Profile service
First Claim
1. A mechanism for managing a plurality of profile data structures, each profile data structure comprising a hierarchical structure of attributes, where each attribute comprises information about an entity, the mechanism comprising:
- a plurality of profile objects having an interface for sending and receiving information;
a profile service mechanism having an interface for sending and receiving information;
a protocol layer operatively coupled to the profile objects interface and the profile service interface, the protocol layer defining a plurality of request elements and a plurality of response elements;
protocol layer interface within the protocol layer receiving user-entity specified set of request elements from the user entity and sending a responsive set of response elements to the user entity;
a first set of methods within the profile service mechanism that create instances of the profile objects, wherein each of the first set of methods correspond to one of the request elements and one of the response elements; and
a second set of methods within the profile objects that manipulate instances of the profile objects, wherein each of the second set of methods correspond to one of the request elements and one of the response elements.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A mechanism for managing a plurality of profile data structures including a plurality of profile objects having an interface for sending and receiving information and a profile service mechanism having an interface for sending and receiving information. A protocol layer operatively coupled to the profile objects interface and the profile service interface, the protocol layer defining a plurality of request elements and a plurality of response elements. A protocol layer interface within the protocol layer receives user-entity specified set of request elements from the user entity and sends a responsive set of response elements to the user entity. A first set of methods within the profile service mechanism that create instances of the profile objects, where each of the first set of methods correspond to one of the request elements and one of the response elements. A second set of methods within the profile objects that manipulate instances of the profile objects, where each of the second set of methods correspond to one of the request elements and one of the response elements.
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Citations
28 Claims
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1. A mechanism for managing a plurality of profile data structures, each profile data structure comprising a hierarchical structure of attributes, where each attribute comprises information about an entity, the mechanism comprising:
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a plurality of profile objects having an interface for sending and receiving information;
a profile service mechanism having an interface for sending and receiving information;
a protocol layer operatively coupled to the profile objects interface and the profile service interface, the protocol layer defining a plurality of request elements and a plurality of response elements;
protocol layer interface within the protocol layer receiving user-entity specified set of request elements from the user entity and sending a responsive set of response elements to the user entity;
a first set of methods within the profile service mechanism that create instances of the profile objects, wherein each of the first set of methods correspond to one of the request elements and one of the response elements; and
a second set of methods within the profile objects that manipulate instances of the profile objects, wherein each of the second set of methods correspond to one of the request elements and one of the response elements. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
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11. A program interface for integration with a service software program having a plurality of defined methods, each method configured to receive one or more arguments, the interface comprising:
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a client software program generating a set of service request messages to be satisfied by the service software program, each request message specifying one of the plurality of methods and including any necessary arguments for the specified method;
a client-side protocol mechanism formatting the service request messages into a mark-up language request document;
a client-side transport protocol layer embedding the mark-up language request document into a transportable data packet;
a server-side transport protocol layer receiving the transportable data packet and extracting the mark-up language request document from the transportable data packet; and
a service-side protocol layer coupled to receive the mark-up language document, extract a set of request messages and pass each request messages to the service software program specified in the request message. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18)
each markup language request document comprises a plurality of request elements, each request element having a unique ID associated therewith; and
the markup language response document comprises a plurality of response elements each response element having a tag indicating the unique ID of a request element to which it is responsive.
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19. A method for accessing a profile server, the profile server managing a plurality of profile objects, each of the profile objects including a first set of methods for manipulating attributes contained in the profile object, the method comprising the steps of:
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creating an instance of a profile service mechanism having a second set of methods defining a first interface for communicating with a user entity and a second interface for communicating the plurality of profile objects;
using an external software application, generating a request message identifying one of the methods in the first and second set of methods;
formatting the request message as an extensible markup language (XML) request document;
embedding the XML document in an HTTP transport packet;
communicating the HTTP transport packet to the profile service mechanism;
extracting the embedded, formatted request message from the XML document; and
directing the extracted request message to the method identified in the request message. - View Dependent Claims (20, 21, 22)
using the identified method, generating a response message in response to the request message;
formatting the response message as an XML response document;
embedding the XML response document as an HTTP transport packet; and
communicating the HTTP transport packet to the external software application.
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22. The method of claim 21 wherein the request document uniquely identifies each formatted request message and the response document includes a tag indicating the formatted request message to which it is responsive.
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23. A computer program product embodied in a tangible form comprising:
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computer program devices readable by a data processor coupled to receive the propagating signal for interfacing with a profile data service, the computer program product comprising;
first program code devices configured to cause a data processor to create an creating an instance of a profile service mechanism having a second set of methods defining a first interface for communicating with a user entity and a second interface for communicating the plurality of profile objects;
second program code devices configured to cause a data processor to generating a request message identifying one of the methods in the first and second set of methods;
third program code devices configured to cause the data processor to format the request message as an extensible markup language (XML) request document;
fourth program code devices configured to cause the data processor to embed the XML document in an HTTP transport packet;
fifth program code devices configured to cause the data processor to communicate the HTTP transport packet to the profile service mechanism;
sixth program code devices configured to cause the data processor to extract the embedded, formatted request message from the XML document; and
seventh program code devices configured to cause the data processor to direct the extracted request message to the method identified in the request message. - View Dependent Claims (24, 25, 26, 27)
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28. A mechanism for accessing a profile server comprising:
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means within the profile server for managing a plurality of profile objects, each of the profile objects including a first set of methods for manipulating attributes contained in the profile object, the method comprising the steps of;
means for creating an instance of a profile service mechanism having a second set of methods defining a first interface for communicating with a user entity and a second interface for communicating the plurality of profile objects;
means for generating a request message identifying one of the methods in the first and second set of methods;
means for formatting the request message as an extensible markup language (XML) request document;
means for embedding the XML document in an HTTP transport packet;
means for communicating the HTTP transport packet to the profile service mechanism;
means for extracting the embedded, formatted request message from the XML document; and
means for directing the extracted request message to the method identified in the request message.
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Specification