Relia process: integrated relational object unit identification and location addressing processes

Abstract

Automatic processes for relational identification and recording of object units and their locations, in conjunction with traditional Hierarchy Coded Location Addressing, to directly support tracking, configuration management of diversified hierarchical object unit systems and their components.

Claims

What is claimed is:

1. An integrated relational object unit identification and location addressing (ReliA) process including a number of sub-processes for tracking and configuration management and identification of any subject Object Unit (any individual, tangible, measurable or observable object and a number of Descendant generations thereof, the number of Descendants or Descendant generations selected from the group consisting of a number of Object Units contained, a number of Object Units held and a number of Object Units physically controlled by the subject Object Unit which exists at a higher hierarchy level than the number of Descendant Object Units) in a hierarchy (a hierarchical object system with "N" hierarchy levels, where "N" is a positive integer), said number of subprocesses performed by a computer system using information about Object Units' location addresses in relation to each other to facilitate integration of control over the hierarchy and to refer relationally to any location in the hierarchy, said process:

(a) tracking any subject Object Unit identified by a Unique Unit Identifier (referred to as Object Unit Unique Identifier, a unique combination of characters affixed to the subject Object Unit that uniquely identifies the subject Object Unit within a universe of other Object Units) at any hierarchy level, and, thus, tracking a number of Descendant tracked Object Units of the tracked subject Object Unit;

(b) identifying the location address, comprising a Normalized Address (a location address in which a Hierarchically Coded Location Address of tracked Ancestor Object Units is not included in the Hierarchically Coded Location Address of its Component Object Units, the location address of the Component Object Units being indicated by a reference to the lowest tracked Ancestor Object Unit of each Component Object Unit), of the subject Object Unit by referencing a number of physically related tracked Object Units within a number of physically related Ancestor Object Units (a number of related Object Units selected from the group consisting of a number of Object Units containing, a number of Object Units holding and a number of Object Units physically controlling the number of subject Object Units which exists at a lower hierarchy level than the number of Ancestor Object Units) of the subject Object Unit, with a number of intermediate tracked Ancestor Object Units existing between the subject Object Unit and referenced Ancestor Object Units and between the referenced Ancestor Object Units and an Origin Object Unit (an Object Unit without a tracked Ancestor Object Unit and as a highest hierarchy level tracked Ancestor of the subject Object Unit), to support descriptions of a location address not fully provided by hierarchical location address elements and their individual descriptions included within an Ancestor Object Unit Record (a Data Base Management System record containing parameters of an Object Unit, comprising an Ancestor, that are unique to the Object Unit); and

(c) recording the hierarchical location address for the subject Object Unit relative to one of the related Object Units using a record (referred to as an Object Unit Record), and placing the parameters of the subject Object Unit in a file that is controlled by a series of steps performed by a computer; (ReliA Integrated Process).

2. An integrated relational object unit identification and location addressing (ReliA) process for identifying a subject Object Unit and computing a location address for the subject Object Unit, said location address comprising a Universe Based Origin Location Address (a Universe based hierarchically coded location address for Origin Object Units, highest hierarchy level tracked Ancestor of an Object Unit, said Object Unit with the highest hierarchy level tracked Ancestor determined as tracked Ancestor Object Unit) and furthermore, as required an Ancestor referent, and as required by the Ancestor referents a Hierarchical Component Position Address (a series of one or more HieraRelational Position Numbers that describe a Hierarchically Coded Location Address of a subject Object Unit relative to a tracked Ancestor Object Unit that is referenced, referred to as a referenced tracked Ancestor Object Unit, with a HieraRelational Position Number referring to a real number that describes ordinarily and relationally a HieraRelational Position and that describes the Object Unit's location in relation to Sisters of such Object Unit) for the Object Unit, such location address for the Object Unit when the referent requires component positioning referred to as Component Positioning addressing, and such location address for the Object Unit when the Ancestor referent requires non-positioning referred to as Component Non-Positioning addressing, the complete location address of a component:

(a) determining and initiating a number of other sub-processes by using an integrated evaluation process, said number of other sub-processes comprising sub-processes used hierarchically with respect to each other and with respect to the process, while maintaining a consistent addressing methodology within a common tracked Ancestor Object Unit, used in a number of current transactions for identifying the number of alternative sub-processes being utilized for each successive transaction, by a quantity and type of Transaction Entry Schema (or TES, a series of entries that a user must record to establish a unique identity for the subject Object Unit and a location address for the addressing methodology used) and a relationship of parameters in the entries with existing stored data, the integrated evaluation process comprising:

(i) specific sub-processes to be included in an instantiation sub-process and characteristic elements of said specific sub-processes,

(ii) a number of supported addressing methodologies comprising Universe Based Origin Location, Component Non-Positioning and Component Positioning addressing methodologies,

(iii) a number of subject Object Units to be recorded as to their current location addresses, and

(iv) an identification of any of the number of sub-processes determined in part by using a number of indicators on a number of tracked Ancestor Object Units that control the number of Descendant Object Unit generations that must be tracked by Component Positioning addressing methodologies;

(b) validating each transaction by the number of sub-processes and computing the location addresses for the subject Object Unit of each current transaction;

(c) establishing the location address, comprising a Normalized Address, of the subject Object Unit by collecting a number of successive position determinants that describe the position of the subject Object Unit hierarchically comprising a number of references to other Object Units for which a current location address has already been established, such a location address comprising hierarchical location address elements included within an Ancestor Object Unit Record and a reference to the tracked Ancestor Object Unit, and support descriptions of the hierarchical location address for the subject Object Unit;

(d) setting up and updating stored data and recording the location address as required by the addressing methodologies for the subject Object Unit; and

(e) returning processing to the integrated evaluation process so that the process can restart for a number of subsequent transactions; (ReliA Integrated Process).

3. The ReliA Integrated Process as claimed in claim 2 wherein a comprehensive Hierarchically Coded Location Address within the limits of the addressing methodology required for each Object Unit in an Origin-Subject Lineage (or OSL, successive Descendant Object Units of the Origin Object Unit down through the subject Object Unit) can be constructed and displayed at any time for the subject Object Unit, and with descriptions for each hierarchical entity which when desired comprising the description of the HieraEntity Division Code (or HEDC, non-relational codes or names that generally describe geo-political division of a Parent entity, with a Parent selected from the group consisting of a related Object Unit that contains, a related Object Unit that holds and a related Object Unit that physically controls a subject Object Unit at a hierarchy level immediately above the subject Object Unit) in the Universe Based Origin Location Address and the Item Identifier (or ID, a unique identifier of an Item with a defined Universe of Items, with an Item selected from the group consisting of a set of similar Object Units and a representation of such an Object Unit, and with Universe being the Ancestor of all entities that will be represented by an instantiation of this process) of the Origin Object Unit and the tracked Descendants in a Matriarch-Subject Lineage (or MSL, successive Descendant Object Units of a Matriarch down through the subject Object Unit, with a Matriarch being a tracked Ancestor OU used as a common Ancestor referent for subsequent transactions) to supplement the Object Unit Unique Identifiers (or OUUI, a shortened form for an Object Unit's Unique Unit Identifier) of the Guardian references and positions within Guardian Object Units where required by the Guardian Object Units (lowest tracked Ancestor Object Unit of an Object Unit) or Item Matriarch Records of the Guardian Object Units as a user aid to verify a location address recorded; (Location Address).

4. The ReliA Integrated Process as claimed in claim 2 wherein tracked Object Units are identified using Object Unit Record Files (a Data Base Management System file of Object Unit Records for all tracked Object Units), said Object Unit Record Files comprising:

(a) an Object Unit Unique Identifier for the subject Object Unit;

(b) an Object Unit Unique Identifier for the subject Guardian Object Unit;

(c) the subject Object Unit's Hierarchical Component Position Address relative to the Guardian Object Unit; and

(d) a unique identifier that relates occurrences of similar Object Units (Item) for the subject Object Unit, assuming that the subject Object Unit needs to be identified as an item; (Structure/Files).

5. The ReliA Integrated Process as claimed in claim 2 wherein an Enabled Process Session (or EPS, a process state for a particular addressing methodology wherein a location address and a number of parameters have been established to enable some alternative processes supporting the addressing methodology) is created by some sub-processes such that the location address of subsequently recorded transactions of some other sub-processes can be computed by referation of the location address of a number of Homogens, whose location addresses have been previously established, without reestablishing a location address determinant for the Ancestor of said number of Homogens used for such referation, such sub-processes which can establish said Enabled Process Session being termed herein as EPS enabling sub-processes which:

(a) establish the location address of the subject Object Unit of the transaction establishing the Enabled Process Session according to the addressing methodology supported by the primary EPS enabling sub-process as a determinant of the Enabled Process Session such that the establishment of such location address and its addressing methodology can be identified by the ReliA Integrated Process in subsequent transactions as a determinant that an Enabled Process Session for a particular addressing methodology has been established and such that a subsequent transaction will be processed as a non-EPS enabling sub-process for the address methodology; and

(b) establish a sub-process for disabling of the Enabled Process Session comprising clearing some of the determinants of the Enabled Process Session and clearing any record of OUUI established as Disabling Object Units to effect such disabling.

6. The ReliA Integrated Process as claimed in claim 5 that disables an established Enabled Process Session by recognition of a Transaction Entry Schema (or TES, a series of sequential entries comprising OUUIs and HEDCs required by an enabled ReliA sub-process to identify a subject OU and its location address) comprising some OUUIs of Object Units related to the Subject of the Enabling Transaction (Disabling Object Units), such process:

(a) establishing a number of OUUIs in memory as Disabling Object Units in conjunction with establishment of the Enabled Process Session; and

(b) identifying, by the ReliA Integrated Evaluation process, a TES comprising some of OUUIs of the Disabling OUs.

7. The ReliA Integrated Process as claimed in claim 2 that allows for identification of a user signal to reverse a number of transactions for which the Transaction Entry Schema of the sub-process used to record the number of transactions has been completed, such sub-processes allowing transactions recorded by both EPS enabling and EPS enabled processes and by any of the addressing methodologies to be reversed, such sub-processes, however, being applicable only to the last non-reversed transaction recorded, the indicating signal of such sub-processes comprising the recording of the OUUI of a Subject of the Last Transaction (or SLT, a subject Object Unit of the last transaction for which the complete TES has been entered) recorded which has not been so reversed, the sub-processes signaled by the recording of such a qualified OUUI being distinguished and identified automatically by the ReliA Integrated Process by recognition of the OUUI of the Subject of the Last Transaction recorded which has not been so reversed except where:

(a) successive similar OUUIs are automatically eliminated;

(b) the OUUI of the subject of the transaction is recorded last in the TES of a sub-process used to record the last transaction; and

(c) the transaction is the last transaction recorded.

8. The ReliA Integrated Process as claimed in claim 2 in which qualifying entries of several Object Unit Unique Identifiers (OUUI) recorded for a transaction are deemed to represent a subject Object Unit and the tracked Ancestor Object Unit (Matriarch) of such subject Object Unit and, when required by the Matriarch for a number of successive generations of the Descendants of the Matriarch, including the subject Object Unit, additional qualifying entries are deemed to be position determinants of the subject Object Unit relative to the Matriarch, requirement for position determinants for the Matriarch's Descendant Object Units referred to as the Component Positioning address methodology, where a sub-process is distinguished from other non-enabled sub-processes by including an Object Unit Unique Identifier as the first element of the location address of the subject Object Unit in the Transaction Entry Schema, with an order convention of the subject Object Unit and location address being necessary for distinguishing said sub-process from other sub-processes automatically, said sub-process:

(a) validating the OUUIs of the subject Object Units and Ancestor Object Units and, where the Component Positioning address methodology is required, validating position determinants;

(b) referating, where the Component Positioning addressing methodology is required for the transaction and a position determinant of the location address is a Homogen of the subject OU, a Matriarch Based Component Position Address for the subject Object Unit; and

(c) computing, where the Component Positioning addressing methodology is required for the transaction, a Component Position Address (or CPA, a Guardian referent and a Hierarchical Component Position Address for the subject Object Unit relative to its Guardian).

(ReliAA Process).

9. The ReliAA Process as claimed in claim 8 which uses a sub-process wherein position determinants are not allowed for the location address of the subject Object Unit relative to the Matriarch and the Homogen Object Units of said subject Object Unit, such non-allowance of position determinants for the Matriarch's Descendant Object Units referred to as Component Non-Positioning addressing methodology, the Component Non-Positioning addressing methodology being established by a number of parameters associated with the Matriarch referent, such sub-process distinguished from other ReliAA/ReliAM sub-processes by the number of parameters associated with the Matriarch referent, the Matriarch referent deemed to be the lowest tracked Ancestor of the subject Object Unit (Guardian referent), with the location address being established by the sub-process comprising the Matriarch referent; (ReliAA-CNP Process).

10. The ReliAA Process as claimed in claim 8 wherein the Matriarch requires Component Positioning addressing methodology, a number of the transaction position determinants are HieraRelational Position Numbers comprising a Matriarch Based Component Position Address (or MBCPA, a unique Hierarchically Coded Location Address of the subject Object Unit relative to the Matriarch referent and the Homogens of the subject Object Unit), where the Matriarch Based Component Position Address of the subject Object Unit is recorded by the user by successively entering the HieraReiational Position Numbers of each successive Descendant Object Unit relative to its Parent Object Unit until the Matriarch Based Component Position Address of the subject Object Unit is recorded in the memory, such process being distinguished by the entry of a valid HieraRelational Position Number for the highest hierarchy level of such Matriarch Based Component Position Address in the second entry of the location address of the Transaction Entry Schema, with the Transaction Entry Schema being closed by a TES Closure Entry that records the maximum number of HRPNs allowed for the instantiation of said process; (ReliAA-CP-Manual Process).

11. The ReliAA-CP Process as claimed in claim 10 whereby a tracked OU is referenced and recorded in lieu of recording the HCPA of the subject relative to the Matriarch, such referenced OU being deemed to be a Homogen in a specified relationship as established for the process, such process being distinguished by the OUUI being a referenced Descendant of the Matriarch (such referent being a Homogen referent) identified in the Transaction Entry Schema and the next entry being a TES Closure Entry (a user transaction entry recorded as a TES entry or a Fixed Command at or after the end of a Transaction Entry Schema for a current transaction that allows a sub-process to establish that entry of the Transaction Entry Schema of the current transaction has been completed), and such TES Closure Entry attains with the HCPA of the Homogen referent a cumulative number of hierarchy levels equal to a maximum allowed for an instantiation of the invention, the MBCPA of the subject OU comprising the HCPAs of the Homogen as established for the instantiation of such process; (ReliAA-CP-Homogen processes).

12. The ReliAA Process as claimed in claim 8 wherein a methodology in which an Ancestor referent established by an enabling sub-process supporting Component location addresses can be the tracked Ancestor of a number of lower hierarchy level tracked Ancestors of the subject Object Unit (a Matriarch Referent Methodology), the Matriarch Referent Methodology allowing the user to establish a higher hierarchy level Ancestor reference than the Guardian Object Unit for recording the location address of the subject Object Unit and ignoring irrelevant intermediate tracked Object Units, said methodology:

(a) establishing a record of the Ancestor referent established for an enabled process session and the number of tracked Ancestors in such Matriarch lineage by using a number of records in an array in memory;

(b)

(i) identifying and recording in memory a record of the successive intermediate tracked Ancestors of the subject Object Unit that are also Descendants of the established Matriarch and congruent with a Matriarch Based Component Position Address established by various sub-processes, and

(ii) completing the lineage, to the extent that the tracked Ancestors of the subject Object Unit have been previously recorded, of the subject Object Unit from the Matriarch down through the lowest tracked Ancestor (Guardian) of the subject Object Unit, (Matriarch-Subject Lineage MSL),

by using a function iteratively searching for Unreferenced Tracked Matriarch-Descendant-Ancestors (URTAs) on an Object Unit Record File with a constructed ReliA Component Position Address, said Component Position Address comprising the lowest tracked Ancestor identified in the Matriarch-Subject Lineage and a Hierarchical Component Position Address comprising some of the HieraRelational Position Numbers in the Matriarch Based Component Position Address, and repeating the function until no additional Descendants of the Matriarch can be identified in the Matriarch-Subject Lineage described by the Matriarch Based Component Position Address (URTA Identification Function);

(c) identifying the lowest tracked Ancestor on record as the Guardian of the subject Object Unit; and

(d) establishing the ReliA CPA of the subject Object Unit by using a conversion function, such conversion function:

(i) establishing the Guardian Object Unit and the Matriarch Based Component Hierarchy Level of the Guardian Object Unit, and

(ii) converting the MBCPA to a Guardian Based Component Position Address for the subject Object Unit (ReliA CPA Conversion function); (ReliAM Process).

13. The ReliAM Process as claimed in claim 12 providing a top down search for the URTA wherein the Hierarchical Component Position Address of the ReliA Component Position Address constructed comprises the HieraRelational Position Numbers in hierarchies of the Matriarch-Subject Lineage below the lowest tracked Ancestor in the Matriarch-Subject Lineage identified, and the Hierarchical Component Position Address of such ReliA Component Position Address further constructed to iteratively exclude the lowest hierarchy level HieraRelational Position Numbers until all HieraRelational Position Numbers which relate to the HieraRelational Position Numbers of tracked Ancestors already identified are excluded; (URTA Identification function -ReliAM Process version).

14. The ReliAM Process as claimed in claim 12 wherein the Matriarch requires Component Positioning addressing methodology, a number of the transaction position determinants being HieraRelational Position Numbers comprising a Matriarch Based Component Position Address (a unique Hierarchically Coded Location Address of the subject Object Unit relative to the Matriarch referent and the Homogens of the subject Object Unit), the Matriarch Based Component Position Address of the subject being recorded by the user by successively entering the HieraRelational Position Numbers of each successive Descendant Object Unit relative to its Parent Object Unit until the Matriarch Based Component Position Address of the subject Object Unit is recorded in the memory, such process being distinguished by the entry of a valid HieraRelational Position Number for the highest hierarchy level of such Matriarch Based Component Position Address in the second entry of the location address of the Transaction Entry Schema, with the Transaction Entry Schema being closed by a TES Closure entry that records the maximum number of HRPNs allowed for the instantiation; (ReliAM-CP-Manual Process).

15. The ReliAM-CP-Manual Process as claimed in claim 14 wherein the Matriarch Referent Methodology is supported whereby a number of successively lower tracked Matriarch-Descendant-Ancestors in the Matriarch-Subject Lineage is recorded by the user in lieu of recording the HieraRelational Position Numbers for the Hierarchical Component Position Address for the number of tracked Matriarch-Descendant-Ancestors recorded, thus requiring the user to establish the lowest hierarchy level HieraRelational Positions of the subject by other sub-processes, such sub-processes as claimed herewith distinguished by the entry in the Transaction Entry Schema of an Object Unit Unique Identifier for the second entry of the location address in the Transaction Entry Schema of a referencing Descendant of record for the lowest tracked Ancestor previously referenced in the Transaction Entry Schema, and the entry of successive Matriarch-Descendants further distinguished by the entry of successive Object Unit Unique Identifiers as long as the cumulative number of hierarchy levels included in the Hierarchical Component Position Address of the Matriarch-Descendant's address is one less than the maximum allowed for an instantiation of the process; (ReliAM-CP-Descendant Process).

16. The ReliAM-CP-Manual Process as claimed in claim 14 whereby the OUUI in a specified Homogen relationship is deemed to have been referenced in lieu of recording the HCPA of the subject relative to the lowest tracked Ancestor identified in the Transaction Entry Schema, such process being distinguished by the OUUI being a referenced Descendant of the lowest tracked Ancestor (such Ancestor also being a Homogen referent) identified in the Transaction Entry Schema and the next entry being a TES Closure Entry (an entry selected from the group consisting of entries recorded at the end of a Transaction Entry Schema and entries recorded after the end of a Transaction Entry Schema, allowing a sub-process to establish a stage selected from the group consisting of completion of the Transaction Entry Schema of a current transaction, attainment of a preestablished limit and attainment of a distinguishing condition in the indicated process for the current condition such that the current transaction can be closed), and where such TES Closure Entry is an OUUI, a non-referencing Descendant of the Homogen referent, and where such TES Closure Entry establishes a cumulative number of hierarchy levels in the Hierarchical Component Position Address of the Homogen referent equal to the maximum allowed for an instantiation of the process, the MBCPA of the subject OU comprising successively the number of HCPAs of the number of referencing Descendants, including MDAs and the Homogen referent, adjusted by the Homogen referation process as established for the instantiation; (ReliAM-CP-Descendant-Homogen Process).

17. The ReliA Integrated Process as claimed in claim 2 wherein an enabled Homogen process for automatic determination of the location address for the subject Object Unit is based on a particular addressing methodology, such process further:

(a) establishing a number of parameters in a number of memory variables by requiring a preceding enabling process, said number of parameters establishing the recording of a qualified location address for the addressing methodology and identifying the location address as a referent (Homogen referent) location address for a number of succeeding transactions in an Enabled Process Session (or EPS, a process state of the ReliA Integrated process and related to a particular addressing methodology wherein subsequent transactions are automatically indicated as a ReliA sub-process requiring the EPS for the addressing methodology), such EPS distinguished by a number of parameters in a number of memory variables, said number of parameters allowing the ReliA Integrated Evaluation Process in a subsequent transaction to automatically determine that all necessary parameters have been established for a number of ReliA sub-processes requiring an EPS for the addressing methodology, said number of ReliA sub-processes requiring the EPS for a particular addressing methodology being termed Enabled Homogen processes, the necessary parameters for an EPS comprising a qualified location address for the addressing methodology of the EPS when multiple addressing methodologies of the ReliA Integrated Process automatically determine that all necessary parameters have been established comprising an indicator for an addressing methodology that establishes that all necessary parameters have been established for the number of ReliA sub-processes requiring an EPS for the addressing methodology;

(b) allowing the user to effect disabling of such Enabled Process Session;

(c) evaluating the number of parameters in the number of memory variables that establish an EPS for a particular addressing methodology to determine that an EPS has been established and initiating the Enabled Homogen process for the addressing methodology;

(d) evaluating an indication, as established by the sub-process in step (b), that allows the user to disable an EPS, comprising evaluating entry of a number of Disabling Object Units, where a sub-process is included in an instantiation of this process that establishes Disabling Object Units in conjunction with establishing an EPS, that the EPS must be disabled;

(e) requiring the entry of a valid Object Unit's Unique Unit Identifier that is, when the Component Positioning addressing methodology is employed, recorded in a position subsequent, based on the Transaction Direction established for the EPS, to the Subject of the Last Transaction (the subject Object Unit of the last transaction for which the complete Transaction Entry Schema has been entered); and

(f) referating the location address of the subject Object Unit by incrementing, by values comprising zero and negative units, the Hierarchically Coded Location Address of the Subject of the Last Transaction and a number of other referenced Homogen Object Units, at a number of appropriate hierarchy levels relative to the Subject of the Last Transaction to establish the Hierarchically Coded Location Address of each successively recorded subject Object Unit; (ReliA-EH Process).

18. The ReliA-EH Process as claimed in claim 17 whereby disabling of the Enabled Process Session in step (b) comprises evaluation of a number of references to a number of preestablished, related OUs (Disabling Object Unit), such process further:

(a) establishing an EPS to establish the OUUI of a number of Object Units related to the Subject of the Enabling Transaction for the EPS by requiring a number of processes for an addressing methodology included in an instantiation of the process, the EPS comprising the SET and the Matriarch, in a number of memory variables, such Object Units related to the Subject of the Enabling Transaction for the EPS representing related number of Object Units that are unlikely to be recorded as successive entries in a Transaction Entry Schema for the Enabled Homogen processes that require such EPS in subsequent transactions in an EPS other than to effect this disabling process;

(b) establishing, for each addressing methodology employed in an instantiation of this process, a number of Transaction Entry Schemata requiring the entry of a number of OUUIs of the Disabling Object Units, so as to generally preclude inadvertent entry by the user of the number of TESs of this process as a process determining part of the TES of other Enabled Homogen processes; and

(c) determining if the number of successive entries, individually and in combination, in the TES of subsequent transactions correspond to the TES of the OUUIs of the Disabling OUs by evaluating a number of successive entries in the TES of subsequent transactions within the EPS against the OUUIs of the Disabling Object Units; (Disabling OU process).

19. The ReliA-EH Process as claimed in claim 17 wherein an Origin Locating addressing methodology is used, such process further:

(a) establishing a qualified Universe Based Origin Location Address by requiring the preceding enabling process, based upon the instantiation of the process, and identifying the location address as the referent location address for a number of succeeding transactions in an Enabled Process Session for the Origin Locating addressing methodology;

(b) establishing the OUUI of the subject Object Unit of the transaction by requiring the entry of a valid OUUI, other than any of the OUUIs which reverse a number of previous transactions and any OUUIs of a Disabling OU which constitute the TES for a Disabling sub-process for the Origin Locating addressing methodology; and

(c) referating the location address of the subject OU by copying the Universe Based Origin Location Address pre-established by the enabling transaction to the Universe Based Origin Location Address of the subject Object Unit;

such that the Universe Based Origin Location Address of the subject Object Unit can be established, by entry of the UUI of the subject OU only, without requiring the user to record any other form of location address determinant and without recording a reference to a related Object Unit except to disable the process; (ReliA-EHA-OL Process).

20. The ReliA-EH process as claimed in claim 17 wherein a Component Non-Positioning addressing methodology is used, such process further:

(a) establishing as Guardian-Matriarch (a tracked Object Unit used as a common location address for subsequent transactions in an Enabled Process Session) a valid Object Unit Unique Identifier of an Object Unit requiring the Component Non-Positioning addressing methodology for referencing Descendants of the Object Unit and establishing the location address as the common referent location address for a number of succeeding transactions in an Enabled Process Session for the Component Non-Positioning addressing methodology by requiring the EPS enabling process;

(b) establishing the OUUI of the subject Object Unit of the transaction by requiring the entry of a valid OUUI, other than any of the OUUIs which reverse a number of previous transactions and any OUUI of a Disabling OU which constitute the TES for a Disabling process for the Component Non-Positioning addressing methodology; and

(c) referating the location address of the subject OU by copying the Object Unit Unique Identifier of the Guardian-Matriarch Object Unit pre-established by the enabling transaction as the common referent location address for a number of succeeding transactions in an Enabled Process Session as the Guardian referent of the subject Object Unit;

such that Guardian referent location address of the subject Object Unit can be established without requiring the user to record any form of location address determinant and without recording a reference to a related Object Unit except to disable the process, by the entry of only a UUI for the subject OU of the transaction; (ReliA-EHA-CNP Process).

21. The ReliA-EH Process as claimed in claim 17 wherein a Component Positioning addressing methodology is used, such process further:

(a) (i) establishing as Matriarch (a tracked Object Unit used as a common Ancestor referent for subject Object Units in any subsequent transactions recorded in the Enabled Process Session) a valid Object Unit Unique Identifier of an Object Unit requiring the Component Positioning addressing methodology for a number of successive tracked referencing Descendants of the Object Unit, (ii) establishing the Matriarch and its location address as the common referent Object Unit and location address for a number of succeeding transactions in the EPS for the Component Non-Positioning addressing methodology, and, (iii) establishing the Matriarch Based Component Position Address (MBCPA, a Hierarchically Coded Component Position Address based on the Matriarch for the EPS) for the Subject of the Enabling Transaction in a number of memory variables as the MBCPA of the Subject of the Last Transaction for the EPS by requiring the EPS enabling process;

(b) reestablishing the MBCPA of the subject of a current transaction in the number of memory variables established for the MBCPA of the Subject of the Last Transaction for the EPS;

(c) referating the MBCPA of the subject OU by incrementing a number of HRPNs of the MBCPA of the SLT by a value of a real number and where preceding (preceding defined as relative to a transaction direction preestablished for the hierarchy levels included in the MBCPA) Homogen referents of the SLT are recorded as part of the TES of a current transaction by incrementing a number of HRPNs of the MBCPA of the SLT by a value of a real number based on the relationship of a number of the additional Homogens referenced in the TES of the current transaction; and

(d) computing, where the Matriarch of the EPS is an Ancestor of the Guardian (the lowest tracked Ancestor of an Object Unit) of a subject OU, the Guardian Based Component Position Address (GBCPA, a Hierarchical Component Position Address of an Object Unit based on the Guardian of an Object Unit) in order to establish the Guardian and the Guardian Based Component Position Address as required for the Component Positioning addressing methodology; (ReliA-EH-CP Process).

22. The ReliA-EH-CP Process as claimed in claim 21 where the Component Positioning addressing methodology is required for evaluating the computed position by primary sub-processes against a preestablished maximum position value (Enabled Subject Advancement Position) based on an End of Parent Object Unit Position Number (EPOUPN) for the Parent Object Unit of the subject OU of the last transaction and for recomputing, when the HRPN at the lowest hierarchy level of the MBCPA computed by the primary sub-process exceeds the preestablished EPOUPN for the lowest hierarchy level of the MBCPA, a new MBCPA for the subject Object Unit in a predefined HRPN in a subsequent Aunt (a sister or cousin of the Parent of the Subject of the Last Transaction) at the hierarchy level in which the EPOUPN was exceeded and incrementing the HRPN the next higher hierarchy level by a predetermined value, such sub-process continuing said process of evaluating and recomputing the MBCPA of the subject Object Unit at successively higher hierarchy levels of the MBCPA as long as the incremented HRPN at each succeeding hierarchy level of the MBCPA evaluated by said process exceeds the EPOUPN at each hierarchy level of the MBCPA, as long as the EPOUPN of the highest hierarchy level of the MSL is not exceeded, until the incremented HRPN at the next hierarchy level does not exceed the EPOUPN at each hierarchy level, any recomputed MBCPA by said process comprising the MBCPA of the subject OU used to complete the normal steps of the primary sub-process, said process preestablishing by a separate process the End of Parent Object Unit Position (End of Parent Determination function) for all hierarchy levels of a Matriarchy established by an Enabled Process Session, such Parent Advancement sub-process additionally, whenever

(i) a Matriarch Referencing Methodology is employed, and

(ii) the number of successive Parent Advancements made by said process for a particular subject OU within a Guardian in the MSL equals the number of HRPNs included in the HCPA of its referencing Descendants (the Guardian Hierarchical Reach of the Guardian-referencing Descendant),

reinitiating the URTA identification function to reestablish the tracked Matriarch-Descendant Ancestors in the Matriarch-Subject Lineage for the subject OU; (Parent Advancement Function).

23. The End of Parent Determination Function as claimed in claim 22 whereby the End of Parent Object Unit Position (EPOUP) within a number of Items (Guardian Items) is preestablished in the Item Master Records for descendant Object Units at a number of hierarchy levels within said Guardian Items, said Guardian Items comprising items requiring the Component Positioning addressing methodology for referencing tracked Descendants of such items and for which the application of said process is desired for prospective referencing tracked Descendants of Object Units representing said Guardian Items, said number of hierarchy levels in each Guardian Item including potential hierarchy levels of the Guardian Items down to and including the lowest hierarchy level (Lowest Allowed Tracked Component Hierarchy Level) at which a referencing tracked Descendant of each Guardian Item may be established within an Object Unit representing each Guardian Item, such function establishing the EPOUPN of each hierarchy level of the Matriarch of an EPS, where the Matriarch Object Unit is the Guardian of the subject of the Enabling Transaction, by copying an EPOUPN for a number of successive hierarchy levels of the Guardian Item to a number of memory variables established by the enabling process of the EPS and representing the EPOUPNs for the successive hierarchies of the Matriarchy, said number of successive hierarchy levels and memory variables being the Matriarch Hierarchical Reach (the number of hierarchy levels included in the Matriarchy, excluding the hierarchy level of the Matriarch OU) established by the EPS; (End of Parent Determination Function).

24. The End of Parent Determination Function as claimed in claim 23 additionally:

(a) identifying a record of the Ancestor referent established for an Enabled Process Session and the number of tracked Ancestors in such Matriarch lineage by using a number of records in an array in memory;

(b)

(i) identifying and recording in memory a record of intermediate tracked Ancestors of the subject Object Unit that are Descendants of the Matriarch selected from the group consisting of referenced Matriarchs and established Matriarchs and congruent with the Matriarch Based Component Position Address established by the various sub-processes, and

(ii) completing the lineage of the subject Object Unit from the Matriarch down through the subject Object Unit to the extent that the tracked Ancestors of the subject Object Unit have been previously recorded, by using a function comprising iteratively searching for URTAs on the Object Unit Record File with a constructed ReliA Component Position Address, comprising the lowest tracked Ancestor identified in the Matriarch-Subject Lineage and a Hierarchical Component Position Address comprising some of the HieraRelational Position Numbers in the Matriarch Based Component Position Address, and repeating the function until no additional Descendants of the Matriarch can be identified in the Matriarch-Subject Lineage described by the Matriarch Based Component Position Address; (URTA Identification Function)

(c) identifying the lowest tracked ancestor on record as the Guardian of the subject Object Unit;

(d) by using a conversion function:

(i) establishing the Guardian Object Unit and its Matriarch Based Component Hierarchy Level, and

(ii) establishing the Guardian Based Component Position Address, such conversion function requiring that all Ancestor Object Units in the Matriarch-Subject Lineage be identified in the descending hierarchical level and that the Matriarch Based Component Position Address of the subject Object Unit relative to the Matriarch be identified; (ReliA CPA Conversion function)

(e) establishing the parameters of the subject Object Unit on the Object Unit Record File and on an Item Master Record File (a record file which normalizes the common parameters that relate to the Item Identifiers of Object Units); and

(f) conveying the Matriarch and the Matriarch Based Component Position Address to Guardian Based Component Position Address for the ReliA Component Position Address (Transaction Update and Close Function); (End of Parent Determination Function with Matriarch Referent Methodology).

25. The ReliA-EH-CP Process as claimed in claim 21 wherein the MBCPA of the subject OU is referated by incrementing an HRPN of the MBCPA of the SLT by a value of a real number where the referation determinants for the process, the hierarchy level of the HRPN incremented and the incrementation value and sign of the real number are established for the process to establish the Homogen relationship of the subject OU relative to the SLT, the number of successive positions the subject OU is from the SLT, and the transaction direction for the hierarchy level,

such ReliA-EH-CP Process being distinguished from other ReliA-EH-CP processes by entry of an UUI in the first entry of the TES for an OU that is not previous to the SLT, and where other Enabled Homogen processes are included in an instantiation in which a non-previous OUUI is also recorded first in the TES, the process being further distinguished by a TES Closure Entry following entry of the non-previous OUUI, and

such that the ReliA-EH-CP Process records the Matriarch referent and MBCPA and the Guardian referent and GBCPA of the subject Object Unit by the entry of only a UUI for the subject OU of the transaction without requiring the user to record any other form of location address determinant, except when the referation determinants are not preestablished for the process, and without recording a reference to a related Object Unit, except to disable the process; (ReliA Integrated Process).

26. The ReliA-EH-CP Process as claimed in claim 21 wherein the MBCPA of the subject OU is established by referation of the SLT and a Cousin referent, recorded by the user, to establish a HRPN for each hierarchy level of the MBCPA of the subject Object Unit based upon a HRPN at a hierarchy level selected from the group consisting of the hierarchy level of the MBCPA of a Cousin referent, the hierarchy level of the SLT, and the hierarchy level of an Enabled Advanced Subject Position (EASP, a default HRPN representing an ordinal position within an Ancestor Object Unit (also described as a hierarchy level of the MBCPA) relative to the position selected from the group consisting of the first position and the last position therein) established as a resultant for said process, the specific HRPN established at each hierarchy level of the MBCPA of the subject OU being determined by Cousin relationship (1st Cousin, 2nd Cousin, . . . , nth Cousin, where n=N-1) of the Cousin referent to the SLT and the relationship of the HRPNs of the Cousin referent at a number of hierarchy levels of the MBCPA of the Cousin referent to the HRPNs of the SLT at the corresponding hierarchy levels of the MBCPA of the SLT, and when an HRPN first computed by the foregoing would establish an MBCPA that would not be subsequent to the MBCPA of the SLT, based on the transaction direction (a process determinant) established for the hierarchy level of the MBCPA, the HRPNs at a number of higher hierarchy levels of the MBCPA are incremented by a value of a real number based on the transaction direction established for the hierarchy level of the MBCPA (or Matriarch-Subject Lineage) and a value, comprising a sign, based on process determinants established for the hierarchy level of the MBCPA; said hierarchy level of the MBCPA amplified once as established by the process and, to establish an MBCPA for the subject OU that is subsequent to the MBCPA of the SLT, said claimed process:

(a) distinguishing the ReliA-EH-CP process from other ReliA-EH-CP processes by entering an UUI in the TES for an Object Unit that is a Cousin of the SET, a Descendant of the Matriarch for the EPS, and in a position Previous (previously defined at each hierarchy level in a Matriarchy, as the direction opposite to the transaction direction established for the Matriarchy) and where other ReliA-EH-CP processes are included in an instantiation of this process in which more than one similarly qualified OUUI is also recorded in the TES of process, the claimed process further being distinguished by the recording of a single similarly qualified OUUI prior to a TES Closure Entry; and

(b) recording the Matriarch referent, MBCPA , the Guardian referent and GBCPA of the subject Object Unit by the ReliA-EH Process by the entry of a UUI for the subject OU of the transaction and an appropriate Cousin referent based on the referation determinants established for the process without requiring the user to record any other form of location address determinant (comprising process determinants), except the referation determinants when the referation determinants are not preestablished for the process, and without recording a reference to a related Object Unit other than the single Cousin referent, except to disable the process; (ReliA-EHR-CP-pC Aligned and equivalent variations).

27. The ReliA-EH-CP Process as claimed in claim 21 wherein the MBCPA of the subject OU is established by referation of the MBCPA of the SLT, such referation comprising:

(a) incrementing the HRPN at a hierarchy level of the MBCPA of the SLT, as established by a process determinant, by a value, based upon a Skip Count recorded by the user, and by a sign of a real number consistent for the transaction direction established as a referation determinant for the process;

(b) when, limit positions (a maximum and minimum HRPN, also termed BPOUPN and EPOUPN, each being a maximum and a minimum limit position depending on transaction direction) are established for the hierarchy level for HRPN s at the hierarchy level, the process further:

(i) evaluating the HRPN so computed in step (a) of this process against the limit position (HRPN) established for the hierarchy level, and

(ii) incrementing, when the HRPN so computed in step (a) exceeds the applicable limit position for the transaction direction for the hierarchy level of the MBCPA of the SLT established in step (a) by a value as established by a process determinant for the next higher hierarchy level of the MBCPA of the SLT, to establish an MBCPA for the subject OU that is subsequent to the MBCPA of the SLT, and reinitiating incrementation of the HRPN at the hierarchy level of the MBCPA of the SLT established in step (a) from the opposite limit position by a value that is based upon the difference between the Skip Count and the absolute value of the incrementation allowed from the SLT and the limit position in (i) such that the Object Unit Position established for the subject OU will be in the subsequent position in the subsequent Aunt, based on all established transaction directions for the hierarchy level of the SLT and its Parent, from the SLT that would be established if the consecutive Object Units' position numbers normally described by HRPNs were assigned without a break at the end of the Parent and subsequent Aunts of the SLT;

(c) distinguishing such ReliA-EH-CP process from other ReliA-EH-CP processes by the entry of an UUI in the TES for an Object Unit that is a preceding Sister of the SLT, and where other ReliA-EH-CP processes are included in an instantiation of this invention in which more than similarly qualified OUUIs are also recorded in the TES of the claimed process, such claimed process being further distinguished by the recording of a single similarly qualified OUUI prior to a TES Closure Entry; and

(d) recording the Matriarch referent, MBCPA, the Guardian referent and GBCPA of the subject Object Unit by the ReliA-EH Process by the entry of a UUI for the subject OU of the transaction and an appropriate Homogen referent based on the referation determinants established for the claimed process without requiring the user to record any other form of location address determinant, comprising process determinants, except the referation determinants when the referation determinants are not preestablished for the process, and without recording a reference to a related Object Unit other than the single Homogen referent, except to disable the process, (ReliA Enabled Homogen Referation Component Positioning SLT Skip Process--ReliA-EHR-CP-SLT-Skip).

28. The ReliA-EHR-CP-SLT-Skip Process as claimed in claim 27 wherein the Skip Count based upon references selected from the group consisting of Sister references included in talliances and Sister references excluded from talliances, tallying number of Skip Talliances (successive references to the UUI of Homogens of the SLT/SET), such process being enabled within the ReliA-EHA-CP-SLT-Skip Process and distinguished from other ReliA-EH-CP processes by the entry in the TES of the claimed process a Preceding Homogen in addition to the preceding Sister reference that enables and distinguishes the ReliA-EHR-CP-SLT-Skip Process, the conclusion of the Skip Talliances being identified by the entry of a TES Closure entry, (ReliA-EHR-CP-SLT-Skip with Skip Talliances).

29. The ReliA-EH-CP Process as claimed in claim 21 wherein the MBCPA of the subject OU is established by referation of the MBCPA of a referenced preceding Cousin and the SLT, such referation:

(a) incrementing the HRPN at a hierarchy level of the MBCPA of the referenced Cousin, as established by a process determinant as the process base hierarchy level, by a value, based upon a Skip Count recorded by the user, and by a sign of a real number as established by a process determinant as the HRPN at the corresponding hierarchy level of the MBCPA of the subject OU;

(b) establishing the HRPN at the next higher hierarchy level from the process base hierarchy level of the MBCPA of the SLT as the HRPN at the corresponding hierarchy level of the MBCPA of the subject OU; and

(c) when, limit positions (a maximum and minimum HRPN, also termed BPOUPN and EPOUPN, each being a maximum and a minimum limit position depending on transaction direction) are established for the hierarchy level for HRPNs at the process base hierarchy level established in step (a), the process further:

(i) evaluating the HRPN at the process base hierarchy level as computed in step (a) of said process against the limit position (HRPN) established for the process base hierarchy level, and

(ii) incrementing, when the HRPN at the process base hierarchy level as computed in step (a) exceeds the applicable limit position for the transaction direction for the process base hierarchy level of the MBCPA of the SLT as established in step (a), the HRPN at the next higher hierarchy level to the process base hierarchy level, initially established in step (b) by a value as established by a process determinant for the next higher hierarchy level to the process base hierarchy level of the MBCPA of the SLT, to establish an MBCPA for the subject OU that is subsequent to the MBCPA of the SLT, and reinitiate incrementation of the HRPN at the process base hierarchy level of the MBCPA of the SLT established in step (a) from the opposite limit position by a value that is based upon the difference between the Skip Count and the absolute value of the maximum incrementation allowed from the SLT and the limit position in (i) such that the Object Unit Position established for the subject OU will be in the subsequent position in the subsequent Aunt from the SLT, based on the established transaction directions for the hierarchy level of the SLT and its Parent, that would be established if the consecutive object unit position numbers normally described by HRPNs were assigned without a break at the end of the Parent and subsequent Aunts of the SLT,

wherein the ReliA-EH-CP process is distinguished from other ReliA-EH-CP processes by the entry of an UUI in the TES for an Object Unit that is a preceding Cousin, and an additional process determinant, that does not qualify as a TES Closure Entry, comprising a Skip Count and a reference to a second Cousin of the SLT in the TES of the process, and the ReliA-EH process records the Matriarch referent, MBCPA, the Guardian referent and GBCPA of the subject Object Unit by the entry of only a UUI for the subject OU of the transaction, an appropriate preceding Cousin referent, based on the referation determinants established for the process, and a Skip Count without requiring the user to record any other form of location address or referation determinant to establish the location address of the subject OU, except the referation determinants when the referation determinants are not preestablished for the process, and without recording a reference to a related Object Unit other than the single Homogen referent, except to disable the process; (ReIiA Enabled Homogen Referation Component Positioning SLT Skip Process--ReliA-EHR-CP-SLT-Skip).

30. The ReliA-EHR-CP-pC-Skip Process as claimed in claim 29 wherein the Skip Count is based upon a tally of the number of Skip Talliances (successive references to the UUI of Homogens of the SLT/SET), such process being enabled within the ReliA-EHR-CP-pC-Skip process and distinguished from other ReliA-EH-CP processes by entering in the TES of the ReliA-EHR-CP-pC-Skip Process a Preceding Homogen in addition to the preceding Cousin reference that enables and distinguishes the ReliA-EHR-CP-pC-Skip Process, the conclusion of the Skip Talliances being identified by entering a TES Closure Entry; (ReliA-EHR-CP-pC-Skip Process with Skip Talliances).

31. The ReliA-EHR-CP-pC-Skip Process as claimed in claim 29 wherein the Skip Direction (the direction of the subject OU relative to the Cousin referent being along the axis of the increasing and decreasing position numbers for the hierarchy level) is determined by the direction of subsequent referenced Cousin relative to the Cousin referent recorded to effect the ReliA-EHR-CP-pC-Skip process, such subsequent referenced Cousin for establishing the Skip Direction qualifying as the additional process determinant required for the ReliA-EHR-CP-pC-Skip Process, and, when Skip Talliances are used to establish a Skip Count in the ReliA-EHR-CP-pC-Skip Process, such subsequent referenced Cousin qualifying as a Skip Talliance, such process being enabled within the ReliA-EHR-CP-pC-Skip process and distinguished from other ReliA-EH-CP processes by entering in the TES the ReliA-EHR-CP-pC-Skip Process by a second Preceding Cousin in addition to the preceding Cousin reference that enables and distinguishes the ReliA-EHR-CP-pC-Skip Process; (ReliA-EffR-CP-pC-Skip with Skip Direction).

32. The ReliA Integrated Process as claimed in claim 2, further comprising a sub-process (known as the ReliAQ or the Quick process) for establishing with some validation the current location address of a tracked Object Unit based on entry of a Unique Unit Identifier of the Object Unit, such validation based on recording in the Transaction Entry Schema of the transaction a number of successive referents in a number of relationships comprising Homogen and lineage relationships between the number of referents and the subject Object Unit, Homogen and lineage relationships between the number of Homogens and lineage relationships, and Homogen and lineage relationships in combination with an ordinal position of such referent relative to a number of predefined positions in related Object Units, such that the process can confirm the current location address on record for the tracked subject Object Unit and enable other processes such that as few as one Unique Unit Identifier of related Object Unit as well as the subject Object Unit need to be recorded by the user to reasonably confirm the location address of a subject Object Unit, and where desired, establish an Enabled Process Session with the addressing methodology of the subject Object Unit and establish the Matriarch for the EPS based on a common Ancestor entity for the subject Object Unit and at least some of the referents recorded in the TES, the ReliAQ Process:

(a) preestablishing by an order in the TES the subject Object Unit of the transaction;

(b) validating that a qualified relationship between the number of references recorded in the Transaction Entry Schema exists as a means of enabling the process by using alternative relationships between Object Units without need for an enabling sub-process and having a number of tracked Homogen Object Units already recorded in order;

(c) including a reference to the subject Object Unit in the Transaction Entry Schema of the process that is a distinct, separate entry in the Transaction Entry Schema from the entry of the determinant referents of the process; and

(d) establishing one of the process referents and its ordinal position in the Transaction Entry Schema of the process as the determinant referent, and establishing location of the subject Object Unit by using locating elements selected from the group consisting of:

a. a set of Homogen relationship parameters between the determinant referent and the subject Object Unit, and

b. the unique HieraRelational Position Numbers of the subject Object Units Matriarch Based Component Position Address relative to the determinant referent's Matriarch Based Component Position Address; (ReliAQ or Quick Processes).

33. The ReliA Integrated Process as claimed in claim 2, further comprising a sub-process (known as the ReliAQ or the Quick process) for establishing with some validation the current location address of a tracked Object Unit based on entry of a Unique Unit Identifier of the Object Unit, such validation based on recording in the Transaction Entry Schema of the transaction a number of successive referents in a number of relationships comprising Homogen and lineage relationships between the number of referents and the subject Object Unit, Homogen and lineage relationships between the number of Homogens and lineage relationships, and Homogen and lineage relationships in combination with an ordinal position of such referent relative to a number of predefined positions in related Object Units, such that the process can confirm the current location address on record for the tracked subject Object Unit and enable other processes such that as few as one Unique Unit Identifier of related Object Unit as well as the subject Object Unit need to be recorded by the user to reasonably confirm the location address of a subject Object Unit, and, where desired, establish an Enabled Process Session with the addressing methodology of the subject Object Unit and establish the Matriarch for the EPS based on an Object Unit referenced in the Transaction Entry Schema that is a tracked Ancestor of record for another Object Unit recorded in the Transaction Entry Schema, the subject Object Unit being the Descendant Object Unit of another Object Unit recorded in the TES and further identified, where a number of Descendant Object Units of the Matriarch are included in the Transaction Entry Schema of an instantiation, based upon the order in which the Descendants are recorded in the Transaction Entry Schema of the process.

34. The ReliAQ Process as claimed in claim 32 wherein the Matriarch requires an application of the Component Positioning addressing methodology such that the Matriarch can be the tracked Ancestor of a number of lower hierarchy level tracked Ancestors of the subject Object Unit (a Matriarch Referent Methodology), the Matriarch Referent Methodology allowing the user to establish the Matriarch as a higher hierarchy level Ancestor reference than the Guardian Object Unit for establishing the location address of the subject Object Unit and ignoring irrelevant intermediate tracked Object Units, said methodology:

(a) identifying a common tracked Ancestor for the number of referents by

(i) using a number of records in a number of arrays in memory to establish a record of the Guardian of a number of successive Guardians of a number of Object Units referenced in the Transaction Entry Schema, and

(ii) comparing the successive Guardians in the lineage of the number of Object Units in the Transaction Entry Schema to the other Descendants likewise identified to identify any common tracked Ancestor of the Object Units referenced in the Transaction Entry Schema;

(b) establishing the common Ancestor as the Matriarch referent for the subject Object Unit;

(c) constructing the MBCPA of the subject Object Unit from the successive HRPNs that constitute the GBCPAs of the successive referencing Descendants of the Matriarch;

(d) identifying the lowest tracked Ancestor on record as the Guardian of the subject Object Unit; and

(e) establishing the ReliA CPA of the subject OU by using a conversion function, such function:

(i) establishing the Guardian Object Unit and the Matriarch Based Component Hierarchy Level of the Guardian Object Unit, and

(ii) converting the MBCPA to a Guardian Based Component Position Address for the Subject Object Unit; (ReliAQ-CP Process with MRM).

35. The ReliAQ Process as claimed in claim 32 wherein the Component Positioning addressing methodology is required and wherein the Transaction Direction is established by a number of memory variables as a process determinant for successive transactions in an Enabled Process Session for the Component Positioning addressing methodology, said claimed process,

requiring a number of referenced Object Units in the Transaction Entry Schema of the ReliAQ that are Homogens,

comparing the MBCPA of a first Homogen referent in a pre-established ordinal position in the TES of the ReliAQ process to the MBCPA of a second Homogen referent in a different preestablished ordinal position in the TES to establish when the first Homogen determinant precedes the second Homogen determinant and establish the Transaction Direction based on an established relationship for the HRPNs that comprises each hierarchy level of the MBCPA of the two Homogen determinants; (ReliAQ Process with Transaction Direction).

Description

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention is an innovative new process ReliA process for tracking and configuration management of object units in hierarchical systems and the systems they constitute. Through the use of relational information, the present invention provides an efficient, powerful process for such management of object systems. The present invention is applicable to all tangible, verifiable, and measurable object systems comprising equipment, inventory, documents, freight items, art work, antiques, and software. The relational approach facilitates the integration of control over hierarchical object systems by supporting high, low, and intermediate level views of the object system. This serves to integrate the planning, implementation, maintenance, and control of these systems by functional departments of an organization with divergent interest in the details of the system.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

There is a pressing need in the art for an efficient, user-friendly process capable of supporting all aspects of object unit life cycle management. Previously, low maintenance object unit management has been addressed with only partial success.

The present invention, when applied to inventory and equipment management, directly supports the testing, assembly, and shipping of equipment units in a manufacturing environment, the receipt, assembly, installation, testing, maintenance and repair in an operations environment, and the transfer object units shipped between a vendor and customer.

In the prior art, object unit location description and maintenance has been achieved by using a Hierarchically Coded Location Address (HCLA) where all elements of the address are hierarchically related to other elements of the address. Filley (U.S. Pat. No. 4,920,488) discloses a system and method for the inventory of physical assets wherein each asset is associated with its absolute geographic location expressed in terms of latitude, longitude and elevation, each to within one foot of accuracy. Filley, therefore, is limited by its methodology to objects that occupy at least one cubic foot of space and does not purport to use relational information.

In some instances, prior art makes use of relational information; e.g., the location of a box containing X is computed from the location of a box containing A, and the relational information that both X and A are in the same box. Vereen (U.S. Pat. No. 4,509,123) discloses an automated tracking process for items of manufacture and inventory in which each item and each grouping and location of items is tracked. The process relates an item to its container, a technique well-known in the art and widely followed in automated processes before 1985. Unlike the present invention, Vereen does not keep track of the location of the item in its container, and the location of a Vereen container cannot be defined until after the container is defined.

Varley (U.S. Pat. No. 5,025,140) defines an apparatus for receiving articles to be processed, storing them, and returning them to their owners. The receiving process creates a relationship between an empty container that will hold the article and its position. The issuing process identifies the location of the container holding the processed article so that the article can be returned to the customer. The article to be tracked or its container are not uniquely identified, only the location of the container is tracked whereas the present invention tracks the object of interest directly as well as its location.

Smith et al. (U.S. Pat. No. 4,336,589) discloses a warehouse product monitoring and control process that directs the distribution of a particular product that meets order requirements and then tracks the product to ensure that the order is filled.

Bennett et al. (U.S. Pat. No. 4,591,983) discloses a process for controlling a bill of materials created for filling customer orders for specially configured products to ensure that the components listed in the bill of materials are compatible with each other.

Abraham et al. (U.S. Pat. No. 4,639,875) discloses a process for checking the quantity and types of articles in racks in a vending machines. Inventory location detail is limited to the pre-defined locations in the machine. The present invention defines a process for maintenance of a perpetual inventory with detail down to the smallest physical unit whereas Abraham et al. discloses a process that supports only the inventory accounting of objects with fairly uniform characteristics and calculating net changes since the last physical inventory of the vending machine.

Finally, Schribner et al. (U.S. Pat. No. 4,688,026) discloses a process wherein energized radio frequency energy is used to identify locations and objects. Schribner et al. does not support tracking of objects as they move between locations and is limited to taking inventories.

An important objective of object tracking is accounting for inventory. Inventory management tracks descriptive information, comprising part numbers quantities, and location to the level of detail required for internal management accounting and reporting purposes. A significant enhancement in control in prior art was achieved by tracking an object unit with a unique descriptive number (e.g., manufacturer's serial number). Using a unique descriptive number for each object unit permits the maintenance of a record of the tracked object that contains the unit's descriptive information, as well as its location with coded hierarchical address schema, to the extent it can be detailed for management accounting applications. Thus, in prior art, lower level object units that were removed, repaired, and interchanged on a routine basis normally were either not tagged or not linked to a related higher level object other than by a common location address.

The lack of lower level location information in prior art management accounting processes renders said processes inadequate for most engineering and operations management applications which require more comprehensive and detailed information on the object systems they deploy, use and maintain than is needed for most accounting systems. Engineering and operations management applications require object unit descriptions on multiple hierarchy levels(HL) and maintenance of the relationships between the objects that comprise the object system.

To maintain the more detailed addresses required, a Hierarchically Coded Location Address (HCLA) has been continually expanded in prior art. Thus, to achieve the greater detail required for comprehensive management of object systems in engineering and operations applications, the HCLAs maintained on records of the object unit were simply extended. The integration of components relative to Parents, and Parents relative to components, was cumbersome and ineffective with high levels of maintenance involved.

In prior art, the complexity of using complete HCLAs substantially limited practical applications in engineering or operational environments. Complexity problems were overcome, but computing and data entry costs were prohibitive. Since communication of object unit location in prior art was achieved by a coded, detailed hierarchical address schema or hierarchical address, complete and accurate use of the hierarchical address schema to establish the complete HCLA of an object unit required either extensive counting from a beginning reference point or reference to complex tables, templates, diagrams, charts, or schematics for each level of the hierarchical address.

In prior art, a container was loosely referred to as a "parent" and the subject object unit was thought of as a "component." A parent meant any "ancestor" of an object unit that existed in a hierarchical scheme at a plurality of levels above the object unit. In the present invention, Ancestor refers to any related object unit that contains, holds, or physically controls a subject object unit. Ancestor is further specified hierarchically as any related object unit located at a higher hierarchical level than the subject object unit. Parent refers to the most immediate Ancestor that most immediately contains, holds or physically controls the subject object unit, the Parent being located at the next higher level in the hierarchy.

In prior art, referencing of an object unit was accomplished either by using an Ancestor's preaffixed address, a template, manually recording the hierarchical address, or a combination of the three. However, providing the hierarchical address codes to end users proved to be costly and complex. Reducing the number of steps needed to determine and record an Ancestor's address code by providing more complete hierarchical addresses for lower level object units increased the work of coders and labelers. Since the HCLA at each successive level contained the complete address for the previous levels in the hierarchy, a duplication of effort resulted that was unnecessarily complex and costly. Even when a combination of address and code was found that minimized the overall cost, the reference material needed by end users could fill a large volume.

One major unsolved problem in prior art that is solved in the present invention was that individual tracked object units had to be separately transferred within the hierarchy, even though object units at lower levels in the hierarchy might be physically moved in the same operation with its Ancestor.

INTRODUCTION OF THE PRESENT INVENTION

One purpose of the present invention is to provide a simple method of collecting, maintaining, and reporting the data necessary for readily referencing and locating object units by end users and others who regularly employ or install and maintain a class of object traits within an organization. End users generally know the Items they use, but relate to abstract location coding address schemes only to a certain point. The higher level hierarchical locations that are moe readily remembered or determined are retained in a coded format as the Hierarchical Entity Location Address (HELA). End users find specific, lower level locations easily and efficiently by using relational addresses based on items they know rather than unlabeled, obscure, and often confusing positon numbers of the lower level hierarchy level codes. The details of a lower level object unit's location are incorporated as a relational address. The HELA together with the relational address for lower level locations provide the complete location address for an OU.

The disclosed processes comprise integrated administrative and software processes that function interactively with a user in a consistent manner to support tracking and configuration management of sets of objects and tracking of these component objects. The administrative activities comprise data input for the inventive processes implemented by the software.

The present invention has the capability of tracking and managing the configuration of hierarchical object unit systems using unique unit identifiers on the tracked object units. The present invention is highly innovative and useful in that it (1) supports the consistent tracking of object units at any hierarchy level using in a variety of addressing methodologies and a number of alternative, integrated sub-processes that allow the user to consistently record the location address of a subject OU depending on the types of relationships occurring between the subject object unit and the related object unit in the object unit system. Moreover, the present invention is highly innovative and more useful because the invention automatically interprets the alternative sub-processes being employed by the user, so the user does not need to overtly indicate which of the alternative, integrated sub-processes is being employed to record the location address of the subject object units for a specific transaction object units

The present invention provides hierarchical location addresses for the higher level breakdowns of an organization's geographic/operating map, thereby supporting management accounting requirements. It also provides relational addresses for detailed description of OUs' locations, thereby satisfying engineering, maintenance, operations and other users' needs. The present invention achieves these flexible results using a single data base and location address schema.

The innovative use of the physical relationships that occur between object units to greatly facilitate determination and recording of the location address of subject object units is worthwhile. The numerous physical relationships that occur in most object systems support a number of alternative sub-processes. The user generally defines the location address of a particular object unit by employing a reference to some other object units in the system in a qualifying relationship between the referenced and subject object units that indirectly defines a particular sub-process of the invention. Supporting software of the invention using the location address of record for the referenced object units and other reestablished information to determine the particular sub-process being used and the location address of the subject object unit. The most basic of these allow, and in some cases require, the entry of hierarchical codes. The most advanced allow the user to record only the object unit identifier to automatically record its location address. Thus, the user can readily switch from one alternative sub-process to another as the available relationships for successive subject object units relative to other object units in the system change from transaction to transaction.

Provision of a reliable, cost effective, and comprehensive data that can be used in turn to provide reliable, cost effective, and comprehensive information on the performance of object unit systems and their Components provide a sound basis for comprehensive life cycle management of object unit systems, thereby supporting effective, reliable operation and upgrading of the systems as desired. This invention provides a fast, easy process for the tracking and configuration management so that reliable, cost effective, and comprehensive data, prerequisites for this goal, can be achieved.

The present invention therefore provides a comprehensive, easy, and efficient method of recording the location address in a manner that meets the combined needs of operations, engineering, and accounting. The measures employed by management to preserve and ensure good use of object systems and the organization resources can be more efficiently executed through the enhanced management achieved by integrating the views and interests of operating, engineering, and accounting in the management of said systems, enabling the organization to provide flexible, reliable, competitively priced products and services to its customers.

EXAMPLE 1

Leader Corporation has found that having information on the identity, configuration, reliability, performance and life-cycle cost of machines and their associated and descendant equipment systems is important to ability to be cost competitive and reliably achieve delivery and quality commitments to customers. Key parameters associated with transactions on the machines and in many cases several generations of its component systems are collected to provide said information.

Tracking the location and status of the machines, their component systems, and the spares that back them up support ready use and proactive management of the resources. Production tracks the service status and location of the accessories needed for manufacturing operations. Accounting track at the top level of said systems to support effective financial controls. Manufacturing Engineering uses tracking to upgrade the machines as needed and the interchangeable accessories that serve to expand the functional capabilities of other machines and to establish the configuration of the equipment system. Maintenance uses tracking for maintenance of the machines and of the component systems in the machines and the location, performance, and history of the accessories and key maintainable or repairable components as they are moved from machine to machine.

With the data established by these transactions, Leader Corporation can thus proactively maintain its machines and effectively upgrade and add new machines as the need arises based on the interchangeability of existing accessories and the major components of the existing machines with the new machines and the historical performance, and reliability of existing equipment in service by the manufacturers of new machines being considered.

EXAMPLE 2

A purchase agreement to buy such machinery is maintained by the Legal Department in a folder of related agreements with the vendor. The Contracts that govern the purchase agreements with the vendor are tracked in similar folders. The vendor folders are in turn tracked in one or more jackets.

New material is constantly added. Some material is moved to archive storage. Jackets are routinely advanced from shelf to shelf and cabinet to cabinet. By recording the changes in location of the documents related to folder, jackets, shelves, cabinet, and attorney or secretary, the employees can quickly locate what they need. The tracking can also maintain a record of document access and the configuration of current agreements for each vendor.

The object units tracked are individual occurrences of an item that have or are expected to have at least one special characteristic or association that distinguishes or will distinguish them from otherwise like items. The independent variable of the present invention is the Object Unit also referred to as an "entity. "Object Unit"(OU) more specifically refers to an individual tangible, measurable, or observable object, with special characteristics that are either assigned or are internal to the object, and that distinguish one occurrence of the object from otherwise similar objects. Said similar objects are Items) "Entity" as used herein defines OUs more generally and describes geopolitical units and other high level divisions thereof in which the position of each unit is not generally separable from the unit itself. Entity names and designated codes are characterized as being non-unique except by reference to all of its Ancestors.

In the present invention, therefore, an OU is differentiated in practice from an entity by the requirement that an OU be described by a Unique Unit Identifier (UUI) or be a Descendant of another OU. Object Units (OUs) are therefore defined as tracked, uniquely identified entities and their components.

UUIs allow objects with inherent or assigned special characteristics to be readily distinguished from otherwise similar objects. UUIs were sometimes referred to as Asset Tags or Manufacturers' Serial Numbers in prior art, and their use is well established. The present invention presents an innovative use of UUIs to effectively communicate the location of other OUs.

SUMMARY

The present invention tracks entities comprises OUs in systems with N hierarchies, where N is a positive integer. In what follows, the hierarchy of a particular entity being discussed is I (I=1, 2, . . . , N). An "Ancestor" of an entity is in hierarchy J (J<I) with an address that is identical to the first J hierarchical address positions of the entity. In prior art, a "Parent was a physical container of an OU without regard to the number of HLs that separate an OU and its Parent. In the present invention, Ancestor refers to any entity located at a higher hierarchical level than the subject entity, and Parent refers to the Ancestor at the hierarchical level immediately before (above) the subject entity. Therefore, as used herein, a Parent of an entity is an Ancestor located in hierarchy I-1, a "Grand Parent" (GP) is an Ancestor in hierarchy I-2, a "Great Grand Parent" (GGP) is a Parent of a GP in hierarchy I-3, etc. In prior art a Parent was any Ancestor (Parent, GP, or GGP).

In the present invention, a Sister is an entity in hierarchy I that has a common Parent with the subject entity. A "Cousin", not used in prior art, is also located in hierarchy I, has a common Ancestor with the subject entity. For example, a first Cousin is located in hierarchy I, has a common GP, but does not have a common Parent with the subject entity. The kth Cousin is located in hierarchy I, shares a Grand Parent with k "Greats" but no common ancestor.

Relationships comprising "Aunt", "Grand Aunt", "Great Grand Aunt", are fully defined by the relational concepts introduced above. For example, an Aunt is located in hierarchy I-1 and is a Sister of the Parent of the subject entity, a Grand Aunt (GA) is in hierarchy I-2 and is the Sister of the GP of the subject entity. In general, a Grand Aunt with k "Greats" (GGA GGGA, etc.) is in hierarchy I-k-2 and is a Sister of the Grand Parent of the subject entity with k "Greats." Thus, referencing a subject entity through its GA is equivalent to referencing it through its GP and its GP's Sister.

EXAMPLE 3

The relationship between the terms in the prior art and those used herein can be illustrated using a simple example. Consider a set of containers, more specifically described as cabinets, each with eight "shelves," each shelf divided by eight "trays," each of which is further divided from front to rear into eight "places." The 512 places in any cabinet can be identified by a 3-dimensional 8.times.8.times.8 matrix containing 1s through 8s representing object unit positions within the Cabinet an its defined Ancestor-Descendants. Using the convention that the shelves are at hierarchy I-2 (GPs), the trays are at hierarchy I-1 (Parents), and the places are at hierarchy I, then the top, left-most, front position is 1,1,1, the top, left-most, rear position is 1,1,8, the top, right-most, rear position is 1,8,8, and the bottom, right-most, rear position is 8,8,8. Assume that a uniquely identified OU of the Item class Insecta can fit into any one of the 512 places in any of the cabinets (GGP). Assume further, that a cabinet with UUI 66666 is located in Houston, Tex. in BioSupply Corp.'s building (GGGGD) at 1313 Commerce Blvd., in Suite 201, in bay 06 of that suite. BioSupply has operations in major cities across the U.S.A. Assuming there is only one building at 1313 Commerce Blvd., the cabinet location information might be coded into an address location using the codes:

    ______________________________________
    Hierarchy
    Level(HL)  Description           Code
    ______________________________________
    1          TX                    04
    2          Houston               01
    3          Building at 1313 Commerce Blvd.
                                     02
    4          Suite 201             201
    5          Bay                   06
    ______________________________________

    ______________________________________
    FIG. Description
    ______________________________________
    1    OURF for Equipment using the Normalized Form of the
         ReliA Process with the CPam
    2    OLARF for Equipment Using the Normalized Form of the
         ReliA Process.
    3    Suite of Telecommunications Equipment
    4    Telecommunications Site Layout
    5    Generatort
    6    DC Power Suite -- Partial
    7    Bay of Electronic Equipment
    ______________________________________

    __________________________________________________________________________
    OLARF                          OURF
    OUUI  UBL1 UBL2 UBL3 UBL4 UBL5 OUUI Guardian
                                              GBL1 GBL2 GBL3
    __________________________________________________________________________
    66666 04   01   02   201  06   77777
                                        66666 08
                                   00881
                                        77777 08   01
    __________________________________________________________________________