Technique for reliable message confirmation

• US 20050188201A1
• Filed: 01/28/2005
• Published: 08/25/2005
• Est. Priority Date: 01/30/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: SAP SE
• Original Assignee: SAP AG (SAP SE)
• Inventors: Sala, Paola, Podhajsky, Georg, Wagner, Andre, Sievers, Ralf
• Granted Patent: US 7,925,699 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 713/170
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/00 Commerce
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/04 Billing or invoicing
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 1/1664 the supervisory signal being transmitted together with payload signals; piggybacking

Abstract

A technique for exchanging messages in a computer network using a public data template and a message transfer protocol with interdependent request and confirmation messages is described. A request message includes a first data structure obtained by packing application data that requires confirmation in the public data template. A network component receiving the request message unpacks the application data and provides the unpacked application data to a confirmation process. At the same time, the unpacked application data provided to the confirmation process is repacked in the public data template to generate a second data structure. The second data structure is sent with a confirmation message via the computer network to the sender of the request message. By comparing the content of the first data structure with the content of the second data structure, inconsistencies degrading the accuracy and trustworthiness of the confirmation process may be detected.

Claims

1. A method for exchanging messages in a computer network using a public data template and a message transfer protocol involving the transmission of request and confirmation messages, the method comprising the steps of:

receiving a request message via the computer network, the request message including a first data structure obtained by packing application data that requires confirmation in the public data template;

unpacking the application data included in the first data structure;

providing the unpacked application data to a confirmation process and to a packing process, the packing process including packing the unpacked application data in the public data template to generate a second data structure;

creating a confirmation message responsive to the request message, the confirmation message including the second data structure; and

transmitting the confirmation message via the computer network to a first message recipient (A).

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising the step of including a confirmation result obtained by the confirmation process in the confirmation message.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the confirmation message including the application data provided to the confirmation process is transmitted as a first confirmation message, and further comprising the steps of generating a second confirmation message including a confirmation result obtained by the confirmation process and transmitting the second confirmation message via the computer network to the first message recipient (A).

4. The method of claim 3, further comprising the steps of:

providing a first data structure obtained by packing application data that requires confirmation in the public data template;

creating a request message including the first data structure;

transmitting the request message via the computer network to a second message recipient (B);

receiving a confirmation message via the computer network, the confirmation message including a second data structure with the application data that was provided to a confirmation process packed in the public data template; and

comparing the content of the first data structure with the content of the second data structure to determine inconsistencies degrading the trustworthiness of the confirmation process.

5. The method of claim 4, further comprising the step of automatically calling a dispute management routine if the comparison indicates that the application data provided to the confirmation process were at least one of incorrect and incomplete.

6. The method as in any one of claims claim 1 to 5, wherein the request and confirmation messages are exchanged asynchronously.

7. The method of claim 5, further comprising the step of queuing at least one of the request messages and the confirmation messages.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein the request and confirmation messages are exchanged in context with a collaborative network-based workflow and wherein a plurality of such workflows are performed in parallel.

9. The method of claim 7, further comprising the step of queuing the messages separately for each of the plurality of workflows.

10. The method of claim 7, further comprising the step of queuing the request messages separately from the confirmation messages.

11. The method as in any one of claims 1-5 and 7-9, wherein the application data packed in the data template include a first identification code.

12. The method of claim 10, wherein the step of creating at least one of the request message and the confirmation message includes assigning a message-specific second identification code.

13. The method of claim 10, further comprising the step of transferring the application data from an application component to an interfacing component, wherein the application component continues processing the application data under the assumption of a positive confirmation result.

14. The method of claim 13, further comprising the step of resetting the application component in the case a negative or a non-trustworthy confirmation result is generated or received.

15. The method of any one of claims 1-5, 7-9, and 12-14, wherein at least one of packing and unpacking of the application data includes a mapping operation.

16. The method of any one of claims 1-5, 7-9, and 12-14, wherein the public data template specifies two or more different data packages, each data package including semantically-related data.

17. A computer program product comprising program code portions for performing the steps of any of claims 1-5, 7-9, and 12-14, when the computer program product is run on a computer system.

18. A computer-readable recording medium with a computer program product stored thereon, the computer program comprising program code portions for performing the steps of any of claims 1-5, 7-9, and 12-14, when the computer program product is run on a computer system.

19. A network component for generating messages that are exchanged in a computer network using a public data template and a message transfer protocol involving the transmission of request and confirmation messages, the network component comprising:

a first interface for receiving a request message via the computer network, the request message including a first data structure obtained by packing application data that requires confirmation in the public data template;

a first unit for unpacking the application data included in the first data structure;

a second unit for providing the unpacked application data to a confirmation process and to a packing process in which the unpacked application data is packed in the public data template to generate a second data structure;

a third unit for creating a confirmation message responsive to the request message, the confirmation message including the second data structure; and

a second interface for transmitting the confirmation message via the computer network to a first message recipient (A).

20. A network component for generating messages that are exchanged in a computer network using a public data template and a message transfer protocol involving the transmission of request and confirmation messages, the network component comprising:

a first unit for providing a first data structure obtained by packing application data that requires confirmation in the public data template;

a second unit for creating a request message including the first data structure;

a first interface for transmitting the request message via the computer network to a second message recipient (B);

a second interface for receiving a confirmation message via the computer network, the confirmation message including a second data structure with the application data that was provided to a confirmation process packed in the public data template; and

a third unit for comparing the content of the first data structure with the content of the second data structure to determine inconsistencies degrading the trustworthiness of the confirmation process.