System and method for implementing a service adapter

• US 20030093470A1
• Filed: 10/15/2002
• Published: 05/15/2003
• Est. Priority Date: 10/18/2001
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Oracle International Corporation (Oracle Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Oracle International Corporation (Oracle Corporation)
• Inventors: Upton, Mitch
• Granted Patent: US 7,831,655 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 709/203
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2209/544 Remote
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/541 via adapters, e.g. between incompatible applications
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/542 Event management; Broadcasting; Multicasting; Notifications
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/103 Workflow collaboration or project management
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99943 Generating database or data structure, e.g. via user interface
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99945 Object-oriented database structure processing

Abstract

A service adapter can be used to connect a client application to an enterprise system, or to connect application components, that otherwise might be unable to communicate with each other. A service adapter can invoke a service in the enterprise system, and can allow requests to be received to, and responses received from, the enterprise system. The service adapter can pass these requests and responses in a format such as XML, and can transform data passing between the enterprise system and an application or application component. An application view component can be used to provide an interface to an enterprise system for an application.

This description is not intended to be a complete and accurate description of the invention or to limit the scope of the invention. Other features, aspects, and objects of the invention can be obtained from a review of the specification, the figures, and the claims.

Claims

1. A system for connecting a client application to an enterprise system, comprising:

an application view component adapted to provide an interface to the enterprise system for the client application; and

a service adapter adapted to invoke a service in the enterprise system, the service adapted to receive requests from the application view component and return responses to the application view component through the service adapter.

2. A system according to claim 1, wherein:

the service adapter passes requests and responses as XML documents.

3. A system according to claim 1, wherein:

the service adapter passes requests and responses using point-to-point messaging.

4. A system according to claim 1, wherein:

the service adapter invokes a service that allows asynchronous messaging between the application view and the enterprise system.

5. A system according to claim 1, further comprising:

a connection factory adapted to create connections for the service adapter.

6. A system according to claim 1, further comprising:

a connector architecture mechanism adapted to provide at least one of connection pooling, transaction management, and security services for the service adapter.

7. A system according to claim 1, further comprising:

an interaction component adapted to allow the service adapter to determine the functionality in the enterprise system being invoked for the service.

8. A system according to claim 1, further comprising:

a call-back listener adapted to handle a response for the application view that is received from the enterprise system.

9. A system according to claim 1, further comprising:

a JMS queue adapted to receive a request from the application view component and store the request until the request is passed to the enterprise system.

10. A system according to claim 1, wherein:

the service adapter is further adapted to transform data passing between the enterprise system and a client application.

11. A system according to claim 10, wherein:

the service adapter uses XML to transform the data.

12. A system according to claim 1, further comprising:

a user interface for the service adapter adapted to allow the definition and deployment of the application view component.

13. A system according to claim 1, wherein:

the service adapter is adapted to transform an XML request document into a format specific to the enterprise system.

14. A system according to claim 1, wherein:

the service adapter is adapted to transform a response in format specific to the enterprise system to an XML response document that conforms to an XML schema for the service being invoked.

15. A system according to claim 1, further comprising:

a development tree for the service adapter that contains critical information for the service adapter.

16. A system according to claim 15, wherein:

the development tree contains critical information including information selected from the group consisting of enterprise system type, vendor, version, locale of deployment, language of deployment, and adapter logical name.

17. A system according to claim 1, wherein:

the service adapter provides for the browsing of services in the enterprise system.

18. A system according to claim 1, further comprising:

a security mechanism adapted to map authorization information across the path of a request from the application view component through the service adapter to the enterprise system.

19. A system according to claim 1, wherein:

the service adapter is adapted to support transactions selected from the group consisting of local transactions and XA-compliant transactions.

20. A system according to claim 1, wherein:

the service adapter is adapted to provide access to metadata for the client application, the metadata useful in defining services via the application view.

21. A system according to claim 1, wherein:

the service adapter is further adapted to track errors encountered in processing one of a request and response.

22. A system according to claim 1, wherein:

the service adapter is J2EE compliant.

23. A system according to claim 1, further comprising:

a run-time engine adapted to host the service adapter.

24. A system according to claim 23, wherein:

the run-time engine is further adapted to manage connections to the enterprise system.

25. A system according to claim 1, wherein:

the service adapter has an adapter logical name that represents the service adapter.

26. A system according to claim 1, further comprising:

a managed connection instance for the service adapter, encapsulating resources necessary to communicate with the enterprise system.

27. A system according to claim 1, further comprising:

a service descriptor method for the service adapter, allowing services to be added at design-time.

28. A system for connecting application components to an application server, comprising:

a service adapter adapted to invoke a service on an application server, in response to a request from an application component, and return a response to the application component; and

a run-time engine adapted to host the service adapter, the run-time engine being further adapted to manage connections between the service adapter and the application components.

29. A service adapter for invoking functionality in an underlying enterprise system, comprising:

means for receiving a request from a client;

means for transforming the request into a format specific to the underlying enterprise system;

means for invoking functionality in the underlying enterprise system to serve the request; and

means for transforming a response from the enterprise system into a format acceptable to the client.

30. A method for invoking functionality in an underlying enterprise system through a service adapter, comprising:

receiving a request from a client;

transforming the request into a format specific to the underlying enterprise system;

invoking functionality in the underlying enterprise system to serve the request; and

transforming a response from the enterprise system into a format acceptable to the client.

31. A method according to claim 30, further comprising:

passing requests and responses as XML documents.

32. A method according to claim 30, further comprising:

passing requests and responses using point-to-point messaging.

33. A method according to claim 30, further comprising:

allowing asynchronous messaging to and from the enterprise system.

34. A method according to claim 30, further comprising:

creating connections for the service adapter.

35. A method according to claim 30, further comprising:

providing at least one of connection pooling, transaction management, and security services for the service adapter.

36. A method according to claim 30, further comprising:

using a call-back listener to handle a response that is received from an enterprise system.

37. A method according to claim 30, further comprising:

storing a request to a JMS queue until the request is passed to the enterprise system.

38. A method according to claim 30, further comprising:

mapping authorization information across the path of a request to the enterprise system.

39. A method according to claim 30, further comprising:

tracking errors encountered in processing one of a request and response.

40. A computer-readable medium, comprising:

means for receiving a request from a client;

means for transforming the request into a format specific to the underlying enterprise system;

means for invoking functionality in the underlying enterprise system to serve the request; and

means for transforming a response from the enterprise system into a format acceptable to the client.

41. A computer program product for execution by a server computer for invoking functionality in a resource, comprising:

computer code for receiving a request from a client;

computer code for transforming the request into a format specific to the underlying enterprise system;

computer code for invoking functionality in the underlying enterprise system to serve the request; and

computer code for transforming a response from the enterprise system into a format acceptable to the client.

42. A computer system comprising:

a processor;

object code executed by said processor, said object code configured to;

receive a request from a client;

transform the request into a format specific to the underlying enterprise system;

invoke functionality in the underlying enterprise system to serve the request; and

transform a response from the enterprise system into a format acceptable to the client.

43. A computer data signal embodied in a transmission medium, comprising:

a code segment including instructions to receive a request from a client;

a code segment including instructions to transform the request into a format specific to the underlying enterprise system;

a code segment including instructions to invoke functionality in the underlying enterprise system to serve the request; and

a code segment including instructions to transform a response from the enterprise system into a format acceptable to the client.