For each item enumerator for custom collections of items

• US 7,747,637 B2
• Filed: 03/08/2006
• Issued: 06/29/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 03/08/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
• Inventors: Haselden, J. Kirk, Burlacu, Ovidiu
• Primary Examiner(s): Vital; Pierre M
• Assistant Examiner(s): LIAO, JASON G
• Application Number:
  US11/370,744
• Publication Number:
  US 20070214029A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,574 Days
• Field of Search: None
• US Class Current: 707/758
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/06 Resources, workflows, human or project management; Enterprise or organisation planning; Enterprise or organisation modelling
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/10 Office automation; Time management

Abstract

The subject disclosure pertains to a loop enumerator. The enumerator includes its own collection of items that can be generated manually or loaded from a file. Further, the items themselves can be collections of variable size. These collections of items can be customized to enable enumeration over non-uniform data and/or data that cannot otherwise be logically filtered easily.

Claims

1. A computer readable storage medium including a workflow system implementing an enumerator comprising the following enumeration components:

a collection management component that manages a custom collection of items stored internal to the enumerator, wherein at least two items within the collection are of different data types from each other, wherein at least one or more of the items are themselves collection of values, wherein at least one item is to be enumerated, and wherein the at least one or more of the items that are themselves collections of values are created and entered using an enumerator designer creating the custom collection that can drive a loop, creating the custom collection comprising specifying a plurality of columns and column types and entering different values for items into the different columns, wherein at least one column specifies an item on which work is always performed, and at least one column specifies an item on which work is conditionally performed when a predetermined condition is met; and

an iterator component that iterates through the custom collection of items and provides items in the custom collection of items in response to requests for collection items from a package workflow, wherein when the iterator provides an item in the collection of items that is itself a collection of values, then the iterator provides a response with numerous values based on the values in the collection, and wherein the package workflow executes a same workflow for each item in the custom collection as specified in a graphical representation of the workflow, and wherein when the workflow executes on an item in the collection of items that is itself a collection of values items, then the workflow performing work on the item on which work is always performed and determining that the predetermined condition is met and as a result of performing work on the item on which work is conditionally performed.

2. The computer readable storage medium of claim 1, the values are mapped to variables.

3. The computer readable storage medium of claim 1, the management component includes an additive component to add items to the collection.

4. The computer readable storage medium of claim 1, the management component includes an extraction component that removes an item from the collection.

5. The computer readable storage medium of claim 1, the management component includes an import component retrieves the collection from a file.

6. The computer readable storage medium of claim 1, the management component includes an export component that saves the collection to a file.

7. The computer readable storage medium of claim 1, the iterator component supplies collection items to a workflow loop container upon request until all items have been provided.

8. The computer readable storage medium of claim 1, the iterator component supplies the items to a map component that saves the items to variables accessible by container tasks.

9. The computer readable storage medium of claim 1, the collection management component receives the collection from a graphical user interface that enables a user to manually specify the collection.

10. An enumeration method comprising the following computer-implemented acts:

a computer system persisting a custom collection of items internal to an enumerator, wherein;

at least two items within the collection are of different data types from each other;

at least one item in the collection of items internal to the enumerator is itself a collection which comprises a first number of items, and wherein the at least one item in the collection of items internal to the enumerator is itself a collection and is created and entered using an enumerator designer creating the custom collection that can drive a loop, creating the custom collection comprising specifying a plurality of columns and column types and entering different values for items into the different columns, wherein at least one column specifies an item on which work is always performed, and at least one column specifies an item on which work is conditionally performed when a predetermined condition is met;

at least one other item in the collection of items internal to the enumerator is itself a collection which comprises a second number of items;

wherein the first and second numbers are different numbers from each other, the items are collections of values, wherein at least one item includes metadata, the metadata specifying a condition upon which the at least one item is to be enumerated;

the enumerator providing the collection of items iteratively upon request from a loop container until all items have been provided, including when an item is a collection itself, providing a response with numerous values based on all of the items in the item which is a collection; and

at the loop container executing a same workflow for each item in the collection as specified in a graphical representation of the workflow, and wherein when the workflow executes on an item in the collection of items that is itself a collection of values items, then the workflow performing work on the item on which work is always performed and determining that the predetermined condition is met and as a result performing work on the item on which work is conditionally performed.

11. The method of claim 10, further comprising receiving the custom collection of items.

12. The method of claim 11, receiving the custom collection of items comprises receiving items that are collections.

13. The method of claim 12, receiving the custom collection of items from an enumerator designer graphical user interface.

14. The method of claim 12, receiving the custom collection of items from an XML file.

15. The method of claim 10, further comprising importing the custom collection of items from an XML file.

16. The method of claim 10, further comprising exporting the custom collection of items to an XML file.

17. The method of claim 10, providing the items to a mapping component that saves item values to variables accessible by loop container tasks.