System and method for scheduling driven availability check

• US 20070156273A1
• Filed: 12/29/2005
• Published: 07/05/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 12/29/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: SAP SE
• Original Assignee: SAP AG (SAP SE)
• Inventors: Mayer, Thomas, von Helmolt, Hans-Ulrich, Kreuels, Carsten
• Granted Patent: US 7,693,594 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 700/100
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/06 Resources, workflows, human or project management; Enterprise or organisation planning; Enterprise or organisation modelling

Abstract

In an embodiment, a scheduling process and an availability process are provided in which both the scheduling process and the availability process reside in a service architecture. The scheduling process is configurable to invoke the availability process at a point in the scheduling process, and a user of the service architecture may configure the scheduling process.

Claims

1. A process comprising:

providing a scheduling process; and

providing an availability process;

wherein the scheduling process and the availability process reside in a service architecture;

wherein the scheduling process is configurable to invoke the availability process at a point in the scheduling process; and

further

wherein a user of the service architecture may configure the scheduling process.

2. The process of claim 1, wherein the scheduling process is further configurable as to data that is passed to the availability process.

3. The process of claim 1, wherein

the scheduling process is configurable to pass a requested availability date to the availability process;

and

the availability process is configurable to pass back to the scheduling process one or more confirmed availability dates.

4. The process of claim 1, wherein the service architecture comprises a customer order system.

5. The process of claim 4, wherein the service architecture is configurable to:

receive an order from a customer;

invoke the scheduling process;

invoke the availability process, wherein the availability process determines a confirmation for an order; and

pass the confirmation back to the customer.

6. The process of claim 1, wherein the scheduling process comprises an activity network comprising one or more activities, and further wherein the one or more activities in the activity network comprise a start date, an end date, and a duration.

7. The process of claim 6, wherein the scheduling process is further configured to:

identify one or more activities in the activity network;

invoke a delegation process for these activities;

wait until the completion of the delegation process;

retrieve the results from the delegation process; and

continue to process the activity network based on the results from the delegation process.

8. The process of claim 6, wherein the service architecture is configured to allow insertion of an invocation of the availability process into a particular place in the activity network, and further wherein the system is configurable as to data with which the availability process is invoked.

9. A system comprising:

a module to provide a scheduling process; and

a module to provide an availability process;

wherein the scheduling process and the availability process reside in a service architecture;

wherein the scheduling process is configurable to invoke the availability process at a point in the scheduling process; and

further

wherein a user of the service architecture may configure the scheduling process.

10. The system of claim 9, wherein the scheduling process is further configurable as to data that is passed to the availability process.

11. The system of claim 9, wherein

the scheduling process is configurable to pass a requested availability date to the availability process;

and

the availability process is configurable to pass back to the scheduling process one or more confirmed availability dates.

12. The system of claim 9, wherein the service architecture comprises a customer order system.

13. The system of claim 12, wherein the service architecture is configurable to:

receive an order from a customer;

invoke the scheduling process;

invoke the availability process, wherein the availability process determines a confirmation for an order; and

pass the confirmation back to the customer.

14. The system of claim 9, wherein the scheduling process comprises an activity network comprising one or more activities, and further wherein the one or more activities in the activity network comprise a start date, an end date, and a duration.

15. The system of claim 14, wherein the scheduling process is further configured to:

identify one or more activities in the activity network;

invoke a delegation process for these activities;

wait until the completion of the delegation process;

retrieve the results from the delegation process; and

continue to process the activity network based on the results from the delegation process.

16. The system of claim 14, wherein the service architecture is configured to allow insertion of an invocation of the availability process into a particular place in the activity network, and further wherein the system is configurable as to data with which the availability process is invoked.

17. A machine-readable medium with instructions thereon for executing a process comprising:

providing a scheduling process; and

providing an availability process;

wherein the scheduling process and the availability process reside in a service architecture;

wherein the scheduling process is configurable to invoke the availability process at a point in the scheduling process; and

further

wherein a user of the service architecture may configure the scheduling process.

18. The machine-readable medium of claim 17, wherein

the scheduling process is further configurable as to data that is passed to the availability process;

the scheduling process is configurable to pass a requested availability date to the availability process;

the availability process is configurable to pass back to the scheduling process one or more confirmed availability dates; and

the service architecture comprises a customer order system.

19. The machine-readable medium of claim 18, wherein the service architecture is configurable to:

receive an order from a customer;

invoke the scheduling process;

invoke the availability process, wherein the availability process determines a confirmation for an order; and

pass the confirmation back to the customer; and

further wherein

the scheduling process comprises an activity network comprising one or more activities, and further wherein the one or more activities in the activity network comprise a start date, an end date, and a duration.

20. The machine-readable medium of claim 19, wherein the scheduling process is further configured to:

identify one or more activities in the activity network;

invoke a delegation process for these activities;

wait until the completion of the delegation process;

retrieve the results from the delegation process; and

continue to process the activity network based on the results from the delegation process; and

wherein

the service architecture is configured to allow insertion of an invocation of the availability process into a particular place in the activity network, and further

wherein

the system is configurable as to data with which the availability process is invoked.