TECHNIQUES RELATED TO CUSTOMIZATIONS FOR COMPOSITE APPLICATIONS

• US 20110119651A1
• Filed: 05/28/2010
• Published: 05/19/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 11/18/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Oracle International Corporation (Oracle Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Oracle International Corporation (Oracle Corporation)
• Inventors: Pavlik, Greg, Borthakur, Avi, Utschig-Utschig, Clemens, Thukkaram, Prabhu, Zhong, Qing, Tam, Albert, Kand, Khanderao
• Granted Patent: US 8,869,108 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 717/107
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 8/35 model driven
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 8/71 Version control security arrangements therefor G06F21/57; Configuration management

Abstract

A framework is provided for enabling and managing customizations to an application. In one embodiment, techniques are provided that enable the customizability of an application to be controlled based upon hierarchical relations between elements of the application.

Claims

1. A computer-readable storage medium storing a plurality of instructions for controlling a processor, the plurality of instructions comprising:

instructions that cause the processor to enable first customizability parameters to be configured for a first element of an application, the first customizability parameters controlling whether the first element is customizable or non-customizable;

instructions that cause the processor to enable second customizability parameters to be configured for a second element of the application, the second customizability parameters controlling whether the second element is customizable or non-customizable, wherein the second element is hierarchically contained by the first element;

instructions that cause the processor to allow the second element to be customized only if the second customizability parameters indicate the second element as being customizable irrespective of the customizability of the first element; and

instructions that cause the processor to disallow the second element from being customized if the first customizability parameters specify that the first element is non-customizable.

2. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 1 wherein the first element is a composite element and the second element is a component element.

3. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 2 wherein the component element is implemented using Business Process Execution Language (BPEL), Business Process Modeling Notation (BPMN), XML Schema Definition (XSD), Web Services Definition Language (WSDL), Extensible Stylesheet Language (XSL), or an XML-expressed model.

4. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 1 wherein the first element is a component element and the second element is a group of one or more activities in the component element.

5. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 1 wherein the first element is a first group of one or more activities and the second element is a second group of one or more activities.

6. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 1 wherein the application is developed using a Service Component Architecture (SCA) framework.

7. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 1 wherein the plurality of instructions further comprises:

instructions that cause the processor to receive a set of customizations made to the first element or the second element; and

instructions that cause the processor to store the set of customizations along with data related to the application such that the set of customizations is determinable from the data related to the application.

8. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 1 wherein the plurality of instructions further comprises:

instructions that cause the processor to determine a conflict based upon a customization made to the application and a new version of the application;

instructions that cause the processor to enable the conflict to be resolved; and

instructions that cause the processor to perform validation based upon the customization made to the application and the new version of the application.

9. A system comprising:

a memory configured to store data for an application, the application comprising a first element and a second element, wherein second element is contained by the first element; and

a processor communicatively coupled with the memory, the processor configured to;

enable first customizability parameters to be configured for the first element, the first customizability parameters controlling whether the first element is customizable or non-customizable;

enable second customizability parameters to be configured for the second element, the second customizability parameters controlling whether the second element is customizable or non-customizable;

allow the second element to be customized only if the second customizability parameters indicate the second element as being customizable irrespective of the customizability of the first element; and

disallow the second element from being customized if the first customizability parameters specify that the first element is non-customizable.

10. The system of claim 9 wherein the first element is a composite element and the second element is a component element.

11. The system of claim 10 wherein the component element is implemented using Business Process Execution Language (BPEL), Business Process Modeling Notation (BPMN), XML Schema Definition (XSD), Web Services Definition Language (WSDL), Extensible Stylesheet Language (XSL), or an XML-expressed model.

12. The system of claim 9 wherein the first element is a component element and the second element is a group of one or more activities in the component element.

13. The system of claim 9 wherein the first element is a first group of one or more activities and the second element is a second group of one or more activities.

14. The system of claim 9 wherein the processor is configured to:

receive a set of customizations made to the first element or the second element; and

store the set of customizations in the memory along with data related to the application such that the set of customizations is determinable from the data related to the application.

15. The system of claim 9 wherein the processor is configured to:

determine a conflict based upon a customization made to the application and a new version of the application;

enable the conflict to be resolved; and

perform validation based upon the customization made to the application and the new version of the application.

16. A method comprising:

enabling, by a processing system, first customizability parameters to be configured for a first element of an application, the first customizability parameters controlling whether the first element is customizable or non-customizable;

enabling, by the processing system, second customizability parameters to be configured for a second element of the application, the second customizability parameters controlling whether the second element is customizable or non-customizable, wherein the second element is hierarchically contained by the first element;

allowing, by the processing system, the second element to be customized only if the second customizability parameters indicate the second element as being customizable irrespective of the customizability of the first element; and

disallowing, by the processing system, the second element from being customized if the first customizability parameters specify that the first element is non-customizable.

17. The method of claim 16 wherein the first element is a composite element and the second element is a component element.

18. The method of claim 16 wherein the first element is a component element and the second element is a group of one or more activities in the component element.

19. The method of claim 16 further comprising:

receiving a set of customizations made to the first element or the second element; and

storing the set of customizations along with data related to the application such that the set of customizations is determinable from the data related to the application.

20. The method of claim 16 further comprising:

determining a conflict based upon a customization made to the application and a new version of the application;

enabling the conflict to be resolved; and

performing validation based upon the customization made to the application and the new version of the application.