System and Method of Annotating Class Models

• US 20120102456A1
• Filed: 10/26/2010
• Published: 04/26/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 10/26/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: SAP SE
• Original Assignee: SAP AG (SAP SE)
• Inventors: Paulheim, Heiko, Probst, Florian
• Granted Patent: US 8,701,087 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 717/116
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 8/73 Program documentation

Abstract

In one embodiment the present invention includes a computer-implemented method of annotating software objects. The method includes storing rules that define how to annotate a software object. The method further includes processing the software object according to the rules. The method further includes generating an annotation document based on the software object having been processed according to the rules. The method further includes generating an annotated software object based on the software object and the annotation document. As a result, annotated software objects may be generated in a dynamic, non-intrusive manner.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method of annotating software objects, comprising:

providing a software object, wherein the software object is an instance of a class in an object-oriented computing environment, and wherein the software object is generated by a software component executed by an application server;

storing a plurality of rules, wherein the plurality of rules define how to annotate the software object, and wherein the plurality of rules operate according to the class of the software object;

processing, by an annotation engine component executed by the application server, the software object according to the plurality of rules;

generating, by the annotation engine component, an annotation document based on the software object having been processed according to the plurality of rules; and

generating, by an application programming interface component executed by the application server, an annotated software object based on the software object and the annotation document, wherein the annotated software object corresponds to the software object as annotated by the annotation document.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the software component is configured to generate the software object such that the software object lacks annotation.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the annotation engine component is configured to process the software object in a non-intrusive manner with regard to the software component.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the plurality of rules relate an ontology and a class model according to an arbitrary mapping.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the plurality of rules define how to create an annotation document, wherein the plurality of rules includes a plurality of categories and a plurality of relations, and wherein the plurality of categories and the plurality of relations relate to a domain ontology.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

registering, by the annotation engine component, the plurality of rules.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the annotation engine component is configured to generate the annotation document in a dynamic manner.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the plurality of rules includes a particular rule that has a head and a body, further comprising:

generating, by a rule engine component of the annotation engine component, a set of resource description framework (RDF) triples from the head of the particular rule when the body of the particular rule is met by the software object.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the plurality of rules includes an expression, further comprising:

testing and reading data from, by an object inspector component of the annotation engine component, the software object according to the expression to obtain a result.

10. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

creating, by a resource identifier factory component of the annotation engine component, a resource identifier for the software object, wherein the resource identifier is unique to the software object, and wherein the resource identifier is unambiguous for the software object.

11. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

generating, by an annotation writer component of the annotation engine component, the annotation document based on a result of an expression in the plurality of rules applied to the software object.

12. A computer program, embodied on a tangible recording medium, for controlling a computer system to annotate software objects, the computer program comprising:

a storage component that is configured to store a plurality of rules, wherein the plurality of rules define how to annotate a software object, wherein the software object is an instance of a class in an object-oriented computing environment, and wherein the plurality of rules operate according to the class of the software object;

an annotation engine component that is configured to process, when executed by an application server, the software object according to the plurality of rules, and is configured to generate an annotation document based on the software object having been processed according to the plurality of rules; and

an application programming interface component that is configured to generate, when executed by the application server, an annotated software object based on the software object and the annotation document, wherein the annotated software object corresponds to the software object as annotated by the annotation document.

13. A system for controlling a computer system to annotate software objects, comprising:

a server computer that is configured to connect to a client computer via a network,

wherein the server computer is configured to store a plurality of rules, wherein the plurality of rules define how to annotate a software object, wherein the software object is an instance of a class in an object-oriented computing environment, and wherein the plurality of rules operate according to the class of the software object,

wherein the server computer is configured to process the software object according to the plurality of rules,

wherein the server computer is configured to generate an annotation document based on the software object having been processed according to the plurality of rules, and

wherein the server computer is configured to generate an annotated software object based on the software object and the annotation document, wherein the annotated software object corresponds to the software object as annotated by the annotation document.

14. The system of claim 13, wherein the server computer is configured to generate the software object.

15. The system of claim 13, wherein the server computer is configured to execute a storage component, an annotation engine component, and an application programming interface component,

wherein the storage component is configured to store the plurality of rules,

wherein the annotation engine component is configured to process the software object according to the plurality of rules, and to generate an annotation document based on the software object having been processed according to the plurality of rules, and

wherein the application programming interface component is configured to generate the annotated software object based on the software object and the annotation document.