A configuration design tool as a customisable web service

Article type: Research Article

Authors: Murtagh, Niall

Affiliations: Mitsubishi Electric Corporation, 5-1-1 Ofuna, Kamakura-shi, Kanagawa 247-8501, Japan. Tel.: +81 467 41 2697; Fax: +81 467 41 1250; E-mail: murtagh@hpaj.melco.co.jp

Abstract: With the increasing scope and scale of web-based application services, there is a greater need for flexibility and improved customisation. We report here on a web-based system which goes beyond conventional customisation techniques: according to their level of expertise, clients may not only personalise interfaces and add data to system databases, but may also change the description of the problem to be solved. The example we use is a web-based system for the configuration of complex, multi-part products, where a high level of user customisation is both desirable and feasible. The system consists of a generalized configuration solver program which defines a set of constraint symbols, called constraint markup, which are used to describe a problem. We discuss two applications based on the techniques described – a configuration tool in an application service provider (ASP) model, and a configuration tool providing added value in a peer-to-peer (P2P) exchange mechanism.

DOI: 10.3233/KES-2004-8302

Journal: International Journal of Knowledge-based and Intelligent Engineering Systems, vol. 8, no. 3, pp. 139-147, 2004