GENERIC WAIT SERVICE: PAUSING A BPEL PROCESS

• US 20140282602A1
• Filed: 05/27/2014
• Published: 09/18/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 09/17/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Oracle International Corporation (Oracle Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Oracle International Corporation (Oracle Corporation)
• Inventors: Addala, Raju, Singh, Alok, Kozic, Scott, Sridharan, Sarita, Datti, Sunita
• Granted Patent: US 10,296,373 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 718/106
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2209/544 Remote
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/485 Task life-cycle, e.g. stopping, restarting, resuming execution G06F9/4881 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/52 Program synchronisation; Mutual exclusion, e.g. by means of semaphores
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/542 Event management; Broadcasting; Multicasting; Notifications

Abstract

A method of pausing a plurality of service-oriented application (SOA) instances may include receiving, from an instance of an SOA entering a pause state, an initiation message. The initiation message may include an exit criterion that identifies a business condition that must be satisfied before the instance of the SOA exits the pause state. The method may also include receiving a notification from an event producer, the notification comprising a status of a business event and determining whether the status of the business event satisfies the business condition of the exit criterion. The method may additionally include sending, in response to a determination that the status of the business event satisfies the business condition of the exit criterion, an indication to the instance of the SOA that the business condition has been satisfied such that the instance of the SOA can exit the pause state.

Claims

1. A method of pausing a plurality of service-oriented application (SOA) instances, the method comprising:

receiving, by a computer system, and from an instance of an SOA entering a pause state, an initiation message, the initiation message comprising an exit criterion that identifies a business condition that must be satisfied before the instance of the SOA exits the pause state;

receiving, by the computer system, a notification from an event producer, the notification comprising a status of a business event;

determining, by the computer system, whether the status of the business event satisfies the business condition of the exit criterion; and

sending, by the computer system, and in response to a determination that the status of the business event satisfies the business condition of the exit criterion, an indication to the instance of the SOA that the business condition has been satisfied such that the instance of the SOA can exit the pause state.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the computer system comprises a service module that is separate from the instance of the SOA and separate from the event producers, such that the instance of the SOA is decoupled from the event producers, and the logic for determining whether the business event satisfies the business condition is encapsulated within the service module.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving, from the instance of the SOA, a second initiation message from a different task flow of the instant of the SOA, the second initiation message comprising a second exit criterion that identifies a second business condition that must be satisfied before the second instance of the SOA exits the pause state, such that the instance of the SOA can pause and/or execute parallel task flows.

4. The method of claim 1, indication sent to the instance of the SOA that the business condition has been satisfied comprises the status.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising, sending, in response to a determination that the status of the business event does not satisfy the business condition of the exit criterion, an indication to the instance of the SOA that the business condition has not been satisfied such that the instance of the SOA should stay in the pause state.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein determining whether the status of the business event satisfies the business condition comprises determining that a status of a product order has changed from unfulfilled to fulfilled.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein:

the instance of the SOA comprises a Business Process Execution Language (BPEL) process;

the event producer comprises a web service; and

the computer system comprises an asynchronous BPEL process.

10. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving, from the instance of the SOA, a second initiation message from a different task flow of the instant of the SOA, the second initiation message comprising a second exit criterion that identifies a second business condition that must be satisfied before the second instance of the SOA exits the pause state, such that the instance of the SOA can pause and/or execute parallel task flows.

8. A non-transitory computer-readable medium comprising instructions which, when executed by one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform operations comprising:

receiving, from an instance of an SOA entering a pause state, an initiation message, the initiation message comprising an exit criterion that identifies a business condition that must be satisfied before the instance of the SOA exits the pause state;

receiving a notification from an event producer, the notification comprising a status of a business event;

determining whether the status of the business event satisfies the business condition of the exit criterion; and

sending, in response to a determination that the status of the business event satisfies the business condition of the exit criterion, an indication to the instance of the SOA that the business condition has been satisfied such that the instance of the S OA can exit the pause state.

9. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 8, wherein the one or more processors are part of a service module that is separate from the instance of the SOA and separate from the event producers, such that the instance of the SOA is decoupled from the event producers, and the logic for determining whether the business event satisfies the business condition is encapsulated within the service module.

11. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 8, indication sent to the instance of the SOA that the business condition has been satisfied comprises the status.

12. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 8, further comprising, sending, in response to a determination that the status of the business event does not satisfy the business condition of the exit criterion, an indication to the instance of the SOA that the business condition has not been satisfied such that the instance of the SOA should stay in the pause state.

13. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 8, wherein determining whether the status of the business event satisfies the business condition comprises determining that a status of a product order has changed from unfulfilled to fulfilled.

14. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 8, wherein:

the instance of the SOA comprises a Business Process Execution Language (BPEL) process;

the event producer comprises a web service; and

the operations performed by the one or more processors comprise an asynchronous BPEL process.

15. A system comprising:

one or more processors; and

one or more memory devices comprising instructions which, when executed by one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform operations comprising;

receiving, from an instance of an SOA entering a pause state, an initiation message, the initiation message comprising an exit criterion that identifies a business condition that must be satisfied before the instance of the SOA exits the pause state;

receiving a notification from an event producer, the notification comprising a status of a business event;

determining whether the status of the business event satisfies the business condition of the exit criterion; and

sending, in response to a determination that the status of the business event satisfies the business condition of the exit criterion, an indication to the instance of the SOA that the business condition has been satisfied such that the instance of the SOA can exit the pause state.

16. The system of claim 15, wherein the system comprises a service module that is separate from the instance of the SOA and separate from the event producers, such that the instance of the SOA is decoupled from the event producers, and the logic for determining whether the business event satisfies the business condition is encapsulated within the service module.

17. The system of claim 15, further comprising:

receiving, from the instance of the SOA, a second initiation message from a different task flow of the instant of the SOA, the second initiation message comprising a second exit criterion that identifies a second business condition that must be satisfied before the second instance of the SOA exits the pause state, such that the instance of the SOA can pause and/or execute parallel task flows.

18. The system of claim 15, indication sent to the instance of the SOA that the business condition has been satisfied comprises the status.

19. The system of claim 15, further comprising, sending, in response to a determination that the status of the business event does not satisfy the business condition of the exit criterion, an indication to the instance of the SOA that the business condition has not been satisfied such that the instance of the SOA should stay in the pause state.

20. The system of claim 15, wherein determining whether the status of the business event satisfies the business condition comprises determining that a status of a product order has changed from unfulfilled to fulfilled.