Customizing computer sytems

• US 20030225937A1
• Filed: 05/31/2002
• Published: 12/04/2003
• Est. Priority Date: 05/31/2002
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: SAP SE
• Original Assignee: SAP AG (SAP SE)
• Inventors: Irrgang, Ralf, Reiss, Thomas, Wente, Felix
• Granted Patent: US 7,181,694 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 719/332
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/252 between a Database Management System and a front-end application

Abstract

A system may be customized by adding one or more software objects without detailed knowledge of the data model or the programming techniques used in the system. A user interface may be developed to guide the user to define a particular type of extension for one or more systems. The user-entered extension definition and a series of generic templates may be used to generate the particular objects to be added to each system.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method for customizing a computer system, the method comprising:

receiving customization information for an extension for one or more computer systems, with each computer system being associated with one or more programming models;

accessing customization process information associated with the customization information for the extension and associated with one or more programming templates, with each programming template being associated with a programming model;

accessing one of the one or more programming templates; and

generating one or more customization objects for the programming model associated with the accessed programming template using the accessed customization process information and the accessed programming template.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein:

receiving customization information comprises receiving information about an attribute to be added to one or more of the computer systems, and

generating one or more customization objects comprises generating a user interface associated with the attribute to be added and generating a data management system object associated with the attribute to be added.

3. The method of claim 1 wherein:

receiving customization information comprises receiving information about an object class to be added to one or more of the computer systems, and

generating one or more customization objects comprises generating an object class to be added and a user interface associated with the object class to be added.

4. The method of claim 1 wherein:

receiving customization information comprises receiving information about a table to be added to one or more of the computer systems, and

generating one or more customization objects comprises generating a database table to be added and generating a user interface associated with the database table to be added.

5. The method of claim 1 further comprising associating the generated customization objects with a particular extension for a particular computer system.

6. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

providing an interface to customization project information for one or more computer systems;

enabling access to the customization project information for one or more computer systems using the interface; and

enabling inspection of the customization project information for one or more computer systems using the interface.

7. The method of claim 6 further comprising enabling modification of the customization project information for one or more computer systems using the interface.

8. The method of claim 7 wherein the modification of the customization project information for one or more computer systems comprises adding customization project information.

9. The method of claim 7 wherein the modification of the customization project information for one or more computer systems comprises deleting customization project information.

10. The method of claim 7 wherein the modification of the customization project information for one or more computer systems comprises updating customization project information.

11. The method of claim 6 wherein the customization project information comprises customization project information for customizing at least two computer systems.

12. A computer-implemented method for generating a user interface for customizing a computer system, the method comprising:

associating one or more types of modifications to be made to one or more computer systems with a series of user interfaces to request customization information from a user;

displaying each user interface in the series of user interfaces associated with a particular type of modification;

receiving customization information for a particular type of modification from the user using one or more of the user interfaces; and

storing customization information received from the user.

13. The method of claim 12 further comprising:

displaying one or more types of modifications to be made to one or more computer systems in a user interface; and

having the user select one of the types of modifications to be made.

14. The method of claim 12 wherein each user interface in the series of user interfaces comprises a request for a particular type of customization information and a description of the requested particular type of customization information.

15. The method of claim 12 wherein customization information comprises an attribute name, an attribute data type, and an attribute length.

16. The method of claim 15 wherein the customization information comprises the name of a first data table to be associated with a second data table.

17. A computer-readable medium or propagated signal having embodied thereon a computer program configured to customize a computer system, the computer program including code segments configured to:

receive customization information for an extension for one or more computer systems, with each computer system being associated with one or more programming models;

access customization process information associated with the customization information for the extension and associated with one or more programming templates, with each programming template being associated with a programming model;

access one of the one or more programming templates; and

generate one or more customization objects for the programming model associated with the accessed programming template using the accessed customization process information and the accessed programming template.

18. The medium of claim 17 wherein:

the code segment configured to receive customization information comprises a code segment configured to receive information about an attribute to be added to one or more of the computer systems, and

the code segment configured to generate one or more customization objects comprises a code segment configured to generate a user interface associated with the attribute to be added and to generate a data management system object associated with the attribute to be added.

19. The medium of claim 17 wherein:

the code segment configured to receive customization information comprises a code segment configured to receive information about an object class to be added to one or more of the computer systems, and

the code segment configured to generate one or more customization objects comprises a code segment configured to generate an object class to be added and a user interface associated with the object class to be added.

20. The medium of claim 17 wherein:

the code segment configured to receive customization information comprises a code segment configured to receive information about a table to be added to one or more of the computer systems, and

the code segment configured to generate one or more customization objects comprises a code segment configured to generate a database table to be added and to generate a user interface associated with the database table to be added.

21. The medium of claim 17 further comprising a code segment configured to associate the generated customization objects with a particular extension for a particular computer system.

22. The medium of claim 17 further comprising code segments configured to:

provide an interface to customization project information for one or more computer systems;

enable access to the customization project information for one or more computer systems using the interface; and

enable inspection of the customization project information for one or more computer systems using the interface.

23. The medium of claim 22 further comprising a code segment configured to enable modification of the customization project information for one or more computer systems using the interface.

24. The medium of claim 23 wherein the modification of the customization project information for one or more computer systems comprises adding customization project information.

25. The medium of claim 23 wherein the modification of the customization project information for one or more computer systems comprises deleting customization project information.

26. The medium of claim 23 wherein the modification of the customization project information for one or more computer systems comprises updating customization project information.

27. The medium of claim 22 wherein the customization project information comprises customization project information for customizing at least two computer systems.

28. A computer-readable medium or propagated signal having embodied thereon a computer program configured to generate a user interface for customizing a computer system, the medium comprising code segments configured to:

associate one or more types of modifications to be made to one or more computer systems with a series of user interfaces to request customization information from a user;

display each user interface in the series of user interfaces associated with a particular type of modification;

receive customization information for a particular type of modification from the user using one or more of the user interfaces; and

store customization information received from the user.

29. The medium of claim 28 further comprising a code segment configured to display one or more types of modifications to be made to one or more computer systems in a user interface, and have the user select one of the types of modifications to be made.

30. The medium of claim 28 wherein each user interface in the series of user interfaces comprises a request for a particular type of customization information and a description of the requested particular type of customization information.

31. The medium of claim 28 wherein customization information comprises an attribute name, an attribute data type, and an attribute length.

32. The medium of claim 31 wherein the customization information comprises the name of a first data table to be associated with a second data table.

33. A system for customizing a computer system, the system comprising a processor connected to a storage device and one or more input/output devices, wherein the processor is configured to:

receive customization information for an extension for one or more computer systems, with each computer system being associated with one or more programming models;

access customization process information associated with the customization information for the extension and associated with one or more programming templates, with each programming template being associated with a programming model;

access one of the one or more programming templates; and

generate one or more customization objects for the programming model associated with the accessed programming template using the accessed customization process information and the accessed programming template.

34. The system of claim 33 wherein:

receiving customization information comprises receiving information about an attribute to be added to one or more of the computer systems, and

generating one or more customization objects comprises generating a user interface associated with the attribute to be added and generating a data management system object associated with the attribute to be added.

35. The system of claim 33 wherein:

receiving customization information comprises receiving information about an object class to be added to one or more of the computer systems, and

generating one or more customization objects comprises generating an object class to be added and a user interface associated with the object class to be added.

36. The system of claim 33 wherein:

receiving customization information comprises receiving information about a table to be added to one or more of the computer systems, and

generating one or more customization objects comprises generating a database table to be added and generating a user interface associated with the database table to be added.

37. The system of claim 33 wherein the processor is further configured to associate the generated customization objects with a particular extension for a particular computer system.

38. The system of claim 33 wherein the processor is further configured to:

provide an interface to customization project information for one or more computer systems;

enable access to the customization project information for one or more computer systems using the interface; and

enable inspection of the customization project information for one or more computer systems using the interface.

39. The system of claim 38 wherein the processor is further configured to enable modification of the customization project information for one or more computer systems using the interface.

40. The system of claim 39 wherein the modification of the customization project information for one or more computer systems comprises adding customization project information.

41. The system of claim 39 wherein the modification of the customization project information for one or more computer systems comprises deleting customization project information.

42. The system of claim 39 wherein the modification of the customization project information for one or more computer systems comprises updating customization project information.

43. The system of claim 38 wherein the customization project information comprises customization project information for customizing at least two computer systems.

44. A system for generating a user interface for customizing a computer system, the system comprising a processor connected to a storage device and one or more input/output devices, wherein the processor is configured to:

associate one or more types of modifications to be made to one or more computer systems with a series of user interfaces to request customization information from a user;

display each user interface in the series of user interfaces associated with a particular type of modification;

receive customization information for a particular type of modification from the user using one or more of the user interfaces; and

store customization information received from the user.

45. The system of claim 44 wherein the processor is further configured to:

display one or more types of modifications to be made to one or more computer systems in a user interface; and

have the user select one of the types of modifications to be made.

46. The system of claim 44 wherein each user interface in the series of user interfaces comprises a request for a particular type of customization information and a description of the requested particular type of customization information.

47. The system of claim 44 wherein customization information comprises an attribute name, an attribute data type, and an attribute length.

48. The system of claim 47 wherein the customization information comprises the name of a first data table to be associated with a second data table.