Dynamic interface adapter for integration of source and target applications
First Claim
1. A dynamic interface adapter for enabling a source application to interact with a target application without changing the programming code in either application, said adapter comprising:
- an application profile processor for extracting from a profile a description of parameter values required for formatting a request from the source application to the target application; and
a parameter value marshaling processor for defining the sources from which the parameter values are to be extracted.
2 Assignments
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Accused Products
Abstract
A method of supporting interaction of a source application running in an enterprise and multiple target applications performing semantically similar operations but having different interfaces. An application profile is associated with the source application. The application profile includes specifications for a connection element defining parameters for establishing a connection between the source application and a selected one of the target operations, a collection of database commands to be performed in the course of interactions and a collection of elements defining computer operations to be performed. Each of the computer operation elements can include a user input template, at least one parameter element and a result element.
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Citations
13 Claims
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1. A dynamic interface adapter for enabling a source application to interact with a target application without changing the programming code in either application, said adapter comprising:
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an application profile processor for extracting from a profile a description of parameter values required for formatting a request from the source application to the target application; and
a parameter value marshaling processor for defining the sources from which the parameter values are to be extracted. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4)
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5. A computer application profile comprising:
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a connection element defining the parameters required for establishing a connection between a source application and a target application;
a collection of database commands defining database operations to be performed in the course of interactions between the source and target applications; and
a collection of computer operations to be performed in the course of interactions between the source and target applications, each of said connection element, database commands collection and computer operations collection being defined in accordance with markup tags defined by a markup language schema.
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6. A method of processing a request sent to an enterprise source application that is required to interact with a target application, the method comprising the steps of:
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in response to receiving the request, identifying and retrieving an application profile specific to the target application to be invoked by the request;
extracting from the application profile a specification of a plurality parameter values needed to establish an interface between the source and target applications;
marshaling the required parameter values from locations specified in the application profile;
generating an access request in accordance with the marshaled parameter values; and
forwarding the access request to the target application. - View Dependent Claims (7, 8)
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9. A method of configuring an enterprise system to provide interaction between an enterprise source application and a target application, wherein the two applications perform semantically similar operations but have different interfaces, the method comprising the steps of:
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associating a dynamic interface adapter with the enterprise system, said adapter processing requests requiring interaction between the source application and the target application;
formatting an application profile for the source and target applications, said profile comprising a specification for a connection element, a collection of database commands and a collection of operation elements, each of said operation elements comprising a template for user input, at least one parameter element and a result element.
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10. A computer readable storage having stored thereon a computer program for processing requests to an enterprise system, said requests requiring interaction between an enterprise source application and a target application, said computer program comprising instructions for causing the computer to perform the steps of:
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in response to a user request requiring interaction of the source and target applications, identifying and retrieving an application profile required for the interaction;
extracting, from the profile, a specification for a plurality of parameter values required for the interaction;
marshaling the required parameter values form locations specified in the profile;
generating a request in accordance with the required parameter values; and
forwarding the request to one of the source and target applications. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12)
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13. A machine readable storage have stored thereon a computer program for configuring an enterprise system to support interaction of an enterprise source application and a target application, said source and target applications supporting semantically similar operations but having different interfaces, the computer program comprising instructions for causing the machine to perform the steps of:
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associating a dynamic interface adapter with the source application;
formatting an application profile for the enterprise source application and at least one target application, said profile comprising a specification for a connection element, a collection of database commands, and a collection of operation elements, each of said operation elements comprising a template for use in receiving user input, at least one parameter element and a result element; and
processing requests requiring interaction of the source application and a selected target application in accordance with the specification contained in the application profile the the source application and the selected target application.
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Specification