Method and system for modeling of system content for businesses

• US 7,415,484 B1
• Filed: 05/09/2003
• Issued: 08/19/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 05/09/2003
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Ip Ot Sub Ulc
• Original Assignee: Vignette Corporation (Open Text Corporation)
• Inventors: Collins, Jeffrey M., Tulkoff, Michael C., Scheevel, Mark
• Primary Examiner(s): Thomson; Wiiliam
• Assistant Examiner(s): Anya; Charles E
• Application Number:
  US10/434,936
• Time in Patent Office: 1,929 Days
• Field of Search: 719/311, 719/328, 717/120, 717/121, 717100-105, 715/501.1, 715/513, 715/748, 715/750, 715/751, 715/733, 715/734, 715/737, 715/738, 715741-743, 709201-207, 709217-219, 707 1- 10, 707100-1041, 707201-205, 705 1- 10, 713182-184
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0481 based on specific properties of the displayed interaction object or a metaphor-based environment, e.g. interaction with desktop elements like windows or icons, or assisted by a cursor's changing behaviour or appearance
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 8/24 Object-oriented
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99945 Object-oriented database structure processing
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99948 Application of database or data structure, e.g. distributed, multimedia, or image

Abstract

A method and system of managing content at a network site can allow easier use by business users. A higher level of abstraction can be used to allow business users to create their own objects that may reference or contain other objects or records as managed by a content management system. Business users do not have to learn programming code in order to work those objects, which are content types. A graphical user interface (“GUI”) can be used to help the business users to create, modify, and delete content types. The GUI and the ability for business users to the create content types greatly shortens the time between receiving software to operate a network site and launching content at that network site.

Claims

1. A method of managing content at a network site comprising:

generating at least two content types;

generating a business content type wherein the business content type references the at least two content types and specifies at least one rule, wherein the generating is performed by using an application programming interface overlying a content management system;

instantiating a data object from each of the at least two content types each of the content types corresponding to a different type of data, where each of the content types comprises at least one attribute selected from each of two distinct persistent data sources, where each of the two distinct data sources is configured according to a different schema;

representing data with each of the data objects, wherein each data object represents data in one of the distinct persistent data source;

instantiating a business data object from the business content type;

associating the business data object with each of the data object; and

managing the business data object according to the at least one rule, wherein the at least one rule comprises a workflow for the data object and managing the business data object comprises managing the data represented by each of the data objects in each of the distinct persistent data sources with the content management system according to the at least one rule, wherein managing the data comprises accessing or storing data in at least one of the two distinct data sources.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein generating the business content type and the at least two content types is performed using a graphical user interface that is coupled to the application programming interface.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein generating the content types comprises specifying attributes.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the at least one rule comprises an access control.

5. The method of claim 3, wherein the attributes comprise an attribute name understood by business users, an XML name, a variable type, and a widget.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein each of the content types is based on a referenced model or a containment model.

7. The method of claim 3, further comprising saving the content types, wherein saving the content type automatically generates an XML definition of the content type.

8. A computer readable media, comprising instructions executable for providing:

an application programming interface overlying a content management system, wherein the application programming interface is configured to allow a user to generate at least two content types and a business content type wherein;

each of the content types corresponds to a different type of data and comprises at least one attribute selected from each of two distinct persistent data sources, the two distinct data sources configured according to a different schema,

the business content type references the at least two content types and specifies at least one rule,

a data object is instantiated from each of the at least two content types, each data object representing data in one of the distinct persistent data sources, and

a business data object is instantiated from the business content type, the business data object associated with each of the data objects and the business data object is managed according to the at least one rule, wherein the at least one rule comprises a workflow for the data object and managing the business data object comprises managing the data represented by each of the data objects in the distinct persistent data sources with the content management system according to the at least one rule, wherein managing the data comprises accessing or storing data in at least one of the two distinct data sources.

9. The system of claim 8, wherein generating the business content type and the at least two content types is performed using a graphical user interface that is coupled to the application programming interface.

10. The system of claim 8, wherein generating the content types comprises specifying attributes.

11. The system of claim 10, wherein the at least one rule comprises an access control.

12. The system of claim 10, wherein the attributes comprise an attribute name understood by business users, an XML name, a variable type, and a widget.

13. The system of claim 12, wherein each of the content types is based on a referenced model or a containment model.

14. The system of claim 10, further comprising saving the content types, wherein saving the content type automatically generates an XML definition of the content type.