Middleware for business transactions
First Claim
1. A system comprising:
- a server configured to process business transactions;
a domain manager;
a middleware program communicatively coupled to the server, wherein the middleware program comprises a domain file, the domain file comprising a plurality of serialized files generated by the domain manager from a domain source file, the domain source file comprising source definitions for a plurality of domains required by the system to process the business transaction, wherein each of the plurality of serialized files comprises a list of allowable values of a domain associated with one or more business transactions;
a channel communicatively coupled to the middleware program and to the server; and
an interface program communicatively coupled to the channel and to the middleware program, wherein the interface program is configured to receive data from the channel and to receive a command that will initiate a business transaction and transmit the command to the middleware program;
wherein the interface program receives the data from the channel and transmits the data to the middleware program;
wherein the middleware program determines whether portions of the received data include allowable values based on one of plurality of serialized files, and wherein the middleware program transforms the data into a form required by the server and transmits the transformed data to the server, wherein the server performs the business transaction after the command to initiate the business transaction has been transmitted to the middleware program and the transformed data is transmitted to the server.
1 Assignment
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Accused Products
Abstract
A middleware program provides an interface between an input channel and a business transaction server. The middleware program receives data and commands from an interface program that is coupled to an input channel. The middleware program validates the data, orders the data, transforms the data into a form required by the server, sends the data to the server, and the middleware program receives the results of the business transaction from the server. The middleware program transforms the results into a form required by the interface program and sends the results to the interface program. The interface program displays the results. The middleware program may reduce the time required to create an interface to a channel. The middleware program moves business logic out of the server or legacy program and into a middle layer that may be easily integrated with many different types of visual or non-visual user interfaces. The architecture of the middleware program allows the middleware program to be easily used with a variety of different types of channels.
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Citations
36 Claims
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1. A system comprising:
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a server configured to process business transactions; a domain manager; a middleware program communicatively coupled to the server, wherein the middleware program comprises a domain file, the domain file comprising a plurality of serialized files generated by the domain manager from a domain source file, the domain source file comprising source definitions for a plurality of domains required by the system to process the business transaction, wherein each of the plurality of serialized files comprises a list of allowable values of a domain associated with one or more business transactions; a channel communicatively coupled to the middleware program and to the server; and an interface program communicatively coupled to the channel and to the middleware program, wherein the interface program is configured to receive data from the channel and to receive a command that will initiate a business transaction and transmit the command to the middleware program; wherein the interface program receives the data from the channel and transmits the data to the middleware program;
wherein the middleware program determines whether portions of the received data include allowable values based on one of plurality of serialized files, and wherein the middleware program transforms the data into a form required by the server and transmits the transformed data to the server, wherein the server performs the business transaction after the command to initiate the business transaction has been transmitted to the middleware program and the transformed data is transmitted to the server. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15)
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16. A carrier medium that stores program instructions, wherein the program instructions are computer-executable to implement a method comprising:
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receiving data from one interface program of a plurality of interface programs, wherein each interface program is communicatively coupled to one of a plurality of channels, wherein the data is received by the interface program from the channel to which it is coupled; determining whether a portion of received data includes values in a list of allowable values in a serialized file using the middleware program, wherein the serialized file is one of a plurality of serialized files in a domain file generated by a domain manager from a domain source file, the domain source file comprising source definitions for a plurality of domains required by a system to process a business transaction, wherein each of the plurality of serialized files comprises a list of allowable values of a domain associated with one or more business transactions; if the portion of received data does not include values in a list of allowable values, notifying the user interface and receiving corrected data; if the portion of received data includes values in a list of allowable values, transforming the data into a form required by the business transaction server using the middleware program and transferring the transformed data to a business transaction server; wherein the program instructions comprise a plurality of objects, wherein at least one of the plurality of objects is used in determining whether the portion of received data includes values in a list of allowable values. - View Dependent Claims (17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25)
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26. A method of performing a business transaction on a computer system using a user interface program, a middleware program, and a business transaction server, the method comprising:
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entering data into a channel that communicatively couples to the user interface; transferring the data to the middleware program; providing a domain file, the domain file comprising a plurality of serialized files generated by a domain manager from a domain source file, the domain source file comprising source definitions for a plurality of domains required by the computer system to perform the business transaction, wherein each of the plurality of serialized files comprises a list of allowable values of a domain associated with one or more business transactions; determining whether a portion of the data includes values in a list of allowable values in one of the serialized files using the middleware program, if the portion of the data does not include values in a list of allowable values, notifying the user interface and receiving corrected data; if the portion of the data includes values in a list of allowable values; transforming the data into a form required by the business transaction server using the middleware program; transferring the transformed data to the business transaction server using the middleware program; and processing the transformed data using the business transaction server. - View Dependent Claims (27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36)
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Specification