Apparatus and method for transparent application of service to business objects

• US 5,946,694 A
• Filed: 09/29/1997
• Issued: 08/31/1999
• Est. Priority Date: 09/29/1997
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Hambrick, Geoffrey M., Herness, Eric N., Redlin, Charles J., Copeland, George P.
• Primary Examiner(s): Black, Thomas G.
• Assistant Examiner(s): Mizrahi, Diane D.
• Application Number:
  US08/939,938
• Time in Patent Office: 701 Days
• Field of Search: 707/3, 707/9, 707/10, 707/100, 707/103, 707/104, 707/18, 395/182, 395/670, 395/500, 395/672, 395/683, 395/701, 395/712, 395/728, 395/800.23, 395/682, 705/36, 705/7, 705/26, 364/474.25, 379/201, 600/300, 345/349, 345/507, 380/4, 327/172
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 8/20 Software design
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 8/76 Adapting program code to run in a different environment; Porting
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99944 Object-oriented database structure
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99945 Object-oriented database structure processing

Abstract

According to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, a managed object assembly (MOA) is used to abstract the business logic of a given system from the system'"'"'s operational aspects or infrastructure-specific characteristics. The managed object includes a data object, a business object, a managed object, and a mixin object. By isolating the functions of the business logic from the infrastructure of the system (including database structure), a significant amount of flexibility can be obtained and system re-engineering becomes noticeably simpler. Specifically, by isolating the business logic from the system resource details, changes in the business logic can be made in a manner that is independent of any detailed knowledge of the resources accessed by the system. In addition, as the underlying infrastructure requirements and data structures are changed, only the data object portion and the mixin object portion of the MOA needs to be changed or updated to provide access to the newly modified data structures. This can create significant savings in time and money as a system is updated to provide additional capabilities.

Claims

1. An apparatus, the apparatus comprising:

a CPU coupled to a bus;

a memory coupled to the bus;

a managed object assembly residing in the memory; and

wherein the managed object assembly receives a method and processes the method by abstracting business logic functions from infrastructure functions according to a plurality of predetermined patterns.

2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein managed object assembly comprises:

a data object;

a business object, the business object embodying a business domain logic;

a mixin object, the mixin object providing an interface to an infrastructure domain; and

a managed object, the managed object performing business logic functions by calling a method on the business object and performing infrastructure functions by calling a method on the mixin object.

3. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein at least one of the plurality of predetermined patterns is a business domain pattern.

4. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein at least one of the plurality of predetermined patterns is an infrastructure domain pattern.

5. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein the data object provides an interface to a data storage location.

6. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein the managed object assembly routes a business domain related method to the business object.

7. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein the managed object assembly routes an infrastructure related method to the mixin object.

8. An apparatus, the apparatus comprising:

a CPU coupled to a bus;

a memory coupled to the bus;

a managed object assembly residing in the memory, the managed object assembly comprising a data object, a managed object, a business object embodying a business domain logic, and a mixin object providing an interface to an infrastructure domain; and

wherein the managed object receives a plurality of method calls and routes infrastructure functions from the plurality of method calls to the mixin object and business logic functions from the plurality of method calls to the business object.

9. The apparatus of claim 8, wherein the data object provides an interface to a data storage location and wherein the data object stores and retrieves data in the data storage location.

10. The apparatus of claim 8, wherein the managed object assembly abstracts the business domain logic from the infrastructure domain allowing changes in the infrastructure domain to be accommodated by changing the mixin object and the data object, without requiring changes be made to the business object implementing the business domain logic.

11. The apparatus of claim 8, wherein the managed object calls the mixin object to perform infrastructure functions before and after the managed object calls the business object to perform domain logic functions.

16. The program product of claim apparatus of claim 8, wherein the managed object calls the mixin object to perform infrastructure functions before and after the managed object calls the business object to perform domain logic functions.

12. An apparatus, the apparatus comprising:

a CPU coupled to a bus;

a memory coupled to the bus;

a managed object assembly residing in the memory, the managed object assembly comprising a data object, a managed object, a business object, and a mixin object;

wherein the managed object receives a business domain method call and calls a first infrastructure domain method on the mixin object to perform system related functions to prepare for business related functions;

wherein the managed object calls a first business logic method on the business object to perform the business related functions; and

wherein the managed object calls a second infrastructure domain method on the mixin object to perform system related functions necessary to complete the business related functions.

13. A computer implemented method of routing method calls in an object-oriented environment, the method comprising the steps of:

providing a managed object assembly residing in a memory location, the managed object assembly comprising a data object, a business object, a managed object, and a mixin object;

calling a first method on the managed object assembly;

the managed object assembly routing the first method call to an infrastructure domain via the mixin object based on a first predetermined pattern;

calling a second method on the managed object assembly; and

the managed object assembly routing the second method call to the business object based on a second predetermined pattern.

14. A program product for routing method calls in an object-oriented

environment, the program product comprising:

a managed object assembly, the managed object assembly comprising a data object, a business object embodying a business domain logic, a managed object, and a mixin object providing an interface to an infrastructure domain;

wherein the managed object receives a plurality of method calls and routes business logic functions from the plurality of method calls to the business object and routes infrastructure domain functions from the plurality of method calls to the mixin object; and

signal bearing media bearing the managed object assembly.

15. The program product of claim 14, wherein the data object provides an interface to a data storage location.

17. The program product of claim 14, wherein the managed object assembly abstracts the business domain logic from the infrastructure domain allowing changes in the infrastructure domain to be accommodated by changing the mixin object and the data object, without requiring changes be made to the business object implementing the business domain logic.

18. The program product of claim 14 wherein the signal bearing media comprises recordable media.

19. The program product of claim 14 wherein the signal bearing media comprises transmission media.

20. A computer-implemented method for routing method calls in an object oriented environment, the method comprising the steps of:

providing at least one Central Processing Unit (CPU);

providing a memory coupled to the at least one CPU;

providing a managed object assembly residing in the memory, the managed object assembly including a business object embodying business domain logic and a mixin object providing an interface to an infrastructure domain;

providing a software application residing in the memory and being executed by the at least one CPU;

the software application calling a method on the managed object assembly; and

the managed object assembly routing the method to another object routes business domain functions from the method to the business object and routes infrastructure functions from the method to the mixin object.

21. The computer-implemented method of claim 20, wherein the step of providing a managed object assembly residing in the memory further comprises:

providing a data object residing in the memory; and

providing a managed object residing in the memory.