Modeling of activity data

• US 20070208768A1
• Filed: 05/21/2004
• Published: 09/06/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 05/21/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Oracle America, Inc. (Oracle Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Siebel Systems Inc. (Oracle Corporation)
• Inventors: Garg, Shailendra, Sundararajan, Ramaswamy, Laik, Pascal, Vallet, Roland, Barnes Leon, Maria
• Granted Patent: US 7,617,239 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/25 Integrating or interfacing systems involving database management systems
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99942 Manipulating data structure, e.g. compression, compaction, compilation
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99944 Object-oriented database structure
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99945 Object-oriented database structure processing

Abstract

An activity class is defined which includes multiple data elements that are common to various activity types. The activity class identifies relationships of an activity with various entities related to the activity.

Claims

1. A computer-readable storage medium comprising:

a first set of instructions, executable on a processor, configured to instantiate an activity class, wherein

the activity class comprises a plurality of data elements that are common to a plurality of activity types,

the activity class identifies a plurality of relationships of an activity with a plurality of entities related to the activity, wherein the activity types are common to a plurality of business processes,

the activity class further comprises a data element specifying a specific activity type for each entry in the activity class wherein the data element specifying the specific activity type is defined in a data definition schema for the activity class, and

the activity class is configured to include a custom data element wherein the custom data element is defined in a custom data schema separate from the data definition schema for the activity class; and

a second set of instructions, executable on the processor, configured to initialize data elements of the instantiated activity class.

2. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 1 further comprising:

a third set of instructions, executable on the processor, configured to select two or more activity types from a group consisting of a service request activity, an opportunity activity, and a call tracking activity.

3. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 1 further comprising:

a third set of instructions, executable on the processor, configured to select the plurality of entities from a group consisting of follow-up actions, related accounts, a related parent activity, related installed products, a related opportunity, a related service request, related contacts, and related employees.

4. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 1 wherein the activity class is configured for use by an application handling activity data.

5. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 4 wherein said application is not industry specific.

6. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 1 wherein the activity class further comprises a custom data element defining one or more custom data fields for the activity class.

7. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 6 wherein the one or more custom data fields of the activity class are specific to an application.

9. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 1 further comprising:

a third set of instructions, executable on the processor, configured to transform data received from a source application into a common format of the activity class;

a fourth set of instructions, executable on the processor, configured to transform the data from the common format into a target format of a target application; and

a fifth set of instructions, executable on the processor, configured to send the data in the target format to the target application.

10. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 1 wherein a definition of the activity class is represented as an XML schema.

8. canceled

11. A method for data transformation, the method comprising:

receiving activity data from a source application;

transforming the activity data into a common format provided by an activity class; and

transforming the activity data from the common format into a target format of a target application, wherein

the activity class includes a plurality of data elements common to a plurality of activity types and identifies a plurality of relationships of an activity with a plurality of entities related to the activity,

the activity class further comprises a data element specifying a specific activity type for each entry in the activity class wherein the data element specifying the specific activity type is defined in a data definition schema for the activity class, and

the activity class is configured to include a custom data element wherein the custom data element is defined in a custom data schema separate from the data definition schema for the activity class.

12. The method of claim 11 wherein the plurality of activity types comprises two or more activity types selected from the group consisting of a service request activity, an opportunity activity, and a call tracking activity.

13. The method of claim 11 wherein the plurality of entities related to the activity is selected from the group consisting of follow-up actions, related accounts, a related parent activity, related installed products, a related opportunity, a related service request, related contacts, and related employees.

14. The method of claim 11 wherein:

each of the source application and target application is any application handling activity data, independent of an industry.

15. The method of claim 11 wherein the activity class includes a custom data element for defining one or more custom data fields for the activity class.

16. A computer-readable storage medium having executable instructions to cause a machine to perform a method comprising:

defining an activity class including a plurality of data elements that are common to a plurality of activity types, the activity class identifying a plurality of relationships of an activity with a plurality of entities related to the activity, wherein

the activity types are common to a plurality of business processes,

the activity class further comprises a data element specifying a specific activity type for each entry in the activity class wherein the data element specifying the specific activity type is defined in a data definition schema for the activity class, and

the activity class is configured to include a custom data element wherein the custom data element is defined in a custom data schema separate from the data definition schema for the activity class.

17. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 16 wherein the plurality of activity types comprises two or more activity types selected from the group consisting of a service request activity, an opportunity activity, and a call tracking activity.

18. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 16 wherein the plurality of entities related to the activity is selected from the group consisting of follow-up actions, related accounts, a related parent activity, related installed products, a related opportunity, a related service request, related contacts, and related employees.

19. A computer-readable storage medium having executable instructions to cause a machine to perform a method comprising:

receiving activity data from a source application;

transforming the activity data into a common format provided by an activity class; and

transforming the activity data from the common format into a target format of a target application, wherein

the activity class includes a plurality of data elements common to a plurality of activity types and identifies a plurality of relationships of an activity with a plurality of entities related to the activity,

the activity class further comprises a data element specifying a specific activity type for each entry in the activity class wherein the data element specifying the specific activity type is defined in a data definition schema for the activity class, and

the activity class is configured to include a custom data element wherein the custom data element is defined in a custom data schema separate from the data definition schema for the activity class.

20. The computer-readable medium of claim 19 wherein the plurality of activity types comprises two or more activity types selected from the group consisting of a service request activity, an opportunity activity, and a call tracking activity.

21. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 20 wherein the plurality of entities related to the activity is selected from the group consisting of follow-up actions, related accounts, a related parent activity, related installed products, a related opportunity, a related service request, related contacts, and related employees.

22. A system comprising:

a memory; and

a processor coupled to the memory, the processor configured to execute a set of instructions that cause the processor to define an activity class including a plurality of data elements common to a plurality of activity types, the activity class identifying a plurality of relationships of an activity with a plurality of entities related to the activity, wherein

the activity types are common to a plurality of business processes,

the activity class further comprises a data element specifying a specific activity type for each entry in the activity class wherein the data element specifying the specific activity type is defined in a data definition schema for the activity class, and

the activity class is configured to include a custom data element wherein the custom data element is defined in a custom data schema separate from the data definition schema for the activity class.

23. A system comprising:

a memory; and

at least one processor coupled to the memory, the processor executing a set of instructions which cause the processor to receive activity data from a source application,

transform the activity data into a common format provided by an activity class, and

transform the activity data from the common format into a target format of a target application, wherein

the activity class includes a plurality of data elements common to a plurality of activity types activity and identifies a plurality of relationships of an activity with a plurality of entities related to the activity,

the activity class further comprises a data element specifying a specific activity type for each entry in the activity class wherein the data element specifying the specific activity type is defined in a data definition schema for the activity class, and

the activity class is configured to include a custom data element wherein the custom data element is defined in a custom data schema separate from the data definition schema for the activity class.

24. An apparatus for representing a class definition, the apparatus comprising:

a memory;

means for defining an activity class including a plurality of data elements that are common to a plurality of activity types, the activity class identifying a plurality of relationships of an activity with a plurality of entities related to the activity, wherein

the activity types are common to a plurality of business processes,

the activity class further comprises a data element specifying a specific activity type for each entry in the activity class wherein the data element specifying the specific activity type is defined in a data definition schema for the activity class, and

the activity class is configured to include a custom data element wherein the custom data element is defined in a custom data schema separate from the data definition schema for the activity class; and

means for storing the activity class in the memory.

25. An apparatus for data transformation, the apparatus comprising:

means for receiving activity data from a source application;

means for transforming the activity data into a common format provided by an activity class; and

means for transforming the activity data from the common format into a target format of a target application, wherein

the activity class includes a plurality of data elements common to a plurality of activity types activity and identifies a plurality of relationships of an activity with a plurality of entities related to the activity, and

the activity class further comprises a data element specifying a specific activity type for each entry in the activity class wherein the data element specifying the specific activity type is defined in a data definition schema for the activity class, and

the activity class is configured to include a custom data element wherein the custom data element is defined in a custom data schema separate from the data definition schema for the activity class.