Application view component for system integration

• US 20030093575A1
• 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: BEA Systems Incorporated (Oracle Corporation)
• Inventors: Upton, Mitch
• Granted Patent: US 7,080,092 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 719/310
• 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

An application view, or application view component, can represent a self-describing interface to functionality in a resource such as an application or enterprise system. An application view can abstract away much of the complexity in dealing with the application, such that non-programmers can maintain the services and events exposed by an adapter for that application. Application views can also simplify the way in which adapters are accessed, and can allow the functionality exposed by the adapter to be invoked as a business service. An application view can be specific to a single adapter, and can define a set of functions on the corresponding application.

This description is not intended to be a complete description of, or 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 integrating applications, comprising:

a resource adapter adapted to invoke functionality in a first application and expose that functionality; and

an application view component adapted to provide a way for a second application to access the first application through the resource adapter.

2. A system according to claim 1, wherein:

the application view component is further adapted to provide a way for a second application to access the first application without the second application knowing functional details about the first application.

3. A system according to claim 1, wherein:

the application view component is a business-focused interface.

4. A system according to claim 1, wherein:

the application view component provides a self-describing interface to services and events in the first application.

5. A system according to claim 1, wherein:

the application view component is adapted to expose functionality in the first application as a business service.

6. A system according to claim 1, wherein:

the application view component is specific to the resource adapter.

7. A system according to claim 1, wherein:

the application view component is adapted to define a set of business functions for the first application.

8. A system according to claim 1, wherein:

the resource adapter is adapted to invoke functionality in a first application comprising an enterprise system.

9. A system according to claim 1, wherein:

the application view component is adapted to allow bi-directional communication between the first application and the second application.

10. A system according to claim 1, wherein:

the application view component will translate messages between the first application and the second application.

11. A system according to claim 1, wherein:

the application view component further comprises a Java interface for the second, wherein the second application comprises a Java application that can use the application view component.

12. A system according to claim 1, wherein

the application view component is a stateless session bean.

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

a business process management component adapted to allow an application view component to be invoked as a business service.

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

a web services interface adapted to be used with the application view component to allow a web service to be invoked through the application view component.

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

an integration framework adapted to host the application view component.

16. A system according to claim 15, wherein:

the integration framework includes a graphical user interface that can be used for creating application view components.

17. A system according to claim 15, wherein:

the application view component provides an abstraction layer between the resource adapter and the usage of functionality exposed by the adapter.

18. A system according to claim 1, wherein:

the application view component is adapted to allow the definition of integration points corresponding to data for an application.

19. A system according to claim 18, wherein:

the application view component is further adapted to allow the integration points to be organized by business semantics.

20. A system according to claim 1, wherein:

the application view component is an XML-based interface; and

wherein the first application is an enterprise system; and

wherein the first application is an application server.

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

a second application view component adapted to provide a way for a third application to access the first application through the resource adapter.

22. A system according to claim 1, wherein:

the application view component is further adapted to expose each service for the first application as a logical business function.

23. A system according to claim 1, wherein:

the application view component is further adapted to provide metadata to describe a procedure for interacting with an enterprise system.

24. A system according to claim 23, wherein:

the application view component provide metadata in the form of an XML schema.

25. A system according to claim 1, wherein:

the application view is adapted to expose features selected from the group consisting of;

outbound messages, inbound requests that return a message, and views of descriptions for message that can be sent outbound or processed inbound.

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

an application view console adapted to provide a user interface for accessing the application view component.

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

container for the application view component, the container having allocated resources for the application view component that can service requests.

28. A system according to claim 1, wherein:

the resource adapter is selected from the group consisting of service adapters and event adapters.

29. A method for updating records in a database, comprising:

using an application view component to receive an XML message to invoke an update method, the update method containing SQL statements to update database records;

calling a resource adapter from the application view component and passing the SQL statements to the resource adapter;

accessing enterprise data in an enterprise system using the resource adapter and returning the result to the application view component; and

returning the result from the application view component as a response XML message.

30. A method for defining an application view component, comprising:

developing a resource adapter for an enterprise system;

determining processes to be supported by the application view component;

determining the types of services and events to be included in the application view component by gathering information about the application'"'"'s business requirements from a business analyst to be used with certain business processes. Once the necessary processes are determined, the appropriate services and events can be defined and tested.

31. A system for integrating applications, comprising:

means for invoking functionality in a first application; and

means for exposing that functionality as a business service to a second application.

32. A method for integrating applications, comprising:

providing a resource adapter to expose functionality in an application; and

providing an interface for the resource adapter to invoke the exposed functionality as a business service.

33. A system for integrating applications, comprising:

means for abstracting away the complexity in an underlying application; and

means for providing access to functionality in the underlying application.

34. A computer-readable medium, comprising:

means for invoking functionality in a first application; and

means for exposing that functionality as a business service to a second application.

35. A computer program product for execution by a server computer for integrating applications, comprising:

computer code for invoking functionality in a first application; and

computer code for exposing that functionality as a business service to a second application.

36. A system for integrating applications, comprising:

means for invoking functionality in a first application; and

means for exposing that functionality as a business service to a second application.

37. A computer system comprising:

a processor;

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

invoke functionality in a first application; and

expose that functionality as a business service to a second application.

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

a code segment including instructions to invoke functionality in a first application; and

a code segment including instructions to expose that functionality as a business service to a second application.