| US 7,519,945 B2 | ||
| System and method for supporting data driving a software process using objects of arbitrary data types | ||
| Joseph Patrick Toomey, Lowell, Mass. (US); Sung-Jun Pak, Westford, Mass. (US); and William Arthur Goddin, Jr., Stow, Mass. (US) | ||
| Assigned to International Business Machines Corporation, Armonk, N.Y. (US) | ||
| Filed on Dec. 30, 2004, as Appl. No. 11/26,538. | ||
| Claims priority of provisional application 60/580578, filed on Jun. 17, 2004. | ||
| Prior Publication US 2006/0004798 A1, Jan. 05, 2006 | ||
| Int. Cl. G06F 9/44 (2006.01); G06F 7/00 (2006.01) | ||
| U.S. Cl. 717—108 [717/111; 717/114; 717/118; 707/100; 707/102; 707/103 R] | 8 Claims |

| 1. A method for supporting data driving a software process, the method comprising:
providing a choice of a plurality of defining attributes managers to allow selection, from the plurality, of a defining attributes
manager to be used to (i) provide to a user a description of the collection of attributes necessary to construct an instance
of an object of a non-primitive data type, based only on the class of the object, and (ii) create and initialize the instance
of the object using defining attribute data received from the user;
using a map means to infer a desirable selection of a defining attributes manager;
receiving, from the user, input of the class of the object of the non-primitive data type, the receiving of the class of the
object being free of receiving a pre-existing instance of the data type;
using a selected defining attributes manager to provide to the user the description of the collection of attributes necessary
to construct the instance of the object, based only on the class of the object;
receiving, in a single user step, user input of defining attribute data necessary to create the instance of the object and
set it into a desired state, the received defining attribute data not including a pre-existing instance of the data type;
using the selected defining attributes manager to create and initialize the instance of the object using the received defining
attribute data;
the receiving of the user input of the defining attribute data, and the creating and initializing of the instance of the object
using the received defining attribute data, not requiring knowledge by the user of the constructors, methods, data structure
and initialization sequence necessary to construct the instance of the object; and
comparing more than one potentially different instance of the data type based on the defining attribute data.
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