Method of integrating software components into an integrated solution

• US 20030182651A1
• Filed: 03/21/2002
• Published: 09/25/2003
• Est. Priority Date: 03/21/2002
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P. (HP Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P. (HP Inc.)
• Inventors: Secrist, Mark, Peltz, Christopher John
• Application Number:
  US10/104,593
• Publication Number:
  US 20030182651A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 717/120
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 8/20 Software design

Abstract

A method of integrating software components into an integrated solution, where those components were not expressly designed for interoperability, may include assessing said components, designing a flow among said components for said integrated solution and integrating said components. The method may also include attempting to re-host the components to a common platform.

Claims

21. A method of integrating software components into an integrated solution where said components were not expressly designed for interoperability, said method comprising:

assessing said components;

designing a flow among said components for said integrated solution; and

integrating said components.

22. The method of claim 21, further comprising selecting a set of candidate components prior to said assessing said components.

23. The method of claim 22, wherein said step of assessing said components further comprises selecting between alternative components in said set of candidate components.

24. The method of claim 21, wherein said step of assessing said components further comprises determining what functionality each component will provide within said integrated solution.

25. The method of claim 21, wherein said step of assessing said components further comprises determining what access mechanism technology is supported by each component to communicate.

26. The method of claim 25, further comprising determining what access mechanism will be used within said integrated solution to communicate with each component.

27. The method of claim 26, wherein said determining what access mechanism will be used within said integrated solution to communicate with each component comprises writing a custom wrapper for a component.

28. The method of claim 21, wherein said step of assessing said components further comprises defining what information must be obtained from a user to personalize access to at least some functions of said integrated solution.

29. The method of claim 21, wherein said step of designing said flow further comprises defining how components within said integrated solution will be presented to a user.

30. The method of claim 29, wherein said step of designing said flow further comprises defining how a user will navigate among components of said integrated solution.

31. The method of claim 30, wherein said step of designing said flow further comprises selecting technologies to manage presentation of and navigation within said integrated solution.

32. The method of claim 31, wherein technologies used to manage presentation of and navigation within said integrated solution include servlets.

33. The method of claim 31, wherein technologies used to manage presentation of and navigation within said integrated solution include Java Server Pages.

34. The method of claim 21, further comprising re-hosting at least one of said components to a common platform.

35. The method of claim 34, wherein said step of re-hosting said components further comprises re-hosting servlet-based components.

36. The method of claim 34, wherein said step of re-hosting said components further comprises re-hosting Enterprise Java Beans.

37. The method of claim 21, wherein said step of integrating said components further comprises implementing presentation of said integrated solution and navigation within said integrated solution.

38. The method of claim 21, wherein said step of integrating said components further comprises implementing security.

39. The method of claim 21, wherein said step of integrating said components further comprises implementing personalization features of said integrated solution.

40. The method of claim 21, wherein said integrated solution is a portal for access by either a Web browser or wireless mobile client device.

41. A suite of software tools stored on media for storing computer-readable instructions, said suite being used to integrate software components into an integrated solution where said components were not expressly designed for interoperability, said suite comprising:

at least one tool for assessing said components;

at least one tool for defining a flow among said components for said integrated solution; and

at least one tool for integrating said components.

1. A method of integrating software components into an integrated solution where said components were not expressly designed for interoperability, said method comprising:

assessing said components;

designing a flow among said components for said integrated solution;

attempting to re-host said components to a common platform; and

integrating said components.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein said step of assessing said components further comprises determining what functionality each component will provide within said integrated solution.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein said step of assessing said components further comprises determining what access mechanism technology is supported by each component to communicate.

6. The method of claim 5, further comprising determining what access mechanism will be used within said integrated solution to communicate with each component.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein said determining what access mechanism will be used within said integrated solution to communicate with each component comprises writing a custom wrapper for a component.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein said step of assessing said components further comprises defining what information must be obtained from a user to personalize access to at least some functions of said integrated solution.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein said step of designing said flow further comprises defining how components within said integrated solution will be presented to a user.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein said step of designing said flow further comprises defining how a user will navigate among components of said integrated solution.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein said step of designing said flow further comprises selecting technologies to manage presentation of and navigation within said integrated solution.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein technologies used to manage presentation of and navigation within said integrated solution include servlets.

13. The method of claim 11, wherein technologies used to manage presentation of and navigation within said integrated solution include Java Server Pages.

14. The method of claim 1, wherein said step of attempting to re-host said components further comprises successfully re-hosting at least one component to said common platform.

15. The method of claim 1, wherein said step of attempting to re-host said components further comprises re-hosting servlet-based components.

16. The method of claim 1, wherein said step of attempting to re-host said components further comprises re-hosting Enterprise Java Beans.

17. The method of claim 1, wherein said step of integrating said components further comprises implementing presentation of said integrated solution and navigation within said integrated solution.

18. The method of claim 1, wherein said step of integrating said components further comprises implementing security.

19. The method of claim 1, wherein said step of integrating said components further comprises implementing personalization features of said integrated solution.

20. The method of claim 1, wherein said integrated solution is a portal for access by either a Web browser or wireless mobile client device.

42. The suite of claim 41, wherein said tool for assessing said components is configured to assess multiple components from a set of candidate components to allow selection between alternative components in said set of candidate components.

43. The suite of claim 41, wherein said tool for assessing said components assists a developer to identify what access mechanism technology is supported by each component to communicate.

44. The suite of claim 43, wherein said tool for defining a flow allows a developer to specify what access mechanism will be used within said integrated solution to communicate with each component.

45. The suite of claim 41, wherein said tool for integrating said components further comprises a tool for writing a custom wrapper for a component.

46. The suite of claim 41, wherein said tool for assessing said components further comprises a tool for defining what information must be obtained from a user to personalize access to at least some functions of said integrated solution.

47. The suite of claim 41, wherein said tool for designing said flow further comprises a tool for defining how components within said integrated solution will be presented to a user.

48. The suite of claim 41, wherein said tool for designing said flow further comprises a tool for defining how a user will navigate among components of said integrated solution.

49. The suite of claim 41, wherein said tool for designing said flow further comprises a tool for selecting technologies to manage presentation of and navigation within said integrated solution.

50. The suite of claim 49, wherein technologies used to manage presentation of and navigation within said integrated solution include servlets.

51. The suite of claim 49, wherein technologies used to manage presentation of and navigation within said integrated solution include Java Server Pages.

54. The suite of claim 41, wherein said tool for integrating said components further comprises a tool for implementing presentation of said integrated solution and navigation within said integrated solution.

55. The suite of claim 41, wherein said tool for integrating said components further comprises a tool for implementing security.

56. The suite of claim 41, wherein said tool for integrating said components further comprises a tool for implementing personalization features of said integrated solution.

57. The suite of claim 41, wherein said integrated solution is a portal for access by either a Web browser or wireless mobile client device.

42-1. The suite of claim 41, wherein said tool for assessing said components is configured to assist a developer in determining what functionality each component will provide within said integrated solution.

52-2. The suite of claim 52, wherein said tool for re-hosting said components further comprises a tool for re-hosting servlet-based components.

58. A system for integrating software components into an integrated solution where said components were not expressly designed for interoperability, said system comprising:

means for assessing said components;

means for designing a flow among said components for said integrated solution; and

means for integrating said components.

59. The system of claim 58, further comprising means for selecting a set of candidate components prior to said assessing said components.

60. The system of claim 59, wherein said means for assessing said components further comprise means for selecting between alternative components in said set of candidate components.

61. The system of claim 58, wherein said means for assessing said components further comprise means for determining what functionality each component will provide within said integrated solution.

62. The system of claim 58, wherein said means for assessing said components further comprise means for determining what access mechanism technology is supported by each component to communicate.

63. The system of claim 62, further comprising means for determining what access mechanism will be used within said integrated solution to communicate with each component.

64. The system of claim 63, wherein said means for determining what access mechanism will be used within said integrated solution to communicate with each component comprise means for writing a custom wrapper for a component.

65. The system of claim 58, wherein said means for assessing said components further comprise means for defining what information must be obtained from a user to personalize access to at least some functions of said integrated solution.

66. The system of claim 58, wherein said means for designing said flow further comprises defining how components within said integrated solution will be presented to a user.

67. The system of claim 66, wherein said means for designing said flow further comprise means for defining how a user will navigate among components of said integrated solution.

68. The system of claim 66, wherein said means for designing said flow further comprise means for selecting technologies to manage presentation of and navigation within said integrated solution.

69. The system of claim 68, wherein technologies used to manage presentation of and navigation within said integrated solution include servlets.

70. The system of claim 68, wherein technologies used to manage presentation of and navigation within said integrated solution include Java Server Pages.

71. The system of claim 58, further comprising means for re-hosting at least one of said components to a common platform.

72. The system of claim 71, wherein said means for re-hosting said components further comprise means for re-hosting servlet-based components.

73. The system of claim 71, wherein said means for re-hosting said components further comprise means for re-hosting Enterprise Java Beans.

74. The system of claim 58, wherein said means for integrating said components further comprise means for implementing presentation of said integrated solution and navigation within said integrated solution.

75. The system of claim 58, wherein said means for integrating said components further comprise means for implementing security.

76. The system of claim 58, wherein said means for integrating said components further comprise means for implementing personalization features of said integrated solution.

77. The system of claim 58, wherein said integrated solution is a portal for access by either a Web browser or wireless mobile client device.

78. A system for integrating software components into an integrated solution where said components were not expressly designed for interoperability, said system comprising:

at least one computer on which said components are assessed;

a tool on said computer for designing a flow among said components for said integrated solution; and

a tool on said computer for preparing glue code for integrating said components.

79. The system of claim 78, wherein operation of said system comprises selecting a set of candidate components as part of said assessment of said components.

80. The system of claim 79, wherein said assessment of said components further comprises selecting between alternative components in said set of candidate components.

81. The system of claim 78, wherein said assessment of said components further comprises determining what functionality each component will provide within said integrated solution.

82. The system of claim 78, wherein said assessment of said components further comprises determining what access mechanism technology is supported by each component to communicate.

83. The system of claim 78, wherein said tool for designing said flow allows a developer to determine what access mechanism will be used within said integrated solution to communicate with each component.

84. The system of claim 83, wherein said determination of what access mechanism will be used within said integrated solution to communicate with each component comprises a system form writing a custom wrapper for a component.

85. The system of claim 78, wherein said tool for designing a flow comprises a tool for defining what information must be obtained from a user to personalize access to at least some functions of said integrated solution.

86. The system of claim 78, wherein said tool for designing said flow further comprises a tool for defining how components within said integrated solution will be presented to a user.

87. The system of claim 86, wherein said tool for designing said flow further comprises a tool for defining how a user will navigate among components of said integrated solution.

88. The system of claim 87, wherein said tool for designing said flow further comprises a tool for selecting technologies to manage presentation of and navigation within said integrated solution.

89. The system of claim 88, wherein technologies used to manage presentation of and navigation within said integrated solution include servlets.

90. The system of claim 88, wherein technologies used to manage presentation of and navigation within said integrated solution include Java Server Pages.

91. The system of claim 78, further comprising a common platform for re-hosting at least one of said components.

92. The system of claim 91, wherein said common platform re-hosts servlet-based components.

93. The system of claim 91, wherein said common platform re-hosts Enterprise Java Beans.

94. The system of claim 78, wherein said glue code comprises implementation of technologies for presentation of said integrated solution and navigation within said integrated solution.

95. The system of claim 78, wherein said glue code further comprises security features.

96. The system of claim 78, wherein said glue code further comprises implementation of personalization features of said integrated solution.

97. The system of claim 78, wherein said integrated solution is a portal for access by either a Web browser or wireless mobile client device.