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Inventory Management System: Business Logic

Inventory Management System: Business Logic

Overview

Business logic (also called domain logic) defines the real-world business rules that determine how data can be created, stored, and changed (see Wikipedia definition here). Some applications use rigid business logic that is imposed or constrained by the software vendor. This approach may limit what data can be collected or what quality control measures can be implemented in the field. WSG InventoryManager System, by contrast, is highly flexible and supports configurable business logic throughout the system. This requires, however, some configuration in order to achieve the desired business logic for your implementation.

Business logic in WSG InventoryManager System can be broken down into 7 main components:

  1. Requirements - While requirements aren’t necessarily a part of the final implemented system, they are a critical component and represent the starting point for developing the specific business logic. The process of documenting requirements starts by gathering all of the existing field manuals, cruise specs, merch specs, analysis spreadsheets, databases, etc. These are reviewed together to make sure they are still relevant, are exhaustive and then are used to populate WSG templates for the next step - developing the data model(s).

  2. Data Model(s) - A data model, also known as a database schema, defines the data storage in terms of the unique tables and fields that are used to store data. WSG InventoryManager System uses ArcGIS as the data storage solution, and thus the data model is implemented as a geodatabase, which is accessed via ArcGIS Online or Portal. As such, the data model utilizes the ArcGIS database constraints in terms of table types, geometry types, data types, allowed values, etc. The data modeling process is documented in MobileMap: Data Model / Data Modeling Process. A given client might have one or more data models, depending on the different types of cruising that they do.

  3. MobileMap Settings - MobileMap settings can both extend and overwrite logic implemented at the data model level. For example, in ArcGIS services are either read-only or editable, and all layers inherit that property. MobileMap settings can be used to make some layers read-only in an editable service. The same can be done with regards to specific attribute fields - they can be set to be hidden or read only within MobileMap, even when those fields are visible and editable in other interfaces like ArcGIS Online and InventoryManager. MobileMap Settings are covered in more detail in MobileMap: Settings.

  4. Rules - Rules are complex business rules that govern data collection. They extend the ArcGIS data model by adding complex 'if/then' business logic. An example of this logic is “if a tree has a broken top, then the total height measurement is req