Patent Abstract:
A system, method, and computer program for validating a rule set for applicable checks of a part, comprising querying a validation rule set; correlating a part data to said validation rule set; comparing a part against said part data; and whereby said part is approved at an event, and appropriate means and computer-readable instructions.

Full Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     This application claims priority to Provisional U.S. Application Ser. No. 60/896,698, filed on Mar. 23, 2007, which application is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. 
    
    
     TECHNICAL FIELD 
     The presently preferred embodiment of the innovations described herein relate generally to software applications. More specifically, the presently preferred embodiment relates to a system and method for validating a rule set for applicable checks of a part. 
     BACKGROUND 
     It is widely accepted practice to apply design data quality checks during product development that are automatically enforced based upon product functionality and industry standard and/or government regulations. For example, in assembly design, a dataset must pass workflow processes at a sequence of status check points to be released at a major milestone event. One of the verifications that is performed during each workflow process is to verify that the target dataset has passed a number of validation checks. For example, dataset A is targeted to be released at major event  1 , if it must pass each list of validation checks at status 0, 1, 2, 3 and so on. The list of validation checkers that are verified at each status check point may be the same with different rules which means that the same checker could be optional, that is must run but result status can be ignored, at the beginning and becomes mandated, that is must run and pass status is required, from certain status check point and on. Different types of datasets may be subject to different checks. Throughout the product development process, design data may be classified in various disciplines and subject to different quality checks at different points of time. Missing any one check could potentially cause quality issues later on. 
     What is needed is a system and method for validating a rule set for applicable checks of a part where parameters are verified for a checker even though the check result is passed knowing that the lists of validation checks are different from commodity to commodity. 
     SUMMARY 
     To achieve the foregoing, and in accordance with the purpose of the presently preferred embodiment as described herein, the present application provides a computer implemented method for validating a rule set for applicable checks of a part, comprising querying a validation rule set; correlating a part data to said validation rule set; comparing a part against said part data; and whereby said part is approved at an event. The method, further comprising reporting a result of said comparing step. The method, wherein said validation rule set has a plurality of checks. The method, wherein said checks are one of mandatory and optional. The method, wherein said validation rule set is queried by a key value. The method, wherein said key value is supplied by one of a user input and a part attribute. The method, wherein said validation rule set is translated from a set of design requirements. The method, further comprising associating a status check with said comparing step. 
     An advantage of the presently preferred embodiment is to provide a computer-program product tangibly embodied in a machine readable medium to perform a method for validating a rule set for applicable checks of a part, comprising instructions operable to cause a computer to query a validation rule set; correlate a part data to said validation rule set; and compare a part against said part data; whereby said part is approved at an event. The product, further comprising instructions to report a result of said comparing step. The product, wherein said validation rule set has a plurality of checks. The product, wherein said checks are one of mandatory and optional. The product, wherein said validation rule set is queried by a key value. The product, wherein said key value is supplied by one of a user input and a part attribute. The product, wherein said validation rule set is translated from a set of design requirements. The product, further comprising instructions to associate a status check with said comparing step. 
     Another advantage of the presently preferred embodiment is to provide a data processing system having at least a processor and accessible memory to implement a method for validating a rule set for applicable checks of a part, comprising means for querying a validation rule set; means for correlating a part data to said validation rule set; means for comparing a part against said part data. 
     Other advantages of the presently preferred embodiment will be set forth in part in the description and in the drawings that follow, and, in part will be learned by practice of the presently preferred embodiment. The presently preferred embodiment will now be described with reference made to the following Figures that form a part hereof. It is understood that other embodiments may be utilized and changes may be made without departing from the scope of the presently preferred embodiment. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       A presently preferred embodiment will hereinafter be described in conjunction with the appended drawings, wherein like designations denote like elements, and: 
         FIG. 1  is a logic flow diagram of the method employed by the presently preferred embodiment; 
         FIG. 2  illustrates a data flow of rules at an event; 
         FIG. 3  illustrates an example of the presently preferred embodiment; and 
         FIG. 4  is a block diagram of a computer environment in which the presently preferred embodiment may be practiced. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
     Computer System 
     The numerous innovative teachings of the present application will be described with particular reference to the presently preferred embodiments. It should be understood, however, that this class of embodiments provides only a few examples of the many advantageous uses of the innovative teachings herein. The presently preferred embodiment provides, among other things, a system and method for validating a rule set for applicable checks of a part. Now therefore, in accordance with the presently preferred embodiment, an operating system executes on a computer, such as a general-purpose personal computer.  FIG. 4  and the following discussion are intended to provide a brief, general description of a suitable computing environment in which the presently preferred embodiment may be implemented. Although not required, the presently preferred embodiment will be described in the general context of computer-executable instructions, such as program modules, being executed by a personal computer. Generally program modules include routines, programs, objects, components, data structures, etc., that perform particular tasks or implement particular abstract data types. The presently preferred embodiment may be performed in any of a variety of known computing environments. 
     Referring to  FIG. 4 , an exemplary system for implementing the presently preferred embodiment includes a general-purpose computing device in the form of a computer  400 , such as a desktop or laptop computer, including a plurality of related peripheral devices (not depicted). The computer  400  includes a microprocessor  405  and a bus  410  employed to connect and enable communication between the microprocessor  405  and a plurality of components of the computer  400  in accordance with known techniques. The bus  410  may be any of several types of bus structures including a memory bus or memory controller, a peripheral bus, and a local bus using any of a variety of bus architectures. The computer  400  typically includes a user interface adapter  415 , which connects the microprocessor  405  via the bus  410  to one or more interface devices, such as a keyboard  420 , mouse  425 , and/or other interface devices  430 , which can be any user interface device, such as a touch sensitive screen, digitized pen entry pad, etc. The bus  410  also connects a display device  435 , such as an LCD screen or monitor, to the microprocessor  405  via a display adapter  440 . The bus  410  also connects the microprocessor  405  to a memory  445 , which can include ROM, RAM, etc. 
     The computer  400  further includes a drive interface  450  that couples at least one storage device  455  and/or at least one optical drive  460  to the bus. The storage device  455  can include a hard disk drive, not shown, for reading and writing to a disk, a magnetic disk drive, not shown, for reading from or writing to a removable magnetic disk drive. Likewise the optical drive  460  can include an optical disk drive, not shown, for reading from or writing to a removable optical disk such as a CD ROM or other optical media. The aforementioned drives and associated computer-readable media provide non-volatile storage of computer readable instructions, data structures, program modules, and other data for the computer  400 . 
     The computer  400  can communicate via a communications channel  465  with other computers or networks of computers. The computer  400  may be associated with such other computers in a local area network (LAN) or a wide area network (WAN), or it can be a client in a client/server arrangement with another computer, etc. Furthermore, the presently preferred embodiment may also be practiced in distributed computing environments where tasks are performed by remote processing devices that are linked through a communications network. In a distributed computing environment, program modules may be located in both local and remote memory storage devices. All of these configurations, as well as the appropriate communications hardware and software, are known in the art. 
     Software programming code that embodies the presently preferred embodiment is typically stored in the memory  445  of the computer  400 . In the client/server arrangement, such software programming code may be stored with memory associated with a server. The software programming code may also be embodied on any of a variety of non-volatile data storage device, such as a hard-drive, a diskette or a CD-ROM. The code may be distributed on such media, or may be distributed to users from the memory of one computer system over a network of some type to other computer systems for use by users of such other systems. The techniques and methods for embodying software program code on physical media and/or distributing software code via networks are well known and will not be further discussed herein. 
     Rule Set Validation System 
       FIG. 1  is a logic flow diagram of the method employed by the presently preferred embodiment. Referring to  FIG. 1 , a computer implemented method for validating a rule set for applicable checks of a part  100  where the method performs a query on a validation rule set (Step  105 ). Next, correlate the queried rule set to a part data (Step  110 ). Then, select a plurality of checks that are mandatory (Step  115 ). Finally, pass a part pursuant to the validation rule set when the result of the rule checks is positive (Step  120 ) so that the part is approved at an event. The method for validating a rule set for applicable part checks in accordance with the presently preferred embodiment are set forth in more detail below. 
       FIG. 2  illustrates a data flow of rules at an event. Referring to  FIG. 2 , the user has a set of design requirements  200  that preferably has a template of industry standards and other customized checks that are compared against a product design during product development to ensure the product design meets certain standards. The set of design requirements  200  is inputted, or otherwise imported, into a product data management (PDM) system similar to Teamcenter® that is commercially available for sale by Siemens Product Lifecycle Management Software, Inc., using techniques and methods well understood in the art of computer applications. That inputted set of design requirements  200  is then translated into a validation rule set  205  (or list of validation checks) for a variety of datatypes, e.g., part files, sheet-metal files, master files. The validation rule set  205  contains rules having mandatory flags and optional flags. The rules with mandatory flags must be compared against the datatypes, but those rules with the optional flag are still compared to the datatypes. The optional flag results are ignored for purposes of validating against the set of design requirements  200 . Flag values can be TRUE or FALSE. 
     Continuing with  FIG. 2 , in  210  of the product design, there are various status checks  215  embedded throughout to ensure sufficient progress is made in the development of the product design. These status checks  215 , or events, may have the validation rule set  205  associated with them and call upon a validation check before proceeding with the development process  210 . When a validation check is called, data obtained from a CAD application such as NX® sold commercially by Siemens Product Lifecycle Management Software, Inc., inputs data related to the product design into the PDM system. This product design data is compared against the validation rule set  205  to assure compliance with the set of design requirements  200 . Thus at the designated milestone event  215 , the validation rule set  205  is compared with the dataset available in the product design data, at  220 . The results of this comparison are outputted to a validation master form  225 . One validation rule set  205  may be needed at each status check  215  for a commodity. Commodity as used in this context refers to different functionalities of the types of datasets, for example, body &amp; electrical. Once the validation master form  225  matches the rules having the mandatory flags of TRUE with those in the set of design requirements  200 , the product design is determined “released”  230  for the status check  215 . 
     Example 
       FIG. 3  illustrates an example of the presently preferred embodiment. Referring to  FIG. 3  in an environment where the CAD application and the PDM system cooperate, a list of statuses  300  (0, 1, 2, 3) represents the milestone events, or status checks  215 . Preferable, a CAD model or a part drawing is identified as various dataset types having different variables  305 , where the different variables are supplied by the validation rule set  205  and the inputted set of design requirements  200 . An additional dimension of the illustrated matrix classifies parts according to functionality or commodity  310 , e.g., Body, Electrical and Interior. Each variable in the matrix is flagged as mandatory or optional, where the value associated is either TRUE or FALSE. Alternatively, there can be a list of numerical values that must be checked with the target design data. Describing a sample validation rule set  205  is preferably done in combination with the following tables: 
     
       
         
               
             
               
               
               
               
             
           
               
                 TABLE 1 
               
             
             
               
                   
               
               
                 Commodity - Body 
               
             
          
           
               
                 0 
                 1 
                 2 
                 3 
               
               
                   
               
               
                 check: 0 
                 check: 1 
                 check: 2 
                 check: 3 
               
               
                 CAD Model - 
                 CAD Model - F 
                 CAD Model - F 
                 CAD Model - T 
               
               
                 T 
               
               
                 check: 0 
                 check: 1 
                 check: 2 
                 check: 3 
               
               
                 Part Model - T 
                 Part Model - T 
                 Part Model - F 
                 Part Model - T 
               
               
                 check: 0 
                 check: 1 
                 check: 2 
                 check: 3 
               
               
                 Alt Rep - F 
                 Alt Rep - T 
                 Alt Rep - F 
                 Alt Rep - F 
               
               
                   
               
             
          
         
       
     
     
       
         
               
             
               
               
               
               
             
           
               
                 TABLE 2 
               
             
             
               
                   
               
               
                 Commodity - Electrical 
               
             
          
           
               
                 0 
                 1 
                 2 
                 3 
               
               
                   
               
               
                 check: 0 
                 check: 1 
                 check: 2 
                 check: 3 
               
               
                 CAD Model - 
                 CAD Model - F 
                 CAD Model - T 
                 CAD Model - T 
               
               
                 T 
               
               
                 check: 0 
                 check: 1 
                 check: 2 
                 check: 3 
               
               
                 Part Model - T 
                 Part Model - T 
                 Part Model - T 
                 Part Model - T 
               
               
                 check: 0 
                 check: 1 
                 check: 2 
                 check: 3 
               
               
                 Alt Rep - F 
                 Alt Rep - T 
                 Alt Rep - F 
                 Alt Rep - F 
               
               
                   
               
             
          
         
       
     
     
       
         
               
             
               
               
               
               
             
           
               
                 TABLE 3 
               
             
             
               
                   
               
               
                 Commodity - Interior 
               
             
          
           
               
                 0 
                 1 
                 2 
                 3 
               
               
                   
               
               
                 check: 0 
                 check: 1 
                 check: 2 
                 check: 3 
               
               
                 CAD Model - 
                 CAD Model - F 
                 CAD Model - F 
                 CAD Model - T 
               
               
                 T 
               
               
                 check: 0 
                 check: 1 
                 check: 2 
                 check: 3 
               
               
                 Part Model - T 
                 Part Model - T 
                 Part Model - T 
                 Part Model - T 
               
               
                 check: 0 
                 check: 1 
                 check: 2 
                 check: 3 
               
               
                 Alt Rep - F 
                 Alt Rep - T 
                 Alt Rep - F 
                 Alt Rep - F 
               
               
                   
               
             
          
         
       
     
                                       TABLE 4                   Check Definitions            0   1   2   3               check: 0   check: 1   check: 2   check: 3       Check name: VDA   Check name: group   Check name: CAE   Check name:       file name check   pattern check   meshing check   clearance check       Check Program   Check Program   Check Program   Check Program       Utility:   Utility:   Utility:   Utility:       vda_file_check.exe   grp_ptrn_chck.exe   meshing_check.exe   clearnce_check.exe       List of numerical   List of numerical   List of numerical   List of numerical       values: p1 = XXX,   values: p1 = XXX,   values: none.   values: Max =       p2 = YYY, p3 =   p2 = YYY, p3 =       MMM, Min = NNN.       ZZZ.   ZZZ.                    
where “check: 1” refers to the instance of the validation check at a corresponding event number, 1, for example; and “CAD Model” (or “Part Model,” or “Alt Rep”) is the dataset type and the T or F is the return of the Flag value when the CAD model is compared to the validation rule set  205 , for example. The logic of querying the validation rule set  205  preferably starts by an independent query by key value, supplied from pre-configured user inputs or part attributes, for example. A check is selected if the independent query returns positive on any dimension. The part is then rendered passing the validation rule set  205  preferably when the applicable checks have been performed so that the results are up to date and pass, and numerical values are satisfied. In a larger context, once the validation rule set  205  is defined and imported into the PDM system, the validation rule set  205  can be called up by workflow processes or baseline operations to automatically verify if the target CAD data satisfies the validation rule set  205 . The workflow processes or baseline operations can issue “go” or “no-go” decisions based upon verification.
 
     CONCLUSION 
     The presently preferred embodiment may be implemented in digital electronic circuitry, or in computer hardware, firmware, software, or in combinations thereof. An apparatus of the presently preferred embodiment may be implemented in a computer program product tangibly embodied in a machine-readable storage device for execution by a programmable processor; and method steps of the presently preferred embodiment may be performed by a programmable processor executing a program of instructions to perform functions of the presently preferred embodiment by operating on input data and generating output. 
     The presently preferred embodiment may advantageously be implemented in one or more computer programs that are executable on a programmable system including at least one programmable processor coupled to receive data and instructions from, and to transmit data and instructions to, a data storage system, at least one input device, and at least one output device. The application program may be implemented in a high-level procedural or object-oriented programming language, or in assembly or machine language if desired; and in any case, the language may be an assembled, compiled or interpreted language. 
     Generally, a processor will receive instructions and data from a read-only memory and/or a random access memory. Storage devices suitable for tangibly embodying computer program instructions and data include all forms of nonvolatile memory, including by way of example semiconductor memory devices, such as EPROM, EEPROM, and flash memory devices; magnetic disks such as internal hard disks and removable disks; magneto-optical disks; and CD-ROM disks. Any of the foregoing may be supplemented by, or incorporated in, specially-designed ASICs (application2-specific integrated circuits). 
     A number of embodiments have been described. It will be understood that various modifications may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the presently preferred embodiment, such as using a text file or some other method to communicate the validation rule set, etc. Therefore, other implementations are within the scope of the following claims.

Technology Classification (CPC): 6