Unified meta-model for a service oriented architecture

• US 20080028084A1
• Filed: 07/25/2006
• Published: 01/31/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 07/25/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: SAP SE
• Original Assignee: SAP AG (SAP SE)
• Inventors: Drabant, Bernhard, Brunswig, Frank, Bloching, Uwe
• Granted Patent: US 7,774,463 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 709/229
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/958 Organisation or management of web site content, e.g. publishing, maintaining pages or automatic linking

Abstract

An electronic message, containing a request to initiate a service, can be received in a landscape of computer systems providing message-based services. Thereafter, a contract can be accessed to determine if provision of the requested service is permitted. As a result, the requested service identified in the message if provision of the requested service is permitted can be initiated. Related techniques, articles, apparatus, and systems are also described.

Claims

1. An article embodied on tangible media and operable to cause data processing apparatus to perform operations comprising:

receiving an electronic message in a landscape of computer systems providing message-based services, the message containing a request to initiate a service;

accessing a contract to determine if provision of the requested service is permitted; and

initiating the requested service identified in the message if provision of the requested service is permitted.

2. An article as in claim 1, wherein the contract defines one or more of components, data types, services, interfaces, models, or operations.

3. An article as in claim 1, wherein the contract defines relations among entities.

4. An article as in claim 1, wherein the contract characterizes relations among the modeling entities.

5. An article as in claim 1, wherein the contract characterizes outflows involving entities and instances thereof.

6. An article as in claim 1, wherein the contract includes a reference to one or more additional contracts.

7. An article as in claim 1, wherein the contract binds services, components, and operations.

8. An article as in claim 1, wherein the message is generated by a first system utilizing a first service model and the service is provided by a second system utilizing a second service model.

9. An article embodied on tangible media and operable to cause data processing apparatus to perform operations comprising:

receiving an electronic message in a landscape of computer systems providing message-based services, the message containing a request to initiate a service in a first format;

converting the request from the first format to a second format using a contract; and

initiating the requested service identified in the message.

10. An article as in claim 9, wherein the contract defines one or more of components, data types, services, interfaces, models, or operations.

11. An article as in claim 9, wherein the contract defines relations among entities.

12. An article as in claim 9, wherein the contract characterizes relations among the modeling entities.

13. An article as in claim 9, wherein the contract characterizes outflows involving entities and instances thereof.

14. An article as in claim 9, wherein the contract includes a reference to one or more additional contracts.

15. An article as in claim 9, wherein the contract binds services, components, and operations.

16. An article for modeling a service oriented architecture, the article being embodied on tangible media and operable to cause data processing apparatus to perform operations comprising:

defining at least one service modeling entity characterizing services, the services containing interfaces, the interfaces consisting of one or more operations;

defining at least one component modeling entity characterizing components to invoke the services;

defining at least one data type to invoke the services; and

defining at least one contract, the contract binding the services, components, and operations.

17. An article as in claim 16, wherein the contract is a directed graph.

18. An article as in claim 17, wherein vertices of the directed graph comprise at least one of services, components, or operations.

19. An article as in claim 18, wherein edges of the directed graph comprise at least one of relations, procedures, and policies.

20. An article as in claim 19, wherein vertices and edges of the directed graph are flavored by attributes.