System and method for implementing a service adapter

• US 7,831,655 B2
• Filed: 10/15/2002
• Issued: 11/09/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 10/18/2001
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Oracle International Corporation (Oracle Corporation)
• Original Assignee: BEA Systems Incorporated (Oracle Corporation)
• Inventors: Upton, Mitch
• Primary Examiner(s): DENNISON, JERRY B
• Application Number:
  US10/271,410
• Publication Number:
  US 20030093470A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,947 Days
• Field of Search: 709/203, 709216-219, 709223-224, 707/4, 715/740, 719/328, 719/329
• US Class Current: 709/203
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2209/544 Remote
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/541 via adapters, e.g. between incompatible applications
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/542 Event management; Broadcasting; Multicasting; Notifications
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/103 Workflow collaboration or project management
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99943 Generating database or data structure, e.g. via user interface
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99945 Object-oriented database structure processing

Abstract

A service adapter can be used to connect a client application to an enterprise system, or to connect application components, that otherwise might be unable to communicate with each other. A service adapter can invoke a service in the enterprise system, and can allow requests to be received to, and responses received from, the enterprise system. The service adapter can pass these requests and responses in a format such as XML, and can transform data passing between the enterprise system and an application or application component. An application view component can be used to provide an interface to an enterprise system for an application.

Claims

1. A system for connecting a client application to an enterprise information system, comprising:

a computer including one or more processors, and an application server operating on the computer and enabling communication of requests and responses between a client application and an enterprise information system;

an application view component executing on the application server, wherein the application view component

provides a view of services and events of the enterprise information system that are exposed by a plurality of adapters executing on the application server, wherein the plurality of adapters include one or more software service adapters and one or more software event adapters, and

provides an interface to customize the application view, wherein the interface is used to define and deploy the application view, including defining the services and events of the enterprise information system exposed by the plurality of adapters, and

wherein the client application uses the interface to make requests to, and receive responses from, the enterprise information system;

wherein the application view component, upon receiving a request from the client application

generates a unique identifier to filter back a response from the enterprise information system to the client application,

generates a request document containing the request readable by an asynchronous service adapter to be sent to the enterprise information system, wherein the request document is in a format specific to the enterprise information system, and

releases the asynchronous service adapter to process a subsequent request from the client application;

wherein the enterprise information system processes the request by locating a required information from the enterprise information system, wherein upon processing the request a response document including the response is sent to the application view component.

2. A system according to claim 1, wherein:

the service adapter passes requests and responses as XML documents.

3. A system according to claim 1, wherein:

the service adapter passes requests and responses using point-to-point messaging.

4. A system according to claim 1, wherein:

the service adapter invokes a service that allows asynchronous messaging between the application view and the enterprise information system.

5. A system according to claim 1, further comprising:

a connection factory adapted to create connections for the service adapter.

6. A system according to claim 1, further comprising:

a connector architecture mechanism adapted to provide at least one of connection pooling, transaction management, and security services for the service adapter.

7. A system according to claim 1, further comprising:

an interaction component adapted to allow the service adapter to determine the functionality in the enterprise information system being invoked for the service.

8. A system according to claim 1, further comprising:

a call-back listener adapted to handle a response for the application view that is received from the enterprise information system.

9. A system according to claim 1, further comprising:

a JMS queue adapted to receive a request from the application view component and store the request until the request is passed to the enterprise information system.

10. A system according to claim 1, wherein:

the service adapter is further adapted to transform data passing between the enterprise information system and a client application.

11. A system according to claim 10, wherein:

the service adapter uses XML to transform the data.

12. A system according to claim 1, further comprising:

a user interface for the service adapter adapted to allow the definition and deployment of the application view component.

13. A system according to claim 1, wherein:

the service adapter is adapted to transform an XML request document into a format specific to the enterprise information system.

14. A system according to claim 1, wherein:

the service adapter is adapted to transform a response in format specific to the enterprise information system to an XML response document that conforms to an XML schema for the service being invoked.

15. A system according to claim 1, further comprising:

a development tree for the service adapter that contains critical information for the service adapter.

16. A system according to claim 15, wherein:

the development tree contains critical information including information selected from the group consisting of enterprise information system type, vendor, version, locale of deployment, language of deployment, and adapter logical name.

17. A system according to claim 1, wherein:

the service adapter provides for the browsing of services in the enterprise information system.

18. A system according to claim 1, further comprising:

a security mechanism adapted to map authorization information across the path of a request from the application view component through the service adapter to the enterprise information system.

19. A system according to claim 1, wherein:

the service adapter is adapted to support transactions selected from the group consisting of local transactions and XA-compliant transactions.

20. A system according to claim 1, wherein:

the service adapter is adapted to provide access to metadata for the client application, the metadata useful in defining services via the application view.

21. A system according to claim 1, wherein:

the service adapter is further adapted to track errors encountered in processing one of a request and response.

22. A system according to claim 1, wherein:

the service adapter is J2EE compliant.

23. A system according to claim 1, further comprising:

a run-time engine adapted to host the service adapter.

24. A system according to claim 23, wherein:

the run-time engine is further adapted to manage connections to the enterprise information system.

25. A system according to claim 1, wherein:

the service adapter has an adapter logical name that represents the service adapter.

26. A system according to claim 1, further comprising:

a managed connection instance for the service adapter, encapsulating resources necessary to communicate with the enterprise information system.

27. A system according to claim 1, further comprising:

a service descriptor method for the service adapter, allowing services to be added at design-time.

39. The system of claim 1 wherein an adapter development kit, also executing on the application server, is used to facilitate the construction of the adapters and testing of the application view component.

28. A method for invoking functionality in an enterprise system through a service adapter, comprising:

providing a computer, including one or more processors, and an application server operating on the computer and enabling communication of requests and responses between a client application and an enterprise information system;

providing at the application server

an application view component executing on the application server, wherein the application view component provides an application view of services and events of the enterprise information system that are exposed by a plurality of adapters executing on the application server, wherein the plurality of adapters include one or more software service adapters and one or more software event adapters, and

an interface to customize the application view, wherein the interface is used to define and deploy the application view, including defining the services and events of the enterprise information system exposed by the plurality of adapters, and

wherein the client application uses the interface to make requests to, and receive responses from, the enterprise information system;

wherein the application view component, upon receiving a request from the client application

generates a unique identifier to filter back a response from the enterprise information system to the client application,

generates a request document containing the request readable by an asynchronous service adapter to be sent to the enterprise information system, wherein the request document is in a format specific to the enterprise information system, and

releases the asynchronous service adapter to process a subsequent request from the client application;

wherein the enterprise information system processes the request by locating a required information from the enterprise information system, wherein upon processing the request a response document including the response is sent to the application view component.

29. A method according to claim 28, further comprising:

passing requests and responses as XML documents.

30. A method according to claim 28, further comprising:

passing requests and responses using point-to-point messaging.

31. A method according to claim 28, further comprising:

allowing asynchronous messaging to and from the enterprise information system.

32. A method according to claim 28, further comprising:

creating connections for the service adapter.

33. A method according to claim 28, further comprising:

providing at least one of connection pooling, transaction management, and security services for the service adapter.

34. A method according to claim 28, further comprising:

using a call-back listener to handle a response that is received from an enterprise information system.

35. A method according to claim 28, further comprising:

storing a request to a JMS queue until the request is passed to the enterprise system.

36. A method according to claim 28, further comprising:

mapping authorization information across the path of a request to the enterprise information system.

37. A method according to claim 28, further comprising:

tracking errors encountered in processing one of a request and response.

40. The method of claim 28 wherein an adapter development kit, also executing on the application server, is used to facilitate the construction of the adapters and testing of the application view component.

38. A non-transitory computer readable storage medium storing one or more sequences of instructions for connecting a client application to an enterprise information system, wherein said instructions, when executed by one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to execute the steps of:

providing a computer, including one or more processors, and an application server operating on the computer and enabling communication of requests and responses between a client application and an enterprise information system;

providing at the application server

an application view component executing on the application server, wherein the application view component provides an application view of services and events of the enterprise information system that are exposed by a plurality of adapters executing on the application server, wherein the plurality of adapters include one or more software service adapters and one or more software event adapters, and

an interface to customize the application view, wherein the interface is used to define and deploy the application view, including defining the services and events of the enterprise information system exposed by the plurality of adapters, and

wherein the client application uses the interface to make requests to, and receive responses from, the enterprise information system;

wherein the application view component, upon receiving a request from the client application

generates a unique identifier to filter back a response from the enterprise information system to the client application,

generates a request document containing the request readable by an asynchronous service adapter to be sent to the enterprise information system, wherein the request document is in a format specific to the enterprise information system, and

releases the asynchronous service adapter to process a subsequent request from the client application;

wherein the enterprise information system processes the request by locating a required information from the enterprise information system, wherein upon processing the request a response document including the response is sent to the application view component.

41. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 38 wherein an adapter development kit, also executing on the application server, is used to facilitate the construction of the adapters and testing of the application view component.