Participant server which process documents for commerce in trading partner networks

• US 6,226,675 B1
• Filed: 10/16/1998
• Issued: 05/01/2001
• Est. Priority Date: 10/16/1998
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Red Hat, Inc. (International Business Machines Corporation)
• Original Assignee: COMMERCE ONE, INC. (Proactis Holdings Plc)
• Inventors: Persson, Kenneth, Schwarzhoff, Kelly Lane, Davidson, Andrew Everett, Glushko, Robert John, Fuchs, Matthew Daniel, Meltzer, Bart Alan
• Primary Examiner(s): Coulter, Kenneth R.
• Application Number:
  US09/173,847
• Time in Patent Office: 928 Days
• Field of Search: 705/26, 709/223, 709/230, 707/513, 370/466
• US Class Current: 709/223
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/06 Resources, workflows, human or project management; Enterprise or organisation planning; Enterprise or organisation modelling
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0633 Lists, e.g. purchase orders, compilation or processing
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 99/00 Subject matter not provided for in other groups of this subclass

Abstract

Participant servers in a network of customers, suppliers and other trading partners exchange machine readable documents. The participants in the network use self defining electronic documents, such as XML based documents, which can be easily understood amongst the partners. Definitions of the electronic business documents, called business interface definitions, are posted on the Internet, or otherwise communicated to members of the network. The business interface definitions tell potential trading partners the services the company offers and the documents to use when communicating with such services. Thus, a typical business interface definition allows a customer to place an order by submitting a purchase order or a supplier checks availability by downloading an inventory status report. Participants are programmed by the composition of the input and output documents, coupled with interpretation information in a common business library, to handle the transaction in a way which closely parallels the way in which paper based businesses operate.

Claims

1. A method for executing transactions among nodes in a network including a plurality of nodes which execute processes involved in the transactions, comprising:

storing a machine-readable specification of an interface for a transaction, the specification including a definition of an input document, and a definition of an output document, the definitions of the input and output documents comprising respective descriptions of sets of storage units and logical structures for the sets of storage units;

receiving data comprising a document through a communication network;

parsing the document according to the specification to identify an input document;

providing at least a portion of the input document in a machine-readable format to a transaction process which produces an output;

forming, based on the specification, an output document comprising the output according to the definition of an output document; and

transmitting the output document on the communication network.

2. The method of claim 1, including:

accessing a specification of a complementary interface provided for another node in the network for the transaction, the accessed specification including a definition of an input document for the complementary interface, and a definition of an output document for the complementary interface; and

establishing the stored specification of the interface by including at least part of the definition of the output document of the complementary interface in the definition of the input document of the interface in the stored specification.

3. The method of claim 2, including:

finding the complementary interface in the network.

4. The method of claim 2, wherein the establishing the stored specification includes accessing elements of the machine-readable specification from a repository, the repository storing a library of logical structures, schematic maps for logic structures, and definitions of documents comprising logic structures used to build interface descriptions.

5. The method of claim 2, including:

establishing the stored specification of the interface by including at least part of the definition of the input document of the complementary interface in the definition of the output document of the interface in the stored specification.

6. The method of claim 1, including providing access to the specification through the communication network to other nodes in the network.

7. The method of claim 1, including sending the specification of the interface to another node in the network, at which access to the specification is provided for other nodes in the network.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the machine-readable specification includes a document compliant with a definition of an interface document including logical structures for storing an identifier of a particular transaction, and at least one of definitions and references to definitions of input and output documents for the particular transaction.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the machine-readable specification includes a document compliant with a definition of an interface document including logical structures for storing an identifier of the interface, and for storing at least one of specifications and references to specifications of a set of one or more transactions supported by the interface.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein the machine-readable specification includes a reference to a specification of a particular transaction, and the specification of the particular transaction includes a document including logical structures for storing at least one of definitions and references to definitions of input and output documents for the particular transaction.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein the storage units comprise parsed data.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein the parsed data in at least one of the input and output documents comprises:

character data encoding text characters in the one of the input and output documents, and

markup data identifying sets of storage units according to the logical structure of the one of the input and output documents.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein at least one of the sets of storage units encodes a plurality of text characters providing a natural language word.

14. The method of claim 11, wherein the specification includes interpretation information for at least one of the sets of storage units identified by the logical structure of at least one of the input and output documents, encoding respective definitions for sets of parsed characters.

15. The method of claim 11, wherein the storage units comprise unparsed data.

16. The method of claim 1, wherein the transaction process has a variant transaction processing architecture, and including translating at least of portion of the input document into a format readable according to the variant transaction processing architecture of the transaction process.

17. The method of claim 16, wherein the translating includes producing programming objects including variables and methods according to the variant transaction processing architecture of the transaction process.

18. The method of claim 16, wherein the variant transaction processing architecture of the transaction process includes a process compliant with an interface description language.

19. The method of claim 1, wherein the definitions of the input and output documents comprise document type definitions compliant with a standard Extensible Markup Language XML.

20. The method of claim 1, including providing a repository of document types for use in a plurality of transactions, and wherein the definition of one of the input and output documents includes a reference to a document type in the repository.

21. The method of claim 20, wherein the repository of document types includes a document type for identifying participant processes in the network.

22. The method of claim 20, including providing a repository of interpretation information for logical structures, including interpretation information identifying parameters of transactions.

23. The method of claim 1, wherein the transaction process has variant transaction processing architecture, and including:

accessing a specification of a complementary interface, the accessed specification including a definition of an input document for the complementary interface, and a definition of an output document for the complementary interface;

establishing the stored specification of the interface by including the definition of the output document of the complementary interface as the definition of the input document of the interface in the stored specification; and

compiling in response to the definitions of the input and output documents, data structures corresponding to the sets of storage units and logical structures of the input and output documents compliant with the transaction processing architecture of the transaction process, instructions executable by the system to translate the input document to the corresponding data structures, and instructions executable by the system to translate output of the transaction process into a form compliant with the definition of the output document.

24. The method of claim 23, including:

establishing the stored specification of the interface by including the definition of the input document of the complementary interface as the definition of the output document of the interface in the stored specification.

25. The method of claim 1, wherein the transaction process has a variant transaction processing architecture, and wherein the establishing the stored specification includes accessing elements of the machine-readable specification from a repository, the repository storing a library of logical structures, schematic maps for logical structures, and definitions of documents comprising logical structures used to build interface descriptions;

and including

compiling in response to the definitions of the input and output documents, data structures corresponding to the sets of storage units and logical structures of the input and output documents compliant with the transaction processing architecture of the transaction process, instructions executable by the system to translate the input document to the corresponding data structures, and instructions executable by the system to translate output of the transaction process into a form compliant with the definition of the output document.

26. Apparatus for managing transactions among nodes in a network including a plurality of nodes which execute processes involved in the transactions, comprising:

a network interface;

memory storing data and programs of instructions, including a machine-readable specification of an interface for a transaction, the specification including a definition of an input document, and a definition of an output document, the definitions of the input and output documents comprising respective descriptions of sets of storage units and logical structures for the sets of storage units;

a data processor coupled to the memory and the network interface which executes the programs of instructions;

wherein the programs of instructions include

logic to receive data comprising a document through a network interface;

logic to parse the document according to the specification to identify an input document;

logic to provide at least a portion of the input document in a machine-readable format to a transaction process which produces an output;

logic to form, based on the specification, an output document comprising the output according to the definition of an output document; and

logic to transmit the output document on the network interface.

27. The apparatus of claim 26, including:

logic to access a specification of a complementary interface, the accessed specification including a definition of an input document for the complementary interface, and a definition of an output document for the complementary interface; and

logic to establish the stored specification of the interface by including the definition of the output document of the complementary interface as the definition of the input document of the interface in the stored specification.

28. The apparatus of claim 27, wherein the logic to establish the stored specification includes logic to access elements of the machine-readable specification from a repository, the repository storing a library of logical structures, schematic maps for logic structures, and definitions of documents comprising logic structures used to build interface descriptions.

29. The apparatus of claim 27, including:

logic to establish the stored specification of the interface by including the definition of the input document of the complementary interface as the definition of the output document of the interface in the stored specification.

30. The apparatus of claim 26, including logic to provide access to the specification through the network interface to other nodes in the network.

31. The apparatus of claim 26, including logic to send the specification of the interface to another node in the network, at which access to the specification is provided for other nodes in the network.

32. The apparatus of claim 26, wherein the machine-readable specification includes a document compliant with a definition of an interface document including logical structures for storing an identifier of a particular transaction, and at least one of definitions and references to definitions of input and output documents for the particular transaction.

33. The apparatus of claim 26, wherein the machine-readable specification includes a document compliant with a definition of an interface document including logical structures for storing an identifier of the interface, and for storing at least one of specifications and references to specifications of a set of one or more transactions supported by the interface.

34. The apparatus of claim 33, wherein the machine-readable specification includes a reference to a specification of a particular transaction, and the specification of the particular transaction includes a document including logical structures for storing at least one of definitions and references to definitions of input and output documents for the particular transaction.

35. The apparatus of claim 26, wherein the storage units comprise parsed data.

36. The apparatus of claim 35, wherein the parsed data in at least one of the input and output documents comprises:

character data encoding text characters in the one of the input and output documents, and

markup data identifying sets of storage units according to the logical structure of the one of the input and output documents.

37. The apparatus of claim 36, wherein at least one of the sets of storage units encodes a plurality of text characters providing a natural language word.

38. The apparatus of claim 35, wherein the specification includes interpretation information for at least one of the sets of storage units identified by the logical structure of at least one of the input and output documents, encoding respective definitions for sets of parsed characters.

39. The apparatus of claim 35, wherein the storage units comprise unparsed data.

40. The apparatus of claim 26, wherein the transaction process has variant transaction processing architecture, and including logic to translate at least of portion of the input document into a format readable according to the variant transaction processing architecture of the transaction process.

41. The apparatus of claim 40, wherein the logic to translate includes logic to produce programming objects including variables and methods according to the variant transaction processing architecture of the transaction process.

42. The apparatus of claim 40, wherein the variant transaction processing architecture of the transaction process includes a process compliant with an interface description language.

43. The apparatus of claim 26, wherein the definitions of the input and output documents comprise document type definitions compliant with a standard Extensible Markup Language XML.

44. The apparatus of claim 26, including memory accessible by the processor storing a repository of document types for use in a plurality of transactions, and wherein the definition of one of the input and output documents includes a reference to a document type in the repository.

45. The apparatus of claim 44, wherein the repository of document types includes a document type for identifying participant processes in the network.

46. The apparatus of claim 44, including providing a repository of interpretation information for logical structures, including interpretation information identifying parameters of transactions.

47. The apparatus of claim 26, wherein the transaction process has variant transaction processing architecture, and including:

logic to access a specification of a complementary interface, the accessed specification including a definition of an input document for the complementary interface, and a definition of an output document for the complementary interface;

logic to establish the stored specification of the interface by including the definition of the output document of the complementary interface as the definition of the input document of the interface in the stored specification; and

logic to compile in response to the definitions of the input and output documents, data structures corresponding to the sets of storage units and logical structures of the input and output documents compliant with the transaction processing architecture of the transaction process, to compile instructions executable by the system to translate the input document to the corresponding data structures, and to compile instructions executable by the system to translate output of the transaction process into a form compliant with the definition of the output document.

48. The apparatus of claim 47, including:

logic to establish the stored specification of the interface by including the definition of the input document of the complementary interface as the definition of the output document of the interface in the stored specification.

49. The apparatus of claim 26, wherein the transaction process has a variant transaction processing architecture, and including logic to establish the stored specification by accessing elements of the machine-readable specification from a repository, the repository storing a library of logical structures, schematic maps for logical structures, and definitions of documents comprising logical structures used to build interface descriptions;

and including

logic to compile in response to the definitions of the input and output documents, data structures corresponding to the sets of storage units and logical structures of the input and output documents compliant with the transaction processing architecture of the transaction process, to compile instructions executable by the system to translate the input document to the corresponding data structures, and to compile instructions executable by the system to translate output of the transaction process into a form compliant with the definition of the output document.