Resource finder tool

• US 20040133413A1
• Filed: 09/08/2003
• Published: 07/08/2004
• Est. Priority Date: 12/23/2002
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: SAP SE
• Original Assignee: SAP AG (SAP SE)
• Inventors: Beringer, Joerg, Nieves, Sandra, Haeussler, Annette
• Granted Patent: US 8,195,631 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 703/22
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/451 Execution arrangements for user interfaces

Abstract

Systems and techniques to develop an enterprise management consolidation system are described including a cross-functional application to provide communication between at least one of an object modeling tool, a process modeling tool and a user interface tool. The user interface tool is configured to find resources having desired characteristics. In general, in one implementation, the technique includes receiving characteristics of a resource desired by a user and searching a data source of resource profiles to locate profiles having one or more of the characteristics. The located profiles are provided to the user in a hit-list, which may then be narrowed by receiving from the user refinements or segment filters.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

receiving characteristics of a resource desired by a user through a user interface;

searching a data source of resource profiles associated with each of a plurality of resources for profiles having one or more of the characteristics;

providing a hit-list of resources having the one or more desired characteristics;

receiving additional characteristics of the resource through a refinement user interface;

searching the hit-list for the desired attributes; and

providing a narrowed hit-list of resources matching the desired attributes.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

Segmenting the hit-list by grouping the resources by one of the attribute dimensions and displaying statistics associated with the segment;

Receiving a selection of one or more segments through a user interface; and

Providing a narrowed hit-list by selecting one or more resources from the selected segments.

3. The method of claim 2, further comprising:

Maintaining a list of resources associated with a hit inspected by the user;

Displaying a history of search and refinement dialogs including a list of resources previously displayed;

Back navigating to a state within the search history by displaying the corresponding hit-list; and

displaying the list of inspected resources as the hit-list.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising providing the hit-list as a collection of items that can be used for further actions or stored as a persistent collection.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the resource profiles are defined by facets, attributes, and data connectors.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein a pattern-based user interface of a search tool is generated from the resource profile.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising associating the narrowed hit-list into a collection of resources.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein the collection of resources is stored dynamically or statically.

9. The method of claim 1, further comprising aggregating the narrowed hit-list with an existing collection of resources.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein the existing collection of resources comprises an historical listing of aggregated narrowed hit-lists.

11. The method of claim 8, further comprising segmenting the narrowed hit-list by discrete values of an attribute dimension.

12. The method of claim 11, further comprising providing one or more descriptive statistics associated with the segment.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein the hit-list is refined to resources associated with a particular descriptive statistic.

14. The method of claim 1, wherein receiving attributes comprises receiving a search template from the user.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein the search template is defined by the user.

16. The method of claim 14, wherein the search template comprises a multi-resource query that can return resources of more than one resource type.

17. The method of claim 14, wherein the search template is auto-configured based on the resource type, attributes or facets.

18. The method of claim 14, wherein the search template can be saved and reused.

19. The method of claim 14, wherein the hit-list is used to create a community.

20. The method of claim 19 further comprising enabling communication with resources in the community.

21. An enterprise management consolidation system comprising:

a cross-functional application to provide communication between at least one of an object modeling tool, a process modeling tool and a user interface tool, wherein the user interface tool is configured to;

receive characteristics of a resource desired by the user through a user interface;

search a data source of resource profiles associated with each of a plurality of resources for profiles having one or more of the characteristics;

provide a hit-list of resources having the one or more desired characteristics;

receive attributes of the resource desired by the user;

search the hit-list for the desired attributes; and

provide a narrowed hit-list of resources matching the desired attributes.

22. The system of claim 21, further comprising an integrated heterogeneous information technology environment.

23. The system of claim 22, wherein the integrated heterogeneous information technology environment comprises:

multiple base systems; and

an enterprise management tool including a persistence layer with a data object model that represents a subset of data objects managed by the base systems, and the enterprise management tool further includes one or more base system connectors that enable data exchange and integration with the base systems.

24. The system of claim 23, wherein the enterprise management tool further includes:

an object modeling tool that enables creation of new business objects in the persistence layer by allowing extension of the data object model;

a process modeling tool that enables creation of new business workflow and ad hoc collaborative workflow; and

a user interface tool that provides user interface patterns used to link new objects and workflow together and generates standardized views into generated results.

25. An article comprising a machine-readable medium storing instructions operable to cause one or more machines to perform operations comprising:

receiving characteristics of a resource desired by a user through a user interface;

searching a data source of resource profiles associated with each of a plurality of resources for profiles having one or more of the characteristics;

providing a hit-list of resources having the one or more desired characteristics;

receiving attributes of the resource desired by the user;

searching the hit-list for the desired attributes; and

providing a narrowed hit-list of resources matching the desired attributes.

26. The article of claim 25, further comprising storing instructions operable to cause the one or more machines to perform operations comprising:

Segmenting the hit-list by grouping the resources by one of the attribute dimensions and displaying statistics associated with the segment;

Receiving a selection of one or more segments through a user interface; and

Providing a narrowed hit-list by selecting one or more resources from the selected segments.

27. The article of claim 26, further comprising storing instructions operable to cause the one or more machines to perform operations comprising:

Maintaining a list of resources associated with a hit inspected by the user;

Displaying a history of search and refinement dialogs including a list of resources previously displayed;

Back navigating to a state within the search history by displaying the corresponding hit-list; and

displaying the list of inspected resources as the hit-list.

28. The article of claim 25, further comprising storing instructions operable to cause the one or more machines to perform operations comprising providing the hit-list as a collection of items that can be used for further actions or stored as a persistent collection.

29. The article of claim 28, wherein the existing collection of resources comprises an historical listing of aggregated narrowed hit-lists.

30. The article of claim 25, wherein the resource profiles are defined by facets, attributes, and data connectors.

31. The article of claim 30, further comprising storing instructions operable to cause the one or more machines to perform operations comprising providing one or more descriptive statistics associated with the segment.

32. The article of claim 31, wherein a pattern-based user interface of a search tool is generated from the resource profile.

33. The article of claim 27, further comprising storing instructions operable to cause the one or more machines to perform operations comprising associating the narrowed hit-list into a collection of resources.

34. The article of claim 25, further comprising storing instructions operable to cause the one or more machines to perform operations comprising aggregating the narrowed hit-list with an existing collection of resources.

35. The article of claim 25, wherein the existing collection of resources comprises an historical listing of aggregated narrowed hit-lists.

36. The article of claim 33, further comprising storing instructions operable to cause the one or more machines to perform operations comprising segmenting the narrowed hit-list by discrete values of an attribute dimension.