Net change management for object-oriented modeling

摘要

The invention facilitates modeling of an enterprise. A model developer uses a high-level modeling language to describe the enterprise with constructs that are more readily accessible to the model developer than those used in other previous modeling languages. The high-level description is translated into a low-level description that can more readily be used by a processing device to dynamically exercise the model. The constructs of the modeling language shield the model developer from many of the mundane tasks associated with maintaining data integrity in complex data structures. Of particular importance, the modeling language includes data constructs that make it easy to track and maintain data that changes during execution of a program, without considerable effort on the part of the model developer. These data constructs can be used to restore various states of the modeled enterprise during execution of the program, either automatically or at the direction of a user. The invention is particularly useful for modeling a complex enterprise, the operation of which is characterized by a large body of information. The invention can be used, for example, to develop a scheduling system for scheduling a complex activity and revising the schedule as necessary to accommodate changed circumstances. However, the invention is broadly applicable to modeling of any enterprise.