Computer implemented method and system for running a plurality of business processes

• US 7,739,695 B2
• Filed: 07/19/2005
• Issued: 06/15/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 07/19/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: SAP SE
• Original Assignee: SAP AG (SAP SE)
• Inventors: Beringer, Joerg, Wood, Eric
• Primary Examiner(s): Nguyen; Van H
• Application Number:
  US11/185,590
• Publication Number:
  US 20060036687A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,792 Days
• Field of Search: 719/320, 719/328, 719/311, 719/310, 719/318, 709/200, 709/201, 709/217, 709/218, 709/219, 709/223, 709/224, 709/225, 709/246
• US Class Current: 719/328
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/06 Resources, workflows, human or project management; Enterprise or organisation planning; Enterprise or organisation modelling

Abstract

A computer implemented method for running a plurality of business services within an explicitly defined business context wherein the context and the business services are representing meaningful instances of work situation or actions, the method comprising: provisioning web services, a composition of services, or both with an additional input/output interface for passing data from and to a parent business context; enabling this interface to handle long running, stateful actions; and implementing a standardized user interaction behavior to make the user interface of an action reusable across contexts. An embodiment of the invention introduces an “action” concept which can be technically described as a wrapping layer on top of enterprise services that provides a special plug & execute interface to enable a service or a composition of services to interact with a parent context.

Claims

1. A computer implemented method comprising:

instantiating an action to run a plurality of business services within an explicitly defined business context, wherein running the business services within the business context generates meaningful instances of work situations by altering data and processes within an enterprise system, the instantiating including;

mapping as the business services one or more web services, composition of services, or a combination thereof to input/output parameters of the business context, the mapping performed with an input/output interface of the instantiated action that provides a wrapper layer for the business services to exchange data between the business context and the business services;

enabling the input/output interface to handle long running, stateful actions, wherein for the instantiated action a predetermined number of action states is defined, which comprise a before execution action state, a during execution action state, an after execution action state and an undo execution action state, and

implementing a user interaction behavior defined to be common to the long running, stateful actions executing under a business application to make a user interface of the long running, stateful actions executing under the business application reusable across a plurality of business contexts;

wherein an exception handler is defined that couples the instantiated action to a further action for handling exceptions.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the instantiated action is designed with a predetermined interface to be used in a plurality of work contexts.

3. The method according to claim 1, wherein the instantiated action is designed as part of a series of corresponding activities;

or wherein the instantiated action is designed as an ad hoc activity.

4. An article of manufacture comprising a computer readable storage medium having computer readable instructions stored thereon for providing access to resources available on a computer, the computer readable instructions, when executed, causing the computer to:

instantiate an action to run a plurality of business services within an explicitly defined business context, wherein running the business services within the business context generates instances of work situations by altering data and processes within an enterprise system, the instantiating including;

mapping as the business services one or more web services, composition of services, or a combination thereof to input/output parameters of the business context, the mapping performed with an input/output interface of the instantiated action that provides a wrapper layer for the business services to exchange data between the business context and the business services,

enabling the input/output interface to handle long running, stateful actions, wherein for the instantiated action a predetermined number of action states is defined, which comprise a before execution action state, a during execution action state, an after execution action state and an undo execution action state, and

implementing a user interaction behavior defined to be common to the long running, stateful actions executing under a business application to make a user interface of the long running, stateful action executing under the business application reusable across a plurality of business contexts,

wherein an exception handler is defined that couples the instantiated action to a further action for handling exceptions.

5. The article of manufacture according to claim 4, wherein the instantiated action is designed with a predetermined interface to be used in a plurality of work contexts.

6. The article of manufacture according to claim 4, wherein the instantiated action is designed as part of a series of corresponding activities;

or wherein the instantiated action is designed as an ad hoc activity.