System and method utilizing an interface component to query a document

• US 20030145047A1
• Filed: 10/15/2002
• Published: 07/31/2003
• 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 7,152,204 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

Communication can be passed between components, such as an enterprise system and a client application, by utilizing schemas. A schema can ensure that a communication, such as a request or response, is in the proper format for one of the components. For instance, metadata can be received from an enterprise system in response to a request from a client application. That metadata can be transformed into an XML document that conforms to an XML schema. At least portions of the XML document can be validated against the XML schema. Those portions can be queried using a document interface component, such as an XML document API, that provides a path interface to elements in an XML document. The XML document can be passed on to the client application after validation.

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 method for passing communication between an enterprise system and a client application, comprising:

transforming metadata.received from an enterprise system into an XML document;

querying the XML document using a document interface component in order to extract at least a portion of the XML document;

validating said at least a portion of the XML document against an XML schema for the client application; and

passing the XML document to the client application.

2. A method according to claim 1, further comprising:

building the XML schema using an XML schema API.

3. A method according to claim 1, further comprising:

building the XML schema using a schema object model.

4. A method according to claim 3, wherein:

building the XML schema further includes using classes and methods in the schema object model.

5. A method according to claim 2, wherein:

building the XML schema includes populating variables in program components of the schema object model in order to tailor the XML schema for the client application.

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

creating a schema object model to validate an XML schema for the client application.

7. A method according to claim 1, wherein:

compiling a list of errors containing elements of the XML document that are not valid.

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

translating information passing between the enterprise system and the client application using a resource adapter.

9. A method for passing communication between an enterprise system and a client application, comprising:

transforming metadata received from an enterprise system into an XML document;

querying a document interface component in order to validate at least a portion of the XML document against an XML schema; and

passing the XML document to the client application.

10. A system for passing communication between an enterprise system and a client application, comprising:

a resource adapter adapted to receive metadata from an enterprise system in response to a request from a client application;

a document interface component adapted to allow the querying of elements in an XML document; and

an XML schema component adapted to transform the metadata into an XML document and validate elements the XML document against an XML schema, the XML schema component obtaining the elements through the document interface component;

wherein the resource adapter is further adapted to pass a validated XML document to the client application.

11. A system according to claim 10, wherein:

the document interface component is an XML document API.

12. A system according to claim 10, wherein:

the document interface component is adapted to work with DOM documents.

13. A system according to claim 10, wherein:

the document interface component provides an XPath interface to elements in an XML document.

14. A system according to claim 10, wherein:

the document interface component allows portions of an XML document to be queried and updated using XPath strings.

15. A system according to claim 10, wherein:

the document interface component comprises a container including a DOM instance and an XPath interface.

16. A system according to claim 10, wherein:

the document interface component is a public interface that represents an XML document.

17. A system according to claim 10, wherein:

the document interface component allows manipulation of elements in an XML document, the manipulation selected from the group consisting of retrieving, modifying, adding, and removing data elements.

18. A system according to claim 10, further comprising:

a schema object model adapted to provide the ability to create the XML schema.

19. A system according to claim 10, further comprising:

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

20. A computer-readable medium, comprising:

means for transforming metadata received from an enterprise system into an XML document;

means for querying the XML document using a document interface component, in order to extract at least a portion of the XML document;

means for validating said at least a portion of the XML document against an XML schema for the client application; and

means for passing the XML document to the client application.

21. A computer program product for execution by a server computer for formatting enterprise data for an application, comprising:

computer code for transforming metadata received from an enterprise system into an XML document;

computer code for querying the XML document using a document interface component in order to extract at least a portion of the XML document;

computer code for validating said at least a portion of the XML document against an XML schema for the client application; and

computer code for passing the XML document to the client application.

22. A system for formatting enterprise data for an application, comprising:

means for transforming metadata received from an enterprise system into an XML document;

means for querying the XML document using a document interface component in order to extract at least a portion of the XML document;

means for validating said at least a portion of the XML document against an XML schema for the client application; and

means for passing the XML document to the client application.

23. A computer system comprising:

a processor;

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

transform metadata received from an enterprise system into an XML document;

query the XML document using a document interface component in order to extract at least a portion of the XML document;

validate said at least a portion of the XML document against an XML schema for the client application; and

pass the XML document to the client application.

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

a code segment including instructions to transform metadata received from an enterprise system into an XML document;

a code segment including instructions to query the XML document using a document interface component in order to extract at least a portion of the XML document;

a code segment including instructions to validate said at least a portion of the XML document against an XML schema for the client application; and

a code segment including instructions to pass the XML document to the client application.