POLICY BASED INVOCATION OF WEB SERVICES

• US 20110029977A1
• Filed: 08/03/2009
• Published: 02/03/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 08/03/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Oracle International Corporation (Oracle Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Oracle International Corporation (Oracle Corporation)
• Inventors: Ramanathaiah, Gurudutta, Ramakrishnan, Deepak
• Granted Patent: US 9,146,784 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 718/102
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/4881 Scheduling strategies for dispatcher, e.g. round robin, multi-level priority queues
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/5038 considering the execution order of a plurality of tasks, e.g. taking priority or time dependency constraints into consideration scheduling strategies G06F9/4881 and subgroups

Abstract

Techniques for orchestrating workflows are disclosed herein. In an embodiment, a method of orchestrating a workflow is disclosed. In an embodiment, data is stored in a policy file which associates attributes with processes. User input is received. A process associated with an attribute is selected, where the attribute is based on the user input. The selected process is performed as part of the workflow. Also, processes may be added dynamically as part of any category inside the policy file without having to recompile or redesign the logic of the BPEL project.

Claims

1. A method of orchestration workflow, comprising:

storing in a data store a policy file, said policy file associating attributes with processes;

receiving user input;

selecting a process of said processes that is associated by said policy file with an attribute based on said user input; and

performing said process as part of said workflow.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein said process includes invocation of a web service.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

invoking a web service to read the policy file; and

receiving a payload from the web service based on the policy file; and

wherein said selecting the process is based on the payload.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein said workflow is defined as a BPEL process and wherein said invoking the web service is a child process of said BPEL process.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein said process file groups said processes into categories and wherein said selecting the process includes invoking a category of said policy file based on said user input.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein said policy file includes at least one empty category.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising reconfiguring the workflow by modifying said policy file.

8. A computer-readable storage medium having stored thereon instructions for causing at least one processor to perform a method of orchestrating workflow, said instructions comprising:

instructions for causing the at least one processor to direct a data store to store a policy file, said policy file associating attributes with processes;

instructions for causing the at least one processor to receive user input;

instructions for causing the at least one processor to select a process of said processes that is associated by said policy file with an attribute based on said user input; and

instructions for causing the at least one processor to perform said process.

9. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 8, wherein said instructions for causing the processor to perform the process comprise:

instructions for causing the at least one processor to invoke a web service associated with another processor; and

instructions for causing the at least one processor to receive a payload from said web service.

10. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 8, further comprising:

instructions for causing the at least one processor to invoke a web service to read the policy file; and

instructions for causing the at least one processor to receive a payload from the web service based on the policy file; and

wherein said instructions for causing the at least one processor to select the process include instructions to select the process based on the payload.

11. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 10, wherein said workflow is defined as a BPEL process and wherein said instructions for causing the at least one processor to invoke the web service include instructions for causing the at least one processor to invoke the web service as a child process of said BPEL process.

12. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 8, wherein said policy file groups said processes into categories and wherein said instructions for causing the at least one processor to select the process includes instructions for causing the at least one processor to invoke a category of said policy file based on said user input.

13. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 12, wherein said policy file includes at least one empty category.

14. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 8, further comprising instructions for causing the at least one processor to reconfigure the workflow by modifying said policy file.

15. A system for orchestrating a workflow, comprising:

a data store operable to store a policy file that associates attributes with processes;

an input device operable to receive user input;

a communication device operable to communicate with another communication device of another system; and

a processor communicatively coupled to the data store, input device, and communication device, said processor operable to receive said user input, to select a process of said processes that is associated, by said policy file, with an attribute that is based on said user input, and to perform said process as part of said workflow.

16. The system of claim 15, wherein said process includes invoking a web service.

17. The system of claim 15, wherein the processor is operable to:

invoke a web service to read the policy file;

receive a payload from the web service based on the policy file; and

select the process based on the payload.

18. The system of claim 17, wherein said workflow is defined as a BPEL process and wherein said processor is operable to invoke the web service is a child process of said BPEL process.

19. The system of claim 15, wherein said process file groups said processes into categories and wherein said processor is operable to select the process by invoking a category of said policy file based on said user input.

20. The system of claim 19, wherein said policy file includes at least one empty category.