WO1998040829A1 - A computerised method for dynamically creating, modifying, removing and maintaining information in a database - Google Patents
A computerised method for dynamically creating, modifying, removing and maintaining information in a database Download PDFInfo
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- WO1998040829A1 WO1998040829A1 PCT/AU1998/000162 AU9800162W WO9840829A1 WO 1998040829 A1 WO1998040829 A1 WO 1998040829A1 AU 9800162 W AU9800162 W AU 9800162W WO 9840829 A1 WO9840829 A1 WO 9840829A1
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- G—PHYSICS
- G06—COMPUTING; CALCULATING OR COUNTING
- G06F—ELECTRIC DIGITAL DATA PROCESSING
- G06F16/00—Information retrieval; Database structures therefor; File system structures therefor
- G06F16/20—Information retrieval; Database structures therefor; File system structures therefor of structured data, e.g. relational data
- G06F16/28—Databases characterised by their database models, e.g. relational or object models
- G06F16/284—Relational databases
Definitions
- This invention relates to a computerised method for dynamically creating, modifying, removing and maintaining information in a database and databases so formed.
- this invention is concerned with a method of organizing, storing, representing, retrieving, indexing and querying uniformly structured information in a conventional database.
- this invention may also be utilised for storing and manipulating non-uniformly structured information.
- FIG. 1 is an outline of a computer
- FIG. 2 provides Employee Information to be represented in a database
- FIG. 3 provides the conventional representation of
- FIG. 4 illustrates aggregates of information
- FIG. 5 represents Employee Information from Fig. 2 in a conventional database table but according to this invention
- FIG. 6 illustrates adding a new column of information to a database (Fig. 3) where information is organised in a conventional manner;
- FIG. 7 illustrates an algorithm to add a new column to a database containing information organised according to this invention
- Fig. 8 illustrates adding a new column of information to the database as outlined in Fig. 5;
- FIG. 9 is an algorithm to delete an existing column from a database containing information organised according to this invention.
- FIG. 10 illustrates the Numeric Column Definition and Cell Repository Tables from Fig. 5 after the Removal of the Salary "Column";
- FIG. 11 illustrates the renaming a column from Fig. 5;
- FIG. 12 illustrates storage space for incomplete or undefined cell values are wasted in a record using a conventional method of representing information in a database
- FIG. 13 illustrates storage space for incomplete or undefined cell values which are not stored in a database organised according to this invention
- FIG. 14 illustrates an algorithm for adding a new row of information to a database containing information organised according to this invention
- FIG. 15 illustrates the result of Adding a row to a
- FIG. 16 illustrates an algorithm for retrieving an existing row of information from a database containing information organised according to this invention
- FIG. 17 illustrates an algorithm to update an existing row of information in a database containing information organised according to this invention
- FIG. 18 illustrates the result of updating Row #3 using the algorithm as detailing in Fig. 16 in a Database whereby information is represented according to this invention, as in Fig. 5;
- FIG. 19 illustrates an algorithm for deleting a row from a database containing information organised according to this invention
- FIG. 20 illustrates the result of Deleting Row# 2 using the algorithm as detailed in Fig. 19 from a Database whereby information is represented according to this invention, as in Fig. 5;
- FIG. 21 illustrates SQL Queries for both information represented in a database using a conventional manner and according to this invention
- FIG. 22 illustrates linking of the Employee Information of Fig. 2 in a conventional database table according to this invention using a "linked-list" arrangement
- FIG. 23 illustrates a method of simplifying the year 2000 changeover by regenerating only "year” cell values in a Cell Repository Table
- FIG. 24 illustrates adding new a type of column by adding a new Column Definition and Cell Repository
- FIG. 25 illustrates placing individual columns of information as in Fig. 2 in separate tables in a database for separate column indexing.
- a computer includes a machine of the general type as outlined in Fig. 1.
- a computer optionally includes a keyboard input device, a pointing device, a plurality of display devices, mass storage means, printing means, network communication means, an input/output controller, main memory and a plurality of central processors possibly associated cache memory, connected by a communication mechanism or bus of some description.
- normalization is performed in a database into an efficient structure for storage and retrieval. More specifically during the process of normalization, information, commonly represented in terms of cell values, organized into columns, and rows as in Fig. 2, is organized into database tables so that cells values may be easily, and efficiently stored, retrieved, queried and reported upon by conventional database systems.
- the level of information normalization is of great significance because the level of normalization not only influences the relative speed of the database operations on the stored information, but also the efficiency of information storage.
- information Prior to normalization, information is often represented in terms of cells containing values, organised into rows and columns, whereby columns represent similar types of cell values and rows represent related or associated cell values.
- individual cell values are organised into columns according to the type of information, i.e. Names, Ages, Address, and each row is organised to represent related cells values for a particular item, abstraction, object or thing.
- each row represents the information cell values for a particular employee in an organization.
- Fig. 3 outlines how the information represented in Fig. 2 may be represented in a conventional database table.
- a database consists of tables, fields and records whereby; a database consists of one or more tables; a table consists of zero or more records; the structure of the records in a table is defined by one or more fields; a field specifies the name, type and other necessary storage requirements that define the representation of a single piece of data. (eg. a name field as text with fifty characters, and age field as number, etc.).
- a field is used to represent the definition of a column; a record is a collection of field values, the structure of which is defined by the fields, the values being the actual information cell values in the database.
- a record is used to represent a row of information, and a field value is a single piece of information to store in a database.
- a field value represents a single information cell.
- a completely new Employee database table would need to be created containing the fields from the original Employee table, along with any new fields, in the example, the Height field.
- a similar regeneration process is often required when fields must be deleted, renamed or moved within a conventional database table. Often however there is generally no limitation on the timeliness of creation, renaming and removal of tables of information from a conventional database.
- one of the methods currently available is to allocate empty (redundant) columns of a variety of types at the time of initial creation of a database table. That is the method prescribes leaving space for the future information.
- the problem with this method is that information cells in a row reserved for the future are left unused or empty, their storage space, although not needed is redundantly maintained. This can greatly increase the size of a database. Even so, once all of the redundant columns are used, the entire database table must be regenerated so that more redundant columns may be added.
- the present invention aims to alleviate at least one of the above mentioned disadvantages and to provide a reliable and efficient method whereby the process of creating, organizing, renaming, or moving columns of information in a database may be performed efficiently.
- alpha database was described as being a conventional database storing alpha field definitions and alpha field data.
- alpha in this art may be interpreted to have a separate significance as opposed to being a distinguishing name only and accordingly the description "alpha” is not used in this specification.
- the term “aggregate” is now used to indicate an "alpha record” and the term “related titled information” now refers to the "alpha fields” forming an "alpha record”.
- An “alpha database” is now referred to as "aggregates of related titled information” .
- this invention in one aspect resides broadly in a method of retrievably storing in a computer database aggregates each consisting of related titled information, the method including :- storing each title as a conventional record in a conventional database so that titles can be efficiently added, moved or removed as conventional records; providing further database means in which individually titled information of an aggregate may be stored as a conventional record in a further conventional database, and operatively associating each individually titled information with its title and aggregate whereby each aggregate may be stored, removed, updated or queried.
- the aggregates each consisting of related titled information may be illustrated as in Fig. 4. According to this invention, information may be randomly added, moved or removed without the need to regenerate any existing records in the database.
- This invention may utilise systems such as Microsoft Access, Microsoft FoxPro, Borland Paradox, Borland Dbase, Oracle Database Systems and the like.
- databases used to implement this invention may include database systems such as relational, hierarchical, federated or object- oriented databases. If desired the databases could be purpose built to store the above required information.
- this invention resides broadly in a method of storing information in conventional databases, the method including:- storing each column definition as a conventional record in a conventional database so that column definitions can be efficiently added, moved or removed as conventional records; providing further database means in which cell values of a record are stored as separate records, and associating each cell value with its column.
- associating each cell value with its column is achieved by additionally storing a reference to a column definition along with each cell value.
- associating each cell value with its column may be achieved through the use of conventional database foreign keys.
- organisation of information may involve: . establishing a conventional database table, hereafter referred to as a Cell Repository Table storing either a single column of cell values, a relatively small number of related cell values, and/or columns of cells values of the same type; . establishing an additional conventional database table, hereafter referred to as a Column Definition Table to store the defining characteristics of a column of information including a column ' s name and/or other associated information pertaining to the definition of a column; establishing a means of associating individual cell values stored in a Cell Repository Table with their respective column definitions in the Column Definition Table.
- all numeric information cell values from the rows for the Employee Table, Fig. 3, may be stored in a single numeric Cell Repository Table as illustrated in Fig. 5.1, and all string information cell values from the rows for Employee Table, see Fig. 3, may be stored in a separate string Cell Repository Table as illustrated in Fig. 5.2.
- the information pertaining to the definition of each of the column names in the Employee Table may be stored as separate records in the appropriate Column Definition Table, as in Figs. 5.3, and 5.4.
- each cell value in a Cell Repository Table has been stored, it is preferred that reference is additionally made to the column's definition stored in a secondary conventional database table, called a Column Definition Table.
- a Column Definition Table This may be achieved through uniquely identifying each column in a column definition table with a unique number and storing this number with each cell value stored in a Cell Repository Table.
- the name of a column stored in a Column Definition Table along with any other parameters a column required for its definition, such as size, range and precision is also stored. See Fig. 5.3 and 5.4.
- each cell value stored in a Cell Repository Table also stores the row number and column identifier that the cell belongs to.
- the row number and unique column identifier values of the records in the Cell Repository Tables act as "foreign keys" so that access to a specified cell value for a specific row and column may be readily performed.
- Column Definition Table For every Cell Repository Table, there is at least one associated Column Definition Table and vice-versa.
- the use of a Column Definition Table is exemplified by examining either the numeric Column Definition Table in Fig. 5.3, or the string Column Definition Table in Fig. 5.4.
- Both Column Definition Tables define unique column identification numbers for each different type of column in the Employee information as represented in Fig. 2, along with the names of the columns and other appropriate column parameters.
- the Column unique column identification numbers are then used as foreign keys in the Cell Repository Tables, see Fig. 5.1 and Fig. 5.2, to identify which of the defined columns a particular cell value pertains to.
- the record ⁇ 2, 1, 6471> represents the information for row 2, numeric column 1 (which, by looking up the numeric column definition in the numeric Column Definition Table is the "Employee#" column) in the employee information as represented by Fig. 2.
- the record ⁇ 4, 2, Cairns> represents the information for row 4, string column 2 (which, by looking up the string column definition in the string Column Definition Table is the "City" column) in the employee information, again as represented by Fig. 2.
- this invention resides in a database structure including:- a conventional database table established as a Column Definition Table for storing the defining characteristics of a column including a column's name and other associated information pertaining to the definition of a column; a further conventional database table established as a Cell Repository Table storing a column of cell values and a column of associated row values, and associating means for association individual cell values stored in a Cell Repository Table with their respective row and column values from the Column Definition Table.
- CleverX is a flexible and sophisticated information and assessment capture tool which uses a conventional database system to store and organize information according to one aspect of this invention and whereby in CleverX terminology; a CleverX Workbook is a database containing information organised according to this invention; other CleverX palette components, such as CleverX Worksheets, CleverX Sections, CleverX Responses and CleverX Textboxes are used to represent different types of columns of .... according to this invention.
- CleverX similarly allows for the addition, modification and removal of CleverX Workbooks, CleverX Worksheets, CleverX Sections, CleverX Responses and CleverX Textboxes, each of which is responsible for the collection and organisation of CleverX user determined information in CleverX .
- CleverX uses this feature to store additional CleverX Component definition properties such as user-interface appearance, security, user-defined properties and relationships to other CleverX components. Additionally, CleverX makes use of the ability for information represented according to this invention to be incomplete or undefined, thus allowing a CleverX user to partially specify or leave CleverX component values incomplete. Furthermore, CleverX permits the definition of conditions which allow a CleverX user to define when user information does not need to be recorded in a database. Under these circumstances, information provided by a CleverX user may be stored in as a non-uniform row in a database.
- a further limiting characteristic of conventional database tables is that removal of existing columns of information also requires regeneration of table records, just as required when adding new columns of information to a table.
- the removal of a column of information only requires: the removal of the specific column from it's Column Definition Table, and the removal of the specific column's associated cells as stored in the associated Cell Repository Tables.
- the algorithm which may be used for this purpose is outlined in Fig. 9.
- Removal of the Salary column from a database requires only:- removal of the Salary column definition from the numeric Column Definition Table illustrated in Fig. 5.3. This results in the table illustrated in Fig. 10.1, and then removal of the Salary cell values from the numeric Cell Repository Table, see Fig. 5.1, with a conventional database structured query language statement such as the following, which results in. the table illustrated in Figure 10.2.
- a database organized according to this invention would only require the appropriate column in the numeric Column Definition Table to be changed, as illustrated in Fig. 11.
- Another feature of information represented according to this invention is that the aforementioned operations of creating new columns of information, or editing or changing a definition of a column within a database table may be performed randomly. Furthermore these operations may occur while new or existing cell values are being stored or updated in a database. This may occur as storage of cell values in Cell Repository Tables occurs independently of the storage of column definitions in a Column Definition Table. Furthermore, as a column's name and other associated properties are independent of the storage of cell values, column names and associated properties may also be changed simultaneously during operation of information in the database.
- Another feature of representing information according this invention is that storage space for cell values that are undefined, incomplete or unknown are not redundantly stored as in database systems that store information in a conventional manner.
- Fig. 12 where the employee table has a Partner column included, storage space for those employees that do not have a partner is wasted, as a conventional record in a database reserves enough storage space for all of its field values regardless of whether all of the field values are actually used.
- values of cells that are undefined, incomplete or unknown for a row are not stored.
- the partner cells are not stored for Mary and Dave.
- databases storing information according to this invention do not waste space when cell values are not used.
- This feature allows row information to have non-uniform structure unlike rows stored in the conventional manner. This consequently allows the representation of non-uniform row information, [[ 0UT(as described in US Patent #5682524),]] without the need to develop additional database software query mechanisms, without the need to represent row information in a hybrid or unconventional binary format using single fields, likes BLOB (binary large objects) that conventional database query languages, like SQL, can operate upon, and without restricting the database tools that may access information organized according to this invention, as most standard database development tools can not directly inspect BLOB fields without the development of additional software.
- BLOB binary large objects
- Fig. 15 exemplifies the use of the algorithm outlined in Fig. 14 by showing the result of adding the new Row# 5 containing the cell values represented as the set ⁇ (Employee#, 1234), (Name, Kevin), (Age, 31), (City, Melbourne), (Salary, 52000) ⁇ using the algorithm as detailed in Fig. 14.
- Fig. 20 exemplifies the use of the algorithm outlined Fig. 19 by showing the result of deleting row "2" from the database as outlined in Fig. 5.
- An advantage of this invention is that it uses conventional database technology to store information. This enables operations that are applicable to information stored in a conventional manner to be applicable to information stored in a manner according to this invention.
- Fig. 21 An illustration of this ability is outlined in Fig. 21 which highlights the use of conventional SQL queries on information both represented in the conventional manner and according to this invention.
- indexes of cell values stored in a conventional manner are also applicable to cell values stored according to this invention.
- an index created on the Name field in the Employee Table could be created on the string value field in the string Cell Repository Table in Fig. 5.
- the creation such an index over the string values in the Cell Repository Table in Fig. 5 would have the additional side- effect of indexing non-Name column values as the other string cell values are also stored in the string Cell Repository Table. That is, indexing the value field in the string Cell Repository Table in Fig. 5 not only indexes Name column values, but also City column values as well. Although in some circumstances this additional indexing may not be necessary, this can be overcome by creating an additional Name Cell Repository Table to store only the name string information values. This is illustrated in Fig. 25 for example.
- Another aspect of this invention involves the ability for column definition properties to be changed and their corresponding cell values in Cell Repository Tables to be regenerated without affecting the integrity of other row cell values. This has the benefit that as the storage requirements for columns of cell values change over time, the column definition may be updated and its corresponding cell values regenerated without affecting other row cell values. An example of this characteristic becomes apparent when considering transition to the year 2000. By organising information according to this invention, only the year cell values in a Cell Repository Table would need to be regenerated, rather than all of the conventional database table records containing 2-digit year values as in the current crisis situation. (See Fig. 23)
- Another advantage of this invention is that just as new columns of information may be added so to may new types of columns may be added.
- This invention is particularly useful in industries where the content and structure of information to be collected, stored, compiled, processed and reported upon is not completely known when a database is to be established. For example, any industry that performs assessments, surveys, makes extensive use of notes, require judgments to be made, quotations, estimates and alike, or where the structure and content of information is volatile, could make extensive use of systems implementing this invention.
- CleverX is a revolutionary new tool for the management of expert knowledge
- CleverX substantially reduces the time and effort involved in producing repo ⁇ s about expert assessments of an object or situation. Almost any task that makes repeated use of expert knowledge can be streamlined by using CleverX
- Chapter 3 is a step-bv-step tuto ⁇ al on creating and using a CleverX Project If vou want to get sta ⁇ ed immediately after installing CleverX then you can go straight to Chapter 3 but you may want to return to Chapter 2 after you have finished this tuto ⁇ al
- the READ.VE file that is pan of the CleverX package contains information vou need to know about the cu ⁇ cnt release of CleverX You should read this file before installing CleverX
- CleverX is dist ⁇ aded from the CleverX web site. To Download CleverX from the CleverX Web Site
- File I Save A ve ⁇ ical bar is used to indicate items in a menu hierarchy For example the Save menu item on the File menu. type this Words that you type appear in cou ⁇ er font
- CleverX is produced by CleverworX Inc . Suite 670. I l l North Market Street. San Jose. California. 95113-1101. You can contact CleverworX by phone on (USA) 408- 3676125
- E-mail orders can be sent to sajes ⁇ c]everx_cqm
- Suppon requests can be sent by e-mail to supports cleverx com or submitted via our web page We are committed to ensu ⁇ ng that CleverX is a high qualitv product You can assist us to fix any problems that you may have ith CleverX by providing the following information with any suppon request
- step bv step desc ⁇ ption of what we can do to reproduce the problem • Any CleverX project files (.cx) that you may have that will allow us to reproduce the problem.
- CleverX delivers significant quality and productivity gains in knowledge management and knowledge deployment. CleverX can be used to capture, structure, deploy, and maintain expert knowledge in numerous fields including education, health, medicine and business.
- Examples of expert knowledge includes the feedback that a teacher would give to school or university students about their assignments: information a doctor would w ⁇ te in a report about a patient ' s condition, or details associated with quoting a p ⁇ ce for a job or for an order.
- CleverX provides a simple yet powerful mechanism for capturing expen knowledge. Until now. the inaior inhibitors to the management of expert knowledge has been the time and cost associated with captu ⁇ ng. structu ⁇ ng. analyzing and maintaining that knowledge. CleverX not only captures expert knowledge but also substantially reduces the time of these daily tasks. These savings provide a powerful motivation for experts to use CleverX Powerful Structuring of Expert Knowledge
- CleverX allows expert knowledge to be structured in a knowledge tree
- Hierarchical structures allow easy access to and use of the knowledge, as it is required. At the highest level only general information is presented. Users can "d ⁇ ll down” into the tree as required. This structure amplifies the power of the knowledge and data stored by CleverX
- CleverX allows users to make use of e pen knowledge much more eflicientlv than ma ⁇ v other systems
- One example of the Information Bottleneck occurs when a teacher is marking an essav or an assignment
- the teacher can very quicklv recognise that a student's work has a particular problem with it. but the teacher will need to spend considerable time lnefficientiv w ⁇ ting down the same feedback so the student will be able to improve
- the Information Bottleneck occurs because although the teacher has recognised the problem quicklv it will take time to document the problem in a report bv w ⁇ ting down the details
- CleverX removes the Info ⁇ nation Bottleneck by dramatically speeding up the deplovmcnt ot knowledge Ongoing Maintenance of Expert Knowledge
- CleverX provides a user f ⁇ endly graphical user interface that is as simple to use as standard applications such as word processors or spreadsheets
- CleverX is not a database, nor an expert svstcm or a word processor, or a spreadsheet, yet at the same time it mav be used to solve, much more easily, problems that are often handled by such tools
- CleverX there are four overlapping circles of application: one for databases, another for expert svstems a third for spreadsheets and a fourth for word processors If we were to place CleverX in this context it would sit ⁇ ght at the centre of these overlapping circles
- the teacher will hand w ⁇ te this comment onto the student ' s paper, or may tvpe the feedback into a report
- the teacher mav end up w ⁇ ting or typing this feedback mam times because a lot of students will make the same mistake
- CleverX pro ides a much quicker wav to give this feedback to students Using the Clever X Assessment Editor shown below the teacher simplv selects the appropnate comment from a set ot disolaved comments or responses that the teacher has previously defined
- CleverX automaticallv updates the student s mark using a score associated with the comment • CleverX can automatically change the set of responses that are available depending on the responses that have been selected so far. So. for example, if a teacher selects a comment that the student ' s spelling is poor, new responses can become available for the teacher to indicate how bad the spelling is
- the teacher creates, maintains, and structures the available set of responses by editing a CleverX Project.
- the system can be used to determine student marks based on the selected Responses, p ⁇ nt all the student ' s repo ⁇ s in va ⁇ ous formats, and collate and analyse data about the whole class.
- Phase III You generate reports and perform analysis based on the data entered in Phase II
- Phase I is a preparation phase where you build a knowledge tree that contains the knowledge for use in Phase II.
- This preparation phase establishes a CleverX template into which specific data can be entered at a later date T is is also similar to creating the formulas in a spreadsheet without actually ente ⁇ g specific figures - the formulas are a template that is used for a specific purpose at a later date
- CleverX allows knowledge to be easilv captured or changed, at anv time, du ⁇ ng any of the phases You can add. delete and modify mfo ⁇ nation in a Clev erX knowledge tree oven after vou have been using the project
- building a Clever.X Project might involve generating a set of marking criteria for an essav topic, associating marks with each of the c ⁇ te ⁇ a. and defining feedback comments that should be given to students for each c ⁇ te ⁇ a You could then use this Project to mark some assignments (Phase 2) and then discover some additional c ⁇ te ⁇ a that vou want to use that you did not include in the Project Cle erX allows you to add these criteria and automatically updates anv of the existing assessments that vou have created Phase II - Using Knowledge in a CleverX Project
- Phase II is where CleverX is used to conduct assessments
- An Assessment is a single use of the knowledge that is contained within the Project. Examples would include an Assessment for a single student's essay, or an Assessment about the condition of a single patient by a doctor
- Phase III is where CleverX is used to produce additional output and repo ⁇ s based on the outcomes of Phase II For example, this is where student marks can be totalled, repo ⁇ s giving feedback or comments to the students can be p ⁇ nted. and analysis can be performed on the overall performance of the class. This stage is similar to using a spreadsheet package to generate charts or reports based on data entered into the spreadsheet
- Some components are used exclusively to structure the knowledge in a CleverX Project. You use these components to build a knowledge tree in which expert knowledge is structured m a hierarchical fashion. These components are
- Folders contain Workbooks.
- Workbooks contain Worksheets, and Worksheets contain Sections.
- Each type of component has its own set of propoe ⁇ ies
- CleverX Responses allow you to select the different parts of die knowledge tree that you want to apply to an individual Assessment. By merely pointing and clicking on a particular Response. CleverX will transmit the comment associated with that Response to a repo ⁇ Because each Response can have an associated score, the selected Responses can also be used to de ⁇ ve nume ⁇ c values, such as the mark that the student s work should be given, or a p ⁇ ce for a quote
- An example of a Response might be " Your essav has more than 10 spelling errors" This Response could be associated with a feedback comment for the student (e.g " 'Your spelling needs to be improved. Use a dictionary in future '” ) as well as a score (e.g automatically deduct 5 marks if this Response is selected)
- CleverX Text Boxes allow users to enter text that is specific to an Assessment, as opposed to simply selecting a Response For example, if vou are marking essays then you will probablv need to enter the student ' s name and student number to identify who each of the Assessments applies to You do this using a CleverX Text Box
- Each type of component in CleverX has a set of properties or attributes These properties are used to store the knowledge in the CleverX Project, and the expen who builds the Project provides values for each of the properties. Different properties apply to the different types of components, but the important properties of CleverX components are desc ⁇ bed below.
- a component ' s name is used on the CleverX Explorer and other screens to identify the component.
- the name of a component should provide a meaningftil indicauon of the role of the component tn the Project. For example a Folder that contains Assessments for student papers on " “Romeo and Juliet” should probably be called “Romeo and Juliet Assessments”
- Component Help Text add components to a CleverX Project you can add Help text to the component to indicate to later users of the Project what you intended the component to be used for.
- Scores only apply to Responses, but they provide the ability to calculate some nume ⁇ c value for each Assessment based on the Responses that were selected. So. for example, a students mark, or the p ⁇ ce for a quote could be automaticallv calculated based on the Responses selected for an Assessment
- CleverX includes mechanisms for ensu ⁇ g that user-defined relationships between components are automatically maintained.
- the simplest relationship is the ability to assure that at least one Response within a Section must be selected before the system will allow a user to finish with an Assessment
- a CleverX Project for marking e ams might contain marking criteria for each and every question in the exam. When a student sits the exam, however, the student may have the choice of answe ⁇ ng either Question la or Quesuon lb. but does not have to answer both. In t is situation the CleverX Project would be structured to hide all the components that relate to Question la if the student had answered Question lb.
- CleverX Projects An important feature of CleverX Projects is the way that they accommodate change For example, suppose that midway through marking a set of assignments, you decide that a particular Response needs to be changed. For consistency, you might expect that it would be necessary to go back and alter all the assessments that have been previously made that include the o ⁇ gmal response that we propose to change. With CleverX this is not necessary
- the system automatically, and transparently to the user, updates all the assessments and reports that have been made to accommodate changes to responses, their associated fields and scores. This feature is similar to that found in spreadsheets where, when one changes a number in a column of figures other dependent cells are automaucally recomputed to reflect the change.
- CleverX ' s p ⁇ me repo ⁇ ing capability is to generate individual reports and statistics that relate to each assessment made. Another significant advantage of the CleverX system is that it also has the capability to generate different reports associated with any collection of Assessments or with a whole group or class of assessments. The system makes it very easy to obtain a selection of information that may be used to improve qualit in va ⁇ ous ways. For example, when a generated report showing the frequency-of-use of different responses is examined it may show some responses are used much more frequently than others are in conducting a large batch of assessments. This information could then be used to guide improvement strategies and monitor or compare existing assessments with subsequent assessments.
- the Project vou will create in this chapter is a small part of a Project that a school teacher might use for marking students' essays
- CleverX will only allow vou to open a single project at a time If you try to open a project or create a new project while you have another project open, CleverX will close the current project after prompting you to save
- the Project Icon represents the new emptv Project that CleverX has created for vou You will see how to give the new Pro
- the Recvcle Bin is the place where ill deleted Clever.X components are kept before vou pe ⁇ nanentlv delete them bv emptv g the Recycle Bin The Standard Toolbar and Menu Items
- the Standard Toolbar provides quick access to commonly used CleverX functions as follows.
- the Knowledge Tree allows you to change the structure of the cu ⁇ cntly open Project and provides the main window for access to the prope ⁇ ies of components We will use the Knowledge Tree in this chapter to create the example Project
- the example project uses all the different tvpes of CleverX components, but the process for adding and naming components is the same regardless of the type of component involved Before vou start to build the example Project read the procedures for adding and naming components beiow
- Folder 1 Lse the Folder Button on the Palette to drag and drop a new Folder onto the Button Project Icon (To "drag and droD vou left-click on icon, hold-down, drag the icon and release w en over the icon it is to be attached to - see the Windows He tor more detailed instructions)
- Each Response in the sample Project has associated with it some feedback or comment, that the teacher would like to gi e to the student if the Response applies to the student s essav
- the Response also as associated with it a score that modifies the student s total mark if it is used tor the student s work
- the table below shows the comments and the scores that sou are going to add to the Responses in this pan of the tuto ⁇ al Section and Response Comment
- the "Spelling" Section of the example Project contains a set of Responses that are mutually exclusive - it only makes sense to have one of these Responses selected at any one time because only one of the Responses can apply to any single essay.
- CleverX automates this concept by allowing you to set a property on a Section saying whether one or many Responses can be selected in the Section.
- a pop-up menu will appear with the options Delete, Properties, and Cancel. Select Properties and the Secuon Property Editor will be displayed.
- the Section Property Editor is very similar in appearance to the Response Property Editor.
- the "Remedial Tuition ' Section should be hidden if either of the Responses 'No spelling e ⁇ ors or " l to 10 spelling e ⁇ ors ' are selected To do this you set both of these components to hide the 'Remedial Tuition ' Section if they are selected.
- the Workbook Browser allows you to work with Assessments for a singie Workbook. You can see a list of all the Assessments you have created using the Workbook, create new Assessments, open existing Assessments and delete Assessments.
- the example Project contains one Workbook for ""Assignment 1 " In this pan of the tutorial you will use this Workbook to mark some hypothetical essays.
- the Workbook Browser Button on the Toolbar becomes active w hen a Workbook is selected Click the Workbook Browser Button orkbook The CleverX Workbook Browser is displayed. Browser Button After you have opened the Workbook Browser for "Assignment 1" you will see the screen below
- the Assessment List Window shows a list of all the Assessments that exist for this Workbook For the example Project this window will list all the students for which an Assessment has been created When vou first open the Workbook Browser this list will be emptv because vou have not vet created anv Assessments for ' Assignment I"
- the Workbook Browser has buttons that allow you to work with Assessments as follows-
- the CleverX Assessment Editor is the screen in which you can enter data for a particular Assessment This screen allows you to select the Responses that apply to an Assessment and to enter data into Text Boxes for the Assessment
- the Assessment Editor displays a single Worksheet at a ume. and you can select different Worksheets using buttons on the Assessment Editor Toolbar
- the Identification Worksheet allows you to enter information that identifies the new Assessment.
- CleverX provides three text boxes named "Student Number”. "First Name”, and "Last Name ' If vou want to. you can change the names of these text boxes by renaming them in the Knowledge Tree (see To Rename A Component earlier in this chapter), but the values in these three text boxes are always used to identify the Assessment Assessment Editor
- the Assessment Editor has buttons that allow vou to work with assessments as follows
- the Assessment Editor displays the names of the Sections. Responses, and Text Boxes that are contained within the Worksheet that you are currently working with Sections are displaved as bold headings: Responses are labelled checkboxes; and Text Boxes are displaved as labelled text entry fields.
- the Assessment Editor displays a single Worksheet at a time To move to a different Worksheet vou can either
- the Assessment Editor has a Split Screen that allows vou to view the CleverX Repo ⁇ for the Assessment as vou work To view the CleverX Repo ⁇ on the Assessment Editor
- Completing an Assessment w ith Clev erX is the simplest pan of using the s stem All vou do is select ihe Responses that applv to the Assessment arc creating, and enter data into the Text Boxes lor the Assessment
- CleverX also allows vou to p ⁇ nt rcpo ⁇ s to a file in Rich Text Format Rich Text Format can be read bv most word processors and so this gives you a wav to further edit and fo ⁇ nat your rcpo ⁇ s after CleverX has generated them
- the Assessment Editor Split Screen has a drop down menu in the toolbar that allows vou to select the format ot the repo ⁇ to use when displaving and p ⁇ nting the repo ⁇ This menu is shown below To change the selected report format, click on this drop down menu and select a report tormat The split screen window will be automatically updated with the new selection
- the Repo ⁇ Manager includes a list box on the ⁇ ght hand side that shows all the Report Dentations that arc cu ⁇ cntiv in the svstem
- a Repo ⁇ Definition specifies what information is included in a report, as well as the text styles that should be used m the report.
- the Report Manager displays a preview of the selected Report Definition and provides buttons to create New Report Definitions. Open the selected Report Definiuon and Delete a Report Definition The New and Delete buttons have been disabled for the cu ⁇ ent release of CleverX and will be made available in a subsequent release.
- the Report Definition Propertv Editor allows vou to customise the properties of a Repo ⁇ Definition When vou change a Repo ⁇ Definition in its Propertv Editor the changes apolv to e erv Assessment that uses that Repo ⁇ Definition
- the DescriDtion Tab on the Rcpo ⁇ Definition Propertv Editor shows the name of the Report Definition and the stvlc ot the text that will be used for the title of the rcpo ⁇ At present there is no means of changing the title, however vou can rename the Repo ⁇ Definition if vou wish
- the Components Tab on the Report Definition Propertv Editor allows vou to select what information is sent to the CleverX Reports that arc based on this Report Definition
- the Components Tab is sho n below
Landscapes
- Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
- Databases & Information Systems (AREA)
- Theoretical Computer Science (AREA)
- Data Mining & Analysis (AREA)
- Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
- General Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
- General Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
- Information Retrieval, Db Structures And Fs Structures Therefor (AREA)
Abstract
Description
Claims
Priority Applications (3)
Application Number | Priority Date | Filing Date | Title |
---|---|---|---|
AU66024/98A AU725420B2 (en) | 1997-03-12 | 1998-03-12 | A computerised method for dynamically creating, modifying, removing and maintaining information in a database |
JP53898198A JP2001517338A (en) | 1997-03-12 | 1998-03-12 | How to dynamically create, modify, delete, and retain information in a database using a computer |
EP98907754A EP0966714A1 (en) | 1997-03-12 | 1998-03-12 | A computerised method for dynamically creating, modifying, removing and maintaining information in a database |
Applications Claiming Priority (6)
Application Number | Priority Date | Filing Date | Title |
---|---|---|---|
AUPO5601A AUPO560197A0 (en) | 1997-03-12 | 1997-03-12 | A computerised method of storing processing and accessing information |
AUPO5601 | 1997-03-12 | ||
AUPO5638A AUPO563897A0 (en) | 1997-03-13 | 1997-03-13 | A computerised method of storing processing and accessing information |
AUPO5638 | 1997-03-13 | ||
AUPO8636A AUPO863697A0 (en) | 1997-08-15 | 1997-08-15 | A computerised method of compiling reports |
AUPO8636 | 1997-08-15 |
Publications (1)
Publication Number | Publication Date |
---|---|
WO1998040829A1 true WO1998040829A1 (en) | 1998-09-17 |
Family
ID=27157981
Family Applications (1)
Application Number | Title | Priority Date | Filing Date |
---|---|---|---|
PCT/AU1998/000162 WO1998040829A1 (en) | 1997-03-12 | 1998-03-12 | A computerised method for dynamically creating, modifying, removing and maintaining information in a database |
Country Status (4)
Country | Link |
---|---|
EP (1) | EP0966714A1 (en) |
JP (1) | JP2001517338A (en) |
CN (1) | CN1253643A (en) |
WO (1) | WO1998040829A1 (en) |
Cited By (1)
Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
---|---|---|---|---|
US7315849B2 (en) | 2000-02-28 | 2008-01-01 | Hyperroll Israel, Ltd. | Enterprise-wide data-warehouse with integrated data aggregation engine |
Families Citing this family (4)
Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
---|---|---|---|---|
US7702666B2 (en) * | 2002-06-06 | 2010-04-20 | Ricoh Company, Ltd. | Full-text search device performing merge processing by using full-text index-for-registration/deletion storage part with performing registration/deletion processing by using other full-text index-for-registration/deletion storage part |
JP2006031382A (en) * | 2004-07-15 | 2006-02-02 | Daiwa Securities Group Inc | Database management system, program and recording medium |
US7979453B2 (en) * | 2006-08-23 | 2011-07-12 | Innovative Solutions, Inc. | Efficient search result update mechanism |
CN106407230A (en) * | 2015-08-03 | 2017-02-15 | 天脉聚源(北京)科技有限公司 | A data classification method and system |
Citations (3)
Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
---|---|---|---|---|
US5423033A (en) * | 1992-09-30 | 1995-06-06 | Intuit, Inc. | Report generation system and method |
US5504890A (en) * | 1994-03-17 | 1996-04-02 | Sanford; Michael D. | System for data sharing among independently-operating information-gathering entities with individualized conflict resolution rules |
US5566330A (en) * | 1991-08-20 | 1996-10-15 | Powersoft Corporation | Method for forming a reusable and modifiable database interface object |
-
1998
- 1998-03-12 EP EP98907754A patent/EP0966714A1/en not_active Withdrawn
- 1998-03-12 WO PCT/AU1998/000162 patent/WO1998040829A1/en not_active Application Discontinuation
- 1998-03-12 CN CN98804540A patent/CN1253643A/en active Pending
- 1998-03-12 JP JP53898198A patent/JP2001517338A/en active Pending
Patent Citations (3)
Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
---|---|---|---|---|
US5566330A (en) * | 1991-08-20 | 1996-10-15 | Powersoft Corporation | Method for forming a reusable and modifiable database interface object |
US5423033A (en) * | 1992-09-30 | 1995-06-06 | Intuit, Inc. | Report generation system and method |
US5504890A (en) * | 1994-03-17 | 1996-04-02 | Sanford; Michael D. | System for data sharing among independently-operating information-gathering entities with individualized conflict resolution rules |
Cited By (1)
Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
---|---|---|---|---|
US7315849B2 (en) | 2000-02-28 | 2008-01-01 | Hyperroll Israel, Ltd. | Enterprise-wide data-warehouse with integrated data aggregation engine |
Also Published As
Publication number | Publication date |
---|---|
EP0966714A1 (en) | 1999-12-29 |
JP2001517338A (en) | 2001-10-02 |
CN1253643A (en) | 2000-05-17 |
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