Exploiting services in an integrated development environment

• US 7,480,916 B2
• Filed: 10/09/2002
• Issued: 01/20/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 10/12/2001
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Przybylski, Piotr, Fahmy, Hesham E., Beisiegel, Michael
• Primary Examiner(s): An; Meng-Ai
• Assistant Examiner(s): PRICE, NATHAN E
• Application Number:
  US10/267,407
• Publication Number:
  US 20030074217A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,295 Days
• Field of Search: 719/310, 719/311, 709/203, 709/219, 717/100, 717/102
• US Class Current: 719/311
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/06 Resources, workflows, human or project management; Enterprise or organisation planning; Enterprise or organisation modelling

Abstract

Presented herein is a method and computer program product for generating, in an Integrated Development Environment (IDE), a software application that is designed to exploit services of multiple Enterprise Information Systems (EISs). In one embodiment, the method associates each of multiple Resource and Tooling Adapters (RTAs) with a selected one of multiple Enterprise Information Services (EISs). A software application, which uses multiple EISs and is developed through development facilities of an Integrated Development Environment (IDE), is identified. Source code that is used to access the services of the multiple EISs is generated by plugging multiple corresponding RTAs into the IDE. Using plugged-in multiple corresponding RTAs in the IDE, data is provided, to the IDE, that describes services available from the multiple EISs to the software application.

Claims

1. A method for generating, in an Integrated Development Environment (IDE), a software application that is designed to exploit services of multiple Enterprise Information Systems (EISs), the method comprising:

receiving, in an Integrated Development Environment (IDE), data indicating that a software application is being developed for an application that requires an interaction with needed services from multiple Enterprise Information Services (EISs), wherein the IDE provides a developer with a development environment using a Graphical User Interface (GUI), wherein the GUI includes multiple windows for viewing source code, project files, and debugging information;

responsive to the data being received, querying, by the IDE, whether Resource and Tooling Adapters (RTAs) for the multiple EISs are available, wherein the RTAs provide an IDE with access to needed multiple EISs;

in response to the querying determining that required RTAs for accessing multiple EISs are not available, issuing a warning that the multiple EISs are not accessible through the required RTAs;

in response to the querying determining that the required RTAs for accessing the multiple EISs are available, transmitting a query to the required RTAs requesting identification of the needed services that are provided from the multiple EISs with which the required RTAs are associated;

locating, by the multiple EISs, the needed services;

presenting, by the IDE, the needed services to a separate window in a Graphical User Interface (GUI) that is supported by the multiple EISs;

in response to the needed services being presented to the separate window in the GUI, receiving, by the IDE, data that is indicative of which needed services are selected by a user;

in response to the IDE receiving the data that is indicative of which needed services are selected by the user, invoking a “

get documents”

command from the IDE to the required RTAs, wherein the “

get documents”

command instructs the required RTAs to locate abstract services documents, in the required RTAs, that provide abstract descriptions of the needed services provided by the multiple EISs; and

in response to the “

get documents”

command succeeding in locating the abstract services documents as a result of communication between the required RTAs and the needed multiple EISs, generating, in the IDE, code that accesses the needed services for the software application, wherein the needed services are provided by the needed multiple EISs.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the querying, by the IDE, whether RTAs for the multiple EISs are available is performed by querying a repository to identify which RTAs have been plugged into the IDE.

3. A method for generating, in an Integrated Development Environment (IDE), a software application that is designed to exploit services of multiple Enterprise Information Systems (EISs), the method comprising:

associating each of multiple Resource and Tooling Adapter (RTAs) with a selected one of multiple Enterprise Information Services (EISs);

identifying a software application that is being developed through development facilities of an Integrated Development Environment (IDE), wherein the software application requires use of services provided by multiple EISs, wherein the multiple EISs include at least one database describing transaction servers available to the software application, wherein the IDE provides a developer with a development environment using a Graphical User Interface (GUI) and wherein the GUI includes multiple windows for viewing source code, project files, and debugging information;

generating source code necessary to access the services of the multiple EISs by plugging multiple corresponding RTAs into the IDE; and

through plugged-in multiple corresponding RTAs into the IDE, providing data, to the IDE, that describes services available from the multiple EISs to the software application, wherein there is no direct communication between the software application and the multiple RTAs while the software application is under development in the IDE, and wherein the software application is aware of the multiple RTAs only during runtime.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the multiple EISs include at least one database for human resources data.

5. The method of claim 3, wherein the multiple EISs include at least one database for inventory data.

6. The method of claim 3, wherein the multiple EISs include at least one database for Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP).

7. A method for generating, in an Integrated Development Environment (IDE), a software application that is designed to exploit services of multiple Enterprise Information Systems (EISs), the method comprising:

associating a single Resource and Tooling Adapter (RTA) with multiple Enterprise Information Services (EISs);

identifying a software application that is being developed through development facilities of an Integrated Development Environment (IDE), wherein the software application requires use of services provided by multiple EISs, wherein the multiple EISs include at least one database describing transaction servers available to the software application, and wherein the IDE provides a developer with a development environment using a Graphical User Interface (GUI) that includes multiple windows for viewing source code, project files, and debugging information;

generating source code necessary to access the services of the multiple EISs by plugging the single RTA into the IDE; and

through a plugged-in single RTA, providing data, to the IDE, that describes services available from the multiple EISs to the software application, wherein there is no direct communication between the software application and the single RTA while the software application is under development in the IDE, and wherein the software application is aware of the single RTA only during runtime.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein the multiple EISs include at least one database for human resources data.

9. The method of claim 7, wherein the multiple EISs include at least one database for inventory data.

10. The method of claim 7, wherein the multiple EISs include at least one database for Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP).

11. A computer-readable medium encoded with a computer program that, when executed, performs the steps of:

receiving, in an Integrated Development Environment (IDE), data indicating that a software application is being developed for an application that requires an interaction with needed services from multiple Enterprise Information Services (EISs);

responsive to the data being received, querying, by the IDE, whether Resource and Tooling Adapters (RTAs) for the multiple EISs are available, wherein the RTAs provide an IDE with access to needed multiple EISs;

in response to the querying determining that required RTAs for accessing multiple EISs are not available, issuing a warning that the multiple EISs are not accessible through the required RTAs;

in response to the querying determining that the required RTAs for accessing the multiple EISs are available, transmitting a query to the required RTAs requesting identification of the needed services that are provided from the multiple EISs with which the required RTAs are associated;

locating, by the multiple EISs, the needed services;

presenting, by the IDE, the needed services to a separate window in a Graphical User Interface (GUI) that is supported by the multiple EISs;

in response to the needed services being presented to the separate window in the GUI, receiving, by the IDE, data that is indicative of which needed services are selected by a user;

in response to the IDE receiving the data that is indicative of which needed services are selected by the user, invoking a “

get documents”

command from the IDE to the required RTAs, wherein the “

get documents”

command instructs the required RTAs to locate abstract services documents, in the required RTAs, that provide abstract descriptions of the needed services provided by the multiple EISs; and

in response to the “

get documents”

command succeeding in locating the abstract services documents as a result of communication between the required RTAs and the needed multiple EISs, generating, in the IDE, code that accesses the needed services for the software application, wherein the needed services are provided by the needed multiple EISs.

12. The computer-readable medium of claim 11, wherein the querying, by the IDE, whether RTAs for the multiple EISs are available is performed by querying a repository to identify which RTAs have been plugged into the IDE.

13. A computer-readable medium encoded with a computer program that, when executed, performs the steps of:

associating each of multiple Resource and Tooling Adapter (RTAs) with a selected one of multiple Enterprise Information Services (EISs);

identifying a software application that is being developed through development facilities of an Integrated Development Environment (IDE), wherein the software application requires use of services provided by multiple EISs, wherein the multiple EISs include at least one database describing transaction servers available to the software application, and wherein the IDE provides a developer with a development environment using a Graphical User Interface (GUI) that includes multiple windows for viewing source code, project files, and debugging information;

generating source code necessary to access the services of the multiple EISs by plugging multiple corresponding RTAs into the IDE; and

through plugged-in multiple corresponding RTAs into the IDE, providing data, to the IDE, that describes services available from the multiple EISs to the software application, wherein there is no direct communication between the software application and the multiple RTAs while the software application is under development in the IDE, and wherein the software application is aware of the multiple RTAs only during runtime.

14. The computer-readable medium of claim 13, wherein the multiple EISs include at least one database for human resources data.

15. The computer-readable medium of claim 13, wherein the multiple EISs include at least one database for inventory data.

16. The computer-readable medium of claim 13, wherein the multiple EISs include at least one database for Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP).

17. A computer-readable medium encoded with a computer program that, when executed, performs the steps of

associating a single Resource and Tooling Adapter (RTA) with multiple Enterprise Information Services (EISs);

identifying a software application that is being developed through development facilities of an Integrated Development Environment (IDE), wherein the software application requires use of services provided by multiple EISs, wherein the multiple EISs include at least one database describing transaction servers available to the software application, and wherein the IDE provides a developer with a development environment using a Graphical User Interface (GUI) that includes multiple windows for viewing source code, project files, and debugging information;

generating source code necessary to access the services of the multiple EISs by plugging the single RTA into the IDE; and

through a plugged-in single RTA, providing data, to the IDE, that describes services available from the multiple EISs to the software application, wherein there is no direct communication between the software application and the single RTA while the software application is under development in the IDE, and wherein the software application is aware of the single RTA only during runtime.

18. The computer-readable medium of claim 17, wherein the multiple EISs include at least one database for human resources data.

19. The computer-readable medium of claim 17, wherein the multiple EISs include at least one database for inventory data.

20. The computer-readable medium of claim 17, wherein the multiple EISs include at least one database for Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP).