040] Encapsulation enforces data abstraction through the
organization of data into small, independent objects that can
communicate with each other. Encapsulation protects the data in an
object from accidental damage, but allows other objects to interact
with that data by calling the object's member functions and
structures. [0041] Subclassing and inheritance make it possible to
extend and modify objects through deriving new kinds of objects
from the standard classes available in the system. Thus, new
capabilities are created without having to start from scratch.
[0042] Polymorphism and multiple inheritance make it possible for
different programmers to mix and match characteristics of many
different classes and create specialized objects that can still
work with related objects in predictable ways. [0043] Class
hierarchies and containment hierarchies provide a flexible
mechanism for modeling real-world objects and the relationships
among them. [0044] Libraries of reusable classes are useful in many
situations, but they also have some limitations. For example:
[0045] Complexity. In a complex system, the class hierarchies for
related classes can become extremely confusing, with many dozens or
even hundreds of classes. [0046] Flow of control. A program written
with the aid of class libraries is still responsible for the flow
of control (i.e., it must control the interactions among all the
objects created from a particular library). The programmer has to
decide which functions to call at what times for which kinds of
objects. [0047] Duplication of effort. Although class libraries
allow programmers to use and reuse many small pieces of code, each
programmer puts those pieces together in a different way. Two
different programmers can use the same set of class libraries to
write two programs that do exactly the same thing but whose
internal structure (i.e., design) may be quite different, depending
on hundreds of small decisions each programmer makes along the way.
Inevitably, similar pieces of code end up doing similar things in
slightly different ways and do not work as well together as they
should.
[0048] Class libraries are very flexible. As programs grow more
complex, more programmers are forced to reinvent basic solutions to
basic problems over and over again. A relatively new extension of
the class library concept is to have a framework of class
libraries. This framework is more complex and consists of
significant collections of collaborating classes that capture both
the small scale patterns and major mechanisms that implement the
common requirements and design in a specific application domain.
They were first developed to free application programmers from the
chores involved in displaying menus, windows, dialog boxes, and
other standard user interface elements for personal computers.
[0049] Frameworks also represent a change in the way programmers
think about the interaction between the code they write and code
written by others. In the early days of procedural programming, the
programmer called libraries provided by the operating system to
perform certain tasks, but basically the program executed down the
page from start to finish, and the programmer was solely
responsible for the flow of control. This was appropriate for
printing out paychecks, calculating a mathematical table, or
solving other problems with a program that executed in just one
way.
[0050] The development of graphical user interfaces began to turn
this procedural programming arrangement inside out. These
interfaces allow the user, rather than program logic, to drive the
program and decide when certain actions should be performed. Today,
most personal computer software accomplishes this by means of an
event loop which monitors the mouse, keyboard, and other sources of
external events and calls the appropriate parts of the programmer's
code according to actions that the user performs. The programmer no
longer determines the order in which events occur. Instead, a
program is divided into separate pieces that are called at
unpredictable times and in an unpredictable order. By relinquishing
control in this way to users, the developer creates a program that
is much easier to use. Nevertheless, individual pieces of the
program written by the developer still call libraries provided by
the operating system to accomplish certain tasks, and the
programmer must still determine the flow of control within each
piece after it's called by the event loop. Application code still
"sits on top of" the system.
[0051] Even event loop programs require programmers to write a lot
of code that should not need to be written separately for every
application. The concept of an application framework carries the
event loop concept further. Instead of dealing with all the nuts
and bolts of constructing basic menus, windows, and dialog boxes
and then making these things all work together, programmers using
application frameworks start with working application code and
basic user interface elements in place. Subsequently, they build
from there by replacing some of the generic capabilities of the
framework with the specific capabilities of the intended
application.
[0052] Application frameworks reduce the total amount of code that
a programmer has to write from scratch. However, because the
framework is really a generic application that displays windows,
supports copy and paste, and so on, the programmer can also
relinquish control to a greater degree than event loop programs
permit. The framework code takes care of almost all event handling
and flow of control, and the programmer's code is called only when
the framework needs it (e.g., to create or manipulate a proprietary
data structure).
[0053] A programmer writing a framework program not only
relinquishes control to the user (as is also true for event loop
programs), but also relinquishes the detailed flow of control
within the program to the framework. This approach allows the
creation of more complex systems that work together in interesting
ways, as opposed to isolated programs, having custom code, being
created over and over again for similar problems.
[0054] Thus, as is explained above, a framework basically is a
collection of cooperating classes that make up a reusable design
solution for a given problem domain. It typically includes objects
that provide default behavior (e.g., for menus and windows), and
programmers use it by inheriting some of that default behavior and
overriding other behavior so that the framework calls application
code at the appropriate times.
[0055] There are three main differences between frameworks and
class libraries: [0056] Behavior versus protocol. Class libraries
are essentially collections of behaviors that you can call when you
want those individual behaviors in your program. A framework, on
the other hand, provides not only behavior but also the protocol or
set of rules that govern the ways in which behaviors can be
combined, including rules for what a programmer is supposed to
provide versus what the framework provides. [0057] Call versus
override. With a class library, the code the programmer
instantiates objects and calls their member functions. It's
possible to instantiate and call objects in the same way with a
framework (i.e., to treat the framework as a class library), but to
take full advantage of a framework's reusable design, a programmer
typically writes code that overrides and is called by the
framework. The framework manages the flow of control among its
objects. Writing a program involves dividing responsibilities among
the various pieces of software that are called by the framework
rather than specifying how the different pieces should work
together. [0058] Implementation versus design. With class
libraries, programmers reuse only implementations, whereas with
frameworks, they reuse design. A framework embodies the way a
family of related programs or pieces of software work. It
represents a generic design solution that can be adapted to a
variety of specific problems in a given domain. For example, a
single framework can embody the way a user interface works, even
though two different user interfaces created with the same
framework might solve quite different interface problems.
[0059] Thus, through the development of frameworks for solutions to
various problems and programming tasks, significant reductions in
the design and development effort for software can be achieved. A
preferred embodiment of the invention utilizes HyperText Markup
Language (HTML) to implement documents on the Internet together
with a general-purpose secure communication protocol for a
transport medium between the client and the Newco. HTTP or other
protocols could be readily substituted for HTML without undue
experimentation. Information on these products is available in T.
Berners-Lee, D. Connoly, "RFC 1866: Hypertext Markup Language--2.0"
(November 1995); and R. Fielding, H, Frystyk, T. Berners-Lee, J.
Gettys and J. C. Mogul, "Hypertext Transfer Protocol--HTTP/1.1:
HTTP Working Group Internet Draft" (May 2, 1996). HTML is a simple
data format used to create hypertext documents that are portable
from one platform to another. HTML documents are SGML documents
with generic semantics that are appropriate for representing
information from a wide range of domains. HTML has been in use by
the World-Wide Web global information initiative since 1990. HTML
is an application of ISO Standard 8879; 1986 Information Processing
Text and Office Systems; Standard Generalized Markup Language
(SGML).
[0060] To date, Web development tools have been limited in their
ability to create dynamic Web applications which span from client
to server and interoperate with existing computing resources. Until
recently, HTML has been the dominant technology used in development
of Web-based solutions. However, HTML has proven to be inadequate
in the following areas: [0061] Poor performance; [0062] Restricted
user interface capabilities; [0063] Can only produce static Web
pages; [0064] Lack of interoperability with existing applications
and data; and [0065] Inability to scale.
[0066] Sun Microsystem's Java language solves many of the
client-side problems by: [0067] Improving performance on the client
side; [0068] Enabling the creation of dynamic, real-time Web
applications; and [0069] Providing the ability to create a wide
variety of user interface components.
[0070] With Java, developers can create robust User Interface (UI)
components. Custom "widgets" (e.g., real-time stock tickers,
animated icons, etc.) can be created, and client-side performance
is improved. Unlike HTML, Java supports the notion of client-side
validation, offloading appropriate processing onto the client for
improved performance. Dynamic, real-time Web pages can be created.
Using the above-mentioned custom UI components, dynamic Web pages
can also be created.
[0071] Sun's Java language has emerged as an industry-recognized
language for "programming the Internet." Sun defines Java as: "a
simple, object-oriented, distributed, interpreted, robust, secure,
architecture-neutral, portable, high-performance, multithreaded,
dynamic, buzzword-compliant, general-purpose programming language.
Java supports programming for the Internet in the form of
platform-independent Java applets." Java applets are small,
specialized applications that comply with Sun's Java Application
Programming Interface (API) allowing developers to add "interactive
content" to Web documents (e.g., simple animations, page
adornments, basic games, etc.). Applets execute within a
Java-compatible browser (e.g., Netscape Navigator) by copying code
from the server to client. From a language standpoint, Java's core
feature set is based on C++. Sun's Java literature states that Java
is basically, "C++ with extensions from Objective C for more
dynamic method resolution."
[0072] Another technology that provides similar function to JAVA is
provided by Microsoft and ActiveX Technologies, to give developers
and Web designers wherewithal to build dynamic content for the
Internet and personal computers. ActiveX includes tools for
developing animation, 3-D virtual reality, video and other
multimedia content. The tools use Internet standards, work on
multiple platforms, and are being supported by over 100 companies.
The group's building blocks are called ActiveX Controls, small,
fast components that enable developers to embed parts of software
in hypertext markup language (HTML) pages. ActiveX Controls work
with a variety of programming languages including Microsoft Visual
C++, Borland Delphi, Microsoft Visual Basic programming system and,
in the future, Microsoft's development tool for Java, code named
"Jakarta." ActiveX Technologies also includes ActiveX Server
Framework, allowing developers to create server applications. One
of ordinary skill in the art readily recognizes that ActiveX could
be substituted for JAVA without undue experimentation to practice
the invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0073] One embodiment of the present invention is a server based
framework utilizing component based architecture. Referring to FIG.
2A, one embodiment of the present invention includes an
Architecture Object 200, an Application Object 202, a User
Interface Form 204, a User Interface Controller 206, a Client
Component Adapter 208, a COM Component Interface 210, and a Server
Component 222.
[0074] In general, the components of the present invention operate
as shown in FIG. 2B. In step 230, data is stored in an object of
the component. In step 232, functions which manipulate the object
are encapsulated with the object data. Later, in step 234, the
stored object data can be manipulated by other components utilizing
the functions of step 232.
[0075] Architecture Object
[0076] The Architecture Object 200 provides an easy-to-use object
model that masks the complexity of the architecture on the client.
The Architecture Object 200 provides purely technical services and
does not contain any business logic or functional code. It is used
on the client as the single point of access to all architecture
services.
[0077] On the server side, the Architecture Object 200 is
supplemented by a set of global functions contained in standard VB
modules
[0078] The Architecture Object 200 is responsible for providing all
client architecture services (i.e., codes table access, error
logging, etc.), and a single point of entry for architecture
services. The Architecture Object 200 is also responsible for
allowing the architecture to exist as an autonomous unit, thus
allowing internal changes to be made to the architecture with
minimal impact to application.
[0079] The Architecture Object 200 provides a code manager, client
profile, text manager, ID manager, registry manager, log manager,
error manager, and a security manager. The codes manager reads
codes from a local database on the client, marshals the codes into
objects, and makes them available to the application. The client
profile provides information about the current logged-in user. The
text manager provides various text manipulation services such as
search and replace. The ID manager generates unique IDs and
timestamps. The registry manager encapsulates access to the system
registry. The log manager writes error or informational messages to
the message log. The error manager provides an easy way to save and
re-raise an error. And the security manager determines whether or
not the current user is authorized to perform certain actions.
[0080] Application Object
[0081] The Application Object 202 has a method to initiate each
business operation in the application. It uses late binding to
instantiate target UI controllers in order to provide autonomy
between windows. This allows different controllers to use the
Application Object 202 without statically linking to each and every
UI controller in the application.
[0082] When opening a UI controller, the Application Object 202
calls the architecture initialization, class initialization, and
form initialization member functions.
[0083] The Application Object 202 keeps a list of every active
window, so that it can shut down the application in the event of an
error. When a window closes, it tells the Application Object 202,
and is removed from the Application Object's 202 list of active
windows.
[0084] The Application Object 202 is responsible for instantiating
each UI Controller 206, passing data/business context to the target
UI Controller 206, and invoking standard services such as
initialize controller, initializing Form and Initialize
Architecture. The Application Object 202 also keeps track of which
windows are active so that it can coordinate the shutdown
process.
[0085] UI Form
[0086] The UI form's 204 primary responsibility is to forward
important events to its controller 206. It remains mostly
unintelligent and contains as little logic as possible. Most event
handlers on the form simply delegate the work by calling methods on
the form's controller 206.
[0087] The UI form 204 never enables or disables its own controls,
but ask its controller 206 to do it instead. Logic is included on
the UI form 204 only when it involves very simple field masking or
minor visual details.
[0088] The UI form 204 presents an easy-to-use, graphical interface
to the user and informs its controller 206 of important user
actions. The UI form 204 may also provide basic data validation
(e.g., data type validation) through input masking. In addition,
the UI form is responsible for intelligently resizing itself,
launching context-sensitive help, and unload itself.
[0089] User Interface Controller
[0090] Every UI Controller 206 includes a set of standard methods
for initialization, enabling and disabling controls on its UI form
204, validating data on the form, getting data from the UI form
204, and unloading the UI form 204.
[0091] UI Controllers 206 contain the majority of logic to
manipulate Business Objects 207 and manage the appearance of its UI
form 204. If its form is not read-only, the UT Controller 206 also
tracks whether or not data on the UI form 204 has changed, so as to
avoid unnecessary database writes when the user decides to save. In
addition, controllers of auxiliary windows (like the File-Save
dialog box in Microsoft Word), keep track of their calling UT
controller 206 so that they can notify it when they are ready to
close.
[0092] FIG. 2C is a flowchart showing how the UI Controller
operates in one embodiment of the present invention. In step 236,
data is entered in a UI form by a user. In step 238, the UT
controller interprets the data entered into the UI form. In step
240, the UI controller places the appropriate data into a Business
Object to be utilized and retrieved later.
[0093] A UI Controller 206 defines a Logical Unit of Work (LUW). If
an LUW involves more than one UI Controller 206, the LUW is
implemented as a separate object.
[0094] The UI Controller 206 is responsible for handling events
generated by the user interacting with the UT form 204 and
providing complex field validation and cross field validation
within a Logical Unit of Work. The UI Controller 206 also contains
the logic to interact with business objects 207, and creates new
business objects 207 when necessary. Finally, the UI Controller 206
interacts with Client Component Adapters 208 to add, retrieve,
modify, or delete business objects 207, and handles all client-side
errors.
[0095] Business Objects
[0096] The Business Object's (BO) 207 primary functionality is to
act as a data holder, allowing data to be shared across User
Interface Controllers 206 using an object-based programming
model.
[0097] BOs 207 perform validation on their attributes as they are
being set to maintain the integrity of the information they
contain. BOs 207 also expose methods other than accessors to
manipulate their data, such as methods to change the life cycle
state of a BO 207 or to derive the value of a calculated
attribute.
[0098] In many cases, a BO 207 will have its own table in the
database and its own window for viewing or editing operations.
[0099] Business Objects 207 contain information about a single
business entity and maintain the integrity of that information. The
BO 207 encapsulates business rules that pertain to that single
business entity and maintains relationships with other business
objects (e.g., a claim contains a collection of supplements).
Finally, the BO 207 provides additional properties relating to the
status of the information it contains (such as whether that
information has changed or not), provides validation of new data
when necessary, and calculates attributes that are derived from
other attributes (such as Full Name, which is derived from First
Name, Middle Initial, and Last Name).
[0100] Client Component Adapters
[0101] Client Component Adapters (CCAs) 208 are responsible for
retrieving, adding, updating, and deleting business objects in the
database. CCAs 208 hide the storage format and location of data
from the UI controller 206. The UI controller 206 does not care
about where or how objects are stored, since this is taken care of
by the CCA 208.
[0102] The CCA 208 marshals data contained in recordsets returned
by the server into business objects 207. CCAs 208 masks all remote
requests from UI Controller 206 to a specific component, and act as
a "hook" for services such as data compression, and data
encryption.
[0103] COM Component Interface
[0104] A COM Component Interface (CCI) 210 is a "contract" for
services provided by a component. By "implementing" an interface
(CCI) 210, a component is promising to provide all the services
defined by the CCI 20.
[0105] The CCI 210 is not a physical entity (which is why it is
depicted with a dotted line). It's only reason for existence is to
define the way a component appears to other objects. It includes
the signatures or headers of all the public properties or methods
that a component will provide.
[0106] To implement a CCI 210, a server component exposes a set of
specially named methods, one for each method defined on the
interface. These methods should do nothing except delegate the
request to a private method on the component which will do the real
work.
[0107] The CCI 210 defines a set of related services provided by a
component. The CCI allows any component to "hide" behind the
interface to perform the services defined by the interface by
"implementing" the interface.
[0108] Server Component
[0109] Server components 222 are course grained and transaction
oriented. They are designed for maximum efficiency.
[0110] Server Components 222 encapsulate all access to the
database, and define business transaction boundaries. In addition,
Server Components 222 are responsible for ensuring that business
rules are honored during data access operations.
[0111] A Server Component 222 performs data access operations on
behalf of CCAs 208 or other components and participates in
transactions spanning server components 222 by communicating with
other server components 222. The Server Component 222 is accessible
by multiple front end personalities (e.g., Active Server Pages),
and contains business logic designed to maintain the integrity of
data in the database.
[0112] FIG. 2D is a flowchart showing the interactions between the
CCA, the CCI, and the Server Component in accordance with one
embodiment of the present invention. In step 242, a request is made
to place client created data on the server database. In step 244,
the data is transferred to the server component 222 utilizing a CCI
210. In step 246, the server component 222 stores the data in the
server database.
Business Rule Placement
[0113] Overview
[0114] The distribution of business rules across tiers of the
application directly affects the robustness and performance of the
system as a whole. Business rules can be categorized into the
following sections: Relationships, Calculations, and Business
Events.
[0115] Relationships between Business Objects
[0116] Business Objects 207 are responsible for knowing other
business objects 207 with which they are associated.
[0117] Relationships between BOs 207 are built by the CCA 208
during the marshaling process. For example, when a CCA 208 builds a
claim BO 207, it will also build the collection of supplements if
necessary.
[0118] Calculated Business Data
[0119] Business rules involving calculations based on business
object 207 attributes are coded in the business objects 207
themselves. Participant Full Name is a good example of a calculated
attribute. Rather than force the controllers to concatenate the
first name, middle initial, and last name every time they wanted to
display the full name, a calculated attribute that performs this
logic is exposed on the business object. In this way, the code to
compose the full name only has to be written once and can be used
by many controllers 206.
[0120] Another example of a calculated attribute is the display
date of a repeating task. When a task with a repeat rule is
completed, a new display date must be determined. This display date
is calculated based on the date the task was completed, and the
frequency of repetition defined by the repeat rule. Putting the
logic to compute the new display date into the Task BO 207 ensures
that it is coded only once.
[0121] Responses to Business Events
[0122] Business rules that relate to system events and involve no
user interaction are enforced on the server components.
[0123] Completion of a task is a major event in the system. When a
task is completed, the system first ensures that the performer
completing the task is added to the claim. Then, after the task is
marked complete in the database, it is checked to see if the task
has a repeat rule. If so, another task is created and added to the
database. Finally, the event component is notified, because the
Task Engine may need to react to the task completion.
[0124] Consider the scenario if the logic to enforce this rule were
placed on the UI controller 206.
[0125] The controller 206 calls the Performer Component to see if
the performer completing the task has been added to the claim. If
the performer has not been added to the claim, then the controller
206 calls the performer component again to add them.
[0126] Next, the controller 206 calls the Task Component to mark
the task complete in the database. If the task has a repeat rule,
the controller 206 computes the date the task is to be redisplayed
and calls the Task Component again to add a new task. Lastly, the
controller 206 calls the Event Component to notify the Task Engine
of the task completion.
[0127] The above implementation requires five network round trips
in its worst case. In addition, any other controller 206 or server
component 222 that wants to complete a task must code this logic
all over again. Enforcing this rule in the task server component
222 reduces the number of network round trips and eliminates the
need to code the logic more than once.
[0128] Responses to User Events
[0129] All responses to user events are coordinated by the
controller 206. The controller 206 is responsible for actions such
as enabling or disabling controls on its form, requesting
authorization from the security component, or making calls to the
CCA 208.
[0130] Authorization
[0131] All logic for granting authorization is encapsulated inside
the security component. Controllers 206 and components 222 must ask
the security component if the current user is authorized to execute
certain business operations in the system. The security component
will answer yes or no according to some predefined security
logic.
[0132] Summary
TABLE-US-00001 Type of Business Rule Example Responsibility
Maintaining relationships Claim keeps a collection of supplements
Business Objects between BOs Building relationships CCA builds the
claim's collection of CCAs between BOs supplements Calculated
Business Data Participant calculates its full name Business Objects
Responses to Business Task Component collaborates with other
Components Events components Requesting Authorization Task Library
controller asks the security Controllers and component if the
current user is allowed Components to access Task Library Granting
Authorization Security component determines whether Security
Component or not the current user can access Task Library
Window Processing Framework
[0133] The Default Window Framework provides default window
processing for each window contained within the system. This
default processing aides the developer in developing robust,
maintainable UIs, standardizes common processes (such as form
initialization) and facilitates smooth integration with
architecture services.
[0134] FIG. 3 shows the life cycle of a typical User Interface and
the standard methods that are part of the Window Processing
Framework 300.
[0135] The Window Processing Framework 300 encompasses the
following:
[0136] Window Initialization 302;
[0137] Window Save Processing 304;
[0138] Window Control State Management 306;
[0139] Window Data Validation 308;
[0140] Window Shutdown Processing 310.
[0141] Window Initialization Processing 302: After creating a
controller 206 for the desired window, the App object 202 calls a
set of standard initialization functions on the controller 206
before the form 204 is displayed to the user. Standardizing these
functions makes the UIs more homogeneous throughout the
application, while promoting good functional decomposition.
[0142] Window Save Processing 304: Any time a user updates any form
text or adds an item to a ListBox, the UI Controller 206 marks the
form as "dirty". This allows the UI controller 206 to determine
whether data has changed when the form closes and prompt the user
to commit or lose their changes.
[0143] Window Control State Management 306: Enabling and disabling
controls and menu options is a very complex part of building a UI.
The logic that modifies the state of controls is encapsulated in a
single place for maintainability.
[0144] Window Data Validation 308: Whenever data changes on a form,
validation rules can be broken. The controller is able to detect
those changes, validate the data, and prompt the user to correct
invalid entries.
[0145] Window Shutdown Processing 310: The Window Shutdown
framework provides a clear termination path for each UI in the
event of an error. This reduces the chance of memory leaks, and
General Protection failures.
[0146] Benefits
[0147] Standardized Processing: Standardizing the window processing
increases the homogeneity of the application. This ensures that all
windows within the application behave in a consistent manner for
the end users, making the application easier to use. It also
shortens the learning curve for developers and increases
maintainability, since all windows are coded in a consistent
manner.
[0148] Simplified Development: Developers can leverage the best
practices documented in the window processing framework to make
effective design and coding decisions. In addition, a shell
provides some "canned" code that gives developers a head start
during the coding effort.
[0149] Layered Architecture: Because several architecture modules
provide standardized processing to each application window, the
core logic can be changed for every system window by simply making
modifications to a single procedure.
Window Initialization 302
[0150] To open a new window, the App Object 202 creates the target
window's controller 206 and calls a series of methods on the
controller 206 to initialize it. The calling of these methods,
ArchInitClass, InitClass, InitForm, and ShowForm, is illustrated
below.
[0151] ArchInitClass
[0152] The main purpose of the ArchInitClass function is to tell
the target controller 206 who is calling it. The App Object 202
"does the introductions" by passing the target controller 206 a
reference to itself and a reference to the calling controller 206.
In addition, it serves as a hook into the controller 206 for adding
architecture functionality in the future.
TABLE-US-00002 Public Sub ArchInitClass(objApp As Object,
objCallingCTLR As Object) remember who called me Set m_objApp =
objApp Set m_objCallingCTLR = objCallingCTLR End Sub
[0153] InitClass
[0154] This function provides a way for the App Object 202 to give
the target controller 206 any data it needs to do its processing.
It is at this point that the target controller 206 can determine
what "mode" it is in. Typical form modes include, add mode, edit
mode, and view mode. If the window is in add mode, it creates a new
BO 207 of the appropriate type in this method.
TABLE-US-00003 Public Sub InitClass(colPrevSelection As
CArchCollection) If colPrevSelection Is Nothing Then no accounts
were previously selected Set m_colPrevSelection = New
CArchCollection Set m_colNewSelection = New CArchCollection Else
some accounts may have already been selected Set m_colprevSelection
= colPrevSelection Set m_colNewSelection = colPrevSelection.Clone(
) End If Set m_colResults = New CArchCollection DetermineFormMode(
) .sub.-- End Sub
[0155] InitForm
[0156] The InitForm procedure of each controller 206 coordinates
any initialization of the form 204 before it is displayed. Because
initialization is often a multi-step process, InitForm creates the
window and then delegates the majority of the initialization logic
to helper methods that each have a single purpose, in order to
follow the rules of good functional decomposition. For example, the
logic to determine a form's 204 state based on user actions and
relevant security restrictions and move to that state is
encapsulated in the DetermineFormState method.
TABLE-US-00004 Public Sub InitForm( ) create my form Set
m_frmCurrentForm = New frmAccountSearch figure out the state of my
form based on arguments I received in InitClass and enable/disable
the appropriate controls DetermineFormState( ) fill my form with
data PopulateForm( ) End Sub
[0157] PopulateForm
[0158] PopulateForm is a private method responsible for filling the
form with data during initialization. It is called exactly once by
the InitForm method. PopulateForm is used to fill combo boxes on a
form 204, get the details of an object for an editing window, or
display objects that have already been selected by the user, as in
the following example.
TABLE-US-00005 Private Sub PopulateForm( ) Dim acct As CAccount Dim
item As GTListItem display any accounts already selected by the
user create and add a ListItem for every Account in the previous
selection collection With frmCurrentForm.lvwResults.ListItems Clear
For Each acct In m_colPrevSelection Set item = .Add(, acct.Number,
acct.Number) item.SubItems(1) = acct.Name Next End With End Sub
[0159] ShowForm
[0160] The ShowForm method simply centers and displays the newly
initialized form 204.
TABLE-US-00006 Public Sub ShowForm( ) center my form
frmCurrentForm.Move(Screen.Width - frmCurrentForm.Width) /
2,.sub.-- (Screen.Height - frmCurrentForm.Height)/ 2 display my
form frmCurrentForm.Show vbModal End Sub
Window Control State Management 306
[0161] It is often necessary to enable or disable controls on a
form 204 in response to user actions. This section describes the
patterns employed by the Component Based Architecture for MTS
(CBAM) to manage this process effectively.
[0162] Form Mode
[0163] It is helpful to distinguish between form mode and form
state. Form mode indicates the reason the form 204 has been
invoked. Often, forms 204 are used for more than one purpose. A
common example is the use of the same form to view, add, and edit a
particular type of object, such as a task or an insurance claim. In
this case, the form's modes would include View, Add, and Update.
The modes of a form 204 are also used to comply with security
restrictions based on the current user's access level. For example,
Task Library is a window that limits access to task templates based
on the current user's role. It might have a Librarian mode and a
Non-Librarian mode to reflect the fact that a non-librarian user
cannot be allowed to edit task templates. In this way, modes help
to enforce the requirement that certain controls on the form 204
remain disabled unless the user has a certain access level.
[0164] It is not always necessary for a form 204 to have a mode; a
form might be so simple that it would have only one mode--the
default mode. In this case, even though it is not immediately
necessary, it may be beneficial to make the form "mode-aware" so
that it can be easily extended should the need arise.
[0165] Form State
[0166] A form 204 will have a number of different states for each
mode, where a state is a unique combination of enabled/disabled,
visible/invisible controls. When a form 204 moves to a different
state, at least one control is enabled or disabled or modified in
some way.
[0167] A key difference between form mode and form state is that
mode is determined when the controller 206 is initialized and
remains constant until the controller 206 terminates. State is
determined when the window initializes, but is constantly being
reevaluated in response to user actions.
[0168] Handling UI Events
[0169] When the value of a control on the form 204 changes, it is
necessary to reevaluate the state of the controls on the form
(whether or not they are enabled/disabled or visible/invisible,
etc.). If changing the value of one control could cause the state
of a second control to change, an event handler is written for the
appropriate event of the first control.
[0170] The following table lists common controls and the events
that are triggered when their value changes.
TABLE-US-00007 Control Event TextBox Change ComboBox Change ListBox
Click CheckBox Click Option Button Click
[0171] The event handler calls the DetermineFormState method on the
controller 206.
[0172] Setting the State of Controls
[0173] It is essential for maintainability that the process of
setting the state of controls be separate from the process for
setting the values of those controls. The DetermineFormState method
on the controller 206 forces this separation between setting the
state of controls and setting their values.
[0174] DetermineFormState is the only method that modifies the
state of any of the controls on the form 204. Because control state
requirements are so complex and vary so widely, this is the only
restriction made by the architecture framework.
[0175] If necessary, parameters are passed to the
DetermineFormState function to act as "hints" or "clues" for
determining the new state of the form 204. For complex forms, it is
helpful to decompose the DetermineFormState function into a number
of helper functions, each handling a group of related controls on
the form or moving the form 204 to a different state.
Example
[0176] The Edit/Add/View Task Window has three modes: Edit, Add,
and View. In Add mode, everything on the form is editable. Some
details will stay disabled when in Edit mode, since they should be
set only once when the task is added. In both Add and Edit modes,
the repeat rule may be edited. Enabling editing of the repeat rule
always disables the manual editing of the task's due and display
dates. In View mode, only the Category combo box and Private
checkbox are enabled.
TABLE-US-00008 Edit/Add/View Task Form Private Sub txtName_Change(
) myController.DetermineFormState End Sub Edit/Add/View Task
Controller Public Sub DetermineFormState( ) On Error Goto
ErrorHandler Select Case m_nFormMode In Edit Mode, enable only
"editable" details and Repeat Rule editing if necessary Case
cmFormModeEdit EnableAddDetails False EnableEditDetails True
EnableViewDetails True If
m_frmCurrentForm.chkRepetetiveTask.Checked Then
EnableEditRepeatRule True EnableEditDisplayDueDates False Else
EnableEditRepeatRule False EnableEditDisplayDueDates True End If If
m_nFormDirty Then EnableSave True Else EnableSave False In Add
Mode, enable all details and Repeat Rule editing if necessary Case
cmFormModeAdd EnableAddDetails True EnableEditDetails True
EnableViewDetails True If
m_frmCurrentForm.chkRepetetiveTask.Checked Then
EnableEditRepeatRule True EnableEditDisplayDueDates False Else
EnableEditRepeatRule False EnableEditDisplayDueDates True End If If
m _nFormDirty Then EnableSave True Else EnableSave False In View
Mode, disable everything except a few details Case cmFormModeView
EnableAddDetails False EnableEditDetails False EnableViewDetails
True EnableEditRepeatRule False EnableEditDisplayDueDates False
EnableSave False Case Else End Select Exit Sub ErrorHandler: error
handling End Sub Edit/Add/View Task Controller Private Sub
EnableAddDetails(bYesNo As Boolean) On Error Goto ErrorHandler
Enable or disable controls that should be available only when the
task is being added. With frmCurrentForm .Name.Enabled = bYesNo
.Description.Enabled = bYesNo .Type.Enabled = bYesNo .Level.Enabled
= bYesNo .Source.Enabled = bYesNo End With Exit Sub ErrorHandler:
error handling logic End Sub
Window Data Validation 308
[0177] Window data validation is the process by which data on the
window is examined for errors, inconsistencies, and proper
formatting. It is important, for the sake of consistency, to
implement this process similarly or identically in all windows of
the application.
[0178] Types of Validation
[0179] Input Masking
[0180] Input masking is the first line of defense. It involves
screening the data (usually character by character) as it is
entered, to prevent the user from even entering invalid data. Input
masking may be done programmatically or via a special masked text
box, however the logic is always located on the form, and is
invoked whenever a masked field changes.
[0181] Single-Field Range Checking
[0182] Single-field range checking determines the validity of the
value of one field on the form by comparing it with a set of valid
values. Single-field range checking may be done via a combo box,
spin button, or programmatically on the form, and is invoked
whenever the range-checked field changes.
[0183] Cross-Field Validation
[0184] Cross-field validation compares the values of two or more
fields to determine if a validation rule is met or broken, and
occurs just before saving (or searching). Cross-field validation
may be done on the Controller 206 or the Business Object 207,
however it is preferable to place the logic on the Business Object
207 when the validation logic can be shared by multiple Controllers
206.
[0185] Invalid data is caught and rejected as early as possible
during the input process. Input masking and range checking provide
the first line of defense, followed by cross-field validation when
the window saves (or searches).
[0186] Single-Field Validation
[0187] All single-field validation is accomplished via some sort of
input masking. Masks that are attached to textboxes are used to
validate the type or format of data being entered. Combo boxes and
spin buttons may also be used to limit the user to valid choices.
If neither of these are sufficient, a small amount of logic may be
placed on the form's event handler to perform the masking
functionality, such as keeping a value below a certain threshold or
keeping apostrophes out of a textbox.
[0188] Cross-Field Validation
[0189] When the user clicks OK or Save, the form calls the
IsFormDataValid on the controller to perform cross-field validation
(e.g., verifying that a start date is less than an end date). If
the business object 207 contains validation rules, the controller
206 may call a method on the business object 207 to make sure those
rules are not violated.
[0190] If invalid data is detected by the controller 206, it will
notify the user with a message box and, if possible, the indicate
which field or fields are in error. Under no circumstances will the
window perform validation when the user is trying to cancel.
Example
TABLE-US-00009 [0191] Generic Edit Form Private Sub cmdOK_Click( )
On Error Goto ErrorHandler shut down if my data is valid.
saving/canceling will occur in my controller's QueryUnload function
If IsFormDataValid Then Unload Me Exit Sub ErrorHandler: Err.Raise
Err.Number End Sub Public Function IsFormDataValid( ) As Boolean On
Error Goto ErrorHandler assume success IsFormDataValid = True
evaluate all validation rules With frmCurrentForm make sure start
date is earlier than end date If .txtStartDate.Text >
.txtEndDate.Text Then IsFormDataValid = False MsgBox
cmMsgInvalidEndDate txtEndDate.SetFocus ElseIf ... more validation
rules End If End With Exit Function ErrorHandler: error handling
logic End Function
Window Save Processing 304
[0192] Window "Save Processing" involves tracking changes to data
on a form 204 and responding to save and cancel events initiated by
the user.
[0193] Tracking Changes to Form Data
[0194] Each window within the CBAM application contains a field
within its corresponding control object known as the dirty flag.
The dirty flag is set to True whenever an end user modifies data
within the window. This field is interrogated by the UI Controller
206 to determine when a user should be prompted on Cancel or if a
remote procedure should be invoked upon window close.
[0195] The application shell provides standard processing for each
window containing an OK or Save button.
[0196] Saving
[0197] The default Save processing is implemented within the UI
Controller 206 as follows:
[0198] The UI Controller is Notified that the OK button has been
clicked. Then the controller 206 checks its Dirty Flag. If flag is
dirty, the controller 206 calls the InterrogateForm method to
retrieve data from the form 204 and calls a server component 222 to
store the business object 207 in the database. If the Dirty Flag is
not set, then no save is necessary. The window is then closed.
[0199] Canceling
[0200] When the user cancels a window, the UI Controller 206
immediately examines the Dirty Flag. If the flag is set to true,
the user is prompted that their changes will be lost if they decide
to close the window.
[0201] Once prompted, the user can elect to continue to close the
window and lose their changes or decide not to close and continue
working.
Window Shutdown Processing 310
[0202] In the event of an error, it is sometimes necessary to
shutdown a window or to terminate the entire application. It is
critical that all windows follow the shutdown process in order to
avoid the GPFs commonly associated with terminating incorrectly.
Following is how the window/application is shutdown.
[0203] Shutdown Scope
[0204] The scope of the shutdown is as small as possible. If an
error occurs in a controller 206 that does not affect the rest of
the application, only that window is shut down. If an error occurs
that threatens the entire application, there is a way to quickly
close every open window in the application. The window shutdown
strategy is able to accommodate both types of shutdowns.
[0205] Shutdown
[0206] In order to know what windows must be shut down, the
architecture tracks which windows are open. Whenever the App Object
202 creates a controller 206, it calls its RegCTLR function to add
the controller 206 to a collection of open controllers. Likewise,
whenever a window closes, it tells the App Object 202 that it is
closing by calling the App Object's 202 UnRegCTLR function, and the
App Object 202 removes the closing controller 206 from its
collection. In the case of an error, the App Object 202 loops
through its collection of open controllers, telling each controller
to "quiesce" or shutdown immediately.
[0207] GeneralErrorHandler
[0208] The GeneralErrorHandler is a method in MArch.bas that acts
as the point of entry into the architecture's error handling
mechanism. A component or a controller will call the
GeneralErrorHandler when they encounter any type of unexpected or
unknown error. The general error handler will return a value
indicating what the component or controller should do: (1) resume
on the line that triggered the error (2) resume on the statement
after the line that triggered the error (3) exit the function (4)
quiesce (5) shutdown the entire application.
TABLE-US-00010 ErrorHandler: Select Case CStr(Err.Number) handle a
search with no result error Case cmErrNoClaimTreeData MsgBox
cmMsgNoResultsQuery, vbInformation
frmCurrentForm.StatusBar.Panels(1) = cmNoResultsQuery `Sets mouse
pointer back to default frmCurrentForm.MousePointer = vbDefault
Case Else Dim nResumeCode As Integer nResumeCode =
GeneralErrorHandler(objApp.objArch.AsMsgStruct, cmController,
cmClassName, cmMethodName) Select Case CStr(nResumeCode) Case
cmErrorResume Resume Case cmErrorResumeNext Resume Next Case
cmErrorExit Exit Sub Case cmErrorQuiesce Quiesce Case Else
objApp.Shutdown End Select End Select End Sub
[0209] In order to prevent recursive calls the GeneralErrorHandler
keeps a collection of controllers that are in the process of
shutting down. If it is called twice in a row by the same
controller 206, it is able to detect and short-circuit the loop.
When the controller 206 finally does terminate, it calls the
UnRegisterError function to let the GeneralErrorHandler know that
it has shut down and removed from the collection of
controllers.
[0210] Shutdown Process
[0211] After being told what to do by the GeneralErrorHandler, the
controller 206 in error may try to execute the statement that
caused the error, proceed as if nothing happened, exit the current
function, call its Quiesce function to shut itself down, or call
the Shutdown method on the App Object 202 to shut the entire
application down.
Additional Standard Methods
[0212] Searching
[0213] Controllers 206 that manage search windows have a public
method named Find<Noun>s where <Noun> is the type of
object being searched for. This method is called in the event
handler for the Find Now button.
[0214] Saving
[0215] Any controller 206 that manages an edit window has a public
method called Save that saves changes the user makes to the data on
the form 204. This method is called by the event handlers for both
the Save and OK buttons (when/if the OK button needs to save
changes before closing).
[0216] Closing
[0217] A VB window is closed by the user in several ways: via the
control-box in upper left corner, the X button in upper right
corner, or the Close button. When the form closes, the only method
that will always be called, regardless of the way in which the
close was initiated, is the form's 204 QueryUnload event
handler.
[0218] Because of this, there cannot be a standard Close method.
Any processing that must occur when a window closes is to be done
in the QueryUnload method on the controller 206 (which is called by
the form's QueryUnload event handler).
[0219] The VB statement, Unload Me, appears in the Close button's
event handler to manually initiate the unloading process. In this
way, the Close button mimics the functionality of the control box
and the X button, so that the closing process is handled the same
way every time, regardless of how the user triggered the close. The
OK button's event handler also executes the Unload Me statement,
but calls the Save method on the controller first to save any
pending changes.
Business Objects
[0220] Business Objects 207 are responsible for containing data,
maintaining the integrity of that data, and exposing functions that
make the data easy to manipulate. Whenever logic pertains to a
single BO 207 it is a candidate to be placed on that BO. This
ensures that it will not be coded once for each controller 206 that
needs it. Following are some standard examples of business object
logic.
Business Logic: Managing Life Cycle State
[0221] Overview
[0222] The "state" of a business object 207 is the set of all its
attributes. Life cycle state refers only to a single attribute (or
a small group of attributes) that determine where the BO 207 is in
its life cycle. For example, the life cycle states of a Task are
Open, Completed, Cleared, or Error. Business objectives usually
involve moving a BO toward its final state (i.e., Completed for a
Task, Closed for a Supplement, etc.).
[0223] Often, there are restrictions on a BO's movement through its
life cycle. For example, a Task may only move to the Error state
after first being Completed or Cleared. BOs provide a mechanism to
ensure that they do not violate life cycle restrictions when they
move from state to state.
[0224] Approach
[0225] A BO 207 has a method to move to each one of its different
life cycle states. Rather than simply exposing a public variable
containing the life cycle state of the task, the BO exposes
methods, such as Task.Clear( ), Task.Complete( ) and
Task.MarkInError( ) that move the task a new state. This approach
prevents the task from containing an invalid value for life cycle
state, and makes it obvious what the life cycle states of a task
are.
Example
TABLE-US-00011 [0226] CTask Business Object Public Sub MarkInError(
) On Error Goto ErrorHandler Select Case m_nLifeCycleState move to
error only if I've already been completed or cleared Case
cmTaskCompleted, cmTaskCleared m_nLifeCycleState = cmTaskInError
otherwise, raise an error Case Else Err.Raise
cmErrInvalidLifeCycleState End Select Exit Sub ErrorHandler:
Err.Raise Err.Number End Sub
Business Logic: Operating on Groups of Business Objects
[0227] Overview
[0228] Sometimes, a BO 207 acts as a container for a group of other
BOs. This happens when performing operations involving multiple
BOs. For example, to close, an insurance claim ensures that it has
no open supplements or tasks. There might be a method on the
insurance claim BO--CanClose( )--that evaluates the business rules
restricting the closing of a claim and return true or false.
Another situation might involve retrieving the open tasks for a
claim. The claim can loop through its collection of tasks, asking
each task if it is open and, if so, adding it to a temporary
collection which is returned to the caller.
Example
TABLE-US-00012 [0229] Claim Business Object Error handling omitted
for clarity Public Function CanClose( ) As Boolean CanClose =
HasOpenTasks( ) And HasOpenSupplements( ) End Function Public
Function HasOpenTasks( ) As Boolean assume that I have open tasks
HasOpenTasks = True loop through all my tasks and exit if I find
one that is open Dim task As CTask For Each task In m_colTasks If
task.IsOpen( ) Then Exit Function Next task I must not have any
open tasks HasOpenTasks = False End Function Public Function
HasOpenSupplements( ) As Boolean assume that I have open
supplements HasOpenSupplements = True loop through all my
supplements and exit if I find one that is open Dim supp As
CSupplement For Each supp In m_colSupplements If supp.IsOpen( )
Then Exit Function Next supp HasOpenSupplements = False End
Function Public Function GetOpenTasks( ) As Collection Dim task As
CTask Dim colOpenTasks As Collection For Each task In m_colTasks If
task.IsOpen( ) Then colOpenTasks.Add task, task.Id Next task Set
GetOpenTasks = colOpenTasks End Function
Business Object Structures
[0230] Overview
[0231] When a BO 207 is added or updated, it sends all of its
attributes down to a server component 222 to write to the database.
Instead of explicitly referring to each attribute in the parameter
list of the functions on the CCA 208 and server component 222, all
the attributes are sent in a single variant array. This array is
also known as a structure.
[0232] Approach
[0233] Each editable BO 207 has a method named AsStruct that takes
the object's member variables and puts them in a variant array. The
CCA 208 calls this method on a BO 207 before it sends the BO 207
down to the server component 222 to be added or updated. The reason
that this is necessary is that, although object references can be
passed by value over the network, the objects themselves cannot.
Only basic data types like Integer and String can be sent by value
to a server component 222. A VB enumeration is used to name the
slots of the structure, so that the server component 222 can use a
symbolic name to access elements in the array instead of an index.
Note that this is generally used only when performing adds or full
updates on a business object 207.
[0234] In a few cases, there is a reason to re-instantiate the BO
207 on the server side. The FromStruct method does exactly the
opposite of the AsStruct method and initializes the BO 207 from a
variant array. The size of the structure passed as a parameter to
FromStruct is checked to increase the certainty that it is a valid
structure.
[0235] When a BO 207 contains a reference to another BO 207, the
AsStruct method stores the primary kev of the referenced BO 207.
For example, the Task structure contains a PerformerId, not the
performer BO 207 that is referenced by the task. When the
FromStruct method encounters the PerformerId in the task structure,
it instantiates a new performer BO and fills in the ID, leaving the
rest of the performer BO empty.
Example
TABLE-US-00013 [0236] Task Business Object enumeration of all task
attributes Public Enum TaskAttributes cmTaskId cmTaskName
cmTaskDescription End Enum all task attributes declarations here
all setter and getter functions here Public Function AsStruct( ) As
CTask On Error Goto ErrorHandler create and fill structure Dim
vStruct(cmTaskNumOfAttributes - 1) As Variant vStruct(cmTaskId) =
m_vId vStruct(cmTaskName) = m_sName vStruct(cmTaskPerformerId) =
m_vPerformerId vStruct(cmTaskDescription) = m_sDescription AsStruct
= vStruct Exit Function ErrorHandler: Err.Raise Err.Number End
Function Public Sub FromStruct(vStruct As Variant) On Error Goto
ErrorHandler check size of vStruct If Ubound(vStruct) <>
(cmTaskNumOfAttributes - 1) Then Err.Raise cmErrInvalidParameters
update my values from the structure m_vId = vStruct(cmTaskId)
m_sName = vStruct(cmTaskName) m_vPerformer.Id =
vStruct(cmTaskPerformerId) m_sDescription =
vStruct(cmTaskDescription) Exit Sub ErrorHandler: Err.Raise
Err.Number End Sub
Cloning Business Objects
[0237] Overview
[0238] Often a copy of a business object 207 is made. Cloning is a
way to implement this kind of functionality by encapsulating the
copying process in the BO 207 itself. Controllers 206 that need to
make tentative changes to a business object 207 simply ask the
original BO 207 for a clone and make changes to the clone. If the
user decides to save the changes, the controller 206 ask the
original BO to update itself from the changes made to the
clone.
[0239] Approach
[0240] Each BO 207 has a Clone method to return a shallow copy of
itself. A shallow copy is a copy that doesn't include copies of the
other objects that the BO 207 refers to, but only a copy of a
reference to those objects. For example, to clone a task, it does
not give the clone a brand new claim object; it gives the clone a
new reference to the existing claim object. Collections are the
only exception to this rule--they are always copied completely
since they contain references to other BOs.
[0241] Each BO 207 also has an UpdateFromClone method to allow it
"merge" a clone back in to itself by changing its attributes to
match the changes made to the clone.
Example
TABLE-US-00014 [0242] CTask Business Object Public Function Clone(
) As CTask On Error Goto ErrorHandler create clone object Dim
tskClone As CTask Set tskClone = New CTask fill clone with my data
With tskClone Id = m_vId Name = m_sName PerformerId =
m_vPerformerId Set .Performer = m_prfPerformer Description =
m_sDescription End With Set Clone = tskClone Exit Function
ErrorHandler: Err.Raise Err.Number End Function Public Sub
UpdateFromClone(tskClone As CTask) On Error Goto ErrorHandler set
my values equal to the clone's values With tskClone m_vId = .ID
m_sName = .Name m_vPerformerId = .PerformerId Set m_prfPerformer =
.Performer : m_sDescription = .Description End With Exit Sub
ErrorHandler: Err.Raise Err.Number End Sub
Half-Baked Business Objects
[0243] Overview
[0244] BOs 207 occasionally are filled only half-full for
performance reasons. This is done for queries involving multiple
tables that return large data sets. Using half-baked BOs 207 can be
an error prone process, so it is essential that the half-baking of
BOs are carefully managed and contained.
[0245] In most applications, there are two kinds of windows--search
windows and edit/detail windows. Search windows are the only
windows that half-bake BOs 207. Generally, half-baking only is a
problem when a detail window expecting a fully-baked BO receives a
half-baked BO from a search window.
[0246] Approach
[0247] Detail windows refresh the BOs 207 they are passed by the
search windows, regardless of whether or not they were already
fully-baked. This addresses the problems associated with passing
half-baked BOs and also helps ensure that the BO 207 is
up-to-date.
[0248] This approach requires another type of method (besides Get,
Add, Update, and Delete) on the CCA 208: a Refresh method. This
method is very similar to a Get method (in fact, it calls the same
method on the server component) but is unique because it refreshes
the data in objects that are already created. The detail window's
controller 206 calls the appropriate CCA 208 passing the BO 207 to
be refreshed, and may assume that, when control returns from the
CCA 208, the BO 207 will be up-to-date and fully-baked.
[0249] This is may not be necessary if two windows are very closely
related. If the first window is the only window that ever opens the
second, it is necessary for the second window to refresh the BO 207
passed by the first window if it knows that the BO 207 is baked
fully enough to be used.
CCAs
[0250] CCAs 208 are responsible for transforming data from row and
columns in a recordset to business objects 207, and for executing
calls to server components 222 on behalf of controllers 206.
Retrieving Business Objects
[0251] Overview
[0252] After asking a component to retrieve data, the CCA 208
marshals the data returned by the component into business objects
207 that are used by the UI Controller 206.
[0253] Approach
[0254] The marshaling process is as follows:
[0255] CCAs 208 call GetRows on the recordset to get a copy of its
data in a variant array in order to release the recordset as soon
as possible. A method exist to coordinate the marshaling of each
recordset returned by the component.
[0256] Only one recordset is coordinated in the marshaling process
of a single method. A method exist to build a BO from a single row
of a recordset. This method is called once for each row in the
recordset by the marshaling coordination method.
Example
TABLE-US-00015 [0257] Task CCA Public Function GetAllTasks( ) As
Collection On Error Goto ErrorHandler call a helper method to
retrieve tasks Dim vRows As Variant vRows = RetrieveAllTasks Dim i
As Integer Dim task As CTask Dim colTasks As Collection Set
colTasks = New Collection vRows is dimmed as column, row. Loop til
I run out of rows. For i = 0 To Ubound(vRows, 2) build BO using
helper method Set task = BuildTaskFromRow(vRows, i) add to
collection with ID as the key colTasks.Add task, task.Id Next i Set
MarshalTasks = colTasks Exit Function ErrorHandler: Err.Raise
Err.Number End Function Private Function RetrieveAllTasks( ) As
Variant On Error Goto ErrorHandler call my component and get a
recordset full of all tasks Dim rs As ADOR.Recordset Set rs =
tskComp.GetAllTasks( ) get data in variant array from the recordset
GetAllTasks = rs.GetRows release the recordset ASAP rs.Close Set rs
= Nothing Exit Function ErrorHandler: Err.Raise Err.Number End
Function Private Function BuildTaskFromRow(vRows As Variant,
nCurrentRow As Integer, .sub.-- Optional task As CTask) As CTask On
Error Goto ErrorHandler create task if it wasn't passed If task Is
Nothing Then Set task = New CTask fill task with data With task Id
= vRows(0, nCurrentRow) Name = vRows(1, nCurrentRow) PerformerId =
vRows(2, nCurrentRow) Description = vRows(32, nCurrentRow) End With
Set BuildTaskFromRow = task Exit Function ErrorHandler: Err.Raise
Err.Number End Function
Refreshing Business Objects
[0258] Overview
[0259] The logic to refresh BOs 207 is very similar to the logic to
create them in the first place. A "refresh" method is very similar
to a "get" method, but must use BOs 207 that already exist when
carrying out the marshalling process.
Example
TABLE-US-00016 [0260] Task CCA Public Sub RefreshTask(task As
CTask) On Error Goto ErrorHandler call a helper method to retrieve
tasks Dim vRow As Variant vRow = RetrieveTaskWithId(task.Id)
BuildTaskFromRow vRow, i, task Exit Sub ErrorHandler: Err.Raise
Err.Number End Sub Private Function RetrieveTaskWithId(vId As
Variant) As Variant On Error Goto ErrorHandler call my component
and get a recordset full of all tasks Dim rs As ADOR.Recordset Set
rs = tskComp.GetTaskWithId(vId) get data in variant array from the
recordset RetrieveTaskWithId = rs.GetRows release the recordset
ASAP rs.Close Set rs = Nothing Exit Function ErrorHandler:
Err.Raise Err.Number End Function
Adding Business Objects
[0261] Overview
[0262] Controllers 206 are responsible for creating and populating
new BOs 207. To add a BO 207 to the database, the controller 206
must call the CCA 208, passing the business object 207 to be added.
The CCA 208 calls the AsStruct method on the BO 207, and pass the
BO structure down to the component to be saved. It then updates the
BO 207 with the ID and timestamp generated by the server. Note the
method on the CCA 208 just updates the BO 207.
Example
TABLE-US-00017 [0263] Task CCA Public Sub AddTask(task As CTask) On
Error Goto ErrorHandler call component to add task passing a task
structure Dim vIdAndTimestamp As Variant vIdAndTimestamp =
tskComp.AddTask(task.AsStruct( )) update ID and Timestamp on task
task.Id = vIdAndTimestarnp(0) task.TimeStamp = vIdAndTimestamp(1)
Exit Sub ErrorHandler: Err.Raise Err.Number End Sub
Updating Business Objects
[0264] Overview
[0265] The update process is very similar to the add process. The
only difference is that the server component only returns a
timestamp, since the BO already has an ID.
Example
TABLE-US-00018 [0266] Task CCA Public Sub UpdateTask(task As CTask)
On Error Goto ErrorHandler call component to update task passing a
task structure Dim lTimeStamp As Long lTimeStamp =
tskComp.AddTask(task.AsStruct( )) update Timestamp on task
task.TimeStamp = lTimeStamp Exit Sub ErrorHandler: Err.Raise
Err.Number End Sub
Deleting Business Objects
[0267] Deleting Overview
[0268] Like the add and the update methods, delete methods take a
business object 207 as a parameter and do not have a return value.
The delete method does not modify the object 207 it is deleting
since that object will soon be discarded.
Example
TABLE-US-00019 [0269] Task CCA Public Sub DeleteTask(task As CTask)
On Error Goto ErrorHandler call component to update task passing a
the ID and Timestamp tskComp.DeleteTask task.Id, task.TimeStamp
Exit Sub ErrorHandler: Err.Raise Err.Number End Sub
Server Component
[0270] Server components 222 have two purposes: enforcing business
rules and carrying out data access operations. They are designed to
avoid duplicating logic between functions.
Designing for Reuse
[0271] Enforcing Encapsulation
[0272] Each server component 222 encapsulates a single database
table or a set of closely related database tables. As much as
possible, server components 222 select or modify data from a single
table. A component occasionally selects from a table that is
"owned" or encapsulated by another component in order to use a join
(for efficiency reasons). A server component 222 often collaborates
with other server components to complete a business
transaction.
[0273] Portioning Logic between Multiple Classes
[0274] If the component becomes very large, it is split into more
than one class. When this occurs, it is divided into two
classes--one for business rules and one for data access. The
business rules class implements the component's interface and
utilizes the data access class to modify data as needed.
Example
TABLE-US-00020 [0275] Private Function MarkTaskInError(vMsg As
Variant, .sub.-- vTaskId As Variant, .sub.-- lTimestamp As Variant,
.sub.-- sReason As String) As Long On Error GoTo ErrorHandler Const
cmMethodName = "MarkTaskInError" set the SQL statement Dim sSQL As
String sSQL = cmSQLMarkTaskInError get a new timestamp Dim
lNewTimeStamp As Long lNewTimeStamp = GetTimeStamp( ) create and
fill a collection of arguments to be merged with the SQL by the
ExecuteQuery method Dim colArgs As CCollection Set colArgs = New
CCollection With colArgs Add lNewTimeStamp Add cmDBBooleanTrue Add
sReason Add vTaskId Add lTimestamp End With run the SQL and set my
return value ExecuteQuery vMsg, cmUpdate, sSQL,
colArguments:=colArgs MarkTaskInError = lNewTimeStamp tell MTS I'm
done GetObjectContext.SetComplete Exit Function ErrorHandler: do
error handling here End Function
Error Handling
General Information
[0276] With the exception of "Class_Initialize", "Class_Terminate",
and methods called within an error handler, every function or
subroutine has a user defined `On Error GoTo` statement. The first
line in each procedure is: On Error GoTo ErrorHandler. A line near
the end of the procedure is given a label "ErrorHandler". (Note
that because line labels in VB 5.0 have procedure scope, each
procedure can have a line labeled "ErrorHandler"). The ErrorHandler
label is preceded by a Exit Sub or Exit Function statement to avoid
executing the error handling code when there is no error.
[0277] Errors are handled differently based on the module's level
within the application (i.e., user interface modules are
responsible for displaying error messages to the user).
[0278] All modules take advantage of technical architecture to log
messages. Client modules that already have a reference to the
architecture call the Log Manager object directly. Because server
modules do not usually have a reference to the architecture, they
use the LogMessage( ) global function complied into each server
component.
[0279] Any errors that are raised within a server component 222 are
handled by the calling UI controller 206. This ensures that the
user is appropriately notified of the error and that business
errors are not translated to unhandled fatal errors.
[0280] All unexpected errors are handled by a general error handler
function at the global Architecture module in order to always
gracefully shut-down the application.
Server Component Errors
[0281] The error handler for each service module contains a Case
statement to check for all anticipated errors. If the error is not
a recoverable error, the logic to handle it is first tell MTS about
the error by calling GetObjectContext.SetAbort( ). Next, the global
LogMessage( ) function is called to log the short description
intended for level one support personnel. Then the LogMessage( )
function is called a second time to log the detailed description of
the error for upper level support personnel. Finally, the error is
re-raised, so that the calling function will know the operation
failed.
[0282] A default Case condition is coded to handle any unexpected
errors. This logs the VB generated error then raises it. A code
sample is provided below:
[0283] Following is an example of how error handling in the task
component is implemented when an attempt is made to reassign a task
to a performer that doesn't exist. Executing SQL to reassign a task
to a non-existent performer generates a referential integrity
violation error, which is trapped in this error handler:
TABLE-US-00021 Class Declarations Private Const cmClassName =
''CTaskComp'' Public Sub ReassignTask(...) On Error GoTo
ErrorHandler Private Const cmMethodName = "ReassignTask" Private
Const cmErrReassignTask = "Could not reassign task." logic to
reassign a task GetObjectContext.SetComplete Exit Sub ErrorHandler:
Dim sShortDescr As String sShortDescr = cmErrReassignTask log short
description as warning LogMessage vMsg, Err.Number,
cmSeverityWarning, cmClassName, cmMethodName, sShortDescr Dim
sLongDescr As String Select Case Err.Number Case
cmErrRefIntegrityViolation GetObjectContext.SetAbort sLongDescr =
''Referential integrity violation - tried '' .sub.-- & ''to
reassign task to a non-existant performer. '' .sub.-- &
''Association ID: '' & sAssnId .sub.-- & ''Association
Type: '' & sAssnType .sub.-- & ''Old Performer Id: '' &
sOldPerformerId .sub.-- & ''New Performer Id: '' &
sNewPerformerId log long description as severe LogMessage vMsg,
Err.Number, cmSeveritySevere, cmClassName, cmMethodName, .sub.--
sLongDescr Err.Raise Err.Number more error handling Case Else let
architecture handle unanticipated error Dim nResumeCode As Integer
nResumeCode = GeneralErrorHandler(vMsg, cmServer, cmClassName,
cmMethodName) Select Case nResumeCode Case cmErrorResume Resume
Case cmErrorResumeNext Resume Next Case cmErrorExit Exit Sub Case
Else GetObjectContext.Abort Err.Raise Err.Number End Select End
Select End Sub
CCAs, CCIs, Business Objects, and Forms
[0284] All CCI's, CCA's, Business Objects, and Forms raise any
error that is generated. A code sample is provided below:
TABLE-US-00022 Sub SubName( ) On Error GoTo ErrorHandler <the
procedure's code here> ......... Exit Sub ErrorHandler:
Err.Raise Err.Number End Sub
User Interface Controller Errors
[0285] The user interface controllers 206 handle any errors
generated and passed up from the lower levels of the application.
UI modules are responsible for handling whatever errors might be
raised by server components 222 by displaying a message box to the
user.
[0286] Any error generated in the UI's is also displayed to the
user in a dialog box. Any error initiated on the client is logged
using the LogMessage( ) procedure. Errors initiated on the server
will already have been logged and therefore do not need to be
logged again.
[0287] All unexpected errors are trapped by a general error method
at the global architecture module. Depending on the value returned
from this function, the controller may resume on the statement that
triggered the error, resume on the next statement, call its Quiesce
function to shut itself down, or call a Shutdown method on the
application object to shutdown the entire application.
[0288] No errors are raised from this level of the application,
since controllers handle all errors. A code sample of a controller
error handler is provided below:
TABLE-US-00023 Class Constants Private Const cmClassName As String
= "<ComponentName>" Sub SubName( ) On Error GoTo ErrorHandler
Const cmMethodName As String = "<MethodName>" <the
procedure's code here> Exit Sub ErrorHandler: Select Case
CStr(Err.Number) Case ... display the error to the user perform any
necessary logic Exit Sub (or Resume, or Resume Next) Case Else Dim
nResumeCode As Integer nResumeCode = GeneralErrorHandler(vMsg,
cmController, cmClassName, cmMethodName) Select Case
CStr(nResumeCode) Case cmErrorResume Resume Case cmErrorResumeNext
Resume Next Case cmErrorExit Exit Sub Case cmErrorQuiesce Quiesce
Case Else objApp.SHUTDOWN End Select End Select End Sub
Localization
[0289] The CBAM application is constructed so that it can be
localized for different languages and countries with a minimum
effort or conversion.
Requirements and Scope
[0290] The CBAM architecture provides support for certain
localization features:
[0291] Localizable Resource Repository;
[0292] Flexible User Interface Design;
[0293] Date Format Localization; and
[0294] Exposure of Windows Operation System Localization
Features.
Localization Approach Checklist
TABLE-US-00024 [0295] Supported Supported via via Best Practices
Architecture Architecture and Localization Feature Service API's
Assumptions* Language Code (Locale Identifier) Time Zones Date/Time
Name Telephone Numbers Functions to Avoid Weights and Measures
Money Addresses/Address Hierarchies Menus, Icons, Labels/
Identifiers on Windows Messages/Dialogs String Functions, Sort
Order and String Comparison Code Tables Drop-Down Lists Form &
Correspondence Templates Online and Printed Documentation Database
(DB2) 3.sup.rd Party Controls Miscellaneous
Localizable Literals Repository
[0296] The CBAM application has an infrastructure to support
multiple languages. The architecture acts as a centralized literals
repository via its Codes Table Approach.
[0297] The Codes Tables have localization in mind. Each row in the
codes table contains an associated language identifier. Via the
language identifier, any given code can support values of any
language.
Flexible Interface 400
[0298] Flexible user interface 400 and code makes customization
easy. The FIG. 4 illustrates how different languages are repainted
and recompiled. For example, both a English UI 404, and a French UI
406 are easily accommodated. This entails minimal effort because
both UIs share the same core code base 402. Updates to the UIs are
merely be a superficial change.
[0299] Generic graphics are used and overcrowding is avoided to
create a user interface which is easy to localize.
Data Localization
[0300] Language localization settings affect the way dates are
displayed on UI's (user interfaces). The default system display
format is different for different Language/Countries. For Example:
[0301] English (United States) displays "mm/dd/yy" (e.g.,
"5/16/98") [0302] English (United Kingdom) displays "dd/mm/yy"
(e.g., "16/5/98").
[0303] The present inventions UI's employ a number of third-party
date controls including Sheridan Calendar Widgets (from Sheridan
Software) which allow developers to set predefined input masks for
dates (via the controls' Property Pages; the property in this case
is "Mask").
[0304] Although the Mask property can be manipulated, the default
setting is preferably accepted (the default setting for Mask is
"0--System Default"; it is set at design time). Accepting the
default system settings eliminates the need to code for multiple
locales (with some possible exceptions), does not interfere with
intrinsic Visual Basic functions such as DateAdd, and allows dates
to be formatted as strings for use in SQL.
[0305] The test program illustrated below shows how a date using
the English (United Kingdom) default system date format is
reformatted to a user-defined format (in this case, a string
constant for use with DB2 SQL statements):
TABLE-US-00025 Const cmDB2DateAndTime = "mm-dd-yyyy-h.mm.ss"
Private Sub cmdConvToDB2_Click( ) Dim sDB2Date As String sDB2Date =
Format$(SSDateCombo1.Date, cmDB2DateAndTime) txtDB2String.Text =
sDB2Date End Sub
Leverage Windows Operation System
[0306] The CBAM architecture exposes interface methods on the
RegistryService object to access locale specific values which are
set from the control panel.
[0307] The architecture exposes an API from the RegistryService
object which allows access to all of the information available in
the control panel. Shown below is the signature of the API: [0308]
GetRegionalInfo (Info As RegionalInfo) As String [0309] Where
RegionalInfo can be any of the values in the table below:
TABLE-US-00026 [0309] RegionalInfo Values CmLanguageId
CmDTDateSeparator cmDayLongNameMonday cmMonthLongNameJan
CmLanguageLocalized CmDTTimeSeparator cmDayLongNameTuesday
cmMonthLongNameFeb CmLanguageEnglish CmDTShortDateFormat
cmDayLongNameWednesday cmMonthLongNameMar CmLanguageAbbr
CmLDTongDateFormat cmDayLongNameThursday cmMonthLongNameApr
CmLanguageNative CmDTTimeFormat cmDayLongNameFriday
cmMonthLongNameMay CmCountryId CmDTDateFormatOrdering
cmDayLongNameSaturday cmMonthLongNameJun CmCountryLocalized
CmDTLongDateOrdering cmDayLongNameSunday cmMonthLongNameJul
CmCountryEnglish CmDTTimeFormatSpecifier cmDayAbbrNameMonday
cmMonthLongNameAug CmCountryAbbr CmDTCenturyFormatSpecifier
cmDayAbbrNameTuesday cmMonthLongNameSep CmCountryNative
CmDTTimeWithLeadingZeros cmDayAbbrNameWednesday cmMonthLongNameOct
CmLanguageDefaultId CmDTDayWithLeadingZeros cmDayAbbrNameThursday
cmMonthLongNameNov CmCountryDefaultId CmDTMonthWithLeadingZeros
cmDayAbbrNameFriday cmMonthLongNameDec CmDTDesignatorAM
cmDayAbbrNameSaturday cmMonthAbbrNameJan CmDTDesignatorPM
cmDayAbbrNameSunday cmMonthAbbrNameFeb cmMonthAbbrNameMar
cmMonthAbbrNameApr cmMonthAbbrNameMay cmMonthAbbrNameJun
cmMonthAbbrNameJul cmMonthAbbrNameAug cmMonthAbbrNameSep
cmMonthAbbrNameOct cmMonthAbbrNameNov cmMonthAbbrNameDec
Get RegionalInfo Example
TABLE-US-00027 [0310] Private Sub Command1_Click( ) MsgBox "This is
the language id for English: " & .sub.--
GetRegionalInfo(cmLanguageId) End Sub
Logical Unit of Work
[0311] The Logical Unit of Work (LUW) pattern enables separation of
concern between UI Controllers 206 and business logic.
[0312] Overview
[0313] Normally, when a user opens a window, makes changes, and
clicks OK or Save, a server component 222 is called to execute a
transaction that will save the user's changes to the database.
Because of this, it can be said that the window defines the
boundary of the transaction, since the transaction is committed
when the window closes.
[0314] The LUW pattern is useful when database transactions span
windows. For example, a user begins editing data on one window and
then, without saving, opens another window and begins editing data
on that window, the save process involves multiple windows. Neither
window controller 206 can manage the saving process, since data
from both windows must be saved as an part of an indivisible unit
of work. Instead, a LUW object is introduced to manage the saving
process.
[0315] The LUW acts as a sort of "shopping bag". When a controller
206 modifies a business object 207, it puts it in the bag to be
paid for (saved) later. It might give the bag to another controller
206 to finish the shopping (modify more objects), and then to a
third controller who pays (asks the LUW to initiate the save).
[0316] Approach
[0317] Controllers 206 may have different levels of LUW
"awareness":
[0318] Requires New: always creates a new LUW;
[0319] Requires: requires an LUW, and creates a new LUW only if one
is not passed by the calling controller;
[0320] Requires Existing: requires an LUW, but does not create a
new LUW if one is not passed by the calling controller. Raises an
error if no LUW is passed; and
[0321] Not Supported: is not capable of using an LUW.
[0322] Controllers 206 that always require a new LUW create that
LUW in their ArchInitClass function during initialization. They may
choose whether or not to involve other windows in their LUW. If it
is desirable for another window to be involved in an existing LUW,
the controller 206 that owns the LUW passes a reference to that LUW
when it calls the App Object 202 to open the second window.
Controllers 206 that require an LUW or require an existing LUW
accept the LUW as a parameter in the ArchInitClass function.
[0323] LUWs contain all the necessary logic to persist their
"contents"--the modified BOs 207. They handle calling methods on
the CCA 208 and updating the BOs 207 with new IDs and/or
timestamps.
Architecture API Hierarchy
[0324] Following is an overview of the architecture object model,
including a description of each method and the parameters it
accepts. Additional sections address the concepts behind specific
areas (code caching, message logging, and data access) in more
detail.
Arch Object
[0325] FIG. 5 depicts the current properties on the Arch Object
200.
[0326] The following are APIs located on the Arch Object 200 which
return either a retrieved or created instance of an object which
implements the following interfaces:
[0327] CodesMan( ) 500;
[0328] TextMan( ) 502;
[0329] IdMan( ) 504;
[0330] RegMan( ) 506;
[0331] LogMan( ) 508;
[0332] ErrMan( ) 510;
[0333] UserMan( ) 512; and
[0334] SecurityMan( ) 514.
[0335] AsMsgStruct( )
[0336] This method on the Arch Object returns a variant structure
to pass along a remote message.
[0337] Syntax:
TABLE-US-00028 Public Function AsMsgStruct( ) As Variant End
Function
[0338] Example:
TABLE-US-00029 Dim vMsg As Variant vMsg = objArch.AsMsgStruct
CodesMan
[0339] The following are APIs located on the interface of the Arch
Object 200 named CodesMan 500:
TABLE-US-00030 CheckCacheFreshness( ); FillControl(ctlControl,
nCategory, nFillType, [nCodeStatus], [colAssignedCodes]);
FilterCodes(colAllCodes, nCodeStatus); GetCategoryCodes(nCategory);
GetCodeObject(nCategory, sCode); GetResourceString(lStringId);
GetServerDate( ); RefreshCache( ); RemoveValidDates(sCode,
colPassedInAssignedCodes); and SetServerDate(dtServerDate).
[0340] CheckCacheFreshness( )
[0341] Checks whether the cache has expired, if so refresh.
[0342] Syntax:
TABLE-US-00031 Private Sub CheckCacheFreshness( ) End Sub
[0343] Example: [0344] CheckCacheFreshness
[0345] FillControl( )
[0346] This API is used to fill listboxes or comboboxes with values
from a list of CodeDecodes. Returns a collection for subsequent
lookups to Code objects used to fill controls.
[0347] Syntax:
TABLE-US-00032 Public Function FillControl(ctlControl As Object,
nCategory As CodeDecodeCats, nFillType As CodeDecodeLengths,
Optional nCodeStatus As CodeDecodeFilters = cmValidCodes, Optional
colAssignedCodes As CCollection) As CCollection End Function
[0348] Parameters:
TABLE-US-00033 ctlControl: A reference to a passed in listbox or
combobox. nCategory: The integer based constant which classified
these CodeDecodes from others. Several of the valid constants
include: cmCatTaskType = 1 cmCatSource cmCatTaskStatus nFillType:
The attribute of the CodeDecode which you want to fill. Several of
the valid values include: cmCode cmShortDecode cmLongDecode
nCodeStatus: Optional value which filters the Code Decodes
according to their Effective and Expiration dates. Several of the
valid constants include: cmAllCodes Pending + Valid + Expired Codes
cmPendingCodes Codes whose effective date is greater than the
current date cmValidCodes Not Pending or Expired Codes
colAssignedCodes: Used when filling a control which should fill and
include assigned values.
[0349] Example:
TABLE-US-00034 `Declare an instance variable for States collection
on object Private colStates As CCollection `Call FillControll API,
and set local collection inst var to collection of codes which were
used to fill the controll. This collection will be used for
subsequent lookups. Set colStates =
objArch.CodesMan.FillControl(frmCurrentForm.cboStates, cmCatStates,
cmLongDecode)
[0350] FilterCodes( )
[0351] Returns a collection of code/decodes that are filtered using
their effective and expiration dates based on which nCodeStatus is
passed from the fillcontrol method.
[0352] Syntax:
TABLE-US-00035 Private Function FilterCodes(colAllCodes As
CCollection, nCodeStatus As CodeDecodeFilters) As CCollection End
Function
[0353] Parameters:
TABLE-US-00036 colAllCodes: nCodeStatus:
[0354] Example: [0355] Set colFilteredCodes=FilterCodes(colCodes,
nCodeStatus)
[0356] GetCategoryCodes( )
[0357] Returns a collection of CCode objects given a valid
category
[0358] Syntax:
TABLE-US-00037 Public Function GetCategoryCodes(nCategory As
CodeDecodeCats) As CCollection End Function
[0359] Parameters:
TABLE-US-00038 nCategory: The integer based constant which
classified these CodeDecodes from others.
[0360] Example:
TABLE-US-00039 Dim colMyStates As CCollection Set colMyStates =
objArch.CodesMan.GetCategoryCodes(cmCatStates) `Below shows an
example of looking up the Code value for the currently selected
state. With frmCurrentForm.cboStates If .ListIndex > -1 Then Dim
objCode As CCode Set objCode = colStates(.ItemData(.ListIndex))
sStateCode = objCode.Code End If End With
[0361] GetCodeObject( )
[0362] Returns a valid CCode object given a specific category and
code.
[0363] Syntax:
TABLE-US-00040 Public Function GetCodeObject(nCategory As
CodeDecodeCats, sCode As String) As CCode End Function
[0364] Parameters:
TABLE-US-00041 nCategory: The integer based constant which
classified these CodeDecodes from others. sCode: A string
indicating the Code attribute of the CodeDecode object.
[0365] Example:
TABLE-US-00042 frmCurrentForm.lblState =
objArch.CodesMan.GetCodeObject(cmCatStates, "IL").LongDecode
[0366] GetResourceString( )
[0367] Returns a string from the resource file given a specific
string ID.
[0368] Syntax:
TABLE-US-00043 Private Function GetResourceString(lStringId As
Long) As String End Function
[0369] Parameters: [0370] lStringId: The id associated with the
string in the resource file.
[0371] Example: [0372]
smsg=arch.CodesMan.GetResourceString(CLng(vMessage))
[0373] GetServerDate( )
[0374] Returns the date from the server.
[0375] Syntax:
TABLE-US-00044 Private Function GetServerDate( ) As Date End
Function
[0376] Example: [0377] SetServerDate CCA.GetServerDate
[0378] RefreshCache( )
[0379] Refreshes all of the code objects in the cache.
[0380] Syntax:
TABLE-US-00045 Private Sub RefreshCache( ) End Sub
[0381] Example: [0382] m_Cache.RefreshCache
[0383] RemoveValidCodes( )
[0384] Removes all valid codes from the passed in assigned codes
collection, which is used to see which codes are assigned and not
valid.
[0385] Syntax:
TABLE-US-00046 Private Sub RemoveValidCodes(sCode As String,
colPassedInAssignedCodes As CCollection) End Sub
[0386] Parameters:
TABLE-US-00047 sCode: Name of code colPassedInAssignedCodes: Codes
already in use.
[0387] Example:
[0388] RemoveValidCodes codCode.Code, colPassedInAssignedCodes
[0389] SetServerDate( )
[0390] Sets the server date.
[0391] Syntax:
TABLE-US-00048 Private Sub SetServerDate(dtServerDate As Date) End
Sub
[0392] Parameters: [0393] dtServerDate: Date of Server.
[0394] Example: [0395] SetServerDate CCA.GetServerDate
TextMan
[0396] The following are APIs located on the interface of the Arch
Object 200 named TextMan 502.
[0397] PairUpAposts( );
[0398] PairUpAmps( ); and
[0399] MergeParms( ).
[0400] PairUpAposts( )
[0401] Pairs up apostrophes in the passed string.
[0402] Syntax:
TABLE-US-00049 Public Function PairUpAposts(sOriginalString As
String) As String End Function
[0403] Parameters: [0404] sOriginalString: string passed in by the
caller
[0405] Example:
TABLE-US-00050 Dim sString As String sString =
objArch.TextMan.PairUpAposts("This is Monika's string") `expected
return: sString = "This is Monika`'s string"
[0406] PairUpAmps( )
[0407] Pairs up ampersands in the passed string.
[0408] Syntax:
TABLE-US-00051 Public Function PairUpAmps(sOriginalString As
String) As String End Function
[0409] Parameters: [0410] sOriginalString: string passed in by the
caller
[0411] Example:
TABLE-US-00052 Dim sString As String sString =
objArch.TextMan.PairUpAmps("Forms&Corr") `expected return:
sString = "Forms&&Corr"
[0412] MergeParms( )
[0413] Merges string with the passed parameters collection.
[0414] Syntax:
TABLE-US-00053 Public Function MergeParms(sString As String,
colParms As CCollection) As String End Function
[0415] Parameters:
TABLE-US-00054 sOriginalString: string passed in by the caller
colParms As Ccollection: collection of the parameters passed in by
the caller
[0416] Example:
TABLE-US-00055 Dim sString As String sString =
objArch.TextMan.MergeParms(sString, colParms)
IdMan
[0417] The following are APIs located on the interface of the Arch
Object 200 named IdMan 504:
[0418] GetGUID( );
[0419] GetSequenceID( );
[0420] GetTimeStamp( );
[0421] GetTrackingNbr( ); and
[0422] GetUniqueId( ).
[0423] GetGUID( )
[0424] Syntax:
TABLE-US-00056 Public Function GetGUID( ) End Function
[0425] Example:
TABLE-US-00057 Dim vNewGuid As Variant vNewGuid =
objArch.IdMan.GetGUID
[0426] GetSequenceId( )
[0427] Syntax:
TABLE-US-00058 Public Function GetSequenceId(sTemplateType As
CounterName) As String End Function
[0428] Parameters:
TABLE-US-00059 sTemplateType:The string specifying the template
requesting a sequence id (i.e. cmCountFC = Forms & Corr)
[0429] Example: [0430]
frmCurrentForm.txtTemplateNumber=objArch.IdMan.GetSequenceId(cmCountFC)
[0431] GetTimeStamp( )
[0432] Syntax:
TABLE-US-00060 Public Function GetTimeStamp( ) End Function
[0433] Example:
TABLE-US-00061 Dim nNewTimeStamp As Long nNewTimeStamp =
objArch.IdMan.GetTimeStamp
[0434] GetTrackingNbr( )
[0435] Syntax:
TABLE-US-00062 Public Function GetTrackingNbr( ) End Function
[0436] Example:
TABLE-US-00063 Set objTechArch = New CTechArch sUniqueTrackNum =
objTechArch.IdMan.GetTrackingNbr
[0437] GetUniqueId( )
[0438] Syntax:
TABLE-US-00064 Public Function GetUniqueId( ) End Function
[0439] Example:
TABLE-US-00065 Dim vUid As Variant vNewUid =
objArch.IdMan.GetUniqueId
RegMan
[0440] The following are APIs located on the interface of the Arch
Object 200 named RegMan 506:
[0441] GetCacheLife( );
[0442] GetClientDSN( );
[0443] GetComputerName( );
[0444] GetDefaultAndValidate( );
[0445] GetFCArchiveDirectory( );
[0446] GetFCDistributionDirectory( );
[0447] GetFCMasterDirectory( );
[0448] GetFCUserDirectory( );
[0449] GetFCWorkingDirectory( );
[0450] GetHelpPath( );
[0451] GetLocalInfo( );
[0452] GetLogLevel( );
[0453] GetRegionalInfo( );
[0454] GetRegValue( );
[0455] GetServerDSN( );
[0456] GetSetting( );
[0457] GetTimerLogLevel( );
[0458] GetTimerLogPath( ); and
[0459] GetUseLocalCodes( ).
[0460] GetCacheLife( )
[0461] Syntax:
TABLE-US-00066 Public Function GetCacheLife( ) As String End
Function
[0462] Example:
TABLE-US-00067 Dim s As String s = objArch.RegMan.GetCacheLife
[0463] GetClientDSN( )
[0464] Syntax:
TABLE-US-00068 Public Function GetClientDSN( ) As String End
Function
[0465] Example:
TABLE-US-00069 Dim s As String s = objArch.RegMan.GetClientDSN
[0466] GetComputerName( )
[0467] Syntax:
TABLE-US-00070 Public Function GetComputerName( ) As String End
Function
[0468] Example:
TABLE-US-00071 Dim s As String s =
objArch.RegMan.GetComputerName
[0469] GetDefaultAndValidate( )
[0470] Syntax:
TABLE-US-00072 Private Function GetDefaultAndValidate(sKey As
String) As String End Function
[0471] Parameters:
TABLE-US-00073 sKey: The key within the registry of which the user
is requesting (i.e.: Help Path)
[0472] Example:
TABLE-US-00074 Dim sDefault As String sDefault =
objArch.RegMan.GetDefaultAndValidate(sKey)
[0473] GetFCArchiveDirectory( )
[0474] Syntax:
TABLE-US-00075 Public Function GetFCArchiveDirectory( ) As String
End Function
[0475] Example:
TABLE-US-00076 Dim s As String s =
objArch.RegMan.GetFCArchiveDirectory
[0476] GetFCDistributionDirectory( )
[0477] Syntax:
TABLE-US-00077 Public Function GetFCDistributionDirectory( ) As
String End Function
[0478] Example:
TABLE-US-00078 Dim s As String s =
objArch.RegMan.GetFCDistributionDirectory
[0479] GetFCMasterDirectory( )
[0480] Syntax:
TABLE-US-00079 Public Function GetFCMasterDirectory( ) As String
End Function
[0481] Example:
TABLE-US-00080 Dim s As String s =
objArch.RegMan.GetFCMasterDirectory
[0482] GetFCUserDirectory( )
[0483] Syntax:
TABLE-US-00081 Public Function GetFCUserDirectory( ) As String End
Function
[0484] Example:
TABLE-US-00082 Dim s As String s =
objArch.RegMan.GetFCUserDirectory
[0485] GetFCWorkingDirectory( )
[0486] Syntax:
TABLE-US-00083 Public Function GetFCWorkingDirectory( ) As String
End Function
[0487] Example:
TABLE-US-00084 Dim s As String s =
objArch.RegMan.GetFCWorkingDirectory
[0488] GetHelpPath( )
[0489] Syntax:
TABLE-US-00085 Public Function GetHelpPath( ) As String End
Function
[0490] Example:
TABLE-US-00086 Dim s As String s = objArch.RegMan.GetHelpPath
[0491] GetLocalInfo( )
[0492] Syntax:
TABLE-US-00087 Public Function GetLocalInfo( ) As String End
Function
[0493] Example:
TABLE-US-00088 Dim s As String s = objArch.RegMan.GetLocalInfo
[0494] GetLogLevel( )
[0495] Syntax:
TABLE-US-00089 Public Function GetLogLevel( ) As String End
Function
[0496] Example:
TABLE-US-00090 Dim s As String s = objArch.RegMan.GetLogLevel
[0497] GetRegionalInfo( )
[0498] Allows access to all locale specific values which are set
from control panel.
[0499] Syntax:
TABLE-US-00091 Public Function GetRegionalInfo(Info As
RegionalInfo) As String End Function
[0500] Parameters: [0501] Info: string containing the regional
information. Several of the valid constants include:
TABLE-US-00092 [0501] cmLanguageId = &H1 ` language id
cmLanguageLocalized = &H2 ` localized name of language
cmLanguageEnglish = &H1001 ` English name of language
cmLanguageAbbr = &H3 ` abbreviated language name
cmLanguageNative = &H4 ` native name of language
[0502] Example:
TABLE-US-00093 Dim s As String s =
objArch.RegMan.GetRegionalInfo
[0503] GetRegValue( )
[0504] Syntax:
TABLE-US-00094 Public Function GetRegValue( ) As String End
Function
[0505] Example:
TABLE-US-00095 Dim s As String s = objArch.RegMan.GetRegValue
[0506] GetServerDSN( )
[0507] Syntax:
TABLE-US-00096 Public Function GetServerDSN( ) As String End
Function
[0508] Example:
TABLE-US-00097 Dim s As String s = objArch.RegMan.GetServerDSN
[0509] GetSetting( )
[0510] Get setting from the registry.
[0511] Syntax:
TABLE-US-00098 Public Function GetSetting(sKey As String) As String
End Function
[0512] Parameters:
TABLE-US-00099 sKey: The key within the registry of which the user
is requesting (i.e.: Help Path)
[0513] Parameters: [0514]
GetHelpPath=GetSetting(cmRegHelpPathKey)
[0515] GetTimerLogLevel( )
[0516] Syntax:
TABLE-US-00100 Public Function GetTimerLogLevel( ) As String End
Function
[0517] Example:
TABLE-US-00101 Dim s As String s =
objArch.RegMan.GetTimerLogLevel
[0518] GetTimerLogPath( )
[0519] Syntax:
TABLE-US-00102 Public Function GetTimerLogPath( ) As String End
Function
[0520] Example:
TABLE-US-00103 Dim s As String s =
objArch.RegMan.GetTimerLogPath
[0521] GetUseLocalCodes( )
[0522] Syntax:
TABLE-US-00104 Public Function GetUseLocalCodes( ) As String End
Function
[0523] Example:
TABLE-US-00105 Dim s As String s =
objArch.RegMan.GetUseLocalCodes
[0524] LPSTRToVBString( )
[0525] Extracts a VB string from a buffer containing a null
terminated string.
[0526] Syntax:
TABLE-US-00106 Private Function LPSTRToVBString$(ByVal s$) End
Function
LogMan
[0527] The following are APIs located on the interface of the Arch
Object 200 named LogMan 508:
[0528] LogMessage( );
[0529] WriteToDatabase( ); and
[0530] WriteToLocalLog( ).
[0531] LogMessage( )
[0532] Used to log the message. This function will determine where
the message should be logged, if at all, based on its severity and
the vMsg's log level.
[0533] Syntax:
TABLE-US-00107 Public Sub LogMessage(vMsg As Variant, .sub.--
lSeverity As Long, .sub.-- sClassName As String, .sub.--
sMethodName As String, .sub.-- sVersion As String, .sub.--
lErrorNum As Long, .sub.-- Optional sText As String = vbNullString)
End Sub
[0534] Parameters:
TABLE-US-00108 vMsg: the standard architecture message lSeverity:
the severity of the message sClassName: the name of the class
logging the message sMethodName: the name of the method logging the
message sVersion: the version of the binary file (EXE or DLL) that
contains the method logging message lErrorNum: the number of the
current error sText: an optional parameter containing the text of
the message. If omitted, the text will be looked up in a string
file or the generic VB error description will be used
[0535] Example:
TABLE-US-00109 If Err.Number <> 0 Then ` log message
Arch.LogMan.LogMessage(vMsg, cmSeverityFatal, "COrganizationCTLR",
"InitForm", GetVersion( ), Err.Number, Err.Description) ` re-raise
the error Err.Raise Err.Number End If
[0536] WriteToDatabase( )
[0537] Used to log the message to the database on the server using
the CLoggingComp. This function returns the TrackingId that is
generated by the CLoggingObject.
[0538] Syntax:
TABLE-US-00110 Private Sub WriteToDatabase(vMsg As Variant,
msgToLog As CMessage) End Sub
[0539] Parameters:
TABLE-US-00111 vMsg: the standard architecture message msgToLog: a
parameter containing the text of the message.
[0540] Example:
TABLE-US-00112 If msgToLog.IsLoggableAtLevel(m_lLocalLogLevel) Then
WriteToDatabase vMsg, msgToLog End If
[0541] WriteToLocalLog( )
[0542] Used to log the message to either a flat file, in the case
of Windows 95, or the NT Event Log, in the case of Windows NT.
[0543] Syntax:
TABLE-US-00113 Private Sub WriteToLocalLog(msgToLog As CMessage)
End Sub
[0544] Parameters: [0545] msgToLog: a parameter containing the text
of the message.
[0546] Example:
TABLE-US-00114 ErrorHandler: WriteToLocalLog msgToLog End Sub
ErrMan
[0547] The following are APIs located on the interface of the Arch
Object 200 named ErrMan 510:
[0548] HandleError( );
[0549] RaiseOriginal( );
[0550] ResetError( ); and
[0551] Update( ).
[0552] HandleError( )
[0553] This method is passed through to the general error handler
in MArch.bas
[0554] Syntax:
TABLE-US-00115 Public Function HandleError(vMsg As Variant,
nCompType As CompType, sClassName As String, sMethodName As String)
As ErrResumeCodes End Sub
[0555] Parameters:
TABLE-US-00116 vMSg: General Architecture Information nCompType:
Contains tier information (Client or Server) sClassName: Class
which raised the error. sMethodName: Method which raised the
error.
[0556] RaiseOriginal( )
[0557] This method is used to Reset the error object and raise.
Syntax:
TABLE-US-00117 Public Sub RaiseOriginal( ) End Sub
[0558] Example: [0559] objArch.ErrMan.RaiseOriginal
[0560] ResetError( )
[0561] This method is used to reset attributes.
[0562] Syntax:
TABLE-US-00118 Public Sub ResetError( ) End Sub
[0563] Example: [0564] objArch.ErrMan.ResetError
[0565] Update( )
[0566] This method is used to update attributes to the values of
VBs global Error object.
[0567] Syntax:
TABLE-US-00119 Public Sub Update( ) End Sub
[0568] Example: [0569] objArch.ErrMan.Update
UserMan
[0570] The following are APIs located on the interface of the Arch
Object 200 named UserMan 512.
[0571] UserId;
[0572] EmployeeId;
[0573] EmployeeName;
[0574] EmployeeFirstName;
[0575] EmployeeLastName;
[0576] EmployeeMiddleInitial;
[0577] GetAuthorizedEmployees;
[0578] IsSuperOf( );
[0579] IsRelativeOf( ); and
[0580] IsInRole( ).
[0581] UserId( )
[0582] Syntax:
TABLE-US-00120 Public Property Get UserId( ) As String End
Property
[0583] Example:
TABLE-US-00121 Dim sNewUserId As String sNewUserId =
objArch.UserMan.UserId
[0584] EmployeeId( )
[0585] Syntax:
TABLE-US-00122 Public Property Get EmployeeId( ) As String End
Property
[0586] Example:
TABLE-US-00123 Dim sNewEmployeeId As String sNewEmployeeId =
objArch.UserMan.EmployeeId
[0587] EmployeeName( )
[0588] Syntax:
TABLE-US-00124 Public Property Get EmployeeName( ) As String End
Property
[0589] Example:
TABLE-US-00125 Dim sName As String sName =
objArch.UserMan.EmployeeName
[0590] EmployeeFirstName( )
[0591] Syntax:
TABLE-US-00126 Public Property Get EmployeeFirstName( ) As String
End Property
[0592] Example:
TABLE-US-00127 Dim sFName As String sFName =
objArch.UserMan.EmployeeFirstName
[0593] EmployeeLastName( )
[0594] Syntax:
TABLE-US-00128 Public Property Get EmployeeLastName( )As String End
Property
[0595] Example:
TABLE-US-00129 Dim sLName As String sLName =
objArch.UserMan.EmployeeLastName
[0596] EmployeeMiddleInitial( )
[0597] Syntax:
TABLE-US-00130 Public Property Get EmployeeMiddleInitial( ) As
String End Property
[0598] Example:
TABLE-US-00131 Dim sMI As String sMI =
objArch.UserMan.EmployeeMiddleInitial
[0599] GetAuthorizedEmployees( )
[0600] Creates a collection of user's supervisees from the
dictionary and returns GetAuthorizedEmployees--collection of
authorized employees
[0601] Syntax:
TABLE-US-00132 Public Function GetAuthorizedEmployees( ) As
CCollection End Function
[0602] Example:
TABLE-US-00133 Dim colAuth As Collection colAuth =
objArch.UserMan.GetAuthorizedEmployees
[0603] IsSuperOf( )
[0604] Checks if the current user is supervisor of the passed in
user.
[0605] Syntax:
TABLE-US-00134 Public Function IsSuperOf(sEmpId As String) As
Boolean End Function
[0606] Parameters: [0607] sEmpId: string containing Employee ID
number
[0608] Example:
TABLE-US-00135 Dim bIsSuperOfMonika As Boolean bIsSuperOfMonika =
objArch.UserMan.IsSuperOf("TS012345")
[0609] IsRelativeOf( )
[0610] Checks if the passed in user is relative of the current
user.
[0611] Syntax:
TABLE-US-00136 Public Function IsRelativeOf(sEmpId As String) As
Boolean End Function
[0612] Parameters: [0613] sEmpId: string containing Employee ID
number
[0614] Example:
TABLE-US-00137 Dim bIsRelativeOfMonika As Boolean
bIsRelativeOfMonika = objArch.UserMan.IsRelativeOf("TS012345")
[0615] IsInRole( )
[0616] Checks to see if the current user is in a certain role.
[0617] Syntax:
TABLE-US-00138 Public Function IsInRole(sRole As String) As Boolean
End Function
[0618] Parameters: [0619] sRole: string containing role
[0620] Example:
TABLE-US-00139 Dim bIsInRoleTaskLibrarian As Boolean
bIsInRoleTaskLibrarian = objArch.UserMan.IsInRole("TA")
SecurityMan
[0621] The following APIs are located on the interface of the Arch
Object 200 named SecurityMan 514.
[0622] EvalClaimRules;
[0623] EvalFileNoteRules;
[0624] EvalFormsCorrRules;
[0625] EvalOrgRules;
[0626] EvalRunApplicationRules;
[0627] EvalRunEventProcRules;
[0628] EvalTaskTemplateRules;
[0629] EvalUserProfilesRules;
[0630] IsOperAuthorized;
[0631] GetUserId; and
[0632] OverrideUser.
[0633] EvalClaimRules( )
[0634] This API references business rules for Claim security
checking and returns a boolean if rules are met.
[0635] Syntax:
TABLE-US-00140 Private Function EvalClaimRules(lBasicOp As
cmBasicOperations, vContextData As Variant) As Boolean End
Function
[0636] Parameters:
TABLE-US-00141 lBasicOp: a basic operation the current user is
wishing to perform (i.e. Delete) vContextData: a variant array
holding relevant business objects or other information.
[0637] Example:
TABLE-US-00142 Select Case lOperation Case cmWorkOnClaim
IsOperAuthorized = EvalClaimRules(cmView, vContextData) And .sub.--
EvalClaimRules(cmEdit, vContextData)
[0638] EvalFileNoteRules( )
[0639] This API references business rules for FileNote security
checking and returns a boolean if rules are met.
[0640] Syntax:
TABLE-US-00143 Private Function EvalFileNoteRules(lBasicOp As
cmBasicOperations, vContextData As Variant) As Boolean End
Function
[0641] Parameters:
TABLE-US-00144 lBasicOp: a basic operation the current user is
wishing to perform (i.e. Delete) vContextData: a variant array
holding relevant business objects or other information.
[0642] Example:
TABLE-US-00145 Select Case lOperation Case cmDeleteFileNote
IsOperAuthorized = EvalFileNoteRules(cmDelete, vContextData)
[0643] EvalFormsCorrRules( )
[0644] This API references business rules for Forms and Corr
security checking and returns a boolean if rules are met.
[0645] Syntax:
TABLE-US-00146 Private Function EvalFormsCorrRules(lBasicOp As
cmBasicOperations) As Boolean End Function
[0646] Parameters:
TABLE-US-00147 lBasicOp: a basic operation the current user is
wishing to perform (i.e. Delete)
[0647] Example:
TABLE-US-00148 Select Case lOperation Case cmMaintainFormsCorr
IsOperAuthorized = EvalFormsCorrRules(cmEdit) And .sub.--
EvalFormsCorrRules(cmDelete) And .sub.--
EvalFormsCorrRules(cmAdd)
[0648] EvalOrgRules( )
[0649] This API references business rules for Event Processor
security checking and returns a boolean if rules are met.
[0650] Syntax:
TABLE-US-00149 Private Function EvalOrgRules(lBasicOp As
cmBasicOperations) As Boolean End Function
[0651] Parameters:
TABLE-US-00150 lBasicOp: a basic operation the current user is
wishing to perform (i.e. Delete)
[0652] Example:
TABLE-US-00151 Select Case lOperation Case cmMaintainOrg
IsOperAuthorized = EvalOrgRules(cmAdd) And .sub.--
EvalOrgRules(cmEdit) And .sub.-- EvalOrgRules(cmDelete)
[0653] EvalRunApplicationRules( )
[0654] This API references business rules for running the
application and returns a boolean if rules are met.
[0655] Syntax:
TABLE-US-00152 Private Function EvalRunApplicationRules(lBasicOp As
cmBasicOperations) As Boolean End Function
[0656] Parameters:
TABLE-US-00153 lBasicOp: a basic operation the current user is
wishing to perform (i.e. Delete)
[0657] Example:
TABLE-US-00154 Select Case lOperation Case cmRunApplication
IsOperAuthorized = EvalRunApplicationRules(cmExecute)
[0658] EvalRunEventProcRules( )
[0659] This API references business rules for Event Processor
security checking and returns a boolean if rules are met.
[0660] Syntax:
TABLE-US-00155 Private Function EvalRunEventProcRules(lBasicOp As
cmBasicOperations) As Boolean End Function
[0661] Parameters:
TABLE-US-00156 lBasicOp: a basic operation the current user is
wishing to perform (i.e. Delete)
[0662] Example:
TABLE-US-00157 Select Case lOperation Case cmRunEventProcessor
IsOperAuthorized = EvalRunEventProcRules(cmExecute)
[0663] EvalTaskTemplateRules( )
[0664] This API references business rules for Task Template
security checking and returns a boolean if rules are met.
[0665] Syntax:
TABLE-US-00158 Private Function EvalTaskTemplateRules(lBasicOp As
cmBasicOperations) As Boolean End Function
[0666] Parameters:
TABLE-US-00159 lBasicOp: a basic operation the current user is
wishing to perform (i.e. Delete)
[0667] Example:
TABLE-US-00160 Select Case lOperation Case cmMaintainTaskLibrary
IsOperAuthorized = EvalTaskTemplateRules(cmAdd) And .sub.--
EvalTaskTemplateRules(cmEdit) And .sub.--
EvalTaskTemplateRules(cmDelete)
[0668] EvalUserProfileRules( )
[0669] This API references business rules for Task Template
security checking and returns a boolean if rules are met.
[0670] Syntax:
TABLE-US-00161 Private Function EvalUserProfileRules(lBasicOp As
cmBasicOperations, vContextData As Variant) As Boolean End
Function
[0671] Parameters:
TABLE-US-00162 lBasicOp: a basic operation the current user is
wishing to perform (i.e. Delete) vContextData: a variant array
holding relevant business objects or other information.
[0672] Example:
TABLE-US-00163 Select Case lOperation Case cmIsRelativeOf
IsOperAuthorized = EvalUserProfileRules(cmView, vContextData) And
EvalUserProfileRules(cmAdd, vContextData) And .sub.--
EvalUserProfileRules(cmEdit, vContextData) And
EvalUserProfileRules(cmDelete, vContextData)
[0673] GetUserId( )
[0674] Returns the login name/user id of the current user.
[0675] Syntax:
TABLE-US-00164 Public Function GetUserId( ) As String End
Function
[0676] Example:
TABLE-US-00165 Dim sUserId as String sUserId = GetUserId
[0677] IsOperAuthorized( )
[0678] This API references business rules and returns a boolean
determining whether the user has security privileges to perform a
certain operation.
[0679] Syntax:
TABLE-US-00166 Public Function IsOperAuthorized(vMsg, as variant,
nOperation as cmOperations, vContext As Variant) As Boolean End
Function
[0680] Parameters:
TABLE-US-00167 vMsg: the standard architecture message nOperation:
an enumeration containing name of operation to be checked.
vContext: a variant array holding relevant business objects or
other information.
[0681] Example:
TABLE-US-00168 Dim bCanIDoThis As Boolean bCanIDoThis =
objArch.SecurityMan.IsOperAuthorized(vMsg, aOperationName,
vContext) TlbEditIcon.Enabled = bCanIDoThis
[0682] OverrideUser( )
[0683] Re-initializes for a different user.
[0684] Syntax:
TABLE-US-00169 Public Sub OverrideUser(Optional sUserId As String,
Optional dictRoles As CDictionary, Optional dictSubs As
CDictionary) End Function
[0685] Parameters:
TABLE-US-00170 sUserId: dictRoles: dictSubs:
[0686] Example:
TABLE-US-00171 Dim x As New CTechArch x.SecurityMan.OverrideUser
"Everyone", New CDictionary, New CDictionary
Codes Framework
General Requirements
[0687] Separate tables (CodesDecodes) are Created for storing the
static values.
[0688] Only the references to codes/decodes are stored in business
tables (e.g., Task) which utilize these values. This minimizes the
size of the business tables, since storing a Code value takes much
less storage space than its corresponding Decode value (e.g., For
State, "AL" is stored in each table row instead of the string
"Alabama").
[0689] CodeDecodes are stored locally on the client workstation in
a local DBMS. On Application startup, a procedure to ensure the
local tables are in sync with the central DBMS is performed.
Infrastructure Approach
[0690] The present invention's Code Decode Infrastructure 600
Approach outlines the method of physically modeling codes tables.
The model allows codes to be extended with no impact to the
physical data model and/or application and architecture. FIG. 6
shows the physical layout of CodeDecode tables according to one
embodiment of the present invention.
[0691] Infrastructure
[0692] The physical model of the CodeDecode infrastructure 600 does
the following:
[0693] Supports relational functionality between CodeDecode
objects;
[0694] Supports extensibility without modification to the DBMS or
Application Architecture;
[0695] Provides a consistent approach for accessing all CodeDecode
elements; and
[0696] Is easily maintainable.
[0697] These generic tables are able to handle new categories, and
modification of relationships without a need to change the DBMS or
CodeDecode Application Architecture.
[0698] Benefits of this model are extensibility and
maintainability. This model allows for the modifications of code
categories without any impact to the DBMS or the Application
Architecture code. This model also requires fewer tables to
maintain. In addition, only one method is necessary to access
CodeDecodes.
[0699] Table Relationships and Field Descriptions: [0700] (pk)
indicates a Primary Key
[0701] Code_Category 602 [0702] C_Category (pk): The category
number for a group of codes [0703] C_Cache (currently not
utilized): Can indicate whether the category should be cached in
memory on the client machine [0704] T_Category: A text description
of the category (e.g., Application Task Types, Claim Status, Days
of Week) [0705] D_Last_Update: The date any data within the given
category was last updated; this field is used in determining
whether to update a category or categories on the local data base
[0706] Relationships [0707] A one-to-many relationship with the
table Code (i.e., one category can have multiple codes)
[0708] Code 604 [0709] C_Category (pk): The category number for a
group of codes [0710] C_Code (pk): A brief code identifier (up to
ten characters; the current maximum length being used is five
characters) [0711] D_Effective: A date field indicating the code's
effective date [0712] D_Expiration: A date field indicating the
code's expiration date (the default is Jan. 1, 2999) [0713]
Relationships [0714] A many-to-one relationship with Code_Category
602 (described above) [0715] A one-to-many relationship with
Code_Relations 606 (a given category-and-code combination can be
related to multiple other category-and-code combinations)
[0716] Code_Relations 606 [0717] C_Category1 (pk): The first
category [0718] C_Code1 (pk): The first code [0719] C_Category2
(pk): The related category [0720] C_Code2 (pk): The related code
[0721] Relationships [0722] A many-to-one relationship with the
Code table (each category and code in the Code table can have
multiple related category-code combinations)
[0723] Code_Decode 608 [0724] C_Category (pk): The category number
for a group of codes [0725] C_Code (pk): A brief code identifier
(up to ten characters; the current maximum length being used is
five characters) [0726] N_Lang_ID (pk): A value indicating the
local language setting (as defined in a given machine's Regional
Settings). For example, the value for English (United States) is
stored as 0409. Use of this setting allows for the storage and
selection of text code descriptions based on the language chosen
[0727] T_Short_Desc: An abbreviated textual description of C_Code
[0728] T_Long_Desc: A full-length textual description of
C_Code--what the user will actually see (e.g., Close
Supplement--Recovery, File Note, Workers Compensation)
Localization Support Approach
[0729] Enabling Localization
[0730] Codes have support for multiple languages. The key to this
feature is storing a language identifier along with each CodeDecode
value. This Language field makes up a part of the compound key of
the Code_Decode table. Each Code API lookup includes a system level
call to retrieve the Language system variable. This value is used
as part of the call to retrieve the values given the correct
language.
[0731] Maintaining Language Localization Setting
[0732] A link to the Language system environment variable to the
language keys is stored on each CodeDecode. This value is modified
at any time by the user simply by editing the regional settings
User Interface available in the Microsoft Windows Control Panel
folder.
Codes Expiration Approach
[0733] Handling Time Sensitive Codes becomes an issue when filling
controls with a list of values. One objective is to only allow the
user to view and select appropriate entries. The challenge lies in
being able to expire Codes without adversely affecting the
application. To achieve this, consideration is given to how each UI
will decide which values are appropriate to show to the user given
its current mode.
[0734] The three most common UI modes that affect time sensitive
codes are Add Mode, View Mode, and Edit Mode.
[0735] Add Mode
[0736] In Add Mode, typically only valid codes are displayed to the
user as selection options. Note that the constant, cmValidCodes, is
the default and will still work the same even when this optional
parameter is omitted. [0737] Set
colStates=objArch.CodesMan.FillControl(frmCurrentForm.cboStates,
cmCatStates, cmLongDecode, cmValidCodes)
[0738] View Mode
[0739] In View Mode, the user is typically viewing results of
historical data without direct ability to edit. Editing selected
historical data launches another UI. Given this the controls are
filled with valid and expired codes, or in other words, non-pending
codes. [0740] Set
colStates=objArch.CodesMan.FillControl(frmCurrentForm.cboStates,
cmCatStates, cmLongDecode, cmNonPendingCodes)
[0741] Edit Mode
[0742] In Edit Mode, changes are allowed to valid codes but also
expired codes are displayed if already assigned to the entity.
[0743] Dim colAssignedCodes As New cCollection [0744]
colAssignedCodes.Add HistoricalAddress.State [0745] Set
colStates=objArch.CodesMan.FillControl(frmCurrentForm.cboStates,
cmCatStates, cmLongDecode, cmValidCodes, colAssignedCodes)
Updating Local CodeDecodes
[0746] The Local CodeDecode tables are kept in sync with central
storage of CodeDecodes. The architecture is responsible for making
a check to see if there are any new or updated code decodes from
the server on a regular basis. The architecture also, upon
detection of new or modified CodeDecode categories, returns the
associated data, and performs an update to the local database. FIG.
7 is a logic diagram for this process 700.
[0747] After an API call, a check is made to determine if the Arch
is initialized 702. If it is a check is made to determine if the
Freshness Interval has expired 704. If the Freshness Interval has
not expired, the API call is complete 706. However, if either the
Arch is not initialized or the Freshness Interval has expired, then
the "LastUpdate" fields for each category are read from the
CodeDecode and passed to the server 708. Then new and updated
categories are read from the database 710. Finally the Local
database is updated 712.
Code Access APIs
[0748] The following are APIs located on the interface of the Arch
Object 200 named CodesMan 500.
[0749] GetCodeObject(nCategory, sCode);
[0750] GetCategoryCodes(nCategory);
[0751] FillControl(ctlControl, nCategory, nFillType, [nCodeStatus],
[colAssignedCodes]).
[0752] GetCodeObject: Returns a valid CCode object given a specific
category and code.
[0753] Syntax: [0754] GetCodeObject(nCategory, sCode)
[0755] Parameters: [0756] nCategory: The integer based constant
which classified these CodeDecodes from others. [0757] sCode: A
string indicating the Code attribute of the CodeDecode object.
[0758] Example:
TABLE-US-00172 frmCurrentForm.lblState =
objArch.CodesMan.GetCodeObject (cmCatStates, "IL").LongDecode
[0759] GetCategoryCodes: Returns a collection of CCode objects
given a valid category
[0760] Syntax: [0761] GetCategoryCodes(nCategory)
[0762] Parameters: [0763] nCategory: The integer based constant
which classified these CodeDecodes from others.
[0764] Example:
TABLE-US-00173 Dim colMyStates As CCollection , Set colMyStates =
objArch.CodesMan.GetCategory(cmCatStates)
[0765] FillControl: This API is used to fill listboxes or
comboboxes with values from a list of CodeDecodes. Returns a
collection for subsequent lookups to Code objects used to fill
controls.
[0766] Syntax: [0767] FillControl(ctlControl, nCategory, nFillType,
[nCodeStatus], [colAssignedCodes])
[0768] Parameters: [0769] ctlControl: A reference to a passed in
listbox or combobox. [0770] nCategory: The integer based constant
which classified these CodeDecodes from others. [0771] nFillType:
The attribute of the CodeDecode which you want to fill. Valid
values include:
TABLE-US-00174 [0771] cmCode cmShortDecode cmLongDecode
[0772] nCodeStatus: Optional value which filters the Code Decodes
according to their Effective and Expiration dates. Valid constants
include the following:
TABLE-US-00175 [0772] cmAllCodes Pending + Valid + Expired Codes
cmPendingCodes Codes whose effective date is greater than the
current date cmValidCodes Not Pending or Expired Codes
cmExpiredCodes Codes whose expired date is greater than the current
date cmNonPendingCodes Valid + Expired Codes cmNonValidCodes
Pending + Expired Codes cmNonExpiredCodes Pending + Valid Codes
[0773] colAssignedCodes: Used when filling a control which should
fill and include assigned values.
[0774] Example: [0775] `Declare an instance variable for States
collection on object [0776] Private colStates As CCollection [0777]
`Call FillControl API, and set local collection inst var to
collection of codes which were used to fill the control. This
collection will be used for subsequent lookups.
TABLE-US-00176 [0777] Set colStates =
objArch.CodesMan.FillControl(frmCurrentForm.cboStates, cmCatStates,
cmLongDecode)
[0778] `Below shows an example of looking up the Code value for the
currently selected state.
TABLE-US-00177 [0778] With frmCurrentForm.cboStates If .ListIndex
> -1 Then Dim objCode As CCode Set objCode =
colStates(.ItemData(.ListIndex)) sStateCode = objCode.Code End If
End With
Relational Codes Access APIs
[0779] Code objects returned via the "GetCodeObject" or
"GetCategoryCodes" APIs can have relations to other code objects.
This allows for functionality in which codes are associated to
other individual code objects.
[0780] The APIs used to retrieve these values are similar to those
on the CodesMan interface. The difference, however is that the
methods are called on the Codes object rather that the CodesManager
interface: Listed below again are the APIs.
[0781] GetCodeObject(nCategory, sCode);
[0782] GetCategoryCodes(nCategory);
[0783] FillControl(ctlControl, nCategory, nFillType, [nCodeStatus],
[colAssignedCodes]).
[0784] Given below is some sample code to illustrate how these APIs
are also called on Code objects.
[0785] GetCodeObject Example:
TABLE-US-00178 Dim objBondCode As CCode Set objBondCode =
objArch.CodesMan.GetCodeObject(cmCatLOB, "B") Dim objSuretyCode As
CCode Set objSuretyCode =
objBondCode.GetCodeObject(cmCatSupplement, "B01")
[0786] GetCategory Example:
TABLE-US-00179 Dim objBondCode As CCode Set objBondCode =
objArch.CodesMan.GetCodeObject(cmCatLOB, "B") Dim colSupplements As
CCollection Set colSupplements =
objBondCode.GetCategory(cmCatSupplement)
[0787] FillControl Example:
TABLE-US-00180 Dim objBondCode As CCode Set objBondCode =
objArch.CodesMan.GetCodeObject(cmCatLOB, "B") Dim colSupplements As
CCollection Set colSupplements =
objBondCode.FillControl(frmForm.cboSupplements, cmCatSupplements,
cmLongDecode)
Message Logging
[0788] The message logging architecture allows message logging in a
safe and consistent manner. The interface to the message logging
component is simple and consistent, allowing message logging on any
processing tier. Both error and informational messages are logged
to a centralized repository.
[0789] Abstracting the message logging approach allows the
implementation to change without breaking existing code.
Best Practices
[0790] Messages are always logged by the architecture when an
unrecoverable error occurs (i.e., the network goes down) and it is
not explicitly handled. Message logging may be used on an as-needed
basis to facilitate the diagnosis and fixing of SIRs. This sort of
logging is especially useful at points of integration between
classes and components. Messages logged for the purpose of
debugging have a severity of Informational, so as not to be
confused with legitimate error messages.
Usage
[0791] A message is logged by calling the LogMessage( ) function on
the architecture.
[0792] Description of Parameters:
[0793] vMsg: the standard architecture message
[0794] lSeverity: the severity of the message
[0795] sClassName: the name of the class logging the message
[0796] sMethodName: the name of the method logging the message
[0797] sVersion: the version of the binary file (EXE or DLL) that
contains the method logging the message
[0798] lErrorNum: the number of the current error
[0799] sText: an optional parameter containing the text of the
message. If omitted, the text will be looked up in a string file or
the generic VB error description will be used.
[0800] sText: an optional parameter containing the text of the
message. If omitted, the text will be looked up in a string file or
the generic VB error description will be used.
[0801] lLoggingOptions: an optional parameter containing a constant
specifying where to log the message (i.e., passing
cmLogToDBAndEventViewer to LogMessage will log the error to the
database and the event viewer.)
[0802] Logging Levels
[0803] Before a message is logged, its severity is compared to the
log level of the current machine. If the severity of the message is
less than or equal to the log level, then the message is
logged.
[0804] Valid values for the log level are defined as an enumeration
in VB. They include:
TABLE-US-00181 Value Name Description Example 0 CmFatal A critical
condition that closes or Application Server threatens the entire
system crash 1 CmSevere A condition that closes or threatens a
Network failure major component of the entire system 2 CmWarning A
warning that something in the system Optimistic locking is wrong
but it does not close or error threaten to close the system 3
CmInformational Notification of a particular occurrence Developer
debugging for logging and audit purposes information
[0805] Example
TABLE-US-00182 If Err.Number <> 0 Then ` log message
Arch.LogMan.LogMessage(vMsg, cmSeverityFatal, "COrganizationCTLR",
"InitForm", GetVersion( ), Err.Number, Err.Description) ` re-raise
the error Err.Raise Err.Number End If
Database Log
[0806] The database log table is composed of the following
fields:
TABLE-US-00183 Field Name Description N_MSG_ID Unique ID of the
message D_MSG Date the message occurred C_ERR_SEV Severity of the
error N_USER_ID Name of user when error occurred N_MACH_ID Name of
the machine that the error occurred on M_CLASS Name of the class
that the error occurred in M_METHOD Name of the method that the
error occurred in N_CMPNT_VER Version of the binary file that the
error occurred in C_ERR Number of the error T_MSG Text of the
message
Local Log
[0807] Messages are always logged to the application server's Event
Log; however this is not necessarily true for the database as noted
by the optional parameter passed to LogMessage, lLoggingOptions. An
administrator with the appropriate access rights can connect to the
MTS application server remotely and view its Event Log. Only one
MTS package contains the Event Log Component, so that errors will
all be written to the same application server Event Log.
[0808] Events logged via Visual Basic always have "VBRuntime" as
the source. The Computer field is automatically populated with the
name of the computer that is logging the event (i.e., the MTS
application server) rather than the computer that generated the
event (typically a client computer).
[0809] The same event details that are written to the database are
formatted into a readable string and written to the log. The text
"The VB Application identified by . . . Logged:" is automatically
added by VB; the text that follows contains the details of the
message.
Data Access
[0810] All but a few exceptional cases use the "ExecuteQuery" API.
This API covers singular database operations in which there exists
a single input and a single output. Essentially should only exclude
certain batch type operations.
[0811] The Data Access Framework serves the purposes of
performance, consistency, and maintainability.
[0812] Performance
[0813] The "ExecuteQuery" method incorporates usage patterns for
using ADO in an efficient manner. Examples of these patterns
include utilization of disconnected recordsets, and explicitly
declaring optional parameters which result in the best
performance.
[0814] Consistency
[0815] This method provides a common interface for development of
data access. Given a simple and stable data access interface, best
practices can be developed and disseminated.
[0816] Maintainability
[0817] Since the method is located in a single location, it is very
modularized and can be maintained with little impact to its
callers.
[0818] Application servers often use the ActiveX Data Objects (ADO)
data access interface. This allows for a simplified programming
model as well as enabling the embodiments to utilize a variety of
data sources.
The "ExecuteQuery" Method
[0819] Overview
[0820] The "ExecuteQuery" method should be used for most
application SQL calls. This method encapsulates functionality for
using ADO in a effective and efficient manner. This API applies to
situations in which a single operation needs to be executed which
returns a single recordset object.
[0821] Syntax
TABLE-US-00184 Set obj = ExecuteQuery(vMsg, nTranType, sSQL,
[nMaxRows], [adoTransConn], [args])
[0822] Parameters [0823] vMsg [0824] This parameter is the TechArch
struct. This is used as a token for information capture such as
performance metrics, error information, and security. [0825]
nTranType [0826] An application defined constant which indicates
which type of operation is being performed. Values for this
parameter can be one of the following constants: [0827] cmSelect
[0828] cmSelectLocal [0829] cmUpdate [0830] cmInsert [0831]
cmDelete [0832] sSQL [0833] String containing the SQL code to be
performed against the DBMS. [0834] nMaxRows (Optional) [0835]
Integer value which represent the maximum number of records that
the recordset of the current query will return. [0836] adoTransConn
(Optional) [0837] An ADO Connection object. This is created and
passed into execute query for operations which require ADO
transactional control (see "Using Transactions" section) [0838]
args (Optional) [0839] A list of parameters to be respectfully
inserted into the SQL statement.
[0840] Implementation
[0841] In one embodiment of the present invention the
"ExecuteQuery" method resides within the MservArch.bas file. This
file should be incorporated into all ServerComponent type projects.
This will allow each server component access to this method.
[0842] Note: Since this method is a public method in a "bas"
module, it is globally available from anywhere in the project.
TABLE-US-00185 Public Function ExecuteQuery(vMsg As Variant,
.sub.-- nTranType As TranTypes, .sub.-- sSQL As String, .sub.--
Optional nMaxRows As Integer = 0, .sub.-- Optional adoTransConn As
ADODB.Connection, .sub.-- Optional colArguments As CCollection) As
Variant On Error GoTo ErrorHandler Const cmMethodName As String =
"ExecuteQuery" StartTimeLogger vMsg, cmTimerIdDBTotal, cmClassName,
cmMethodName `find out if this call is an isolate operation or
`part of an ADO (not MTS) transaction Dim isAtomicTrans As Boolean
isAtomicTrans = adoTransConn Is Nothing Dim nRecordsAffected As
Integer Dim adoRS As New ADODB.Recordset Dim adoConn As
ADODB.Connection Dim lAuxErrNumber As Long `open a new connection
or keep using the passed in connection Set adoConn =
IIf(isAtomicTrans, New ADODB.Connection, adoTransConn) If
isAtomicTrans Then adoConn.Open cmODBC_Connect `ADO will wait
indefinitely until the execution is complete during performance
testing #If IsPerfTest Then adoConn.CommandTimeout = 0 #End If End
If `Make sure date args are formatted for DB2 if appropriate If Not
colArguments Is Nothing Then .sub.-- Set colArguments =
FormatArgsForDB2(colArguments) `merge the passed in arguments with
the SQL string sSQL = MergeSQL(sSQL, colArguments) Debug.Print Time
& ": " & sSQL `execute the SQL statement depending on the
transaction type Select Case CStr(nTranType) Case cmSelect
adoRS.MaxRecords = nMaxRows adoRS.CursorLocation = adUseClient
adoRS.Open sSQL, adoConn, adOpenForwardOnly, adLockReadOnly,
adCmdText Set adoRS.ActiveConnection = Nothing Set ExecuteQuery =
adoRS Case cmSelectLocal adoRS.MaxRecords = nMaxRows
adoRS.CursorLocation = adUseClient adoRS.Open sSQL, adoConn,
adOpenStatic, adLockBatchOptimistic, adCmdText Set
adoRS.ActiveConnection = Nothing Set ExecuteQuery = adoRS Case
cmInsert Set adoRS = adoConn.Execute(sSQL, nRecordsAffected,
adCmdText) If nRecordsAffected <= 0 Then Err.Raise
cmErrQueryInsert Set adoRS = Nothing ExecuteQuery =
nRecordsAffected Case cmUpdate, cmDelete Set adoRS =
adoConn.Execute(sSQL, nRecordsAffected, adCmdText) If
nRecordsAffected <= 0 Then Err.Raise cmErrOptimisticLock Set
adoRS = Nothing ExecuteQuery = nRecordsAffected Case cmSpFileNote
Set adoRS = adoConn.Execute(sSQL, nRecordsAffected, adCmdText) Set
adoRS = Nothing Case Else Err.Raise cmErrInvalidParameters End
Select StopTimeLogger vMsg, cmTimerIdDBTotal, cmClassName,
cmMethodName Exit Function ErrorHandler: Dim objArch As Object Set
objArch = CreateObject("cmArch.CTechArch") Select Case CStr(Err)
Case cmErrQueryInsert, cmErrOptimisticLock, cmErrInvalidParameters
`Raise error Err.Raise Err Case cmErrDSNNotFound Dim sMsgText As
String sMsgText = "Data Source Name not found." & vbCrLf &
"( " & _CStr(objArch.RegMan.GetServerDSN) & " )" ` Create a
new message log and log the message objArch.LogMan.LogMessage vMsg,
cmSeverityFatal, cmClassName, cmMethodName, GetVersion( ),
cmErrDSNNotFound, sMsgText, cmLogToEventViewerOnly lAuxErrNumber =
adoConn.Errors(0).NativeError `The error code is stored since when
closing the conection it will be lost If adoConn.State <>
adStateClosed Then adoConn.Close Err.Raise cmErrDSNNotFound, ,
sMsgText Case Else ` Create a new message log and log the message
objArch.LogMan.LogMessage vMsg, cmSeverityFatal, cmClassName,
cmMethodName, GetVersion( ), Err.Number, Err.Description,
cmLogToEventViewerOnly lAuxErrNumber =
adoConn.Errors(0).NativeError `The error code is stored since when
closing the conection it will be lost If adoConn.State <>
adStateClosed Then adoConn.Close Err.Raise lAuxErrNumber End Select
End Function
Selecting Records
[0843] ExecuteQuery utilizes disconnected recordsets for "Select"
type statements. This requires that the clients, particularly the
CCA's contain a reference to ADOR, ActiveX Data Object Recordset.
This DLL is a subset of the ADODB DLL. ADOR contains only the
recordset object.
[0844] Using disconnected recordsets allows marshalling of
recordset objects from sever to client. This performs much more
efficiently than the variant array which is associated with using
the "GetRows" API on the server. This performance gain is
especially apparent when the application server is under load of a
large number of concurrent users.
[0845] Sample from Client Component Adapter (CCA)
TABLE-US-00186 Dim vAns as Variant Dim adoRS As ADOR.Recordset Set
adoRS = objServer.PerformSelect(vMsg, nId) If objRS.EOF Then Set
objRS = Nothing Exit Function End If vAns = adoRS.GetRows Set adoRS
= Nothing `Marshall vAns into objects . . .
[0846] Sample from Server Component
TABLE-US-00187 Private Const cmCustSQL = "Select * from Customer
where id = ?" Public Function PerformSelect(vMsg, nId) as Variant
Dim colArgs as CCollection Set colArgs = New Ccollection
colArgs.Add nId Set PerformSelect = ExecuteQuery(vMsg, cmSelect,
sCustSQL, , ,colArgs) End Function
[0847] Code Clip from ExecuteQuery (Select Section)
TABLE-US-00188 Case cmSelect adoRS.MaxRecords = nMaxRows
adoRS.CursorLocation = adUseClient adoRS.Open sSQL, adoConn,
adOpenForwardOnly, adLockReadOnly, adCmdText Set ExecuteQuery =
adoRS . . .
Inserting Records
[0848] Inserting records requires certain information pertaining to
optimistic locking. On the server a unique value is requested to
indicate the last time modified. This unique value is returned back
to the requestor such that it can be used to later database
operations.
[0849] Sample from Client Component Adapter (CCA)
TABLE-US-00189 Dim vNewTS as Variant vNewTS =
objServer.PerformInsert(vMsg, nId, sName) `Set object's TimeStamp
to vNewTS
[0850] Sample from Server Component
TABLE-US-00190 Private Const cmCustInsertSQL = "Insert Customer
(nId, Name, LastUpdated) Values(?, `?`, ?)" Public Function
PerformInsert(vMsg, nId, sName) As Variant Dim lCurrTS as Long
lCurrTS = GetTimeStamp Dim colArgs as CCollection Set colArgs = New
Ccollection colArgs.Add nId colArgs.Add sName colArgs.Add lCurrTS
ExecuteQuery(vMsg, cmInsert, sCustInsertSQL, , , colArgs)
PerformInsert = lCurrTS
[0851] Code Clip from ExecuteQuery (Insert Section)
TABLE-US-00191 Case cmInsert Set adoRS = adoConn.Execute(sSQL,
nRecordsAffected, adCmdText) If nRecordsAffected <= 0 Then
Err.Raise cmErrQueryInsert Set adoRS = Nothing ExecuteQuery =
nRecordsAffected
Updating Records
[0852] Updating records requires certain information pertaining to
optimistic locking. On the server a unique value is requested to
indicate the last time modified. Also the last read timestamp is
used to validate, during the update, that the record has not been
modified since last time read.
[0853] Sample from Client Component Adapter (CCA)
TABLE-US-00192 Dim vNewTS as Variant vNewTS =
objServer.PerformUpdate(vMsg, 1, `Rick`, 8907654) `Set object's
TimeStamp to vNewTS
[0854] Sample Code Clip from Server Component
TABLE-US-00193 Private Const cmCustUpdateSQL = .sub.-- "Update
Customer Set Name = `?`, LastUpdated = ? " & .sub.-- "Where Id
= ? " & .sub.-- "And LastUpdated = ? " Public Function
PerformUpdate(vMsg, nId, sName, lLastTS) As Variant Dim lCurrTS as
Long lCurrTS = GetTimeStamp Dim colArgs as CCollection Set colArgs
= New Ccollection colArgs.Add sName colArgs.Add lCurrTS colArgs.Add
nId colArgs.Add lLastTS PerformUpdate = ExecuteQuery(vMsg,
cmUpdate, sCustUpdateSQL, , , colArgs) PerformUpdate = lCurrTS End
Function
[0855] Code Clip from ExecuteQuery (Update Section)
TABLE-US-00194 Case cmUpdate Set adoRS = adoConn.Execute(sSQL,
nRecordsAffected, adCmdText) If nRecordsAffected < 0 Then
Err.Raise cmErrOptimisticLock ExecuteQuery = nRecordsAffected
Deleting Records
[0856] In deleting records the last read timestamp is used to
validate, during the delete, that the record has not been modified
since last time read.
[0857] Sample from Client Component Adapter (CCA)
TABLE-US-00195 Dim vAns as Variant vAns =
objServer.PerformDelete(vMsg, nId ,lLastTS)
[0858] Sample from Server Component
TABLE-US-00196 Private Const cmCustDeleteSQL = .sub.-- "Delete From
Customer " & .sub.-- "Where Id = ? " & .sub.-- "And
LastUpdated = ? " Public Function PerformDelete(vMsg, nId lLastTS)
As Variant Dim colArgs as CCollection Set colArgs = New Ccollection
colArgs.Add nId colArgs.Add lLastTS PerformDelete =
ExecuteQuery(vMsg, cmDelete, cmCustDeleteSQL) Exit Function
[0859] Code Clip from ExecuteQuery (Delete Section)
TABLE-US-00197 Case cmDelete Set adoRS = adoConn.Execute(sSQL,
nRecordsAffected, adCmdText) If nRecordsAffected < 0 Then
Err.Raise cmErrOptimisticLock ExecuteQuery = nRecordsAffected
Database Locking Framework
[0860] Database Locking ensures the integrity of the database in a
multi-user environment. Locking prevents the common problem of lost
updates from multiple users updating the same record.
Solution Options
[0861] Pessimistic Locking
[0862] This policy of locking allows the first user to have full
access to the record while following users are denied access or
have read only access until the record is unlocked. There are
drawbacks to this method of locking. It is a method that is prone
to deadlocks on the database as well poor performance when
conflicts are encountered.
[0863] Optimistic Locking
[0864] The optimistic approach to record locking is based on the
assumption that it is not normal processing for multiple users to
both read and update records concurrently. This situation is
treated as exceptional processing rather than normal processing.
Locks are not actually placed on the database at read time. A
timestamp mechanism is used at time of update or delete to ensure
that another user has not modified or deleted the record since you
last read the record.
[0865] A preferred embodiment of the present invention uses an
optimistic locking approach to concurrency control. This ensures
database integrity as well as the low overhead associated with this
form of locking. Other benefits to this method are increased
availability of records to multiple users, and a minimization of
database deadlocks.
[0866] Table candidates for concurrency control are identified
during the "Data Modeling Exercise". The only table which is
updated concurrently is the Optimistic Locking mechanism. Once
these are identified, the following is added to the
application.
[0867] Add "N_Last_Updt" field to table in database;
[0868] Error Handling routines on those operations which modify or
delete from this table; and
[0869] Display/Notification to user that the error has
occurred.
Usage
[0870] The chart below describes the roles of the two basic types
of components to enable optimistic locking.
[0871] Assumption: The optimistic locking field is of type Date and
is named "N_Last_Updt"
TABLE-US-00198 Client Components Server Components Read Store
N_Last_Updt value in the Retrieve data (Always including
N_Last_Updt field). Access business object for use in possible
SELECT Id, FirstName, N_Last_Updt updates or deletes. FROM Customer
WHERE id = 10; Inserts Normal Dim lCurrTS As Double lCurrTS =
GetTimeStamp INSERT INTO Customer (Id, FirstName, N_Last_Updt)
VALUES (1, "Rick", lCurrTS); Return new timestamp (lCurrTS) as well
as new Id Updates Pass previously read timestamp to Dim lCurrTS As
Double identify whether row was modified. lCurrTS = GetTimeStamp
This is in addition to a unique identifier UPDATE Customer and
whatever data needs to be updated. SET firstName = "Richard",
Handle exception if record has been N_Last_Updt = lCurrTS
previously modified. WHERE id = 1 Notify user of conflict. AND
LastUpdate = lastReadTimestamp; Rollback any changes. If no rows
are affected, handle and propagate error back out to the client.
Return new timestamp (lCurrTS) Deletes Pass previously read
timestamp to DELETE Customer identify whether row was modified.
WHERE id = 1 This is in addition to a unique identifier AND
N_Last_Updt = lastReadTimestamp; Handle exception if record has
been If no rows are affected, handle and propagate error back
previously modified. out to the client. Notify user of conflict.
Rollback any changes.
Large Result Set
[0872] When retrieving records from a database, if the search
criteria is too broad, the amount of data required to be retrieved
from the database and passed across the network will affect user
perceived performance. Windows requesting such data will be slow to
paint and searches will be slow. The formation of the database
queries is made such that a workable amount of data is retrieved.
There are a few options for addressing the problems that occur from
large result sets. The options are given below in order of
preference.
[0873] Redesign the interface/controller to return smaller result
sets. By designing the controllers that present the database
queries intelligently, the queries that are presented to the
database server do not return a result set that is large enough to
affect user perceived performance. In essence, the potential to
retrieve too many records indicates that the UIs and the
controllers have been designed differently. An example of a well
designed Search UI is one where the user is required to enter in a
minimum search criteria to prevent an excessively large result
set.
[0874] Have Scrollable Result Sets. The scrolling retrieval of a
large result set is the incremental retrieval of a result subset
repeated as many times as the user requests or until the entire
result set is obtained. Results are retrieved by the Bounded Query
Approach where the first record is determined by a where clause
with calculated values.
Scrollable Result Set Client Requirements
[0875] Preferred UI
[0876] The preferred displays are as follows:
[0877] Returned results are displayed in a GreenTree List Box;
[0878] An action button with the label More . . . is provided for
the user to obtain the remaining results;
[0879] The More button is enabled when the user has performed an
initial search and there are still results to be retrieved;
[0880] The More button is disabled when there are no more results
to retrieve;
[0881] The List Box and the Action button is contained within a
group box to provide a visual association between the button and
the List Box.
Bounded Query
[0882] Queries that are implemented with the limited result sets
are sent to the server. The server implements the executeQuery
method to retrieve the recordset as usual. Limited result queries
have an order by clause that includes the business required sort
order along with a sufficient number of columns to ensure that all
rows can be uniquely identified. The recordset is limited by the
nMaxRows variable passed from the client incremented to obtain the
first row of the next result set. The return from the component is
a recordset just the same as with a query that is not limited. The
CCA 208 creates the objects and passes these back to the controller
206. The Controller 206 adds this returned collection of object to
its collection of objects (an accumulation of previous results) and
while doing so will performs the comparison of the last object to
the first object of the next row. The values necessary to
discriminate the two rows are added to the variant array that is
necessary to pass to the component for the subsequent query.
[0883] The Controller 206 on the client retains the values for
nMaxRows, the initial SQL statement, and array of values to discern
between the last row of the previous query and the first row of the
next query. The mechanism by which the controller 206 is aware that
there are more records to retrieve is by checking the number of
results is one greater than the max number of rows. To prevent the
retrieval of records past the end of file, the controller 206
disables these functions on the UI. For example, a command button
More on the UI, used to requested the data, is disabled when the
number of objects returned is less than nMaxRows+1.
Application Responsibility
[0884] Server
[0885] The Server component is responsible for creating a
collection of arguments and appending the SQL statement to add a
where clause that will be able to discriminate between the last row
of the previous query and the first row of the next.
[0886] CCA
[0887] The CCA 208 processes the recordset into objects as in non
limited queries. The CCA 208 forwards the variant array passed from
the Controller 206 to identify the limited results.
[0888] Controller
[0889] The controller 206 has the responsibility of disabling the
More control when the end of file has been reached. The controller
206 populates the variant array (vKeys) with the values necessary
to determine start of next query.
Example
[0890] A CCA 208 is coded for a user defined search which has the
potential to return a sizable result set. The code example below
implements the Bounded Query approach.
[0891] On the Server the developer codes the query as follows:
TABLE-US-00199 Public Function RetrieveBusinessObjects(vMsg As
Variant, ByVal sSql As String, ByVal nMaxRows As Integer, Optional
ByVal vKeys As Variant) As Recordset On Error GoTo ErrorHandler
`Declare local constants Const cmMethodName As String =
"RetrieveBusinessObjects" `Declare local variables Dim cmClassName
As String Dim colArgs As New CCollection `initialize instance
variables cmClassName = "CSRSTestComp" `fill argument collection
Set colArgs = ArgumentsForBusinessObject(vKeys , sSQL) `increment
nMaxRows to obtain row for comparison nMaxRows = nMaxRows + 1
`ExecuteQuery Set RetrieveBusinessObjects = ExecuteQuery(vMsg,
cmSelectLocal, sQuery, nMaxRows, , colArgs) `Tell MTS we're done
GetObjectContext.SetComplete Exit Function ErrorHandler: Select
Case Err.Number Case Else Dim iResumeCode As Integer iResumeCode =
GeneralErrorHandler(vMsg, cmServer, cmClassName, cmMethodName)
Select Case iResumeCode Case cmErrorResume Resume Case
cmErrorResumeNext Resume Next Case cmErrorExit Exit Function Case
Else GetObjectContext.SetAbort Err.Raise Err.Number End Select End
Select End Function
[0892] To determine the additional where clause necessary to
determine the starting point of the query, the following method is
added:
TABLE-US-00200 Private Function ArgumentsForBusinessObject(vKeys As
Variant, sSql As string ) As CCollection Dim colArgs As Ccollection
Const cmGreaterThanWhereString As String = " ? > ? " Const
cmGreaterThanOrEqualWhereString As String = " ? >= ? AND " `
initialize local variables Set colArgs = New Ccollection sSql =
sSql + "WHERE" With colArgs If vKeys(0) <> Empty Then .Add
("N_TASK_TEMPL_ID") .Add (vKeys(0)) End If `If vKeys(1) <>
Nothing Then `.Add value2 fieldName `.add vKeys(1) sSql = sSql +
cmGreaterThanOrEqualWhereString `End If `If vKeys(2) <>
Nothing Then `.Add value3 fieldName `.add vKeys(2) sSql = sSql +
cmGreaterThanOrEqualWhereString `End If End With `finalize SQL
statement sSql = sSql + cmGreaterThanWhereString Set
ArgumentsForBusinessObject = colArgs End Function
[0893] On the CCA 208, allowance must be made for the passing of
the vKeys
[0894] Public Function RetrieveBusinessObjects(vMsg As Variant,
sSql As String, nMaxRows As Integer, Optional ByVal vKeys As
Variant) As CCollection
TABLE-US-00201 Set percmpComponent = New CSRSTestComp Dim i As
Integer Set adoRS = percmpComponent.RetrieveBusinessObjects(vMsg,
sSql, nMaxRows, vKeys) `convert recordset to business objects
adoRS.MoveFirst Do Until adoRS.EOF Call ConvertToBusinessObject
adoRS.MoveNext Loop `return the collection of business objects Set
RetrieveBusinessObjects = dictBusinessObject Set dictBusinessObject
= New CCollection End Function
[0895] The controller initiates the query and updates the variant
array of keys and form 204 properties based on the return. In
addition to the code shown for the example below, the More Control
is enabled if the search is cleared.
TABLE-US-00202 `declare instance variables Private nMaxRows As
Integer Dim interimResults As CCollection Dim vResults As
CCollection Dim vKeys(3) As Variant `declare Constants Private
Const nDefaultAmount As Long = 50 Private Const
cmRetrieveBusinessObjectSQL = "SELECT * FROM NODE_RULE ORDER BY
.sub.-- N_TASK_TEMPL_ID"
[0896] During class initialization perform the following:
TABLE-US-00203 Public Sub Class_init( ) `obtain settings from
registry nMaxRows = CInt(GetSetting(cmRegApp, cmRegArchSection,
cmLimitedResultAmountKey, lDefaultAmount)) Call resetSearch Set
objCCA = New {CCA class name} End Sub
[0897] Search reset functionality is kept outside of initialization
so this may be called from other parts of the application.
TABLE-US-00204 Public Sub resetSearch( ) Dim I as Integer Set
vResults = New Ccollection For I = 0 To 3 Set vKeys(I) = Empty Next
Set vKeys(0) = Empty frmCurrentForm.cmdMore.Enabled = True End Sub
Public Sub RetrieveBusinessObjects( ) Const cmMethodName As String
= "retrieveBusinessObjects" Call RetainMouse ` get arch message Dim
vMsg As Variant vMsg = objApp.objArch.AsMsgStruct( ) ` call the
component Dim pair As CArchPair `Declare local variables Dim sSql
As String Dim colArgs As CCollection Dim cmClassName As String Set
interimResults = objCCA.RetrieveBusinessObjects(vMsg,
cmRetrieveBusinessObjectSQL, nMaxRows, vKeys) ctr =
ProcessObjectCollection `stop if size of return is less than the
maximum If ctr < nMaxRows + 1 Then
frmCurrentForm.cmdMore.Enabled = False ` restore pointer
Screen.MousePointer = lPrevPtr End Sub
[0898] In order to retain the values to discriminate between the
last row of the result set and the first row of the next the
following method on the controller is used:
TABLE-US-00205 Private Function ProcessObjectCollection( ) As
Integer ` merge results with the instance variable for the
collection Dim ctr As Integer ctr = 0 For Each element In
interimResults ctr = ctr + 1 `retain Keys for subsequent Queries
With element Select Case ctr Case nMaxRows `store all values that
may be used for row comparison vKeys(0) = .NodeId `add last object
to collection vResults.Add element Case nMaxRows + 1 `last object
only used for comparison `If the proceeding value can be used to
uniquely `identify row then delete value from array ` THERE SHOULD
BE N - 1 nested If statements where N = size of vKeys `If .value2
<> vKeys(1) Then `vKeys(2) = Empty If .NodeId <>
vKeys(0) Then vKeys(1) = Empty 1 End If Case Else vResults.Add
element End Select End With Next ProcessObjectCollection = ctr End
Function
Operation of Example with Data
TABLE-US-00206 [0899] Person First Name Last Name Status Unique ID
Joy Andersen Closed 22 Jay Anderson Open 12 John Barleycorn Closed
512 John Barleycorn Open 32 Esther Davidson Open 88 David Dyson
Closed 98 Bobby Halford Open 234 Steven Jackowski Closed 4 Kyle
Johnsen Open 65 Jeff Johansen Open 13 Mary Johnson Closed 24 Larry
Olsen Open 21 William O'Neil Closed 29 Jane Pick Open 3285
[0900] For this example let nMaxRows=3. The business case calls for
the result set to be ordered by the last name, and developer knows
that any row can be uniquely identified by the FirstName, LastName,
and Unique ID fields so the initial SQL added as a constant in the
controller should be; [0901] SELECT * FROM Person ORDER BY
LastName, FirstName, Unique_ID
[0902] Initial Query
[0903] The first query is sent with an empty vKeys Array. When the
server receives this query, the method ArgumentsForBusinessObject
identifies the elements as being empty and does not populate the
colArgs. The query is executed with the intial SQL unchanged. The
recordset of size nMaxRows+1 is returned to the CCA 208 and
processed the same as non-limited results. The CCA 208 returns the
collection of objects to the controller 206. The controller 206
proceeds to populate the vResults collection with the returned
objects. vResults is the comprehensive collection of objects
returned. When the last object of the first request is reached (at
nMaxRows), the values are stored in vKeys as such;
[0904] vKeys(0)=LastName (Barleycorn)
[0905] vKeys(1)=FirstName (John)
[0906] vKeys(2)=Unique_ID (512)
[0907] When the First Object of the next request is reached (at
nMaxRows+1), comparison of the object variables against the vKeys
values is performed. Because the last names match, vKeys(2) will
not be deleted and no further checks are performed.
[0908] Subsequent Query
[0909] The subsequent query will pass vKeys along with it. The
server creates the collection of arguments from vKeys and append
the sSql string in accordance. The sSql statement that is passed to
execute query is [0910] SELECT * FROM Person ORDER BY LastName,
FirstName, Unique_ID WHERE ?>=? AND ?>=? AND ?>?
[0911] This sSql and collection is included in the call to
ExecuteQuery which merges the arguments with the string relying on
the architecture method MergeSQL to complete the SQL statement.
[0912] The starting point of the recordset is defined by the WHERE
clause and the limit is set by the nMaxRows value.
[0913] Query Less Restrictive WHERE Criteria
[0914] After the second query the last row of the query is David
Dyson and the next is Bobby Halford. Because the last name is
different, vKeys will be empty except for vKeys(0)=Dyson.
[0915] The ProcessObjectCollection will populate vKeys as follows
when processing nMaxRows object:
[0916] vKeys(0)=LastName (Dyson)
[0917] vKeys(1)=FirstName (David)
[0918] vKeys(2)=Unique_ID (98)
[0919] After identifying the differences between vKeys values and
the nMaxRows+1 object the vKeys array is updated as follows:
[0920] vKeys(0)=LastName (Dyson)
[0921] vKeys(1)=Empty
[0922] vKeys(2)=Empty
[0923] The query that is returned from ArgumentsForBusinessObject
is [0924] SELECT * FROM Person ORDER BY LastName, FirstName,
Unique_ID WHERE ?>?
[0925] and the colArgs possessing the fieldname FirstName and the
value ("David"). ExecuteQuery merges the arguments with the sql
statement as before and returns the value.
[0926] Ending
[0927] After the fifth iteration the result set will only possess 2
records. When the controller 206 processes the returned collection
the counter returned from ProcessObjectCollection is less than
nMaxRows+1 which indicates that all records have been
retrieved.
Security Framework
[0928] Implementation
[0929] FIG. 8 shows a representation of the Security Framework 800
and its main components.
[0930] It can be seen from FIG. 8 that the Security object 802 is
present at the Client and a Security API is provided at the server.
The Security object 802 provides one method responsible for
authorizing any operation, being given the vMsg structure, an
operation ID and an optional parameter describing the operation's
context.
[0931] Client
[0932] User Authentication:
[0933] User authentication is handled via a method located in the
Security object 802 called IsOperAuthorized. As the Application
object loads, it calls the IsOperAuthorized method, with the
operation being "Login", before executing further processing. This
method subsequently calls a authentication DLL, which is
responsible for identifying the user as an authorized user within
the Corporate Security.
[0934] UI Controllers:
[0935] The UI Controllers limit access to their functions by
restricting access to specific widgets through enabling and
disabling them. The logic for the enabling and disabling of widgets
remains on the UI Controller 206, but the logic to determine
whether a user has access to a specific functionality is located in
the Security object 802 in the form of business rules. The UI
Controller 206 calls the IsOperAuthorized method in order to set
the state of its widgets.
[0936] Server
[0937] Server security is implemented by restricting access to the
data in three different ways:
[0938] Server Security Method
[0939] Server Components 222 call the IsOperAuthorized API in the
Architecture before executing every operation. In all cases the
Security object 802 returns a boolean, according to the user's
access rights and the business rules
[0940] SQL Filtering
[0941] Includes security attributes, like claim sensitiveness or
public/private file note, into the SQL statements when selecting or
updating rows. This efficiently restricts the resulting data set,
and avoids the return of restricted data to the client.
Description
[0942] Any GUI related security is implemented at the Client using
the Security object 802. The information is available both at the
Client Profile and Business Objects 207 which enables the security
rules to be properly evaluated.
[0943] IsOperAuthorized is called to set widgets upon the loading
of a UI or if there is a change of state within the UI.
[0944] User authentication always is used by the Application
Objects 202 in order to validate user privilege to launch the
application.
[0945] SQL Filtering is used in the cases where sensitive data must
not even be available at the Client, or where there is a great
advantage on reducing the size of the data set returned to the
Client.
[0946] SQL Filtering is only used in very rare cases where
performance is a serious concern. It is used carefully in order to
avoid increased complexity and performance impacts because some
queries can be cumbersome and embedding security on them could
increase complexity even more.
Security Framework
[0947] Overview
[0948] The Security object 802 serves the purpose of holding hard
coded business rules to grant or deny user access for various
application functions. This information is returned to the UI
controllers 206 which make the necessary modifications on the UI
state. The ClientProfile object serves the purpose of caching user
specific (and static) security information directly on the client.
This information is necessary to evaluate the business rules at the
Security object 802.
Relationships
[0949] FIG. 9 shows the relationships between the security element
and other elements.
[0950] Architecture Object
[0951] The TechArch object is responsible for providing access and
maintaining the state of the ClientProfile 902 and Security objects
802. The ClientProfile object 902 is instantiated and destroyed in
the TechArch's initialization and terminate methods, respectively.
This object is maintained through an instance variable on the
TechArch object.
[0952] CInitCompCCA
[0953] The CInitCompCCA object 904 provides two services to the
architecture object 200, it serves as an access point to the
CInitComp Server 906, and it Marshalls the query result set into a
ClientProfile object 902.
[0954] CInitComp
[0955] The CInitComp server object 906 provides data access to the
data that resides in the organization tables 908. This data is
useful on the client to determine level of access to data based on
hard coded business rules.
[0956] Organization Tables
[0957] The Organization tables 908 contain user, employee and unit
information necessary to build the hierarchy of information
necessary to determine level of access to sensitive
information.
[0958] Client Profile
[0959] The ClientProfile object 902 serves the purpose of caching
static, user specific security information directly on the client.
This information is necessary to determine data access level of
information to the user, which is accomplished by passing the
necessary values to the Security object 802.
[0960] Security Object
[0961] The Security Object 802 contains business rules used to
determine a user's access privileges in relation to specific
functions. The object accepts certain parameters passed in by the
various UI Controllers 206 and passes them to through the business
rule logic which, in turn, interrogates the Client Profile object
902 for specific user information.
Client Profile
[0962] Attributes
[0963] The following are internal attributes for the Client Profile
object 902. These attributes are not exposed to the application and
should only be used by the Security object 802: [0964] sProfile:
[0965] This attribute is passed by the legacy application at
start-up and contains the user's TSIds, External Indicator, Count
of Group Elements and Group Elements. It is marshalled into these
attributes by request of the application objects. [0966]
colSpecialUsers: [0967] This attribute caches information from a
table containing special users which do not fit into one of the
described roles, such as Organization Librarian. (e.g., Vice
President or CEO of the corporation.) [0968] sTSId: [0969] This is
the current users' TSId, and it corresponds to his/her Windows NT
Id. It is used to get information about the current logged on user
from the Organizational Tables 908. [0970] sEmployeeId: [0971] This
corresponds to the user's employee Id, as stored in the
Organizational tables 908. It is used against the passed in
employee Id, in order to check relationship between performers and
the current user. [0972] sEmployeeName, sEmployeeFirst, sEmployeeMI
and sEmployeeLast: [0973] All these attributes correspond to the
current user's name. [0974] dictClientPrivileges: [0975] This
attribute contains a collection of identifiers that indicate what
role/authority an individual plays/possesses. This value is used to
identify the static role of the logged in user. [0976] These values
are used for security business logic which grants or denies access
based on whether the user is internal or external, or whether the
user is in a given administrative role. Existing values are the
following: [0977] SC--Indicates sensitive Claim authority [0978]
CC--Indicates Change Claim status authority [0979] MT--Indicates
maintain F&C Templates authority [0980] MO--Indicates maintain
Organization authority [0981] MR--Indicates maintain Roles
authority [0982] The following are the proposed additions: [0983]
TA--Indicates authority to execute Task Assistant [0984]
FN--Indicates authority to execute FileNotes [0985] CH--Indicates
authority to execute Claim History [0986] TL--Indicates authority
to maintain Task Templates [0987] dictProxyList: [0988] This
attribute contains an employees' reporting hierarchy. It is used to
determine whether the current user/employee has permission to
perform some action based on his/her relationship to other
users/employees within their hierarchy. A business example of this
is the case of a supervisor, who has rights to view information
that his/her subordinates have access to. The relationship API's
make use of dictProxyList to determine if the user assigned to the
information is super or subordinate of the current user. [0989]
boolInternal: [0990] This attribute indicates whether the logged in
user is external or internal. It is also marshalled from the
sProfile attribute, passed in by the legacy application.
[0991] Public Methods
[0992] The following are the APIs exposed by the Client Profile
object. These APIs are used for security checking by the Security
object and should not be used by the developers in any portion of
the application. [0993] GetAuthorizedEmployees As Collection [0994]
This function returns a collection of employee Ids from the
employees supervised by the current user. [0995] IsSuperOf(sUserId)
As Boolean [0996] This API returns true if the logged in user is a
super of the passed in user Id. It looks up the sUserId value
inside the dictProxyList attribute. [0997] IsRelativeOf(sUserId) As
Boolean [0998] This API returns true if the passed in user Id
corresponds to either the logged in user or someone from the
dictProxyList. [0999] IsInternal As Boolean [1000] This API is used
to grant or restrict the user to information based on whether the
data is private to the organization whether the user is internal or
external. [1001] IsInRole(sRole) As Boolean [1002] This API looks
up the appropriate sRole value contained within the dictClientRoles
attribute to determine whether the current user is authorized to
perform that role.
[1003] The following accessors are used to get data from the Client
Profile's object: [1004] UserId: returns sTSId [1005] EmployeeId:
return sEmployeeId [1006] EmployeeName: returns sEmployeeName
[1007] EmployeeFirstName: returns sEmployeeFirst [1008]
EmployeeLastName: returns sEmployeeLast [1009]
EmployeeMiddleInitial: returns sEmployeeMI [1010] ExpandTree:
returns boolExpandTreePreference [1011] TemplatePathPreference:
returns sTemplatePathPreference
Security Object
[1012] Public Methods
[1013] The following API is exposed by the Security Object and is
used by the application for security checking: [1014]
IsOperAuthorized(vMsg As Variant, nOperations As cmOperations,
vContext As Variant) as Boolean [1015] This API will return true or
false depending on what is returned from the business rule
functions to determine user access levels. This API is called on
two situations: [1016] 1. When setting the initial state before
loading the form. If a security requirement exists,
IsOperAuthorized is called for the appropriate operation. [1017] 2.
After any relevant change on the UI state. For example, when a
sensitive claim is highlighted on the Task Assistant window. A
relevant change is one which brings the need for a security check.
[1018] The valid values for the enumeration and the correspondent
context data are: [1019] cmMaintainFormsCorr (none) [1020]
cmRunEventProcessor (none) [1021] cmWorkOnSensitiveClaim (a Claim
object) [1022] cmMaintainPersonalProfile (none) [1023]
cmMaintainWorkplan (none) [1024] cmDeleteFileNote (a File Note
object) [1025] cmMaintainTaskLIbrary (none) [1026] cmMaintainOrg
(none)
Server Security APIs
[1026] [1027] IsSVCOperAuthorized(vMsg As Variant, sOperations As
String, vContext As Variant) as Boolean [1028] This API is called
by every method on the server that persists data or can potentially
access sensitive data (reactive approach). [1029]
IsOperAuthorized(vMsg As Variant, nOperations As cm Operations,
vContext As Variant) as Boolean [1030] This API is available for
those cases where a proactive security check is needed on the
server.
Implementation Examples
[1031] The following examples show some ways to implement the
options described above:
[1032] Client [1033] Business Logic [1034] IsOperAuthorized [1035]
Let's consider the case of the Task Assistant window, where the
user should not be allowed to view any information on a sensitive
claim if he/she is not the claim performer or the performer's
supervisor. The following code would be at the Controller:
TABLE-US-00207 [1035] Private Sub TaskTree_NodeChanged(....)
myController.SetCurrentTask myController.SetState End Sub Private
Sub SetState( ) Dim objSecurity as Object Dim vContext(1) as Object
Set objSecurity = taaApp.taoArch.objSecurity vContext(0) =
CurrentClaim vContext(1) = CurrentTask tlbEditIcon.Enabled =
objSecurity.IsOperAuthorized(vMsg, cmWorkOnSensitiveClaim,
vContext) End Sub
[1036] Let's consider the case of the Maintain Correspondence
Search window where only a user who is a Forms and Correspondence
Librarian should be allowed to delete a template. The following
code would be at the Controller:
TABLE-US-00208 [1036] Private Sub SetWindowMode( ) Dim objSecurity
as Object Set objSecurity = taaApp.taoArch.objSecurity . . .
tlbEditIcon.Enabled = objSecurity.IsOperAuthorized(vMsg,
cmMaintainFormsCorr) End Sub
[1037] Server [1038] SQL Filtering: [1039] Let's consider the
example of the Draft File Note window, where a user can only look
at the draft file notes on which he/she is the author. At the
controller, one would have:
TABLE-US-00209 [1039] Public Sub GetDraftFNotes( ) Dim objCP as
Object Set objCP = taoArch.objClientProfile Dim fntCCA as Object
Set fntCCA = taaApp.taoArch.GetCCA(cmCCAFileNote) Call
fntCCA.GetADraftFNote(vMsg, objCP.sOrgUserId, colFNotes) End
Sub
[1040] And at the Component, the SQL statement would be:
TABLE-US-00210 [1040] Select nFNoteId, sFNoteAuthor, dFNoteFinal, :
: From File Note Where sFileNoteSts = `D` And sFNoteAuthor =
sAuthor
Task Engine Application
[1041] This application runs on the server as a background process
or service with no direct interaction with Client applications, so
it doesn't need any GUI related security. Basically, its main
actions are limited to the generation of new tasks in response to
externally generated events or, more specifically, it: [1042] Reads
static information from the Task Template tables; [1043] Reads
events from the Event tables; [1044] Inserts tasks on the Task
table.
[1045] In this sense, its security is totally dependent on external
entities as described below: [1046] The Task Library application is
the entrance point for any changes on the Task Template database
tables. It will make use of the options described above in order to
fulfill its security requirements. [1047] Events are generated from
legacy applications, so the Task Engine relies completely on the
security implemented for these applications in order to control the
generation of events. [1048] Another level of security for event
generation relies on the Database authorization and authentication
functions. Only authorized components have access to the database
tables (this is valid for all the other applications as well).
Claim Folder
[1049] Definition
[1050] The Claim Folder manages claim information from first notice
through closing and archiving. It does this by providing a
structured and easy to use interface that supports multiple
business processes for handling claims. The information that it
captures is fed to many other components that allow claims
professionals to make use of enabling applications that reduce
their workload. Because physical claim files are still required,
the claim folder provides capabilities that support physical file
tracking. It works with the LEGACY system to support all the
capabilities that exist within the current system.
[1051] The primary processes supported by the Claim Folder are:
[1052] First Notice of Loss [1053] The Claim Folder is the primary
entry point for new loss information. Claim files exist in the
Claim Folder before they are "pushed" to the LEGACY system to
perform financial processing. [1054] Claim Inquiry [1055] Claim
Folder supports internal and external inquires for claim
information. The folder design allows quick access to various
levels of information within the claim for many different reasons.
[1056] Initiation of Claim Handling [1057] The Claim Folder
provides initial loss information to the claim professional so they
may begin the process of making first contacts with appropriate
participants in the claim. It allows them to view and enter data
received through their initial contacts and investigation. [1058]
Investigation and Evaluation [1059] The Claim Folder provides
access to detailed information needed for the investigation and
evaluation process. It allows the claim handler to navigate between
all the applications and information they need to support these
processes. [1060] Identifying Claim Events [1061] The Claim Folder
identifies critical events that occur in the life of a claim, such
as a change of status, which can trigger responses in other
components to perform automated functions, like triggering tasks in
the Task Assistant. [1062] Managing the Physical File [1063] The
Claim Folder supports better tracking capabilities for the physical
files that go along with the electronic record of a claim.
[1064] Value
[1065] By capturing detailed information on claims, the Claim
Folder tries to improve the efficiency of claim professionals in
many ways. First, because the information is organized in a
logical, easy to use format, there is less digging required to find
basic information to support any number of inquiries. Second, the
Claim Folder uses its information to support other applications
like Forms and Correspondence, so that claim information does not
have to be reentered every time it is needed. Third, it provides
better ways to find physical files to reduce the time required
finding and working with them. Beyond this, there are many other
potential uses of claim folder information.
[1066] The Claim Folder also tries to overcome some of the current
processing requirements that the LEGACY system imposes such as
recording, losses without claims, requiring policy numbers for
claim set-up, requiring reserves for lines, and other restrictions.
This will reduce some of the low-value added work required to feed
the LEGACY system.
[1067] Finally, the Claim Folder organizes and coordinates
information on participants and performers so that all people
involved in a claim can be identified quickly and easily.
[1068] Key Users
[1069] Although claim professionals are the primary users of the
Claim Folder, any claims professional can utilize the Claim Folder
to learn about a claim or answer an inquiry about a claim.
[1070] Component Functionality
[1071] Because the Claim Folder is the primary entry point for new
claims, it needs to capture information necessary to set-up new
claims and be able to pass the information to the LEGACY system.
Once the information is passed, the LEGACY system owns all
information contained in both systems, and it is uneditable in the
Claim Folder. However, the Claim Folder has more information than
what is contained in the LEGACY system, and therefore allows
certain information to be entered and modified once the claim is
pushed to the LEGACY system.
[1072] The Claim Folder decomposes a claim into different levels
that reflect the policy, the insured, the claim, the claimants, and
the claimant's lines. Each level has a structured set of
information that applies to it. For example, the claim level of the
claim has information on the claim status, line of business, and
performers. An individual line has information which includes the
line type, jurisdiction, and property or vehicle damages. The
claimant level contains contact information as well as injury
descriptions.
[1073] The information at each level is grouped into sections for
organization purposes. Each level has a details section that
includes the basic information about the level.
[1074] The key levels on the Claim Folder and their information
sections are: [1075] The Policy Level: Details and Covered Auto for
auto claims, Covered Property for property claims and Covered Yacht
for marine claims. [1076] The Claim Level: Details, Facts of Loss,
Events, Liability. Liability is considered part of the Negotiation
component and described there. [1077] The Participant Level:
Details and Contact Information. For claimants, additional sections
are shown to display, Events, Injury and Disability Management. The
participant level is discussed in the Participant Component. [1078]
The Line Level: Details, Damaged Vehicle for vehicle lines, Damaged
Property for property lines, Damaged Yacht for marine lines,
Events, Damages, and Negotiation. Damages and Negotiation are
considered part of the Negotiation component and described
there.
[1079] Events are triggered in the Claim Folder by performing
certain actions like changing a jurisdiction, identifying an
injury, or closing a line. Other general events are triggered in
the Event Section on most levels by clicking the one that has
occurred. These events are processed by the Event Processor and
could generate any number of responses. In one embodiment of the
present invention, the primary response is to trigger new tasks in
the Task Assistant for a claim.
[1080] User Interfaces [1081] Claim Folder UI [1082] Policy
Level--Policy Details Tab [1083] Policy Level--Covered Vehicle Tab
[1084] Policy Level--Covered Property Tab [1085] Policy
Level--Covered Yacht Tab [1086] Claim level--Claim Details Tab
[1087] Claim level--Facts of Loss Tab [1088] Claim level--Events
Tab [1089] Claim level--Liability Tab [1090] Line level--Line
Details Tab [1091] Line level--Damaged Property Tab [1092] Line
level--Damaged Auto Tab [1093] Line level--Damaged Yacht Tab [1094]
Line level--Events Tab [1095] Line level--Damages Tab [1096] Line
level--Negotiation Tab [1097] Task Assistant [1098] File Notes
[1099] Claim History [1100] Search Task Template [1101] Search for
Correspondence [1102] Find Claims [1103] Version 7 [1104] View File
Folder [1105] Print Label
Claim Folder Tree and Menu Design
[1106] Claim Tree
[1107] The claim tree in the Claim Folder window decomposes the
claim into policy, insured, claim, claimant, and line levels
depending on the specific composition of the claim.
[1108] The policy level is always the first node in the claim tree
and is identified by the policy number. Before the policy number is
entered, the field is listed as "Unknown". If a claim is uncoded,
the field is listed as "Uncoded". Selecting the policy level brings
up the policy level tabs in the body of the Claim Folder.
[1109] The insured level is always the second node in the claim
tree and is identified by the insured's name. Before the insured is
identified, the field is listed as "Unknown". Selecting the insured
level brings up the insured participant tabs in the body of the
claim folder. Only one insured is listed at this level as
identified in the policy level tabs, however, multiple insureds can
still be added. Additional insureds are shown in the participant
list below the claim tree.
[1110] The claim level is always the third node in the claim tree
and is identified by the claim number. When the claim level is
selected, the claim level tabs appears in the body of the Claim
Folder.
[1111] After the claim level, all claimants are listed with their
associated lines in a hierarchy format. When a claimant is added, a
node is added to the tree, and the field identifying the claimant
is listed as "Unknown". Once a participant has been identified,
partial or client, the name of the claimant is listed on the
level.
[1112] When the level is selected, the participant level tabs for
the claimant is shown in the body of the claim folder.
[1113] Line levels are identified by their line type. Before a line
type is selected, the line level is listed as "Unknown". When a
line level is selected, the line level tabs for the specific line
are shown in the body of the claim folder.
[1114] There are several things that can alter the claim tree once
it has been set up. First, if a claimant or line is deleted, it is
removed from the claim tree. A claim that is marked in error does
not change the appearance of the levels. Second, the claim,
claimant, and line levels are identified by different icons
depending on whether they are pushed to V7 or not. Third, when a
line or claimant is offset, it is identified as such.
[1115] Participant List
[1116] The participant list box contains all the non-claimant and
non-insured participants on the claim. (Claimants and insureds are
shown in the claim tree and not repeated here.) Participants are
shown with their name and role. When a participant is selected, the
participant level tabs are displayed in the claim folder.
[1117] Claim Folder Menu Items
[1118] The claim folder menus contain the actions that a user would
need to perform within the claim folder. They can all be accessed
through keyboard selection. The menu options become enabled or
disabled based on the state of the Claim Folder. The Claim Folder
can be in view mode or edit mode for a specific level in the Claim
Tree. When the Claim Folder is in edit mode, most options are
disabled until the user saves their changes and is returned to view
mode. The enabling/disabling of menu options is also dependent on
whether the claim or portions of the claim have been pushed to
V7.
[1119] Claim Folder Tool Bar
[1120] The tool bar represents common action that a user performs
that can be easily accessed by clicking the appropriate icon. There
are five groups of button on the Claim Folder tool bar that
represent, in order, common activities, adding new items to a
claim, launching utilities, performing V7 activities, and accessing
help functions. The enabling/disabling of tool bar buttons follows
the same logic as for menu items.
[1121] Window Description
TABLE-US-00211 Default Control Name Type Description Value/State
Claim Tree Tree View The Claim Tree lists the The current claim
policy, insured, all of tree structure for the claimants and their
the selected related lines in a claim claim. The claim tree format.
level is selected and the claim level tabs are displayed.
Participant List List View A list of all non-insured All
participants and non-claimant who are not participants associated
claimants or with a claim. insureds for the claim and their roles
Edit Tool Bar Button Command Button Changes the tabs for the
Enabled when level selected in the claim is in view claim tree or
participant mode. list view to edit mode. Refresh Tool Bar Command
Button Refreshes the current Enabled when Button claim, including
all claim is in view Participant and Line mode. information. Find
Tool Bar Button Command Button Opens the Claim Search Enabled
window to allow the user to search for another claim Claim
Allocation Command Button Opens the Claim Enabled when Tool Bar
Button Allocation window. claim is in view mode. Manage Physical
File Command Button Opens the Manage Enabled when Tool Bar Button
Physical File window. claim is in view mode. Declare Event Tool
Command Button Opens the Declare Enabled when Bar Button Events
window. claim is in view mode. Claimant Tool Bar Command Button
Adds claimant and Enabled when Button opens Participant tabs in
claim is in view edit mode for entry of a mode. V7 limit new
claimant level node for claimants is 999, we will not edit this
here. Participant Tool Bar Command Button Adds a new participant
Enabled when Button and opens Participant claim is in view tabs in
edit mode. mode. Line Tool Bar Button Command Button Adds line and
opens Enabled when Line tabs in edit mode claim is in view for
entry of a new line mode and level node. claimant context selected
in claim tree. V7 limit for lines is 15 per claimant, this button
will be disabled after 15 added. Assign Performer Command Button
Opens Assign Performer Enabled when Tool Bar Button window claim is
in view mode. Print Screen Tool Bar Command Button Prints the
current claim Enabled Button folder window. Task Assistant Tool
Command Button Launches Task Assistant Enabled when Bar Button for
the current claim claim in view mode. File Notes Tool Bar Command
Button Launch File Notes for Enabled when Button the current claim
claim in view mode. Claim History Tool Command Button Launch Claim
History Enabled when Bar Button for the current claim claim in view
mode. Correspondence Tool Command Button Opens Forms and Enabled
when Bar Button Correspondence window claim in view mode. Push to
V7 Tool Bar Command Button Open the terminal Enabled when Button
emulator window at the claim is in view first V7 setup screen. mode
and claim status is pre-push or open and there are new claimants or
lines to push. Make Payment Tool Command Button Open the V7 PUEM
Enabled when Bar Button screen in the terminal claim had been
emulator window if a pushed to V7 and claimant or participant a
participant is tied to one claimant is selected. selected.
Otherwise, display window that requires user to select a claimant.
Help Tool Bar Button Command Button Opens Help Enabled Claim|Edit
Menu Option Changes Claim tabs into Enabled when Edit mode so that
the claim is in view user can make changes mode. Claim|Refresh Menu
Option Refreshes the current Enabled when claim, including all
claim is in view Participant and Line mode. information. Claim|Find
Menu Option Opens the Claim Search Enabled window Claim|Save Menu
Option Save the claim level Enabled when the when it is in edit
mode. claim level is in edit mode. Claim|Claim Status| Menu Option
Changes the status of Enabled when First Report the claim to claim
is in view Complete "Unassigned" and mode and claim creates First
Report status is "New". Complete Event. Claim|Claim Status| Menu
Option Changes the status of Enabled when Assignment the claim to
"Open" and claim is in view Complete creates Assignment mode and
claim Complete Event, status is "Unassigned". Claim|Claim Status|
Menu Option Initiates the close claim Enabled when Close process
claim is in view mode, V7 claim status is closed, and Millennium
Claim Status is not "Closed" or "Archived" Claim|Claim Status| Menu
Option Changes the status of Enabled when Reopen the claim to
"Open". claim is in view mode and "Closed" or "Archived".
Claim|Claim Status| Menu Option Marks the current claim Enabled
when Mark In Error and all of its lines in claim is in view error.
Expires all mode, and not participants. pushed to V7.
Claim|Allocate Menu Option Opens the Claim Enabled when Allocation
window. claim is in view mode. Claim|Manage Menu Option Opens
Physical File Enabled when Physical File window claim is in view
mode. Claim|Declare Event Menu Option Opens Declare Event Enabled
when window claim is in view mode. Claim|Close Claim Menu Option
Closes current claim Enabled Folder folder window Edit|Cut Menu
Option Move selected text to Disabled the clipboard Edit|Copy Menu
Option Copy selected text to the Disabled clipboard Edit|Paste Menu
Option Paste text from the Disabled clipboard View|Collapse All
Menu Option Collapses the claim tree Enabled View|Expand All Menu
Option Expand the claim tree Enabled Policy|Edit Menu Option Opens
policy tabs in edit Enabled when mode. claim is in view mode.
Policy|Save Menu Option Save current policy tab Enabled when
information. policy level is in edit mode. Participant|New| Menu
Option Opens Participant tabs Enabled when Claimant in edit mode
for entry of claim in view a new claimant level mode. node in the
claim tree. Participant|New| Menu Option Opens Participant tabs
Enabled when Insured in edit mode for entry of claim in view a new
insured level node mode. in the claim tree. Participant|New| Menu
Option Opens Participant tabs Enabled when Other in edit mode for
entry of claim in view a new entry in the mode. Participant list.
Participant|Edit Menu Option Puts currently selected Enabled when
participant tabs into edit claim is in view mode. mode and
participant selected in tree or list box. Participant|Save Menu
Option Saves information Enabled only changed on participant when a
tabs and returns claim to participant level view mode. is in edit
mode. Participant|Delete Menu Option Deletes selected Enabled only
participant when claim is in view mode and participant is selected.
Line|New Menu Option Adds new line to claim Enabled when tree and
opens line tabs claim is in view in edit mode. mode, claimant has
been selected, and limit of 15 lines per claimant has not been
exceeded. Line|Edit Menu Option Puts Line tabs into edit Enabled
when mode so that the user claim is in view can change line details
mode and line is selected. Line|Save Menu Option Save information
Enabled when a entered on line tabs and line is in edit returns
claim to view mode. mode. Line|Change Status| Menu Option Changes
status of a line Enabled when Close in the claim folder to claim is
in view "Closed" mode, a line is selected, the line is not closed,
and its V7 status is closed. Line|Change Status| Menu Option
Changes the status of Enabled when Reopen the line selected to
claim is in view "Open" mode, a line is selected, and line is
"Closed". Line|Change Status| Menu Option Marks selected line in
Enabled when Mark in Error error. claim is in view mode, a line is
selected, and line has not been pushed. Line|Allocate Menu Option
Opens the Claim Enabled Allocation window. Performers|Assign Menu
Option Opens the Assign Enabled when Performers window claim is in
view mode. Performers|View All Menu Option Displays all claim
Enabled when performers assigned to claim is in view the claim in
View mode. Performer UI. Utilities|Print Screen Menu Option Prints
current screen. Enabled Utilities|View Task Menu Option Opens Task
Assistant Enabled when Assistant window for current claim is in
view claim. mode. Utilities|Create New Menu Option Opens File Notes
Enabled when File Note window for current claim is in view claim.
mode. Utilities|View Claim Menu Option Opens Claim History Enabled
when History window for current claim is in view claim. mode.
Utilities|Create Menu Option Opens Forms and Enabled when
Correspondence Correspondence claim is in view window. mode.
Version 7|Push Menu Option Launches V7 to start the Enabled when
Claim push process. claim is in view mode and in "Pre- Push" status
or open when there are unpushed claimants and lines. Version 7|Undo
Menu Option Reverts claim to pre- Enabled when Push push status.
claim is in view
mode and status is "Push- Pending". Version 7|Make Menu Option Open
the V7 PUEM Enabled when Payment screen in the terminal claim had
been emulator window if a pushed to V7 and claimant or participant
a participant is tied to one claimant is selected. selected.
Otherwise, display window that requires user to select a claimant.
Help|Contents Menu Option Opens help file to Enabled content menu.
Help|Search For Menu Option Open help file to search Enabled Help
On window. Help|About Menu Option Opens window Enabled displaying
information about the application.
[1122] Window Details
TABLE-US-00212 Initial Default Tab Control Name Focus Button Order
Claim Tree Yes 1 Participant List 2 Claim Menu 3 Edit Menu 4 View
Menu 5 Policy Menu 6 Participant Menu 7 Line Menu 8 Performer Menu
9 Utilities Menu 10 Version 7 Menu 11 Help Menu 12
[1123] CAR Diagram
TABLE-US-00213 Short Cut Mnemonic Control Name Action Response Key
Key Claim Tree Click Highlights Node in Tree Disable participant in
list view if one selected previously Shows related tabs in view
mode. Enable appropriate menu items and tool bar buttons. Double
Click Level selected in tree enters Edit mode. All Text Fields
Highlight Enable Cut and Copy. Participant List Click Highlights
participant in list box Deselects level in claim tree if one
selected previously Shows related tabs in view mode. Enable
appropriate menu items and tool bar buttons. Double Click
Participant selected in list view enters Edit mode. Edit Tool Bar
Button Click Changes the tabs for the level selected in the claim
tree or participant list view to edit mode. Refresh Tool Bar Click
Refreshes the current Button claim, including all Participant and
Line information. Find Tool Bar Click Opens the Claim Button Search
window to allow the user to search for another claim Claim
Allocation Click Opens the Claim Tool Bar Button Allocation window.
Manage Physical Click Opens the Manage File Tool Bar Button
Physical File window. Declare Event Tool Click Opens the Declare
Bar Button Events window. Claimant Tool Bar Click Adds claimant and
Button opens Participant tabs in edit mode for entry of a new
claimant level node Participant Tool Bar Click Adds new participant
Button and opens Participant tabs in edit mode. Line Tool Bar Click
Adds line and opens Button Line tabs in edit mode for entry of a
new line level node. Assign Performer Click Opens Assign Tool Bar
Button Performer window Print Screen Tool Click Prints the current
claim Bar Button folder window. Task Assistant Tool Click Launches
Task Bar Button Assistant for the current claim File Notes Tool Bar
Click Launch File Notes for Button the current claim Claim History
Tool Click Launch Claim History Bar Button for the current claim
Correspondence Click Opens Forms and Tool Bar Button Correspondence
window Push to V7 Tool Bar Click Open the terminal Button emulator
window at the first V7 setup screen. Make Payment Tool Click Open
the V7 PUEM Bar Button screen in the terminal emulator window if a
claimant or participant tied to one claimant is selected.
Otherwise, display window that requires user to select a claimant.
Help Tool Bar Click Opens Help Button Claim|Edit Click Changes
Claim tabs into Edit mode so that the user can make changes
Claim|Refresh Click Refreshes the current Ctrl + R claim, including
all Participant and Line information. Claim|Find Click Opens the
Claim Ctrl + F Search window Claim|Save Click Save the claim level
when it is in edit mode. Claim|Claim Status| Click Changes the
status of First Report the claim to Complete "Unassigned" and
creates First Report Complete Event. Claim|Claim Status| Click
Changes the status of Assignment the claim to "Open" Complete and
creates Assignment Complete Event. Claim|Claim Status| Click
Initiates the close claim Close process. Claim|Claim Status| Click
Changes the status of Reopen the claim to "Open". Claim|Claim
Status| Click Marks the current claim Mark In Error and all of its
lines in error. Expires all participants. Claim|Allocate Click
Opens the Claim Allocation window. Claim|Manage Click Opens
Physical File Physical File window Claim|Declare Click Opens
Declare Event Event window Claim|Close Claim Click Closes current
claim Folder folder window Edit|Cut Click Move selected text to
Ctrl + X the clipboard Edit|Copy Click Copy selected text to Ctrl +
C the clipboard Edit|Paste Click Paste text from the Ctrl + V
clipboard View|Collapse All Click Collapses the claim tree
View|Expand All Click Expand the claim tree Policy|Edit Click Opens
Policy tabs in edit mode Policy|Save Click Save policy information
and returns tabs to view mode. Participant|New| Click Opens
Participant tabs Claimant in edit mode for entry of a new claimant
level node in the claim tree. Participant|New| Click Opens
Participant tabs Insured in edit mode for entry of a new insured
level node in the claim tree. Participant|New| Click Opens
Participant tabs Other in edit mode for entry of a new entry in the
Participant list. Participant|Edit Click Puts currently selected
participant tabs into edit mode. Participant|Save Click Saves
information changed on participant tabs and returns claim to view
mode. Participant|Delete Click Deletes selected participant
Line|New Click Adds new line to claim tree and opens line tabs in
edit mode. Line|Edit Click Puts Line tabs into edit mode so that
the user can change line details Line|Save Click Save information
entered on line tabs and returns claim to view mode. Line|Change
Status| Click Changes status of a line Close in the claim folder to
"Closed" Line|Change Status| Click Changes the status of Reopen the
line selected to "Open". Line|Change Status| Click Marks selected
line in Mark in Error error. Line|Allocate Click Opens the Claim
Allocation window. Performers|Assign Click Opens the Assign
Performers window Performers|View Click Displays all claim All
performers assigned to the claim in View Performer UI.
Utilities|Print Click Prints current screen. Ctrl + P Screen
Utilities|View Task Click Opens Task Assistant Assistant window for
current claim. Utilities|Create Click Opens File Notes New File
Note window for current claim. Utilities|View Click Opens Claim
History Claim History window for current claim. Utilities|Create
Click Opens Forms and Correspondence Correspondence window. Version
7|Push Click Launches V7 to start Claim the push process. Version
7|Undo Click Reverts claim to pre- Push push status. Version 7|Make
Click Open the V7 PUEM Payment screen in the terminal emulator
window if a claimant or participant tied to one claimant is
selected. Otherwise, display window that requires user to select a
claimant. Help|Contents Click Opens help file to content menu.
Help|Search For Click Open help file to search Help On window.
Help|About Click Opens window displaying information about the
application.
[1124] Data Elements
TABLE-US-00214 Control Data Entity Edit Error Literal Length Type
Tie Rules* Handling Claim Tree Tree View Policy Tree Policy View
Number Node (Policy) Insured Tree Participant View Preferred Node
Name (Insurance Involvement) Claim Tree Claim View Number Node
(Claim) Claimant Tree Particiapant View Preferred Node Name
(Insurance Involvement) Line Tree Line Type View (Line) Participant
List List Participant Box View Preferred Name and Role (Insurance
Involvement & Involvement Role)
[1125] Commit Points
[1126] Claim Save Menu Option--Saves all claim level data
[1127] Policy Save Menu Option--Saves all policy level data
[1128] Participant Save Menu Option--Saves all participant level
data
[1129] Line Save Menu Option--Saves all line level data
[1130] Claim Close Claim Folder Menu Option--Prompts user to save
changes if in edit mode.
Claim History
[1131] Definition
[1132] Claim history shows information in one user interface that
is intended to include all the constituent elements of a claim
file. The four types of history included in the component are
searchable by common indexing criteria like participant, performer,
and claim phase. A caption report can be produced which shows the
history selected in a document format.
[1133] Value
[1134] Claim history provides the users with one common interface
through which to view a large variety of information about the
claim. It includes all history available on a claim, and is
expanded as claim capabilities are built, like incoming mail
capture. Users develop customized views of history based on any
criteria the history can be indexed by, and these reports are saved
as customizable Word documents. The way the history information is
indexed provides quick access to pertinent data needed to respond
to a variety of requests.
[1135] Key Users
[1136] All members of the claims organization can use claim history
as a way to quickly see all activity performed on a claim. This
utility increases the ability to locate key information regarding
any claim.
[1137] Component Functionality
[1138] Claim history is a component that contains a simple process
to retrieve history from the other components in the system. It
contains no native data itself. Even viewing a history element is
done in the component window where the item was first captured.
[1139] The second key process of claim history is to produce a
caption report of all history elements according to the items the
user wants to include.
[1140] There are two user interfaces needed for this component that
correspond to the two key functions above: [1141] Claim History
Search: This window utilizes the claim phase, participant,
performer'and history type fields on each history record to help
the user narrow the search for specific history. [1142] Caption
Report: This report uses the functionality of Word to produce a
report of each history item the user wants to see and its
associated detail. Since the report is produced in Word, it can be
fully customized according to many different needs.
[1143] User Interfaces [1144] Claim History Search [1145] Caption
Report (Word document, not UI design)
Forms and Correspondence
[1146] Definition
[1147] The Forms & Correspondence component supports internal
and external Claim communication and documentation across all parts
of the claims handling process.
[1148] The Forms and Correspondence--Create Correspondence function
provides the ability to search for a template using various search
criteria, select a template for use and then leverage claim data
into the selected template.
[1149] The Forms and Correspondence--Template Maintenance function
is a tool for the librarian to create, delete, and update
Correspondence templates and their associated criteria.
[1150] Some specific processes supported by Forms &
Correspondence are: [1151] Reporting of claims [1152] to
state/federal agencies, etc. at First Notice of Loss [1153]
internal requests for information [1154] Advising Participants
[1155] Contacting Participants [1156] Performing Calculations
[1157] Creating correspondence for claims or non-claims
[1158] Value
[1159] The Forms and Correspondence component supports user in
creating documentation.
[1160] Leveraging information from the claim directly into
correspondence reduces the amount of typing and dictating done to
create forms and letters. The typical data available to the
templates should include: author, addressee, claim number, date of
loss, insured name, policy number, etc. A librarian adds and
maintains standardized forms and letters in logical groupings made
available for the entire company.
[1161] Key Users
[1162] Claim employees are the primary users of the Forms and
Correspondence component, but it can be used by anyone who has
access to the system to create documents using existing
templates.
[1163] Forms and Correspondence librarians use the system to
create, update or remove templates.
[1164] Component Functionality
[1165] Forms and Correspondence--Create Correspondence
[1166] 1. Search for a template based on search criteria.
[1167] 2. Create a correspondence from a template using claim
data.
[1168] 3. Create a correspondence from a template without using
claim data.
[1169] 4. View the criteria for a selected template.
[1170] 5. View the Microsoft Word template before leveraging any
data.
[1171] Forms and Correspondence--Template Maintenance
[1172] 1. Search for a template based on search criteria.
[1173] 2. Create, duplicate, edit, and delete Correspondence
templates and their criteria.
[1174] 3. Internally test and approve newly created/edited
templates.
[1175] 4. Properly copy Word templates for NAN distribution.
[1176] User Interfaces [1177] Search for Correspondence [1178]
Correspondence Details [1179] Associate Fields [1180] Maintain
Correspondence Search [1181] Correspondence Template
Information--Details tab [1182] Correspondence Template
Information--Criteria tab [1183] Microsoft Word
File Notes
[1184] Definition
[1185] File notes captures the textual information that cannot be
gathered in discrete data elements as part of claim data capture.
They are primarily a documentation tool, but also are used for
internal communication between claim professionals. Users can sort
the notes by participant or claim phase (medical, investigation,
coverage, etc.) in order to permit rapid retrieval and organization
of this textual information.
[1186] Value
[1187] File notes speeds the retrieval and reporting of claim
information. A file notes search utility with multiple indexing
criteria provides claim professionals and supervisors with the
ability to quickly find a file note written about a particular
person or topic. The file notes tool utilizes modern word
processing capabilities which speed entry, reduce error, and allow
for important information to be highlighted. Furthermore, the
categorization and key field search eases the process of finding
and grouping file notes. Finally, file notes improves communication
as they can be sent back and forth between those involved in
managing the claim.
[1188] Key Users
[1189] All members of the claims organization can utilize file
notes. External parties via RMS can view file notes marked General.
This utility increases the ability to locate key information
regarding a claim. Anyone who wants to learn more about a claim or
wants to record information about a claim utilizes the file notes
tool.
[1190] Component Functionality
[1191] File Notes searching is included as part of the claim
history component which allows the user to search the historical
elements of a claim file including tasks, letters, and significant
claim change events.
[1192] The user interfaces that are needed for this component are:
[1193] The File Notes Search (part of Claims History component):
This window utilizes the claim phase fields on the file notes
record to help the user narrow the search for specific file notes.
Also, it allows users to view all file notes that meet specified
criteria in a report style format. [1194] File Notes Entry: The
window used to record the file note. It embeds a word processing
system and provides the ability to categorize, indicate a note as
company (private) vs. general (public), save the note as a draft or
a final copy, and send the note to another person.
[1195] User Interfaces [1196] File Notes [1197] Draft File Note
Review [1198] Participant Search [1199] Performer Search
Address Book
[1200] Definition
[1201] Address Book is the interface between the claims system and
the Client database. The Client application is a new component
designed to keep track of people or organizations that interact
with RELIANCE for any reason, but claims are most likely the first
application to use Client. The Address Book is accessed directly
from the Desktop and from the Claim Folder.
[1202] The Address Book meets several needs within the claim
organization. Although, its primary function is to support the
adding of participants to a claim, it acts as a pathway to the
Client database for searching out existing participants, and adding
new people or organizations to the corporate database.
[1203] The Client database maintains information on names,
addresses, phone numbers, and other information that always applies
to a person or organization no matter what role they play on a
claim.
[1204] Value
[1205] Address Book provides a common definition of people or
organizations that interact with RELIANCE, and therefore provides a
much more efficient means of capturing this information. Each
Client database entry provides the ability to link a person or
organization to all the different roles that they play across the
organization, and therefore makes retrieving information on a
client by client basis quick and easy.
[1206] There are many benefits to RELIANCE by having a common
address book. Information on people and organizations is leveraged
into other activities like enabled tasks that lookup a client's
phone numbers when a call needs to be made. Information that has
been redundantly stored in the past can be entered once and reused.
Once all areas of RELIANCE use the Client application, different
areas of the company can share definitions of individuals and
organizations.
[1207] Component Functionality
[1208] Address Book allows users to add, edit and delete records
from the Client database. It also provides a robust search
facility, including phonetic name searches to find people contained
in the Client database.
[1209] There are two primary user interfaces for the Address Book:
[1210] Find Address Book Entry--This is a search window that allows
a user to find records in the Client database using names,
addresses, phone numbers, and other identifiers. From this window,
specific records can be selected and attached as participants on
claims. [1211] Maintain Address Book Entry--This window allows
users to add or edit information about a client by specifying their
names, addresses, phone numbers, email information, and
identification numbers like a SSN or TIN.
[1212] The Address Book is created concurrently with the Client
application to make sure that a consistent design approach is
followed.
[1213] Key Users
[1214] All members of the claim organization use the Address Book
to look up information on people and organizations in the client
database. Those who set up and handle claims use the Address Book
to identify participants.
[1215] User Interfaces [1216] Find Client [1217] Maintain
Client
Index
[1218] Definition
[1219] The Index, or Claim Search, component provides the ability
to locate claims within the system using various search criteria.
The criteria cover a wider variety of search capabilities than
exist today including, but not limited to, claim performers,
participants, phonetic name searches, addresses, roles, offices,
and lines of business. The search results display selected claim,
participant, and performer data to help identify each claim.
[1220] The Index component also allows easy navigation to various
claim components like the Claim Folder, once a claim has been
identified. It can be accessed from the Desktop and from any open
Claim Folder.
[1221] The Index component is designed to support several business
processes within the claim organization. Its functions are critical
to improving claim staff productivity and customer service in the
following areas: [1222] Matching Mail [1223] The capabilities of
the Index search make it easier to identify the claim a piece of
mail belongs to based on criteria used to identify claims in forms,
correspondence, and bills. The performers for a claim can also be
identified for mail routing purposes. [1224] Phone Inquiries [1225]
This window is the primary point to handle incoming phone inquiries
for any claim. Users can find claims quickly without having to
burden the caller with requests for additional information. [1226]
Duplicate Claims [1227] Prior to setting up new claims, checks can
be done to ensure that the claim has not already been entered into
the system. The additional search capabilities provide a greater
assurance that duplicate claims will not be entered. This reduces
the need to delete or merge claim records. [1228] Fraud
Identification [1229] Because claims can be searched easily by
participant and other criteria, fraud questions can be easily
researched. This is not the primary purpose of this component,
however.
[1230] Value
[1231] Index reduces the time required to find existing claims, and
also reduces potential rework from not finding claims when they are
needed for matching mail or duplicate checks.
[1232] Key Users
[1233] Claim employees are the primary users of the Index window,
but it can be used by anyone who has access to the system to access
claims without having to memorize tracking numbers.
[1234] Component Functionality
[1235] Index is primarily a robust search engine that quickly and
efficiently searches for claims. It is not a component that stores
its own data, as it is primarily focused on pointing users more
quickly and directly to claim data.
[1236] Index is composed of one search window that follows the
format of all other search windows in the system.
[1237] User Interfaces [1238] Find Claims
Injury
[1239] Definition
[1240] The Injury component captures versions of a claimant's
injuries as they progress. This window captures injury information
in the form of discrete data fields, reducing the need for free
form text file notes. Capturing data, instead of text, allows the
injury to be closely tracked and quickly reported. The data can
also serve as feedback statistics, i.e. for building best claims
practices and in risk selection. The preferred method of
identifying and documenting injuries is the ICD-9 code. The user
can enter or search for the ICD-9 code using descriptors or
numbers.
[1241] Value
[1242] Data on every injury is captured and summarized in a
consistent, accessible format, making recording and reviewing the
case considerably less time consuming and more organized, allowing
the adjuster to focus on desired outcomes. This "snapshot" of the
current status and history of an injury greatly facilitates handing
off or file transfers between claim professionals. Additionally,
the discrete data field capture enables the use of events to
identify action points in the lifecycle of a claim that has
injuries.
[1243] Key Users
[1244] All members of the claims organization can utilize the
Injury component. This component increases the ability to locate
and summarize key information regarding an injury.
[1245] Component Functionality
[1246] Injury is an aspect of participant information, which is
related to the claimant participants on the claim. The participant
component relates clients to all other claim-related entities.
Information on injuries will be related to participant records and
displayed at the participant level information in the Claim Folder.
New entities are needed to implement injury data capture: injury
and ICD-9 search. The Injury component interacts with five other
components: Claim Folder-which contains Disability Management data
about a claimant; Participant--which lists the individuals
associated with the claim; as well as File Notes, Task Assistant
and the Event Processor. The injury component also uses Microsoft
WORD to create a formatted, historical injury report for a
particular individual.
[1247] The user interfaces that are needed for this component are:
[1248] Injury: This is the primary injury window which captures
basic injury report data, including: the source of the injury
report, the date of the injury report, a Prior Medical History
indicator, and then a detailed list of the injuries associated with
that report. The detailed list includes discrete fields for the
following data: ICD-9 code, body part, type, kind, severity,
treatment, diagnostic, a free form text description field, and a
causal relation indicator. [1249] ICD-9: This is the search window
for locating ICD-9 codes and associated descriptions. [1250]
Disability Management: This window contains a subset of participant
data fields that enables more effective injury management.
[1251] User Interfaces [1252] Claim Folder--Participant
Level--Injury Tab [1253] ICD-9 Search Window [1254] Claim
Folder--Participant Level--Disability Management Tab
Negotiation
[1255] Definition
[1256] FIG. 10 is an illustration of the Negotiation component of
one embodiment of the present invention. Negotiation provides a
single, structured template that is supplemented by supporting
views, to capture events regarding a negotiation. The negotiation
interface 1000 captures key elements of a negotiation, such as a
settlement target range, current demands and offers, and Supporting
Strengths and Opposing Assertions of the claim. Negotiation
information is gathered in discrete data elements 1002, enabling
the capability to generate events 1006 based on key attributes or
changes in a negotiation. These events 1006 are then sent to a
common event queue 1008. The negotiation component 1000 interfaces
with the File Notes 1004 component to provide additional
documentation capability, in a non-structured format. The
negotiation template is supported by all other data contained in
the Claim Folder.
[1257] Value
[1258] Data on every case is summarized in a consistent, accessible
format, making recording and reviewing the case considerably less
time consuming and more organized, allowing the adjuster to focus
on negotiation strategy and desired outcomes. This "snapshot" of
the current status greatly facilitates handing off or file
transfers between claim professionals. Additionally, the discrete
data field capture enables the use of events to identify action
points in a negotiation.
[1259] Key Users
[1260] All members of the claims organization can utilize
Negotiation. This component increases the ability to locate and
summarize key information regarding a negotiation.
[1261] Component Functionality
[1262] Negotiation is a type of resolution activity, which is part
of the claim component of the claims entity model. The claim
component is the central focus of the claims entity model, because
it contains the essential information about a claim. The claim
component supports the core claim data capture functionality, first
notice processes, and resolution activity for claims. The main
types/classes of data within the claim component are: Claim,
Claimant, Line, Claim History, Resolution Activity, Reserve Item,
and Reserve Item Change. Three entities are needed to implement
negotiation: resolution activity, claim and claim history. There is
also interaction between the Negotiation component and the Task
Assistant, File Notes and Event Processor components.
[1263] The user interfaces needed for negotiation are: [1264]
Negotiation: This window captures demand and offer data, including:
amount, date, type and mode of communication. The target settlement
range, lowest and highest, is captured, along with strengths and
weaknesses of the case.
[1265] Supporting user interfaces, which are also part of the Claim
Folder, include: [1266] Liability (claim level tab): This window is
used to document liability factors in evaluating and pricing a
claim. The liability factors include percent of liability for all
involved parties; form of negligence that prevails for that
jurisdiction; theories of liability that the claim handler believes
to be applicable to the claim. Used prior to developing negotiation
strategy. [1267] Damages (line level tab): This window provides the
capability for pricing and evaluating a claim based on incurred and
expected damages. Used prior to developing negotiation
strategy.
[1268] User Interfaces [1269] Claim Folder--Line Level--Negotiation
Tab [1270] Claim Folder--Claim Level--Liability Tab [1271] Claim
Folder--Line Level--Damages Tab
Organization
[1272] Definition
[1273] FIG. 11 is a flow diagram of the operations utilized by the
Organization component in accordance with one embodiment of the
present invention. The Organization component 1100 allows common
information for the people who perform work on claims to be stored,
searched, and reused across all the claims they work.
[1274] In one embodiment of the organization component 1100, all
employee records are kept in a common database 1102 so that they
can be attached to the specific claims they work, located in a
claim database 1104. The common information that is kept on the
employee record includes name, location, phone, and some minimal
organizational context information like office or division. This is
the minimum required to support the tracking of performers on
claims. The employee information 1102 is then linked 1106 to the
claim information 1104 and the databases are updated 1108. Having
linked the employees 1102 with the claims 1104 they are working on,
the database can be searched by employee or claim 1110.
[1275] However, this version of the organization can be expanded to
include organization relationships (specifically tracking where an
employee falls in the organization structure), groups of
individuals as performers for claim assignment, and claim
allocation within the organization structure. These capabilities
are to support any notion of caseload analysis, management
reporting, or automated assignment that would need to be
included.
[1276] Value
[1277] By tracking common definitions of employees across claims,
indexing capabilities are improved and performers on claims are
accurately tracked.
[1278] Key Users
[1279] The primary users of the organization capabilities are the
administrative personnel who set up performers, as well as the
technicians who track who is working a claim.
[1280] Component Functionality
[1281] The design of the minimum scope of the organization
component includes a search window to find employees in the
organization and a detail window to see specific information on
each employee.
[1282] User Interfaces [1283] Organization Entity Search [1284]
Add/Edit Organization Entity
Participant
[1285] Definition
[1286] FIG. 12 is an illustration of the Participant component in
accordance with one embodiment of the present invention.
Participant 1200 provides the link between claims and individuals
and organizations stored in the Client database and accessed
through the Address Book 1202. Participant links clients to claims
1204 by defining the roles that they play, e.g. claimant, driver,
or doctor. It reuses the information contained in the Address Book
1202 so that it does not have to be reentered for each
participant.
[1287] The participant component also allows linkages 1206 to be
made between participant and to various items on claims. A doctor
can be linked to the claimant they treat and a driver can be linked
to the damaged vehicle they were driving.
[1288] Once a participant has been added to a claim, additional
information 1208 that is specific to that claim can be attached.
This information includes injury, employment, and many other types
of information that are specific to the role that a person or
organization plays in a claim.
[1289] The business processes primarily supported by Participant
1200 are: [1290] Recording Involvement in a Claim [1291] There is a
basic data capture requirement to keep track of individuals and
organizations involved-in a claim, and this is done most
efficiently using the participant approach. [1292] Recording Role
Specific Information [1293] Address Book 1202 stores information
that can be reused across claims, but the Participant component
1200 needs to maintain the information that is specific to an
individual or organization's involvement in a specific claim.
[1294] Making Contact with Clients [1295] Because participant ties
back to the common Address Book 1202, any contact information
contained there can be quickly and easily obtained. [1296] Forms
and Correspondence 1210 [1297] Leveraging address information into
letters provides an efficiency enablement to all users who don't
need to look up name and address information. [1298] Categorizing
History Information [1299] Participants are used to categorize
history items like tasks and file notes so that information
relating to a single participant on a claim can be easily
retrieved. [1300] Claim Indexing [1301] Attaching participants to a
claim allows the Index component to be more effective in the
processing of claim inquires.
[1302] Key Users
[1303] The primary users of the Participant components 1200 are
those who work directly on processing claims. They are the ones who
maintain the participant relationships.
[1304] Claims professionals who deal with injuries use the
Participant tabs in the claim folder to track injuries and manage
disabilities for a better result on the claim.
[1305] Value
[1306] Because the Participant component 1200 only seeks to define
the roles that individuals and organization play across all claims,
there is no redundant entry of name, address, and phone
information. This is all stored in the Address Book 1202.
[1307] The number of potential participant roles that can be
defined is virtually limitless, and therefore expandable, as the
involvement of additional people and organizations needs to be
captured.
[1308] Component Functionality
[1309] Most participant functionality is executed within the
context of the Claim Folder. The Claim Folder contains participants
levels in two ways. First, claimants are shown in the claim tree on
the left-hand side of the window. Below this, other participants
are shown in a list. Selecting any participant displays a set of
participant information tabs that displays the following
information: [1310] Participant Details--Basic information about
the role that a participant plays in a claim and all the other
participants that are associated to it. [1311] Contact
Information--Information from the Address Book on names, addresses,
and phone numbers. [1312] Injury--Specific information on the
nature of injuries suffered by injured claimants. [1313] Disability
Management--Information on injured claimants with disabilities.
[1314] Only the first two tabs will be consistently displayed for
all participants. Other tabs can appear based on the role and
characteristics of a participant's involvement in a claim.
[1315] Adding or editing participant role information is actually
done through the Address Book 1202 search window. The process is as
simple as finding the Address Book 1202 record for the intended
participant and specifying the role the participant plays in the
claim. Once this is done, the participant will be shown in the
Claim Folder, and additional information can be added.
[1316] The notion of a participant is a generic concept that is not
specific to claims alone. It is a based on design pattern that can
be expanded as additional claims capabilities are built. Any
involvement of an individual or an organization can be modeled this
way.
[1317] User Interfaces [1318] Participant Level--Participant
Details Tab [1319] Participant Level--Contact Information Tab
[1320] Participant Level--Events Tab [1321] Participant
Level--Injury Tab (Injury Component) [1322] Participant
Level--Disability Management Tab (Injury Component) [1323] View
Participant List
Performer
[1324] Definition
[1325] The Perforer component allows organizational entities
(individuals, groups, offices, etc.) to be assigned to various
roles in handling the claim from report to resolution. The
Performer component is utilized on a claim-by-claim basis.
[1326] A performer is defined as any individual or group that can
be assigned to fulfill a role on a claim.
[1327] The Performer component supports the assignment processes
within the claim handling process. This goes beyond the assignment
of claim at FNOL. This component allows the assignment of work
(tasks) as well.
[1328] Some specific processes supported by Performer are: [1329]
Assign claims [1330] identification of different roles on the
claims in order to assign the claim (Initiate Claim--DC Process
work) [1331] Keeps roles and relationships of performers within
claims [1332] Assigning tasks [1333] Reassignments [1334] Supports
Initiate claim process--assignment [1335] Search mechanism for
employees, offices [1336] All performers should be in the
Organization component [1337] Provides history of assignments
[1338] Value
[1339] The Performer component allows the assignment of roles or
tasks to individuals or groups. The data about performers resides
in a common repository: the Organization component.
[1340] The Performer component reduces the time required to find
employees, teams or any potential performer, and ensures
consistency of data.
[1341] Key Users
[1342] The primary users of the Performer component are those who
work directly on processing claims. They are the ones who maintain
the assignment of roles or tasks related to a claim.
[1343] Component Functionality
[1344] The Performer component supports an informational function
and an assignment function. [1345] 1. View details for performers
(employee, office, unit, etc.). These details may suggest
organizational entity relationships but in no way define or
maintain them. [1346] 2. View all performers assigned to a claim,
currently and historically (includes individuals, groups, offices,
etc.) [1347] 3. Assign performers to a claim--at the claim level,
claimant, and supplement levels (including individuals, office,
groups, etc.)
[1348] User Interfaces [1349] Assign Performer [1350] Performer
Roles [1351] View Performer List
Task Assistant
[1352] Definition
[1353] The Task Assistant is the cornerstone of a claim
professional's working environment. It provides diary functions at
a work step level that allow the management of complex claim
events. It enables the consistent execution of claim best practices
by assembling and re-assembling all of the tasks that need to be
performed for a claim based on detailed claim characteristics.
These characteristics come from regulatory compliance requirements,
account servicing commitments, and best practices for handling all
types of claims. The Task Assistant also provides mechanisms that
automate a portion of or all of the work in performing a task to
assist the claim professional in completing his or her work. Once a
task is completed, the Task Assistant generates a historical record
to document the claim handler's actions.
[1354] The Task Assistant is . . . [1355] A method for ensuring
consistent execution of regulatory requirements, account servicing
commitments and claim handling best practices [1356] A source of
automated assistance for claim professionals [1357] An
organization-wide communication tool within the context of a claim
(it does not replace Lotus Notes). [1358] A mechanism for making
claims strategy common practice and sharing corporate experience
[1359] A diary application to keep track of claims [1360] A
historical tracking tool [1361] A way to get a claim professional's
or a team leader's attention [1362] A mechanism for making process
changes in the organization quickly
[1363] Within the Task Assistant, claim professionals have the
ultimate control to determine if and when tasks need to be
completed. They also have the ability to add tasks to the list to
represent work they do that is not reflected in standard
definitions of tasks in the system. This supports a vision of the
claim professional as a knowledgeable worker who spends most of his
or her time focused on a successful result through investigation,
evaluation, and negotiation of the best possible outcome.
[1364] Value
[1365] The Task Assistant reduces the time required to handle a
claim by providing the claim professional with the automatic
scheduling of claim activity. It helps the claim professional
remember, perform and record tasks completed for every claim.
Completed tasks are self-documenting and remain part of the claim
history.
[1366] The Task Assistant also ensures the consistent handling of
claims throughout the organization, and by doing so can
significantly impact expenses and loss costs. Furthermore, it helps
ensure regulatory compliance and the fulfillment of account
promises. It supports the teamwork required in handling difficult
claims as a structure communication mechanism.
[1367] The automated enablements for tasks reduce the amount of
time claim professionals have to spend on low value-added
activities such as writing correspondence. They can therefore spend
a larger amount of time investigating, evaluating, and negotiating
each claim.
[1368] Key Users
[1369] While claim professionals are the primary users of the Task
Assistant, others use the application as well. The entire claims
department utilizes the Task Assistant to structure work and
communicate with one another. Team leaders use the Task Assistant
to conduct file review and to guide the work of the claim
professional. Administrative staff use the Task Assistant as a
means to receive work and to communicate the completion of that
work. Claim professionals use the Task Assistant to complete work
and to request assistance from team leaders and specialty claim
professionals.
[1370] The Task Assistant requires a new type of user to set-up and
maintain the variety of tasks that are created. A task librarian
maintains the task library, which contains the list of all the
standardized tasks across the organization. The librarian defines
rules which cause tasks to be placed on task lists based on claim
characteristics, dates which define when tasks are due, and task
enablement through other applications.
[1371] Component Functionality
[1372] FIG. 13 is a flow diagram of the operations utilized by the
Task Assistant component of the present invention. The processing
of tasks through the Task Assistant comprises the lifecycle of the
task from its creation to its completion or deletion. In first
operation 1300, the Task engine provides tasks to the Task
Assistant. In the second operation 1302, the Task Assistant then
displays the list of tasks provided by the Task Engine. In the
third operation 1304, the user is allowed to add tasks and edit
tasks provided by the Task Engine. The fourth operation 1306 occurs
as the claim is processed. As the claim is processed, the user and
the Task Engine determine when the various tasks are completed.
When a tasks is completed, the fifth operation 1308 occurs. In the
fifth 1308 operation, a historical record is generated for any
tasks which is determined to be completed.
[1373] The key user interfaces for this component are: [1374] The
Task Assistant: This is the utility that supports the population,
execution, and historical tracking of tasks. It allows users to
perform tasks, complete tasks, and remove tasks that have been
automatically added. [1375] The Task Workplan: This user interface
allows the user to strategize the plan for a specific claim. It
shows tasks attached to their to respective levels of the claim
including lines, participants, and the claim itself. [1376] Task
Enablement Windows: There are many windows that can be added to
enable task with other applications such as telephone support,
forms and correspondence, and file notes. The number of potential
task enablements is virtually limitless. [1377] Task Entry: Allows
a user to add new task that weren't automatically added to the task
list to cover situations where the claim handler wants to indicate
work to be done that is not reflected by the standard task
definitions in the task library.
[1378] Behind the functioning of the Task Assistant, the Task
Engine continually evaluates messages sent from other components
and determines based on the rules established by the task
librarian, which tasks should be populated on the Task Assistant.
Messages are sent to the Task Assistant when something significant
occurs in another component. The messages contain the
characteristics the Task Engine needs to evaluate in order to place
the proper tasks on the task list.
[1379] User Interfaces [1380] Task Assistant [1381] Reassign Task
[1382] Edit/Add Task [1383] Clear Task [1384] Mark Task In Error
[1385] Build Workplan [1386] Participant Search [1387] Participant
Phone Number [1388] Phone Task [1389] Personal Profile [1390]
Account Search [1391] Organization Search [1392] Performer
Search
Event Processor/Task Engine
[1393] Definition
[1394] FIG. 14 is an illustration of the Event Processor 1400 in
combination with other components of the system in accordance with
on embodiment of the present invention. The Event Processor 1400
works behind the scenes of all claims applications to listen for
significant events that have occurred in the life of various
entities in the system like claims (but potentially many more like
accounts or policies in the future). It determines what the
response should be to each event and passes it onto the system
component that will process it. The Event Processor is completely
generic to any specific entity or event in the system and therefore
enables automation based on an almost limitless number of events
and responses that could be defined.
[1395] FIG. 15 is an illustration of the Task Engine 1404 in
accordance with one embodiment of the present invention. The Task
Engine 1404 processes the most common set of event responses, those
that need to generate tasks 1406 based on events 1006 that have
occurred. It compares the tasks that have been defined to the
system to a set of claim criteria to tell which tasks should be
added and which tasks should now be marked complete.
[1396] The only interface the user sees to these components is the
task library 1500, which allows task librarians 1502 to define the
tasks and the rules that create them which are used by the Task
Engine 1404. Working with these components is almost entirely a
function performed by specialists who understand the complexity of
the rules involved in ensuring events 1006 and tasks 1406 are
handled properly.
[1397] The event processor 1400 also manages the communication and
data synchronization between new claim components and LEGACY claim
systems. This single point of contact effectively encapsulates the
complex processes of translation and notification of events between
the two systems.
[1398] Value
[1399] The automated determination of event responses provides
enormous benefits to system users by reducing the maintenance they
have to perform in ensuring the correct disposition of claims.
Users trigger events by the data they enter and the system
activities they perform, and the system automatically responds with
appropriate automated activities like generating tasks.
[1400] The task generation rules defined in the Task Library
provide an extremely flexible definition of claim handling
processes limited only by the data available in the system on which
task creation rules can be based. Process changes can be
implemented quickly by task librarians, and enforced through the
Task Assistant.
[1401] Key Users
[1402] Although all claim personnel directly benefit from the
functioning of the event processor and task assistant, only
specially trained users control the processing of these components.
Task Librarians using the Task Library user interface handle the
process of defining new tasks and the rules that trigger them in
the Task Engine.
[1403] Operations personnel who ensure that all events are
processed correctly and that the appropriate system resources are
available to manage the throughput handle event processing.
[1404] Component Functionality
[1405] As shown in FIG. 14, the Event Processor 1400 utilizes a
common queue 208 of events 1006 that are populated by any component
1402 of the system to identify what events have occurred. Working
this queue, the Event Processor determines the appropriate response
for an event and provides information to other components that need
to process them. The Event Processor does not process any events
itself and maintains clear encapsulation of system
responsibilities. For example, an event that affects claim data is
processed by the claim component.
[1406] The Task Engine 1404 follows a process of evaluating events
1006, determining claim characteristics, and matching the claim's
characteristics to tasks defined in the Task Library 1500.
[1407] The key user interface for the Task Engine 1404 is the Task
Library 1500. The Task Library 1500 maintains the templates that
contain the fields and values with which tasks are established. A
task template might contain statements like "When event=litigation
AND line of business=commercial auto, then . . . " Templates also
identify what a tasks due date should be and how the task is
enabled with other applications.
[1408] User Interfaces [1409] Search Task Template [1410] Search
Triggering Templates [1411] Task Template Details
[1412] While various embodiments have been described above, it
should be understood that they have been presented by way of
example only, and not limitation. Thus, the breadth and scope of a
preferred embodiment should not be limited by any of the above
described exemplary embodiments, but should be defined only in
accordance with the following claims and their equivalents.
* * * * *