System and method for accumulating a historical context of interactions between components

• US 7,975,002 B2
• Filed: 04/04/2007
• Issued: 07/05/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 12/12/2002
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Regional Resources Ltd (Imperial Metals Corp.)
• Original Assignee: Xerox Corporation (Xerox Holdings Corp.)
• Inventors: Edwards, W. Keith, Sedivy, Jana Z., Newman, Mark W.
• Primary Examiner(s): Dinh; Khanh Q
• Application Number:
  US11/784,112
• Publication Number:
  US 20100011049A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,553 Days
• Field of Search: 709/203, 709/224, 709/228, 709/227, 709/220, 707/3, 713/200
• US Class Current: 709/203
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/06 Resources, workflows, human or project management; Enterprise or organisation planning; Enterprise or organisation modelling
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/04 specially adapted for terminals or networks with limited capabilities; specially adapted for terminal portability
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/51 Discovery or management thereof, e.g. service location protocol [SLP] or web services
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99933 Query processing, i.e. searching
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99934 Query formulation, input preparation, or translation

Abstract

A system and method for accumulating a historical context of interactions between components is presented. A plurality of components that each have a component context and which include at least one of a requester component and at least one of a service component are maintained. An interaction including the requester component requesting an operation to be performed by the service component is identified by sending the component context of the requester component to the service component. The component context of the requester component is recorded into the component context of the service component as contextual metadata.

Claims

1. A method for accumulating a historical context of interactions between components, comprising:

maintaining a plurality of components that each have a component context and which comprise at least one of a requester component and at least one of a service component;

identifying an interaction comprising the requester component requesting an operation to be performed by the service component by sending the component context of the requester component to the service component;

recording the operation in the component context of the service component and associating the operation with a status of incomplete;

changing the incomplete status of the operation after at least one of the operation is performed and the operation is denied; and

recording the component context of the requester component into the component context of the service component as contextual metadata.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein said contextual metadata is accreted with historical metadata.

3. The method according to claim 1, wherein the contextual metadata is recorded by said service component.

4. The method according to claim 1, further comprising:

recording, by a context monitor, the identified interaction between the requester component and the service component.

5. The method according to claim 1, wherein said contextual metadata comprises one or more of a time, a location, a cause, and an identification of the requester component.

6. The method according to claim 1, further comprising:

authenticating that the requester component is authorized to cause the service component to perform the operation.

7. The method according to claim 6, further comprising:

authenticating that the requester component is authorized to cause the service component to perform the operation on a property of the service component.

8. The method according to claim 1, wherein the requester component context includes security information.

9. The method according to claim 8, further comprising:

authenticating the requester component using the security information.

10. The method according to claim 1, further comprising:

retrieving the recorded component context of the service component; and

developing a history of use of said service component.

11. The method according to claim 10, wherein retrieving said component context accesses said service component.

12. The method according to claim 1, further comprising:

retrieving the identified interaction between the requester component and the service component from a context monitor to develop a history of use for the service component.

13. The method according to claim 12, further comprising:

reconstructing a prior configuration for a service that used the service component and the requester component; and

establishing a similar configuration based on the prior configuration for the service.

14. The method according to claim 13, further comprising:

generating a selection set comprising at least one of a prior configuration and a similar configuration;

filtering the selection set; and

selecting, by the user, one or more of the at least one prior configuration and the similar configuration from the filtered selection set.

15. The method according to claim 14, further comprising:

reconstructing a prior configuration for a service that used the service component and the requester component; and

presenting the prior configuration for the service for selection by a user.

16. A system for accumulating a historical context of interactions between components, comprising:

a maintenance mechanism to maintain a plurality of components that each have a component context and which comprise at least one of a requester component and at least one of a service component;

an identification mechanism to identify an interaction comprising the requester component requesting an operation to be performed by the service component by sending the component context of the requester component to the service component;

a history mechanism to record the operation in the component context of the service component, to associate the operation with a status of incomplete, and to change the incomplete status of the operation after at least one of the operation is performed and the operation is denied; and

a recording mechanism to record the component context of the requester component into the component context of the service component as contextual metadata.

17. The system according to claim 16, wherein the recording mechanism is located within the service component.

18. The system according to claim 16, wherein said contextual metadata is accreted with historical metadata.

19. The system according to claim 16, wherein said contextual metadata comprises one or more of a time, a location, a cause, and an identification of said requester component.

20. The system according to claim 16, further comprising:

a history retrieval mechanism to retrieve the recorded component context of the service component and to develop a history of use of said service component.

21. The system according to claim 20, further comprising:

a configuration reconstruction mechanism to reconstruct a prior configuration for a service that used the service component and the requester component; and

a configuration establishment mechanism to establish a similar configuration based on the prior configuration for the service.

22. The system according to claim 21, further comprising:

a generation mechanism to generate a selection set comprising at least one of a prior configuration and a similar configuration;

a filter mechanism to filter the selection set; and

a selection mechanism to allow the user to select one or more of the at least one prior configuration and the similar configuration from said filtered selection set.

23. An apparatus for accumulating a historical context of interactions between components, comprising:

means for maintaining a plurality of components that each have a component context and which comprise at least one of a requester component and at least one of a service component;

means for identifying an interaction comprising the requester component requesting an operation to be performed by the service component by sending the component context of the requester component to the service component;

means for recording the operation in the component context of the service component, means for associating the operation with a status of incomplete, and further means for changing the incomplete status of the operation after at least one of the operation is performed and the operation is denied; and

means for recording the component context of the requester component into the component context of the service component as contextual metadata.