System and method for the composition, generation, integration and execution of business processes over a network

• US 20040133876A1
• Filed: 06/02/2003
• Published: 07/08/2004
• Est. Priority Date: 01/08/2003
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Avolin LLC
• Original Assignee: Consona CRM Incorporated (Aptean Superior Holdings, Inc.)
• Inventors: Sproule, Craig
• Granted Patent: US 7,610,575 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 717/105
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/063 Operations research, analysis or management
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/067 Enterprise or organisation modelling
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/10 Office automation; Time management

Abstract

A system and method providing an environment for the composition, generation, integration and execution of business processes and/or transactions over a distributed computing-based network. In a preferred embodiment, a business process expert develops a business model by using a network browser to access the composition environment via the network. The preferred embodiment includes a Composer and a Player. The Composer allows a business process engineer to model the processes, process rules and data structures of an entity upon the basis of a plurality of software resources. The Player executes the modeled processes and access relevant data in real-time, according to rules and resources as related within a software structure generated by the business process engineer. The preferred embodiment dynamically constructs web pages based on the process, rule and data definitions prepared by a business process engineer/expert and does so through a Process Interpreter and Grammar Engine so as to encapsulate all the software resources necessary to complete the desired business process without the need of people programming, scripting or coding. Pages are constructed only when required, ensuring that the solutions are flexible, error free and based upon the most current business practices, providing agile, integrated, error free and real-time software solutions capabilities.

Claims

1. A software method of composing, generating, integrating and executing business processes via any type of computer network, the method comprising:

a. providing a plurality of software resources, the software resources being available over the computer network;

b. providing a network browser, the network browser for accessing the software resources both at design time and at run time;

c. providing a networked based, GUI business process model builder;

the GUI business process model builder for directing the network browser to access and interweave at least two of the plurality of software resources;

d. business process engineers using the GUI business process model to generate the business process model software program by incorporating at least two software resources into the business process model software program;

e. providing a networked based, runtime environment, the runtime environment encapsulating a process interpreter and a grammar engine allowing the business process model to be dynamically created in real-time, and the runtime environment for intregrating data sources and processes from remote sources; and

f. at least one business process user using the networked based, runtime environment to initiate business process activities for purposes of completing internal and external collaborative business processes and transactions.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein no programming, coding or scripting is required to create the business process models or execute the resultant software applications.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

a. a user definition GUI to define users within an organization who are authorized to view, modify, or define a plurality of data attributes, activities, transactions and events of the business process software program; and

b. an administration GUI to define security or access control of the user.

4. The system of claim 3, wherein programming is not required to modify the data attributes, the activities, the processes or the business process software program,

5. The method of claim 3, wherein the data attributes include remote data attributes available in at least one external system.

6. The method of claim 3, wherein the data attributes include attribute relationship information of each of the data attributes with one or more other data attributes.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein an implicit attribute relationship is established among data attributes referenced by a common activity.

8. The method of claim 6, wherein related data attributes are grouped to form a package.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein an implicit attribute relationship is established among data attributes in the package.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein a package relationship is established between one package and at least one other package.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein the package relationship exists among packages when these packages are referenced by a common activity.

12. The method of claim 8, wherein a set of business rules comprise attributes business rules to apply to the plurality of data attributes, activity business rules to apply to the activities, package business rules to apply to the packages, and application business rules to apply to the business process software program.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein the set of business rules are defined with at least one associated exception condition.

14. The method of claim 12, wherein the set of business rules are applied at multiple stages of development of the business process software program.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein business rules conflict resolution is applied to the business process software program after the development of the business process software program is completed and prior to execution of the business process software program.

16. The method of claim 3, wherein each of a plurality of activities is associated with data attributes information, activity business rules information, and link information.

17. The method of claim 16, wherein the link information provides information about preceding and succeeding activities to a current activity.

18. The method of claim 1, wherein at least one software resource is selected from the group including a database, a grammar rule, a software object, a data structure, a datum, a universal resource locator, a network address, a data type definition, and a data pointer.

39. The computer readable medium of claim 8, wherein at least one activity include link information concerning at least one other activity.

19. A method, comprising:

a. using a network browser interface to provide an application specification for an application, the application specification including data attributes, activities that reference the data attributes, processes formed using the activities, and business rules applied to the data attributes, the activities and the processes; and

b. dynamically generating the application using the application specification without requiring programming code generation.

20. The method of claim 19, wherein the method further comprises providing a grammar engine and using the grammar engine to structuring the logical flow of the application.

21. The method of claim 19 using the network browser interface to establish an organization identification and to provide an organization calendar associated with the organization, the organization calendar to be applied with the business rules in providing the application specification.

22. The method of claim 21, wherein an attribute dialog box is used to define details about the data attributes.

23. The method of claim 22, wherein the details about the data attributes include attributes relationship information with at least one other data attributes.

24. The method of claim 23, wherein at least one activity is associated with link information concerning at least one other activities.

25. The method of claim 19, wherein at least one activity is represented graphically to the user.

26. The method of claim 19, wherein at least one activity is represented graphically as an icon.

27. The method of claim 19, wherein dragging and dropping, point and click or voice activating forms the processes the icons associated with at least one activity.

28. The method of claim 19, wherein the business rules consist of attributes business rules to apply to the data attributes, activity business rules to apply to the activities, package business rules to apply to the packages, and application business rules to apply to the application.

29. The method of claim 28, wherein the business rules are defined with at least one associated exception condition.

30. The method of claim 29, wherein at least one business rule is applied while providing the application specification.

31. The method of claim 30, wherein ambiguous rules are resolved after the application specification is completed.

32. An application development system, comprising:

a. means for defining an organization calendar for an organization, the organization calendar including time zones, working hours, holidays, and events applicable to the organization;

b. means for defining business rules and processes followed by the organization and consistent with the organization calendar;

c. means for defining a data attribute library used by the organization; and

d. means for defining activities performed for the organization using data attributes in the data attribute library, the activities constrained by the business rules and represented graphically as activity icons.

33. A method of integrating a first business process software program with a second business process software program, the first business process software program and the second business process software program communicating via a computer network, the method comprising:

a. interrogating the second business process software program via the computer network to determine how a message containing data may be structured in order to enable the second business process software program to accept the data;

b. detecting a set of data that the first business process software program may provide to the second business process software program;

c. structuring a message for transmission to and acceptance by the second business process software program, the message containing the set of data; and

d. transmitting the message to the second business process software program via the computer network.

34. The method of claim 33, wherein the computer network comprises a network selected from the group including the Internet, an Extranet, or an Intranet.

35. A computer readable medium having stored thereon sequences of instructions which are executable by a system, and which, when executed by the system, cause the system to perform a method, comprising:

a. using a network browser interface to provide an application specification for an application, the application specification including data attributes, activities that reference the data attributes, processes formed using the activities, and business rules applied to the data attributes, the activities and the processes; and

b. dynamically generating the application using the application specification without requiring programming, coding or scripting.

36. The computer readable medium of claim 35, further comprising using the network browser interface to establish an organization identification and to provide an organization calendar associated with an organization, the organization calendar to be applied with the business rules in providing the application specification.

37. The computer readable medium of claim 35, wherein an attribute dialog box is used to define details about the data attributes.

38. The computer readable medium of claim 35, wherein at least one detail about at least bone data attribute includes attributes relationship information concerning at least one other data attribute.

40. The computer readable medium of claim 35, wherein at least one activity is represented graphically as an icon.

41. The computer readable medium of claim 35, wherein the browser interface enables dropping and dragging of at least two icons, and dragging and dropping the icons form at least one process associated with at least one activity.

42. The computer readable medium of claim 40, wherein at least one business rules comprises attributes business rules that optionally to apply to the data attributes, activity business rules to apply to the activities, package business rules to apply to the packages, and application business rules to apply to the application.

43. The computer readable medium of claim 42, wherein at least one business rule is defined with at least one associated exception condition.

44. The computer readable medium of claim 35, wherein the business rules are applied and ambiguities resolved while providing the application specification.