Object oriented framework mechanism for fulfillment requirements management
First Claim
1. An apparatus, the apparatus managing fulfillment requirements for at least one item, the apparatus comprising:
- a processor; and
a memory coupled to the processor; and
an object-oriented framework mechanism residing in the memory and executed by the processor, the framework mechanism providing at least one fulfillment requirements environment.
2 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
An object oriented framework mechanism for fulfillment requirements management provides an infrastructure that embodies the steps necessary to manage and coordinate information throughout a given fulfillment requirements process, such as coordinating product information from the marketing of products to the ordering of products to the production of products. Certain core functions are provided by the framework, which interact with extensible functions provided by the framework consumer. The architecture of the framework allows a user to determine the conditions and parameters that apply to the specific environment while allowing a programmer to interact with the framework with an interface that is consistent regardless of the specific combination of parameters specified in the fulfillment requirements manager. The extensible functions allow new fulfillment requirements environments to be easily implemented using the framework. The framework thus allows a common programming interface for fulfillment requirements managers implemented using the framework, which may be easily customized to include new or changed parameters. The framework greatly simplifies the programmer'"'"'s job of developing an end-to-end system by providing a common programming interface, and by providing established classes that may be easily extended to implement the desired fulfillment requirements environment.
131 Citations
76 Claims
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1. An apparatus, the apparatus managing fulfillment requirements for at least one item, the apparatus comprising:
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a processor; and a memory coupled to the processor; and an object-oriented framework mechanism residing in the memory and executed by the processor, the framework mechanism providing at least one fulfillment requirements environment. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 25, 26)
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24. The apparatus of clam 21 wherein the entity class has a "contains by value" relationship with the availability class, the relationship class, the history class, the description class, and the rule class.
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27. A method for managing fulfillment requirements, the method comprising the steps of:
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providing an extensible object oriented framework mechanism that performs the managing of the fulfillment requirements according to extended portions of the framework mechanism that are customized to provide a desired fulfillment requirements environment; and executing the object oriented framework mechanism on an apparatus. - View Dependent Claims (28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33)
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34. A program product comprising:
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an object-oriented framework mechanism for managing fulfillment requirements, the framework mechanism including an extensible fulfillment requirements mechanism that processes a plurality of orders according to extended portions of the framework mechanism; and signal bearing media bearing the framework mechanism. - View Dependent Claims (35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45)
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46. An object oriented framework mechanism for use in an apparatus that supports an object oriented programming environment, the framework mechanism comprising:
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at least one entity object that is part of the at least one fulfillment requirements environment and a first set of object methods to perform a plurality of predetermined functions to implement the fulfillment requirements environment; at least one availability object corresponding to the at least one entity object and a second set of object methods to determine the availability of the at least one entity object; at least one relationship object corresponding to a plurality of entity objects and a third set of object methods to determine at least one relationship between the plurality of entity objects; at least one history object corresponding to the at least one entity object and a fourth set of object methods for determining the history of changes made to the at least one entity object; at least one description object corresponding to the at least one entity object and a fifth set of object methods for retrieving a description for the at least one entity object; and at least one rule object corresponding to the at least one entity object and a sixth set of object methods for retrieving at least one rule for the at least one entity object. - View Dependent Claims (47, 48, 49)
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50. A method for managing fulfillment requirements, the method comprising the steps of:
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(A) providing at least one entity object that is part of an object-oriented framework mechanism that provides at least one fulfillment requirements environment and a first set of object methods to perform a plurality of predetermined functions to implement the fulfillment requirements environment; (B) providing at least one availability object corresponding to the at least one entity object and a second set of object methods to determine the availability of the at least one entity object; (C) providing at least one relationship object corresponding to a plurality of entity objects and a third set of object methods to determine at least one relationship between the plurality of entity objects; (D) providing at least one history object corresponding to the at least one entity object and a fourth set of object methods for determining the history of changes made to the at least one entity object; (E) providing at least one description object corresponding to the at least one entity object and a fifth set of object methods for retrieving a description for the at least one entity object; (F) providing at least one rule object corresponding to the at least one entity object and a sixth set of object methods for retrieving at least one rule for the at least one entity object; and (G) executing the object oriented framework mechanism on an apparatus to process at least one order. - View Dependent Claims (51, 52, 53, 54, 55)
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56. A program product comprising:
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(A) an object oriented framework mechanism for managing fulfillment requirements including at least one entity object that is part of the at least one fulfillment requirements environment and a first set of object methods to perform a plurality of predetermined functions to implement the fulfillment requirements environment, at least one availability object corresponding to the at least one entity object and a second set of object methods to determine the availability of the at least one entity object, at least one relationship object corresponding to a plurality of entity objects and a third set of object methods to determine at least one relationship between the plurality of entity objects, at least one history object corresponding to the at least one entity object and a fourth set of object methods for determining the history of changes made to the at least one entity object, at least one description object corresponding to the at least one entity object and a fifth set of object methods for retrieving a description for the at least one entity object, and at least one rule object corresponding to the at least one entity object and a sixth set of object methods for retrieving at least one rule for the at least one entity object, wherein the object oriented framework mechanism manages fulfillment requirements according to extended portions of the framework mechanism that are customized to provide the desired fulfillment requirements environment; and (B) signal bearing media bearing the object oriented framework mechanism. - View Dependent Claims (57, 58, 59, 60, 61)
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62. An object oriented framework mechanism that manages fulfillment requirements, the framework mechanism comprising:
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at least one core function defined by relationships between a plurality of classes within the framework mechanism, wherein the implementation of the at least one core function is defined by the framework mechanism and cannot be modified by a user of the framework mechanism; and at least one extensible class wherein the implementation of the at least one extensible class is defined by the user of the framework mechanism, by extending the at least one extensible class, thereby defining at least one fulfillment requirements environment. - View Dependent Claims (63, 64, 65)
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66. A method for managing fulfillment requirements using an apparatus having a processor and a memory, the memory having an application program that provides an object oriented programming environment, the method comprising the steps of:
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(A) providing in the program an object oriented framework mechanism that performs the fulfillment requirements according to extended portions of the framework mechanism that are customized to provide a desired fulfillment requirements environment, the framework mechanism including; a set of core functions wherein the implementation of the core functions is defined by the framework mechanism and cannot be modified by a user of the framework mechanism; and a set of extensible functions wherein the implementation of the extensible functions is defined by the user of the framework mechanism; (B) extending the extensible functions in the framework mechanism to define particular classes having predetermined protocols and defining particular object methods that perform the fulfillment requirements, the extensible functions defining the desired fulfillment requirements environment; (C) generating an executable fulfillment requirements system by integrating together the extensible functions and the core functions; and (D) executing the executable fulfillment requirements system on the apparatus. - View Dependent Claims (67, 68, 69, 70, 71)
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72. A program product comprising:
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an object oriented framework mechanism for managing fulfillment requirements, the framework mechanism including at least one core function defined by relationships between a plurality of classes within the framework mechanism, wherein the implementation of the at least one core function is defined by the framework mechanism and cannot be modified by a user of the framework mechanism, the framework mechanism further including at least one extensible function defined by at least one extensible class, wherein the implementation of the at least one extensible class is defined by the user of the framework mechanism by extending the at least one extensible class, thereby defining a fulfillment requirements environment that governs the operation of the framework mechanism; and signal bearing media bearing the object oriented framework mechanism. - View Dependent Claims (73, 74, 75, 76)
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Specification