SYSTEMS AND/OR METHODS FOR PATH FINDING ON MODEL STRUCTURES

摘要

Certain example embodiments described herein relate to defining relevant data for analysis and reporting for modeled processes and process-related data. In certain example embodiments, a normal (and potentially-non-expert) user can define a model, object, or a relation as “source” and “target” of interest. The user also may be able to make a question more concrete, e.g., by specifying stopovers, a number of steps that might be between the source and the target, etc. A net of different paths from the source to the target may be retrieved as result, representing all possible relations, including those that are implicit. Such information also can be selectively excluded from the net, e.g., if the user does not want to evaluate same. However, the user can be reasonably sure that all relevant data for analysis has been returned, even though the definition was made without consulting an expert.

主权项

1. A path finding method for use with a model comprising a plurality of objects, the method comprising:
receiving, from a user and via a user interface, input specifying a source object and a target object; developing a net representing at least all methodic-level objects in the model being a step of at least one path between the source object and the target object, and all relationships between these methodic-level objects in the model; compiling a list of paths, through the net, from the source object to the target object, each said path having a path length associated therewith; excluding, from the list of paths and in connection with at least one processor, individual ones of said paths that fail to meet one or more user-specified limitations, the one or more user-specified limitations including a maximum path length, at least one stopover item that must be present between the source and target objects, and/or at least one attribute-based filter; and following said excluding, displaying the list of paths to the user in text-based and/or graphical form.