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Designing and Implementing Softcoded Values

Authored by Michael Blaha
RN0068301
List Price: $19.00
 
File Name: softcode2.pdf

The typical practice for building database applications is to use a direct representation, that is, directly map application concepts to the database structure. The direct approach is effective for applications with well-defined classes and attributes. However, it fails for applications with open-ended classes and attributes. Consider an application for managing equipment data. The pertinent data varies widely by equipment type. For example, storage tank data includes physical dimensions, materials of construction, and rated pressure. In contrast, pump data include flow rate, power consumption, pressure differential, and materials of construction.

Any attempt to hardcode equipment data is doomed to be fragile. New types of equipment and attributes would frequently arise, requiring model extensions, and disrupting the corresponding application.

With hardcoding, classes and attributes must be known at compile time as an application is being built. With softcoding, classes and attributes need not be known until runtime when the application executes. Softcoding lets both data and metadata (definitions of classes and attributes) be determined at runtime. Softcoding can be configurable, giving users the flexibility to define their own data structures.

Preface
What You Will Find
Who Should Read This ReadyNote?
Use of the Code
Acknowledgements
Contact Information
Chapter 1 Introduction
Chapter 2 Data Model
2.1 Object and Value
2.2 Class and Attribute
2.3 Generalization
2.4 Summary
Chapter 3 Architecture
3.1 Three-Tier Architecture
3.2 Hardcoded Model for Populating Metadata
3.3 Mixing Hardcoded and Softcoded Attributes
Chapter 4 Database Schema
Chapter 5 Stored Procedures
5.1 The SQL Server Stored Procedure Language
5.2 Stored Procedure Coding Conventions
5.3 Stored Procedures for Softcoded Values
Chapter 6 Test Suite
6.1 DataSource
6.2 UnitOfMeasure
6.3 Class
6.4 Attribute
6.5 EnumValue
6.6 Generalization
6.7 Object
6.8 Value
Chapter 7 Sample ApplicationýEquipment
7.1 Equipment Schema
7.2 Equipment Metadata
7.3 Equipment Stored Procedures
7.4 Equipment Data
Chapter 8 Variations of Softcoding
8.1 Model Simplification
8.2 Alternate Representations
8.3 DefaultValue
8.4 Time History
8.5 Softcoded Relationships
8.6 Weakly Typed Objects
8.7 Multiple Inheritance
8.8 Combining Variations
Chapter 9 Conclusions
References
Appendix A Terms of Use
Appendix B Glossary
Index
  • Michael Blaha is a partner of Modelsoft Consulting, a company that helps organizations use modeling to optimize their investments in new software development, software purchases, and/or their existing software (http://www.modelsoftcorp.com). For the previous nine years, he was an independent consultant and trainer in the areas of modeling, database design, and reverse engineering.
  • An editor for Computer magazine in the areas of software and databases, Blaha has helped many Fortune 500 companies develop robust business information systems. The author of several papers, he has seen each of his three books uses as textbooks; one has been translated into several languages.
  • Blaha has a PhD in chemical engineering from Washington University in St. Louis and is an alumnus of the GE R&D Center in Schenectady, New York.