Multi-record transactions in data-centric systems

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10929386-B2
Application number	US-201815860108-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jan 2, 2018
Priority date	Jan 2, 2018
Publication date	Feb 23, 2021
Grant date	Feb 23, 2021

Abstract

Methods of digital data processing support performing user-defined actions on multiple data records in order to update those records and/or to create new records and/or post communication to email or social network platforms. Such methods can include receiving definitions of records and of actions to perform with respect to them. Those methods can further include determining default values for data fields of records to create or update during performance of a selected such action with respect to the multiple selected data records, and populating those records and/or communications with those values.

First claim

In view of the foregoing, what we claim is:

1. A method of digital data processing comprising performing, with a data set management application during runtime operation on a digital data processing system, steps of:
a first receiving step including receiving a definition of an action capable of being performed on one or more data records;
a second receiving step including receiving a selection of multiple data records of a data set and an indication that the action is to be performed on the multiple selected data records;
determining default values for one or more data fields of a plurality of data records to be created or updated during performance of the action with respect to the multiple selected data records by:
determining effective values for a same one of the one or more data fields for each data record of the plurality of data records, wherein the effective value determined for a data record comprises a value stored in the one of the one or more data fields or a predefined value for the one of the one or more data fields if the one of the one or more data fields is empty in the data record, and
if the effective values are the same for all of the plurality of data records, setting a default value for the one of the one or more data fields to be the effective value, or if the effective values are not the same for all of the plurality of data records, setting the default value to be a null value; and

populating one or more data fields of the plurality of data records with one or more of those default values while creating or updating those data records during performance of the action with respect to the multiple selected data records, and storing the plurality of data records to the data set.

2. The method of claim 1 , the first receiving step comprising performing, with the data set management application during runtime operation on the digital data processing system, a step of receiving a definition of one or more tasks to be executed in connection with the action and any of one or more data records and data fields in connection with which those one or more tasks are to be executed.

3. The method of claim 2 , the first receiving step comprising performing, with the data set management application during runtime operation on the digital data processing system, a step of generating a manipulable graphical display of the definition.

4. The method of claim 1 , the populating step comprising performing, with the data set management application during runtime operation on the digital data processing system, steps of displaying the default values and accepting edits with respect to one or more of the default values.

5. The method of claim 4 , the populating step comprising performing, with the data set management application during runtime operation on the digital data processing system, a step of populating one or more data fields of the plurality of data records with one or more edited ones of the default values while creating or updating those data records during performance of the action.

6. The method of claim 4 , the populating step comprising performing, with the data set management application during runtime operation on the digital data processing system, any of the displaying and edit-accepting steps with a manipulable graphical display.

7. The method of claim 1 , the determining step comprising performing, with the data set management application during runtime operation on the digital data processing system, a step of determining the default values as a function of one or more of (i) a formulaic definition of a respective data field, (ii) pre-existing values one or more data fields of the multiple selected records, (iii) a context of those preexisting values.

8. The method of claim 7 , the determining step comprising performing, with the data set management application during runtime operation on the digital data processing system, a step of determining the default values for one or more data fields of a plurality of records, at least one of which has a different data structure as defined by a constituency of data fields than at least one other of that plurality of data records.

9. The method of claim 7 , the determining step comprising performing, with the data set management application during runtime operation on the digital data processing system, a step of determining multiple default values for at least one data field of at least one of the plural data records.

10. The method of claim 1 , the populating step comprising performing, with the data set management application during runtime operation on the digital data processing system, a step of generating a manipulable graphical display to display the default values.

11. The method of claim 1 , the populating step comprising performing, with the data set management application during runtime operation on the digital data processing system, a step of creating the plurality of data records and populating one or more data fields therein.

12. The method of claim 1 , the populating step comprising performing, with the data set management application during runtime operation on the digital data processing system, a step of retrieving the multiple selected data records from the data set and populating one or more data fields therein.

13. The method of claim 1 , the second receiving step comprising performing, with the data set management application during runtime operation on the digital data processing system, steps of generating a listing of records in the data set on a manipulable graphical display and receiving the selection of multiple data records via that manipulable graphical display.

14. The method of claim 1 , the second receiving step comprising performing, with the data set management application during runtime operation on the digital data processing system, steps of displaying an identification of the action on the manipulable graphical display and receiving, via that manipulable graphical display, the indication that action is to be performed on the multiple selected data records.

15. The method of claim 1 , including performing, with the data set management application during runtime operation on the digital data processing system, a step of generating a listing of one or more errors, if any, that occurred during performance of the action with respect to the multiple selected data records.

16. The method of claim 15 , the generating step including performing, with the data set management application during runtime operation on the digital data processing system, a step of generating the listing of one or more errors on a manipulable graphical display along with at least one of (i) a description of an error that occurred with respect to a data record, and (ii) an interactive link to a data record with respect to which an error occurred.

17. The method of claim 15 , the generating step including performing, with the data set management application during runtime operation on the digital data processing system, the step of generating the listing of one or more errors on the manipulable graphical display persistently.

18. Computer instructions configured to cause a digital data processing system to perform, with a data set management application during runtime operation on the digital data processing system, steps of:
a first receiving step including receiving a definition of an action capable of being performed on one or more data records;
a second receiving step including receiving a selection of multiple data records of a data set and an indication that the action is to be performed on the

Assignees

• Salesforce Com Inc

Inventors

• Vasudev Gautam
• Davidchuk Matthew
• Badarinath Adarsha
• Muramoto Kristen
• Kjellberg Orjan N

Classifications

• G06F16/2379 Primary

  Updates performed during online database operations; commit processing · CPC title

• G06Q30/01

  Customer relationship services · CPC title