Method of proposing a service via a description document of such a service

• US 20040128369A1
• Filed: 09/04/2003
• Published: 07/01/2004
• Est. Priority Date: 09/05/2002
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha (Canon Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha (Canon Inc.)
• Inventors: Fablet, Youenn, Moreau, Jean-Jacques, Ruellan, Herve
• Granted Patent: US 8,051,188 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 709/220
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/02 based on web technology, e.g. hypertext transfer protocol [HTTP]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/14 Session management for real-time applications in data packet communications networks H04L65/1066
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/24 Negotiation of communication capabilities
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/329 in the application layer [OSI layer 7]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 9/40 Network security protocols

Abstract

A method of proposing a service provided by a server computer in a communication network comprises a step (S11) of sending a service description document comprising information relating to a communication protocol including a description of at least one functionality implemented by said communication protocol on the execution of said service on the communication network.

Claims

1. A method of proposing a service provided by a server computer in a communication network comprising a step of sending a service description document comprising information relating to a communication protocol including a description of at least one functionality implemented by said communication protocol on the execution of said service on the communication network.

2. A method of proposing a service according to claim 1, wherein the description of said functionality is included by reference in the service description document.

3. A method of proposing a service according to claim 1 wherein the description of said functionality comprises a list of properties supported by said functionality.

4. A method of proposing a service according to claim 3, wherein for at least one property supported by said functionality, the description of said functionality comprises a list of values attributable to said property.

5. A method of proposing a service according to claim 3 wherein at least one property is associated with an attribute adapted to indicate whether understanding of that property by a client computer is mandatory or not on implementation of the communication protocol for the execution of said service on the communication network.

6. A method of proposing a service according to claim 3, wherein each property is associated with an attribute adapted to indicate whether use of that property by a client computer is mandatory or not on implementation of the communication protocol for the execution of said service on the communication network.

7. A method of proposing a service according to claim 1, wherein the description of a functionality is associated with an attribute adapted to indicate whether understanding of said functionality by a client computer is mandatory or not on implementation of the communication protocol for the execution of said service on the communication network.

8. A method of proposing a service according to claim 1, wherein the description of a functionality is associated with an attribute adapted to indicate whether use of said functionality by a client computer is mandatory or not on implementation of the communication protocol for the execution of said service on the communication network.

9. A method of proposing a service according to claim 1, wherein the service description document is written in a markup language, said functionalities being described respectively in child tags included in a tag referencing a communication protocol.

10. A method of proposing a service according to claim 1, wherein the functionalities are chosen from types of functionality defined by a SOAP protocol for information exchange.

11. A method of proposing a service according to claim 1, wherein the service description document is a document comprising a first part including information relating to the messages exchanged on the execution of said service, and a second part including information relating to at least one communication protocol implemented on execution of said service, and the description of said functionality is included in said second part of the service description document.

12. A method of proposing a service according to claim 1, wherein said functionality is described by a local reference of the server computer or by a URI.

16. A computer program readable by a microprocessor, comprising portions of software code adapted to implement the method of proposing a service according to claim 1, when it is loaded and executed by the microprocessor.

13. A method of analyzing, by a client computer of a communication network, a service description document comprising information relating to a communication protocol including a description of at least one functionality implemented by said communication protocol on execution of a service, comprising for each protocol known to said client computer of the communication network, the following steps:

extracting the description of the functionalities implemented by said protocol;

verifying that each functionality is supported by the client computer of the communication network; and

adding said protocol to a list of protocols usable for the execution of the service supplied by a server computer if all the functionalities associated with the communication protocol are supported by the client computer.

17. A computer program readable by a microprocessor, comprising portions of software code adapted to implement the analyzing method according to claim 13, when it is loaded and executed by the microprocessor.

14. A device for proposing a service provided by a server computer in a communication network comprising means for sending a service description document comprising information relating to a communication protocol including a description of at least one functionality implemented by said communication protocol on the execution of said service on the communication network.

15. A device for analyzing, by a client computer of a communication network, a service description document comprising information relating to a communication protocol including a description of at least one functionality implemented by said communication protocol on the execution of said service, comprising:

means for extracting the description of the functionalities implemented by a protocol;

verification means adapted to verify if each functionality is supported by the client computer of the communication network; and

means for adding said protocol to a list of protocols usable for the execution of the service supplied by a server computer if all the functionalities associated with the communication protocol are supported by the client computer.

18. A method of proposing a service provided by a server computer in a communication network, implementing at least one communication protocol, comprising a step of sending a service description document comprising information relating mandatory values associated with at least one functionality implemented by said communication protocol on the execution of said service on the communication network.

19. A method of proposing a service according to claim 18, said functionality supporting at least one property, wherein the service description document comprises information relating to at least one mandatory value associated respectively with each property of said functionality.

20. A method of proposing a service according to claim 18, wherein said functionality is associated with an attribute adapted to indicate whether use of said functionality by a client computer is mandatory or not on the implementation of the communication protocol for the execution of said service on the communication network.

21. A method of proposing a service according to claim 18, wherein the service description document is written in a markup language, said information relating to mandatory values being included in a tag referencing a functionality of said communication protocol.

22. A method of proposing a service according to claim 18, wherein the service description document is a document comprising a first part including information relating to the messages exchanged on the execution of said service, and a second part including information relating to at least one communication protocol implemented on the execution of said service, and said information relating to mandatory values is included in said second part of the service description document.

30. A computer program readable by a microprocessor, comprising portions of software code adapted to implement the method of proposing a service according to claim 18, when it is loaded and executed by the microprocessor.

23. A method of testing access to a service by a client computer of a communication network, on the basis of a service description document comprising information relating to a communication protocol comprising the following steps:

extracting information relating to at least one functionality implemented by said protocol;

acquiring at least one mandatory value associated with said functionality on the execution of the service on the communication network; and

verifying whether the mandatory value associated with said functionality is supported by the client computer of the communication network.

24. A method of testing access to a service according to claim 23, wherein, prior to said acquiring step, a test step is adapted to verify whether the functionality is implemented by the client computer and whether the use of said functionality is mandatory or not on the implementation of the communication protocol for the execution of said service on the communication network.

31. A computer program readable by a microprocessor, comprising portions of software code adapted to implement the method of testing access according to claim 23, when it is loaded and executed by the microprocessor.

25. A method of verifying compatibility of a communication protocol on the basis of a service description document comprising information relating to a communication protocol characterized in that it comprises the following steps:

extracting from the service description document a functionality implemented by said communication protocol on the execution of the service on the communication network;

acquiring at least one mandatory value associated with said functionality in the service description document;

acquiring a description of said functionality; and

verifying whether said mandatory value is included in a list of values attributable to a property supported by said functionality.

32. A computer program readable by a microprocessor, comprising portions of software code adapted to implement the method of verifying compatibility according to claim 25, when it is loaded and executed by the microprocessor.

26. A device for proposing a service provided by a server computer in a communication network, implementing at least one communication protocol, comprising means for sending a service description document comprising information relating mandatory values associated with at least one functionality implemented by said communication protocol on the execution of said service on the communication network.

27. A device for testing access to a service by a client computer of a communication network, on the basis of a service description document comprising information relating to a communication protocol, comprising:

means for extracting information relating to at least one functionality implemented by a protocol;

means for acquiring at least one mandatory value associated with said functionality on the execution of the service on the communication network; and

verification means adapted to verify whether each mandatory value associated with said functionality is supported by the client computer of the communication network.

28. A device for testing access to a service according to claim 27, wherein further comprising test means adapted to verify whether said functionality is implemented by the client computer and whether the use of said functionality is mandatory or not on the implementation of the communication protocol for the execution of said service on the communication network.

29. A device for verifying compatibility of a communication protocol on the basis of a service description document comprising information relating to a communication protocol comprising:

means for extracting from the service description document a functionality implemented by the communication protocol on the execution of the service on the communication network;

means for acquiring at least one mandatory value associated with said functionality in the service description document;

means for acquiring a description of said functionality; and

verifying means adapted to verify whether said mandatory value is included in a list of values attributable to a property supported by said functionality.