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Welcome to
JFormula the home of an Information System intended to support
multi-stepped technological processes that can be defined on a table of mixes
and ingredients and do not involve chemical reactions (patent
pending).
The system includes an
algorithm to calculate material requirements: how much of each ingredient must be used on each step to produce
specific amount of the target product (2000 pounds in the example below):
|
Original Formula
|
|
Materials
|
Mix 1 |
Mix 2 |
Mix 3 |
| Material 1 |
50 |
30 |
20 |
| Material 2 |
40 |
30 |
20 |
| Types of Water |
| Water 1 |
10 |
10 |
10 |
| Mixes |
| Mix 1 |
100% |
30 |
20 |
| Mix 2 |
x |
100% |
30 |
| Mix 3 |
x
|
x |
100% |
|
|
|
'Calculated' Product
|
|
Materials
|
Mix 1 |
Mix 2 |
Mix 3 |
Total |
| Material 1 |
290 |
180 |
400 |
870 |
| Material 2 |
232 |
180 |
400 |
812 |
| Types of Water |
| Water 1 |
58 |
60 |
200 |
318 |
| Mixes |
| Mix 1 |
580 |
180 |
400 |
|
| Mix 2 |
x |
600 |
600 |
|
| Mix 3 |
x |
x |
2000 |
2000 |
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The
algorithm is implicitly based on material balance: matter is neither created nor
destroyed in industrial non-radioactive processes.
The following functionalities
are available:
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The Formula
Builder: an interface for building and
saving new Formulas
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An interface to the database of
Formulas that allows
users to open, calculate
and delete Formulas (click
here
to calculate the example above )
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An algorithm to calculate material requirements with requested precision
of up to 10 decimal places after the period
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Means to support the databases of
Raw
Materials and Types
Of Waters used to build
Formulas
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Page level access control based on user's
roles obtained during authentication with the system
The following
technologies
were used to implement the system:
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User interface: JSP (Java Server Pages) with client-side
JavaScript validation
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Calculations: Java Servlets
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Database: any JDBC-Enabled (Java Database Connectivity)
Server Database can be used (Oracle, Lotus Domino, etc.).
This system is running on MySQL , the most popular Open Source
Database
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Application Server:
any Application Server supporting
Java Servlets and JSPs can be used. This system is running on Tomcat, the
servlet container that is used in the official Reference Implementation for
the Java Servlet and
JSPs technologies. Another
implementation exists for Domino with GNUJSP to support JSPs
Demo
All components of JFormula available here are fully operational and accessible using links on the navigational frame
to the left. Various sample security settings can be tested by clicking on the
roles listed on the login frame to the right
Availability: The
system is accessible to users with either Internet Explorer 5 or Netscape 4.7
and higher browsers. There are several models
available for installation and support of server side software:
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Standard Application Service Provider model (ASP): deploying, hosting,
implementing, managing and enhancing software applications at a central
server (the JFormula.com site). Customers access these applications
remotely (Extranet). There is a setup fee and monthly charges for using the
system with an unlimited number of Raw Materials, Types of Waters, Formulas
and Users. JFormula's operator chooses implementation platform
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Intranet Model:
Same as ASP, but the application is a part of company's Intranet.
User chooses a platform that must include an Application Server and
a JDBC-Enabled Database
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Online/Offline Model: Intranet
configuration with offline users running local version of the system -
local servers reside on the same Windows 2000/XP computers
as clients' Browsers. The offline system is based on Tomcat/MySQL.
Replication between a central data repository and offline computers needs to
be implemented independently
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