Systems and methods for off-line modeling a business application

• US 7,702,638 B2
• Filed: 08/15/2005
• Issued: 04/20/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 04/22/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: SAP SE
• Original Assignee: SAP AG (SAP SE)
• Inventors: Stulski, Vitaliy, Tsyganskiy, Igor, Satsuta, Eugene, Scheinkman, Luiz, Liakh, Dmitri
• Primary Examiner(s): To; Baoquoc N
• Application Number:
  US11/203,273
• Publication Number:
  US 20060242170A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,709 Days
• Field of Search: None
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 8/72 Code refactoring

Abstract

Systems and methods consistent with the invention may analyze a business application'"'"'s data, operations, and relationships and create a corresponding object oriented programming (OOP) model corresponding to the business application entities. In one embodiment the OOP model may be realized in the Java programming language and may include OOP objects, functions, and operators. Each OOP model accurately represents the data, relationships, and rules associated with the corresponding business entity. Once converted to an OOP model, systems and methods consistent with the invention may use standard OOP tools to understand, manipulate, design, redesign, analyze, and modify the business application. This can be done independently of the native business application system, as the OOP model is separate and independent from the business application entities. Modifications made to the OOP model may then be converted back into business application entities and installed in the native system.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method of modeling a business application composed in a table-driven format, comprising:

receiving logic entities of the business application, wherein the received logic entities represent table-based data structures of the business application;

transforming the received logic entities into a first model of the business application;

generating a second model representing the business application in a second programming format, wherein the second model includes an object-oriented model representing the business application and the second programming format is an object-oriented programming format;

processing, using a processor, the second model, wherein the processing comprises modifying the second model; and

transforming the second model in the second programming format into the table-driven format, wherein transforming the second model into the table-driven format reflects the modifications made to the second model.

2. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the table-based data structures include at least one of configuration data or processing rules of the business application.

3. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein processing the model further includes:

applying an object-oriented processing tool to the generated model to process program structures in the object-oriented processing programming format.

4. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein transforming the received logic entities into the first model further includes:

transforming the logic entities into an object-oriented programming structure representing the logic entities.

5. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein transforming the received logic entities into the first model further includes:

defining an object-oriented class that represents common attributes of the logic entities.

6. A system comprising:

a computer for executing instructions to model a business application, the computer including a database, and the business application being composed in a table-driven format;

an extract module that retrieves table-based data structures from the business application to form respective models of the retrieved data structures, wherein the extract module further includes a translation module that translates the table-based data structures of the business application into the models corresponding to a second programming language;

a transform module for transforming the models of the retrieved table-based data structures into object-oriented structures;

an object-oriented language tool for processing the object-oriented structures, wherein the object-oriented structures model the business application, wherein processing comprises modifying the second model; and

a re-transforming module for re-transforming the object-oriented structures into the table-driven format, wherein the transforming reflects the modifications made to the second model.

7. The system of claim 6, wherein the extract module further includes:

a context directory having information on a context of the retrieved table-based data structures in the business application.

8. The system of claim 6, wherein the translation module translates the table-based data structures into an XML language construct.

9. The system of claim 8, wherein the transform module transforms the XML language construct for the business application data into an object-oriented structure.

10. The system of claim 6, wherein the transform module further includes:

a conversion mapping component defining rules for transforming the models of the retrieved table-based data structures into object-oriented structures.

11. The system of claim 6, wherein the object-oriented language tool may process the object-oriented structures during a runtime of the business application.

12. The system of claim 6, wherein the object-oriented language tool includes at least one of an integrated development environment tool, a code optimizer, or a configuration management tool.