Method and apparatus for implementing a dynamically updated portal page in an enterprise-wide computer system

• US 20020052954A1
• Filed: 04/27/2001
• Published: 05/02/2002
• Est. Priority Date: 04/27/2000
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Oracle International Corporation (Oracle Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Hyperion Solutions Corporation (Oracle Corporation)
• Inventors: Norris, Jackson Streetly, Murphy, Anthony John, Polizzi, Kathleen Riddell
• Granted Patent: US 6,832,263 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 709/225
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/954 Navigation, e.g. using categorised browsing
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/958 Organisation or management of web site content, e.g. publishing, maintaining pages or automatic linking
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/972 Access to data in other repository systems, e.g. legacy data or dynamic Web page generation
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/955 Object-oriented
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/959 Network
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99931 Database or file accessing
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99942 Manipulating data structure, e.g. compression, compaction, compilation

Abstract

A method and apparatus for processing jobs on an enterprise-wide computer system. The computer system uses a portal architecture to allow a user to view a wide variety of content retrieved from a variety of different computer systems. The computer system is configured such that a plurality of users can access the system at the same time through a computer network such as the Internet. Users may access the computer system by using a standardized browser program, thus simplifying the user interface. The computer system may also be connected to one or more back-end databases that correspond to the different computer systems within the enterprise. The computer system is configured to run predefined jobs to process data. These jobs can perform a variety of tasks such as retrieving data from a back-end database, preparing a report based upon retrieved data, processing data already resident within the portal system, or notifying a user when a particular condition occurs within the computer system. The computer system presents data to a user in an object called a portal page. The portal page is an object arranged in a format that is readable by a browser program. The portal page is a highly configurable document that may be comprised of a plurality of modules called portal objects. Each portal object may contain a set of links corresponding to output reports, jobs, or other objects stored within the repository. One feature of the portal page is a dynamically updated portal object. A dynamically updated portal object is an object that is updated on the user'"'"'s portal page based upon data stored in the portal system.

Claims

1. A computer system configured to present a portal page to at least one user through a network interface, wherein said at least one user communicates with the network interface through a computer network, the computer system comprising:

a service broker electrically connected to the network interface, the service broker controlling a level of access to the computer system by a user and adapted to receive a request from a user for a job report;

an authentication server electrically connected to the service broker, the authentication server configured to determine a level of access to be granted to a user based upon data stored therein;

a repository electrically connected to the service broker, the repository comprising a computer memory encoded with a plurality of objects including at least one output report corresponding to a job and at least one portal page corresponding to a user, wherein the portal page includes a display window and a dynamically updated portal object associated with an output report stored in the repository;

wherein the computer memory of the repository is further encoded with instructions for providing said at least one portal page to a corresponding user; and

a job server electrically connected to the service broker and to the repository, the job server configured to execute a job stored within the repository and produce an output report, the server also configured to store the output report in the repository.

2. A method of processing a job in a computer system comprised of a service broker, a repository including computer memory, an authentication server, and a job server, the computer system configured for communication with at least one user through a network interface, the method comprising the steps of:

retrieving a personalized portal page corresponding to a user from the repository, wherein the personalized portal page includes a display window and at least one portal object, wherein the portal object includes a link corresponding to a job stored in the repository;

transmitting the personalized portal page to the user;

receiving a request from the user to execute a job stored in the repository;

retrieving the requested job from the repository;

dispatching the requested job for processing on a corresponding job server;

processing the requested job in the job server so as to produce an output report corresponding to the requested job;

converting the output report into a format readable by a browser program;

transmitting the portal page to the user with the converted output report displayed in the display window of the portal page.