System and method for a Web service virtual interface

• US 7,617,480 B2
• Filed: 05/28/2004
• Issued: 11/10/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 05/28/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: SAP SE
• Original Assignee: SAP AG (SAP SE)
• Inventors: Wiechers, Volker, Falter, Timm, Savchenko, Vladimir, Bender, Joachim, Huvar, Martin
• Primary Examiner(s): Kang; Insun
• Application Number:
  US10/856,287
• Publication Number:
  US 20060031850A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,992 Days
• Field of Search: 717/102, 717/103, 717/109, 717/113, 717/108
• US Class Current: 717/106
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 8/34 Graphical or visual programming
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/465 Distributed object oriented systems remote method invocation [RMI] G06F9/548

Abstract

A development environment may receive input selecting a Web service implementation. The development environment may also receive input to define a virtual interface of the selected Web service implementation. The development environment may create a virtual interface descriptor file that includes the received input defining the virtual interface. The development environment may generate a Web service description based, at least in part, on the virtual interface descriptor file.

Claims

1. A method for generating a virtual interface for a Web service, the method comprising:

receiving a selection input selecting a Web service implementation, the selected Web service implementation to provide logic for a Web service to a Web service client;

receiving a definition input defining a virtual interface of the selected Web service implementation, the received definition input containing a generic metadata defining at least one view of a plurality of views of the selected Web service implementation, the generic metadata providing an abstraction layer over endpoint types underlying the logic for the Web service, the plurality of views selectively exposing methods and parameters of the Web service implementation, the virtual interface corresponding to a plurality of Web service definition descriptor files containing non-system-specific data for the Web service;

creating a virtual interface descriptor file that, when combined with one of the plurality of corresponding Web service definition descriptor files for the virtual interface, provides a system independent design time description of the Web service; and

generating a Web service description of the at least one of the plurality of views of the selected Web service implementation based, at least in part, on the virtual interface descriptor file, the virtual interface descriptor file including the received definition input containing the generic metadata defining the at least one view of the plurality of views of the selected Web service implementation and providing the abstraction layer over the endpoint types underlying the logic for the Web service.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein receiving the selection input selecting the Web service implementation comprises:

receiving the selection input selecting an Enterprise JavaBean™

.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein receiving the selection input selecting the Web service implementation comprises:

receiving the selection input selecting a JAVA class.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein receiving the definition input defining the virtual interface of the selected Web service implementation comprises:

receiving metadata specifying a method of the Web service implementation; and

receiving metadata defining a representation of the specified method.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein receiving the definition input defining the representation of the specified method comprises at least one of:

receiving metadata specifying whether the specified method is to be exposed in a Web service;

receiving metadata specifying a name for the specified method; and

receiving metadata specifying a namespace for the specified method.

6. The method of claim 4, wherein receiving the definition input defining the representation of the specified method further comprises:

receiving metadata specifying a parameter of the specified method; and

receiving metadata defining a representation of the specified parameter.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein receiving the definition input defining the representation of the specified parameter comprises at least one of:

receiving metadata indicating a name for the specified parameter;

receiving metadata indicating an initial value for the specified parameter;

receiving metadata indicating whether the specified parameter is optional; and

receiving metadata indicating whether the specified parameter is to be sent as a header in a Simple Object Access Protocol (SOAP) message.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein receiving the definition input defining the representation of the specified parameter further comprises:

receiving metadata indicating the specified parameter is to be represented as an attribute in the SOAP message.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein receiving the definition input defining the virtual interface of the selected Web service implementation comprises:

receiving metadata specifying a class of the Web service implementation; and

receiving metadata defining a representation of a Simple Object Access Protocol (SOAP) message for the specified class.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein receiving the definition input defining the representation of the SOAP message for the specified class comprises:

receiving metadata indicating a namespace to provide a schema for the specified class.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein generating the Web service description based, at least in part, on the virtual interface descriptor file combined with one of the corresponding plurality of Web service definition descriptor files for the virtual interface comprises:

generating a Web Service Description Language (WSDL) file based, at least in part, on the virtual interface descriptor file, combined with one of the corresponding plurality of Web service definition descriptor files for the virtual interface.

12. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

publishing the Web service description on a service directory.

13. An apparatus for generating a virtual interface for a Web service, the apparatus comprising:

a development environment to create a Web service implementation; and

a processor and logic executable thereon to

receive a selection input selecting the Web service implementation, the selected Web service implementation to provide logic for a Web service to a Web service client;

receive a definition input defining an abstraction of the selected Web service implementation, the received definition input containing a generic metadata defining the abstraction of the selected Web service implementation, the abstraction including an abstraction layer over endpoint types underlying the logic for the Web service, the abstraction corresponding to a plurality of Web service definition descriptor files containing non-system-specific data for the Web service;

create a virtual interface descriptor file that, when combined with one of the plurality of corresponding Web service definition descriptor files for the abstraction, provides a system independent design time description of the Web service; and

generate a Web service description of the selected Web service implementation based, at least in part, on the virtual interface descriptor file, the virtual interface descriptor file including the received definition input containing the generic metadata defining the abstraction of the selected Web service implementation, the abstraction including the abstraction layer over the endpoint types underlying the logic for the Web service.

14. The apparatus of claim 13, wherein the logic executable thereon to receive definition input defining the abstraction of the selected Web service implementation comprises logic executable thereon to:

receive input specifying a method of the Web service implementation; and

receive input defining a representation of the specified method.

15. The apparatus of claim 14, wherein the logic executable thereon to receive input defining the representation of the specified method comprises logic executable thereon to:

receive input specifying whether the specified method is to be exposed in the Web service;

receive input specifying a name for the method; and

receive input specifying a namespace for the specified method.

16. A computer system having a processor, the computer system comprising:

means for receiving a selection input selecting a Web service implementation, the selected Web service implementation to provide logic for a Web service to a Web service client;

means for receiving a definition input defining an abstraction of the selected Web service implementation, the received definition input containing a generic metadata defining the abstraction of the selected Web service implementation, the abstraction including an abstraction layer over endpoint types underlying the logic for the Web service, the abstraction corresponding to a plurality of Web service definition descriptor files containing non-system-specific data for the Web service;

means for creating a virtual interface descriptor file that, when combined with one of the plurality of corresponding Web service definition descriptor files for the virtual interface abstraction, provides a system independent design time description of the Web service; and

means for generating a Web service description of the selected Web service implementation based, at least in part, on the virtual interface descriptor file, the virtual interface descriptor file including the received definition input containing the generic metadata defining the abstraction of the selected Web service implementation, the abstraction including the abstraction layer over the endpoint types underlying the logic for the Web service.

17. The system of claim 16, wherein the means for receiving the selection input defining the abstraction of the selected Web service implementation comprises:

means for receiving input specifying a method of the Web service implementation; and

means for receiving input defining a representation of the specified method.

18. The system of claim 17, wherein the means for receiving the selection input defining the representation of the specified method comprises at least one of:

means for receiving input specifying whether the specified method is to be exposed in a Web service;

means for receiving input specifying a name for the method; and

means for receiving input specifying a namespace for the specified method.

19. The system of claim 17, wherein the means for receiving the selection input defining the representation of the specified method further comprises:

means for receiving input specifying a parameter of the specified method; and

means for receiving input defining a representation of the specified parameter.

20. The system of claim 19, wherein the means for receiving input defining the representation of the specified parameter comprises at least one of:

means for receiving input indicating a name for the specified parameter;

means for receiving input indicating an initial value for the specified parameter;

means for receiving input indicating whether the specified parameter is optional; and

means for receiving input indicating whether the specified parameter is to be sent as a header in a Simple Object Access Protocol (SOAP) message.

21. The system of claim 20, wherein the means for receiving input defining the representation of the specified parameter further comprises:

means for receiving input indicating the specified parameter is to be represented as an attribute in the SOAP message.

22. An article of manufacture comprising:

a machine-readable medium providing instructions that, when executed by an apparatus, cause the apparatus to

receive an input selecting a Web service implementation, the selected Web service implementation to provide logic for a Web service to a Web service client;

receive a definition input defining an abstraction of the selected Web service implementation, the received definition input containing generic metadata defining the abstraction of the selected Web service implementation, the abstraction including an abstraction layer over endpoint types underlying the logic for the Web service, the abstraction corresponding to a plurality of Web service definition descriptor files containing non-system-specific data for the Web service;

create a virtual interface descriptor file that, when combined with one of the plurality of corresponding Web service definition descriptor files for the abstraction, provides a system independent design time description of the Web service; and

generate a Web service description of the selected Web service implementation based, at least in part, on the virtual interface descriptor file, the virtual interface descriptor file including the received definition input containing the generic metadata defining the abstraction of the selected Web service implementation, the abstraction including the abstraction layer over the endpoint types underlying the logic for the Web service.

23. The article of manufacture of claim 22, wherein the instructions that, when executed by the apparatus, cause the apparatus to receive definition input defining the abstraction of the selected Web service implementation cause the apparatus to

receive input specifying a method of the Web service implementation;

and

receive input defining a representation of the specified method.

24. The article of manufacture of claim 23, wherein the instructions that, when executed by the apparatus, cause the apparatus to receive input defining the representation of the specified method cause the apparatus to

receive input specifying whether the specified method is to be exposed in a Web service.

25. The article of manufacture of claim 23, wherein the instructions that, when executed by the apparatus, cause the apparatus to receive input defining the representation of the specified method cause the apparatus to

receive input specifying a name for the specified method.

26. The article of manufacture of claim 23, wherein the instructions that, when executed by the apparatus, cause the apparatus to receive input defining the representation of the specified method cause the apparatus to

receive input specifying a namespace for the specified method.

27. The article of manufacture of claim 23, wherein the electronically accessible medium provides further instructions that, when executed by the apparatus, cause the apparatus to

receive input specifying a parameter of the specified method;

and

receive input defining a representation of the specified parameter.

28. The article of manufacture of claim 27, wherein the instructions that, when executed by the apparatus, cause the apparatus to receive input defining the representation of the specified parameter cause the apparatus to

receive input indicating a name for the specified parameter.

29. The article of manufacture of claim 27, wherein the instructions that, when executed by the apparatus, cause the apparatus to receive input defining the representation of the specified parameter cause the apparatus to

receive input indicating an initial value for the specified parameter.

30. The article of manufacture of claim 27, wherein the instructions that, when executed by the apparatus, cause the apparatus to receive input defining the representation of the specified parameter cause the apparatus to

receive input indicating whether the specified parameter is to be sent as a header in a Simple Object Access Protocol (SOAP) message.

31. The article of manufacture of claim 27, wherein the instructions that, when executed by the apparatus, cause the apparatus to receive input defining the representation of the specified parameter cause the apparatus to

receive input indicating the specified parameter is to be represented as an attribute in the SOAP message.