System and method for automated process control
View Patent ↗A process control system that automatically monitors processes and performs activities based on conditions detected during monitoring. The information needed to do the monitoring and perform activities is contained in tables in a database system. The process control system may be configured by configuring entries in the tables. An administrative query table has records that define administrative queries. Each administrative query has associated with it a query to be executed on a table of process records that indicate statuses of the processes being monitored, a scope that defines a subset of the process records upon which the query is to be executed, a schedule from which a time of next execution of the administrative query can be computed, and an activity. The activity is a set of one or more actions. When an administrative query is executed and the query associated with the administrative query is run on the table of process records and the result set is not empty, the activity is performed with regard to the process records of the result set. A plurality of activities may be associated with the administrative query, with the activity to be performed being selected on the basis of a state of a given process record with regard to the query.
1. A process control system comprising:
a server to access to a database system and executes program code for the process control system;
a process record table in the database system that contains one or more process records, the process record indicating a current status of a process being controlled by the system;
an administrative query table in the database system that contains one or more administrative query records, the administrative query record specifying an administrative query that is associated with a query on the table of process records and with one or more administrative activities;
a program sequence table in the database system that contains one or more program sequence records that are associated with the administrative queries, the program sequence record specifying an administrative activity, a way of determining a next program sequence record in the set, and a condition which must be satisfied before the administrative activity specified therein can be performed;
a log table in the database system that contains one or more log table records logging executions of the administrative queries and result sets of process records returned thereby, the log table records including a next sequence pointer for a given execution of an administrative query and a given process record, the next sequence pointer specifying a next program sequence record and the log table record permitting determination whether a record belonging to a current result set returned by a current execution of a given administrative query is in one of a plurality of states; and
a portion of the program code which, when executed, selects one of the administrative queries for execution, executes the query associated therewith, determines which state a process record belonging to the current result set is in, if the state and the condition specified by the program sequence record so indicate, performs one of the associated administrative activities with regard to the process record, and responds when a process record is again returned by a subsequent execution of the administrative query by performing the administrative activity specified in the program sequence record specified by the next record pointer if the state of the process record and the condition specified by the program sequence record so indicate, and if the administrative activity is performed, setting the next sequence pointer as specified in the program sequence record.
2. The process control system set forth in claim 1 wherein:
more than one of the administrative activities is associated with one of the states;
the portion of the code can further, when executed, determine from the log table whether a record is in one of a plurality of substates of the one state; and
which of the more than one of the administrative activities is performed with regard to a record belonging to the result state depends on which of a plurality of substates of the state the record is in.
3. The process control system set forth in claim 1 wherein:
the program sequence record specifies that the next sequence pointer's value remains unchanged.
4. The process control system set forth in claim 1 wherein:
the specified condition is temporal.
5. The process control system set forth in claim 1 wherein:
the administrative activity includes one or more actions; and
when the administrative activity is performed, the actions included therein are executed.
6. The process control system set forth in claim 5 wherein:
there is a plurality of different types of actions that may be included in an administrative activity.
7. The process control system set forth in claim 6 wherein:
the types of actions include actions which modify values in process records belonging to the result set when the activity in which the action is included is executed.
8. The process control system set forth in claim 6 wherein:
the types of actions include actions which post a record for a process in a further table in the database system when the activity in which the action is included is executed.
9. The process control system set forth in claim 6 wherein:
the types of actions include actions which generate a report listing the result set when the activity in which the action is included is executed.
10. The process control system set forth in claim 5
wherein there is a plurality of administrative actions and the process control system further comprises:
an action record table in the database system, each action record in the table representing an action associated with one of the administrative activities; and
when the associated administrative activity is performed, the portion of the program code executes the action records associated with the associated administrative activity.
11. The process control system set forth in claim 10 wherein:
there is a plurality of types of actions; and
there is a plurality of the action tables, each action table of the plurality thereof containing action records for actions of one type of the plurality thereof.
12. The process control system set forth in claim 1 wherein:
the administrative query record further specifies future scheduling information that is associated with the administrative query;
the process control system further comprises
a schedule accessible to the server that relates administrative queries to times for execution; and
when executed, the portion of the program code accesses the schedule to determine a time for a next administrative query to be executed, executes the next administrative query at the determined time on the table of process records to obtain a result set of the process records that are of interest to the process control system, and employs the executed administrative query's future scheduling information to update the executed administrative query's time for execution in the schedule.
13. The process control system set forth in claim 12 further comprising:
a future scheduling information table in the database whose records specify the future scheduling information,
the administrative query record for an administrative query specifying the future scheduling information by specifying a record in the schedule table.
14. The process control system set forth in claim 1 wherein:
the administrative query record further specifies scope information that defines a subset of the process records; and
when executed, the portion of the program code executes the query associated with the administrative query on the subset of the process records that is defined by the scope information associated with the administrative query.
15. The process control system set forth in claim 14 further comprising:
an administrative query scope table in the database system whose records specify subsets of the process records;
the administrative query record for an administrative query specifying the scope information by specifying a record in the administrative query scope table.
16. The process control system set forth in claim 1 further comprising:
an administrative query trend table wherein each record is associated with an administrative query and specifies an administrative action that is to be performed in response to a trend concerning the associated administrative query; and
when executed, the portion of code determines from the administrative query trend record associated with the administrative query being executed whether a trend exists and when so, performs the specified administrative action.
17. The process control system set forth in claim 1 further comprising:
a query table in the database system whose records specify queries on the process record table; and
an administrative activity type table in the database system whose records specify administrative activity types,
the administrative query record for an administrative query specifying the query on the table of process records by specifying a record in the query table and specifying the administrative action by specifying a record in the administrative activity type table.