Context information management

• US 8,032,390 B2
• Filed: 12/28/2006
• Issued: 10/04/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 12/28/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: SAP SE
• Original Assignee: SAP AG (SAP SE)
• Inventors: Waguet, Cyrille
• Primary Examiner(s): Brooks; Matthew
• Assistant Examiner(s): Bahl; Sangeeta
• Application Number:
  US11/648,428
• Publication Number:
  US 20080162208A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,741 Days
• Field of Search: 719/318
• US Class Current: 705/1.1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/2477 Temporal data queries
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/06 Resources, workflows, human or project management; Enterprise or organisation planning; Enterprise or organisation modelling
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/0637 Strategic management or analysis, e.g. setting a goal or target of an organisation; Planning actions based on goals; Analysis or evaluation of effectiveness of goals

Abstract

Methods and apparatus, including computer program products, to manage context information of events. Data characterizing an event is received, a data structure is generated, and an event resolution procedure that is to be initiated is determined (e.g., based on the data characterizing the event and one or more associated business processes being identified). The event may be defined in a business process (e.g., a computer-implemented business), for example, as a business activity. The relevance of the event to one or more business processes may be computed (e.g., to determine if the event relates to a business process such that action for a business process may be required) such that relevant business processes are identified. The data structure may be generated in response to receipt of the data (e.g., after the identification of the event or at about the same time).

Claims

1. A computer-program product comprising a non-transitory computer-readable media tangibly embodying machine instructions that, when executed by at least one data processing apparatus, cause the at least one data processing apparatus to perform operations comprising:

receiving, from one or more platform-dependent data sources, data characterizing an event for which a resolution is required, the event corresponding to a business activity in one or more computer-implemented business processes, the resolution involving assistance from a plurality of computer-implemented applications each using one of at least two different communications formats;

identifying the one or more business processes as being related to the event, the identifying comprising computing a relevance of the one or more business processes to the event;

generating, at run time using a platform-independent declarative language, a platform-independent data structure in response to receipt of the data characterizing the event, the generating comprising associating the event with a template of the platform independent data structure, and generating the data structure from the template;

storing information in the data structure, the information comprising context information about the event derived from the received data characterizing the event and a business procedure to resolve the event, the context information being stored in the platform-independent data structure in accordance with the platform-independent declarative language;

determining an event resolution procedure to initiate based on the data characterizing the event, the business procedure to resolve the event, and the one or more identified business processes;

initiating the event resolution procedure, the initiating comprising providing access to the platform-independent data structure for the plurality of applications such that the plurality of applications can obtain the context information without being adapted to communicate with the one or more platform-dependent data sources; and

updating the platform-independent data structure to reflect resolution of the event upon receiving a notification of completion of the event resolution procedure.

2. The computer program product of claim 1, wherein the event is a stateful event and the operations further comprise:

associating the event with the platform-independent data structure; and

receiving a notification based on the association of the event with the platform-independent data structure.

3. The computer program product of claim 2, wherein the operations further comprise:

generating the notification of completion of the event resolution procedure.

4. The computer program product of claim 1, wherein determining the event resolution procedure further comprises determining the event resolution procedure based on content of the platform-independent data structure.

5. The computer program product of claim 1, wherein one of the one or more business processes is a rule.

6. The computer program product of claim 1, wherein one of the one or more business processes is a sequence of operations.

7. The computer program product of claim 1, wherein the determining the event resolution procedure further comprises interpreting the one or more business processes to determine an activity to perform.

8. The computer program product of claim 1, wherein the operations further comprise determining the template that corresponds to the event from a plurality of templates.

9. The computer program product of claim 1, wherein the business procedure is a rule.

10. The computer program product of claim 1, wherein the operations further comprise invoking the plurality of applications to resolve the event, the invoking comprising sending data characterizing the data structure to the plurality of applications.

11. The computer-program product of claim 1, wherein the information further comprises at least one of a performance indicator, an alerting procedure, and a notification procedure.

12. A computer-implemented method comprising:

receiving, from one or more platform-dependent data sources, data characterizing an event for which a resolution is required, the event corresponding to a business activity in one or more computer-implemented business processes, the resolution involving assistance from a plurality of computer-implemented applications each using one of at least two different communications formats;

identifying the computer-implemented business processes as being related to the event, the identifying comprising computing a relevance of the one or more business processes to the event;

generating, at run time using a platform-independent declarative language, a platform-independent data structure in response to receipt of the data characterizing the event, the generating comprising associating the event with a template of the platform independent data structure, and generating the data structure from the template;

storing information in the data structure, the information comprising context information about the event derived from the received data characterizing the event and a business procedure to resolve the event, the context information being stored in the platform-independent data structure in accordance with the platform-independent declarative language;

determining an event resolution procedure to initiate based on the data characterizing the event, the business procedure to resolve the event, and the one or more identified business processes;

initiating the event resolution procedure, the initiating comprising providing access to the platform-independent data structure for the plurality of applications such that the plurality of applications can obtain the context information without being adapted to communicate with the on or more platform-dependent data sources; and

updating the platform-independent data structure to reflect resolution of the event upon receiving a notification of completion of the event resolution procedure;

wherein the receiving, the identifying, the generating, the storing, the determining, the initiating, and the updating are performed by at least one processor.

13. The method of claim 12, further comprising determining the template that corresponds to the event from a plurality of templates.

14. The method of claim 12, wherein the determining the event resolution procedure comprises interpreting the one or more computer-implemented business processes to determine an activity to perform.

15. The method of claim 12, wherein the information further comprises at least one of a performance indicator, an alerting procedure, and a notification procedure.

16. A system comprising

at least one data processing apparatus;

at least one computer-readable medium embodying machine instructions that, when executed by the at least one data processing apparatus, cause the at least one data processing apparatus to perform operations comprising;

receiving, from one or more platform-dependent data sources, data characterizing an event for which a resolution is required, the event corresponding to a business activity in one or more computer-implemented business processes, the resolution involving assistance from a plurality of computer-implemented applications each using one of at least two different communications formats;

identifying the computer-implemented business processes as being related to the event, the identifying comprising computing a relevance of the one or more business processes to the event;

generating, at run time using a platform-independent declarative language, a platform-independent data structure in response to receipt of the data characterizing the event, the generating comprising associating the event with a template of the platform independent data structure, and generating the data structure from the template;

storing information in the data structure, the information comprising context information about the event derived from the received data characterizing the event and a business procedure to resolve the event, the context information being stored in the platform-independent data structure in accordance with the platform-independent declarative language;

determining an event resolution procedure to initiate based on the data characterizing the event, the business procedure to resolve the event, and the one or more identified business processes;

initiating the event resolution procedure, the initiating comprising providing access to the platform-independent data structure for the plurality of applications such that the plurality of applications can obtain the context information without being adapted to communicate with the one or more platform-dependent data sources; and

updating the platform-independent data structure to reflect resolution of the event upon receiving a notification of completion of the event resolution procedure.

17. The system of claim 16, wherein the information further comprises at least one of a performance indicator, an alerting procedure, and a notification procedure.

18. The system of claim 16, wherein the event is a stateful event and the operations further comprise:

associating the event with the data structure; and

receiving a notification based on the association of the event with the data structure.

19. The system of claim 16, wherein determining the event resolution procedure further comprises determining the event resolution procedure based on content of the platform independent data structure.

20. The system of claim 16, wherein the determining the event resolution procedure comprises interpreting the one or more computer-implemented business processes to determine an activity to perform.