Data processing: database and file management or data structures – Database design – Data structure types
Reexamination Certificate
1998-06-29
2001-05-22
Black, Thomas (Department: 2171)
Data processing: database and file management or data structures
Database design
Data structure types
C707S793000, C707S793000, C707S793000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06236994
ABSTRACT:
This invention relates generally to an architecture for the integration of data, information and knowledge, and more particularly to a method and apparatus that manages and utilizes a knowledge repository for the purpose of enabling easy access, manipulation and visualization of synchronized data, information and knowledge contained in different types of software systems.
SOURCE CODE APPENDIX
This patent document contains a source code appendix, including a total of 542 pages.
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A portion of the disclosure of this patent document contains material which is subject to copyright protection. The copyright owner has no objection to the facsimile reproduction by anyone of the patent document or the patent disclosure, as it appears in the Patent and Trademark Office patent file or records, but otherwise reserves all copyright rights whatsoever.
BACKGROUND AND SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Companies operating in regulated industries (e.g., aerospace, energy, healthcare, manufacturing, pharmaceuticals, telecommunications, utilities) are required to manage and review large amounts of information that is frequently generated over the course of several years. The principal components of this information are the structured numerical data and the unstructured textual documents. The data are collected and run through complex statistical analyses that are then interpreted and reported by industry experts to meet stringent requirements for regulatory review. Separate groups or organizations produce multiple iterations of these data and documents, with potentially thousands of statistical data analysis files linked to thousands of dependent documents. Often such groups have independently evolved specialized and often incompatible procedures and work practices. Correspondingly, separate software systems for data analysis and document management have been adopted as discrete solutions. The dichotomy existing in both the information sources and work groups jeopardizes the common goal. Hence, the challenge is to integrate and synchronize the flow of all information, processes and work practices necessary for making better and faster decisions within an enterprise.
Currently the process of integrating data and data analysis reports with regulatory documents can be characterized as (a) an entirely manual process (i.e., paper is copied and collated into a hard copy compilation), (b) a multi-step electronic process (i.e., files are placed into a central file location by one department and retrieved by another), or (c) an internally developed, custom solution that is used to automate portions of the process. Problems with such processes typically include:
complexity and error prone nature of the systems needed to manage the process(es) (e.g., manual updates to related documents and data, demands for maintaining a “mental” mapping of these objects to each other (i.e., a meta information catalogue) and enforcing the integrity of the defined object “linkages” throughout the business process);
difficulty in locating and working with interrelated documents and data throughout the information generation lifecycle (a lack of integrated textual and numerical information severely constrains enterprise information workflow and decision making);
a lack of an efficient mechanism, in the current document management and data analysis systems, for locating and working with the many different types of information maintained in separate systems;
a failure to recognize, appreciate and enable the dependencies between data and documents throughout the information generation lifecycle—a complex information workspace topology exists that is known only intrinsically by the users who must maintain the referential integrity of these related information objects; and
inflexibility of a process, during the information generation lifecycle, to handle situations where data changes force a series of document changes, which may in turn require modifications of other documents.
On the other hand, the present invention will alleviate such problems using an architecture that includes a knowledge repository for the purpose of enabling easy access, manipulation and visualization of complete and synchronized information contained on a plurality of software platforms.
Heretofore, a limited number of patents and publications have disclosed certain aspects of knowledge management systems, the relevant portions of which may be briefly summarized as follows:
U.S. Pat. No. 5,644,686 to Hekmatpour, issued Jul. 1, 1997, discloses a domain independent expert system and method employing inferential processing within a hierarchically-structured knowledge base. Knowledge engineering is characterized as accommodating various sources of expertise to guide and influence an expert toward considering all aspects of the environment beyond the individual's usual activities and concerns. This task, often complicated by the expert's lack of analysis of their thought content, is accomplished in one or more approaches, including interview, interaction (supervised) and induction (unsupervised). The expert diagnostic system described by Hekmatpour combines behavioral knowledge presentation with structural knowledge presentation to identify a recommended action.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,745,895 to Bingham et al, issued Apr. 28, 1998, discloses a method for associating heterogeneous information by creating, capturing, and retrieving ideas, concepts, data, and multi-media. It has an architecture and an open-ended-set of functional elements that combine to support knowledge processing. Knowledge is created by uniquely identifying and interrelating heterogeneous datasets located locally on a user's workstation or dispersed across computer networks. By uniquely identifying and storing the created interrelationships, the datasets themselves need not be locally stored. Datasets may be located, interrelated and accessed across computer networks. Relationships can be created and stored as knowledge to be selectively filtered and collected by an end user.
FileNet's “Foundation for Enterprise Document Management Strategy White Paper”, Sep. 1997, suggests a major industry trend that is being generated by users: the convergence of workflow, document-imaging, electronic document management, and computer output to laser disk into a family of products that work in a common desktop PC environment. FileNet's foundation is a base upon which companies can easily build an enterprise-wide environment to access and manage all documents and the business processes which utilize them. FileNet's architectural model is based on the client/server computing paradigm. Four types of generic client applications are described, the four main elements include:
Searching—the ability to initiate and retrieve information that “indexes” documents across the enterprise by accessing industry standard databases and presenting the results in an easy to use and read format.
Viewing—the ability to view all document types and work with them in the most appropriate way, including viewing, playing (video or voice), modifying/editing, annotating, zooming, panning, scrolling, highlighting, etc.
Development tools—industry-standard based development tool sets (e.g. Active X, PowerBuilder) that allow customers or their selected application development or integration partners to create specific applications that interface with other applications already existing in the organization.
Administrative applications—applications that deliver management and administrative information to users, developers, or system administrators that allow them to optimize tasks, complete business processes or receive data on document properties and functions.
SAS Institute's Peter Villiers has described, in a paper entitled “New Architecture for Linkages of SAS/PH-Clinical® Software with Electronic Document Management Systems” (June 1997, SAS Institute), an interface between SAS Institute's pharmaceutical technology products and document management systems (e.g., Documentum™ Enterprise Document Mana
Dou Qun
Janos Evelyn A.
Markidan Igor
Swartz Ronald M.
Winkler Jeffrey L.
Basch Duane C.
Black Thomas
Eipert William F.
Mizrahi Diane D.
Xerox Corporation
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