METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR AUTOMATED COMPONENT PRODUCT INTEGRATION

• US 20070266038A1
• Filed: 05/10/2006
• Published: 11/15/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 05/10/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Oracle America, Inc. (Oracle Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Sun Microsystems Incorporated (Oracle Corporation)
• Inventors: Sivaprasad, Gowri, Hegde, Prabhat
• Granted Patent: US 7,779,385 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 8/36 Software reuse
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 8/61 Installation
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 8/71 Version control security arrangements therefor G06F21/57; Configuration management

Abstract

A method is provided for performing a component product integration sync. In the method, a component product extensible markup language (XML) schema is generated. A number of component products to be integrated together in a software system are then identified. A component product XML file is generated for each identified component product according to the generated component product XML schema. The generated component product XML files are used to verify compatibility of the identified component products when integrated together in the software system. Once compatibility of the identified component products is verified, the software system can be built with a high expectation of success.

Claims

1. A method for performing a component product integration sync, comprising:

generating a component product extensible markup language (XML) schema;

identifying a number of component products to be integrated together in a software system;

generating a component product XML file for each identified component product according to the generated component product XML schema; and

using the generated component product XML files to verify compatibility of the identified component products when integrated together in the software system.

2. A method for performing a component product integration sync as recited in claim 1, wherein the component product XML schema includes a number of tags which define a framework of data necessary to describe implementation of a particular component product with the software system.

3. A method for performing a component product integration sync as recited in claim 2, wherein the number of tags include executor tags and static data tags, the executor tags specifying an executor to be run to extract data from an install unit associated with the particular component product, the static data tags specifying static data to be retrieved from a static data source.

4. A method for performing a component product integration sync as recited in claim 1, wherein identifying the number of component products to be integrated together in the software a system is performed by receipt of user-supplied input.

5. A method for performing a component product integration sync as recited in claim 1, wherein generating the component product XML file for a particular component product includes parsing the generated component product XML schema to identify tags defined to direct retrieval of data associated with installation of the particular component product.

6. A method for performing a component product integration sync as recited in claim 5, wherein a portion of the identified tags direct retrieval of data from an install unit associated with the particular component product.

7. A method for performing a component product integration sync as recited in claim 5, wherein a portion of the identified tags direct retrieval of data from a static data source associated with the software system.

8. A method for performing a component product integration sync as recited in claim 5, wherein each data item retrieved according to the direction of a particular identified tag within the component product XML schema is stored in the component product XML file in association with the particular identified tag.

9. A method for performing a component product integration sync as recited in claim 1, wherein using the generated component product XML files to verify compatibility of the identified component products when integrated together in the software system includes identifying resource requirement conflicts among component products, namespace conflicts among component products, release cycle conflicts among component products, and component product-to-component product dependency conflicts.

10. A method for performing a component product integration sync as recited in claim 9, wherein resources considered in identifying resource requirement conflicts include ports, environment variables, storage media locations, and memory locations.

11. A method for performing a component product integration sync as recited in claim 1, wherein the component product XML file generated for a particular identified component product includes,

a section for identifying the particular component product and a platform required by the particular component product,

a section for identifying sub-components of the particular component product,

a section for identifying install units of the identified sub-components of the particular component product,

a section for specifying dependencies between the particular component product and other component products, and

a section for specifying resources required by the particular component product and the identified sub-components of the particular component product.

12. A method for generating a component product extensible markup language (XML) file to be used in performing a component product integration sync, comprising:

(a) identifying a component product for which a component product XML file is to be generated;

(b) reading a tag in a component product XML schema;

(c) identifying the tag read in operation (b) as representing an executor tag;

(d) in response to operation (c), running an executor specified by the executor tag to retrieve data from an install unit associated with the component product;

(e) in response to operation (d), storing the retrieved data in the component product XML file;

(f) identifying the tag read in operation (b) as representing a static data tag;

(g) in response to operation (f), retrieving static data associated with the static data tag from a static data source;

(h) in response to operation (g), storing the retrieved static data in the component product XML file; and

(i) repeating operations (b) through (h) until each tag instance in the component product XML schema has been read once and in a sequential manner beginning with a first tag present in the component product XML schema.

13. A method for generating a component product XML file to be used in performing a component product integration sync as recited in claim 12, wherein the component product XML schema includes a number of tags which define a framework of data necessary to describe implementation of the component product with the software system.

14. A method for generating a component product XML file to be used in performing a component product integration sync as recited in claim 12, wherein the retrieved data stored in the component product XML file in operation (e) is stored in association with the executor tag, and wherein the retrieved static data stored in the component product XML file in operation (h) is stored in association with the static data tag.

15. A method for generating a component product XML file to be used in performing a component product integration sync as recited in claim 12, wherein the component product XML file includes,

a section for identifying the component product and a platform required by the component product,

a section for identifying sub-components of the component product,

a section for identifying install units of the identified sub-components of the component product,

a section for specifying dependencies between the component product and other component products, and

a section for specifying resources required by the component product and the identified sub-components of the component product.

16. A method for generating a component product XML file to be used in performing a component product integration sync as recited in claim 15, wherein the resources to be specified include ports, environment variables, storage media locations, and memory locations.

17. A computer readable medium including program instructions for performing a component product integration sync, comprising:

program instructions for obtaining a component product extensible markup language (XML) schema;

program instructions for obtaining a respective identifier for a number of component products to be integrated;

program instructions for generating a component product XML file for each identified component product to be integrated, wherein the component product XML file is to be generated according to the obtained component product XML schema; and

program instructions for verifying compatibility of the identified component products when integrated together to form a system, wherein the compatibility is verified using the generated component product XML files.

18. A computer readable medium including program instructions for performing a component product integration sync as recited in claim 17, wherein the component product XML schema includes a number of tags which define a framework of data necessary to describe implementation of a component product within the software system.

19. A computer readable medium including program instructions for performing a component product integration sync as recited in claim 17, wherein the program instructions for verifying compatibility of the identified component products when integrated together to form the system includes program instructions for identifying resource requirement conflicts among component products, namespace conflicts among component products, release cycle conflicts among component products, and component product-to-component product dependency conflicts.

20. A computer readable medium including program instructions for performing a component product integration sync as recited in claim 17, wherein the program instructions for generating a component product XML file for each identified component product to be integrated include program instructions for,

(a) selecting one of the identified component products for which a corresponding component product XML file is to be generated;

(b) reading a next tag in a component product XML schema;

(c) identifying the tag read in operation (b) as representing an executor tag;

(d) in response to operation (c), running an executor specified by the executor tag to retrieve data from an install unit associated with the selected component product;

(e) in response to operation (d), storing the retrieved data in the corresponding component product XML file;

(f) identifying the tag read in operation (b) as representing a static data tag;

(g) in response to operation (f), retrieving static data associated with the static data tag from a static data source;

(h) in response to operation (g), storing the retrieved static data in the corresponding component product XML file; and

(i) repeating operations (b) through (h) until each tag instance in the component product XML schema has been read once and in a sequential manner beginning with a first tag present in the component product XML schema.