Context and Rules in Information Views
Posted: 03 May 2013, 15:11
"Information is data in context."
As I have modelled Data Objects and Information Views, I have come across a couple of needs to better represent the Information Views.
First, the Information_Concept class supports the Business_Domain class relationship as a way to provide context. However, I need to expand on the context when describing the Information_View, and there does not appear to be a class for capturing contextual information.
Here is an example. In my CRM system, there are many addresses captured for a Customer. Some addresses are Primary Residence, Ship To, Bill To addresses with clearly defined meanings. However, there is a separate address associated with the Customer which is the favored address that the Customer prefers all transactions to use unless otherwise specified. This address may switch while the Customer is away on business, at a vacation rental, etc. We store all addresses and reorder the addresses in the CRM to reflect the Customer's current preferred address. Therefore, I would like to add the contextual meaning to that particular Information_View used in retrieving/displaying this address. Other than adding a phrase in the name of the Information_View, do you have any suggestions for how best to capture this contextual information?
Second, in integrations between systems, I have business rules which explain how to translate Information_View_Attributes from one system to the other. The business rule is not tied to either the source or the target Information_View, but it is employed between the source and target. I would like to have some way to represent this logic and associate it with Information Views through some additional relationship class used when the two Information Views are used in a transaction. (I'm thinking of a relationship class like the Application_Provider_Role which creates an instance of an Application_Provider acting as a particular Application_Service.)
Here is an example. My CRM represents street address as a single field. My MDM represents street address as individual components of street number, street direction, street name, etc. When sending the MDM Information_View to the CRM system, I would like to have a way to capture that the concatenation of the street number, street direction, street name, etc. must be performed in order to meet the requirements of the CRM Information_View. Do you have any suggestions for how best to capture these business rules and their relationships to Information Views?
Thanks,
Hunter
As I have modelled Data Objects and Information Views, I have come across a couple of needs to better represent the Information Views.
First, the Information_Concept class supports the Business_Domain class relationship as a way to provide context. However, I need to expand on the context when describing the Information_View, and there does not appear to be a class for capturing contextual information.
Here is an example. In my CRM system, there are many addresses captured for a Customer. Some addresses are Primary Residence, Ship To, Bill To addresses with clearly defined meanings. However, there is a separate address associated with the Customer which is the favored address that the Customer prefers all transactions to use unless otherwise specified. This address may switch while the Customer is away on business, at a vacation rental, etc. We store all addresses and reorder the addresses in the CRM to reflect the Customer's current preferred address. Therefore, I would like to add the contextual meaning to that particular Information_View used in retrieving/displaying this address. Other than adding a phrase in the name of the Information_View, do you have any suggestions for how best to capture this contextual information?
Second, in integrations between systems, I have business rules which explain how to translate Information_View_Attributes from one system to the other. The business rule is not tied to either the source or the target Information_View, but it is employed between the source and target. I would like to have some way to represent this logic and associate it with Information Views through some additional relationship class used when the two Information Views are used in a transaction. (I'm thinking of a relationship class like the Application_Provider_Role which creates an instance of an Application_Provider acting as a particular Application_Service.)
Here is an example. My CRM represents street address as a single field. My MDM represents street address as individual components of street number, street direction, street name, etc. When sending the MDM Information_View to the CRM system, I would like to have a way to capture that the concatenation of the street number, street direction, street name, etc. must be performed in order to meet the requirements of the CRM Information_View. Do you have any suggestions for how best to capture these business rules and their relationships to Information Views?
Thanks,
Hunter