Software model deployment units

• US 8,316,344 B2
• Filed: 12/30/2005
• Issued: 11/20/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 12/30/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: SAP SE
• Original Assignee: SAP AG (SAP SE)
• Inventors: Kaetker, Stefan, Freund, Jens, Latocha, Peter, Moosmann, Gerd
• Primary Examiner(s): Puente, Emerson
• Assistant Examiner(s): Labud, Jonathan R
• Application Number:
  US11/323,039
• Publication Number:
  US 20070156430A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,517 Days
• Field of Search: None
• US Class Current: 717/104
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 8/10 Requirements analysis; Specification techniques

Abstract

Methods and apparatus, including computer program products, for forming deployment units. Groups of process components, each group characterizing software that is independently operable, are identified. Thereafter, a plurality of deployment units, each deployment unit associated with at least one identified group of process components are formed. Each process component is entirely included in exactly one deployment unit. In addition, each of the process components characterizes software implementing a respective and distinct business process, and each of the process components defines at least one respective service interface for interacting with other process components, wherein all communication and interaction between process components takes place through the respective interfaces of the process components.

Claims

1. A software modeling system comprising at least one memory storing a software modeling tool and at least one processor executing the software modeling tool to perform operations to group process components, the operations comprising:

processing at least one input identifying at least one group of process components, each group characterizing software that is independently operable and context-independent; and

processing at least one input defining a plurality of deployment units, each deployment unit associated with at least one identified group of process components, wherein each process component is entirely included in exactly one deployment unit, each deployment unit corresponding to a hardware platform on which a process component is deployed;

wherein each of the process components characterizes software implementing a respective and distinct business process, and each of the process components defines at least one respective service interface for interacting with other process components, wherein all communication and interaction between process components takes place through the respective interfaces of the process components, each service interface comprising at least one service operation, and each service operation belonging to exactly one process component and comprising a separately-callable function, wherein interaction between a first process component in a first deployment unit and a second process component in a second deployment unit external to the first deployment unit takes place through an incoming message to the first process component from the second process component in the second deployment unit through the respective service interfaces of the first and second process components, and interaction between the first process component and a third process component arranged in the same deployment unit takes place through business objects accessible to the first and third process components in the same deployment unit.

2. A system as in claim 1, the operations further comprising:

processing at least one input defining, for each process component, at least one associated business object.

3. A system as in claim 2, wherein none of the business objects of any one of the process components interacts directly with any of the business objects associated with any of the other process components.

4. A system as in claim 1, wherein at least one of the deployment units comprises at least one business object that is not associated with a process component.

5. A system as in claim 1, wherein the process components characterize inbound operations to handle incoming messages associated with a modification of reading of data encapsulated in a business object associated with the process component.

6. A system as in claim 1, wherein the process components characterize outbound operations to handle outgoing messages associated with a modification or reading of data encapsulated in at least one business object associated with another process component.

7. A system as in claim 1, wherein processing at least one input identifying at least one group of process components comprises:

generating, for each process component, at least one process agent, each process agent enabling communications between a business object associated with the process component and a business object associated with any other process component.

8. A system as in claim 7, wherein at least one of the process agents is an inbound process agent characterizing an inbound operation to handle incoming messages.

9. A system as in claim 7, wherein at least one of the inbound process agents is operable to receive a message of a first type and convert it into a message of a second type.

10. A system as in claim 7, wherein at least one of the process agents is an outbound process agent characterizing an outbound operation to transmit outgoing messages to an external process component.

11. A system as in claim 1, wherein at least two of the process agents within a single deployment unit communicate without a service operation.

12. A system as in claim 1, the operations further comprising:

processing at least one input logically associating a plurality of process components to realize a business scenario.

13. A system as in claim 1, the operations further comprising:

generating a plurality of integration scenarios, each integration scenario comprising a plurality of logically associated process components to realize a business scenario; and

populating a catalog with the generated integration scenarios.

14. A system as in claim 1, the operations further comprising:

polling a data repository to obtain stored data characterizing the plurality of deployment units.

15. A system as in claim 1, wherein at least a portion of communications between process components within a deployment unit is not message based.

16. A system as in claim 1, wherein at least two of the deployment units are deployed on separate hardware platforms.

17. Apparatus comprising at least one non-transitory, computer-readable storage medium storing instructions, the instructions operable, when executed by at least one processor, to perform operations to group process components in a software modeling environment, the operations comprising:

processing at least one input identifying at least one group of process components, each group characterizing software that is independently operable and context-independent; and

processing at least one input defining a plurality of deployment units, each deployment unit associated with at least one identified group of process components, wherein each process component is entirely included in exactly one deployment unit, each deployment unit corresponding to a hardware platform on which a process component is deployed;

wherein each of the process components characterizes software implementing a respective and distinct business process, and each of the process components defines at least one respective service interface for interacting with other process components, wherein all communication and interaction between process components takes place through the respective interfaces of the process components, each service interface comprising at least one service operation, and each service operation belonging to exactly one process component and comprising a separately-callable function, wherein interaction between a first process component in a first deployment unit and a second process component in a second deployment unit external to the first deployment unit takes place through an incoming message to the first process component from the second process component in the second deployment unit through the respective service interfaces of the first and second process components, and interaction between the first process component and a third process component arranged in the same deployment unit takes place through messages passed between the first and third process components in the same deployment unit.

18. The apparatus of claim 17, wherein at least two of the deployment units are deployed on separate hardware platforms.

19. The apparatus of claim 17, the operations further comprising:

processing at least one input defining a plurality of respective and distinct series of processes; and

assembling process components to characterize independently operable and context-independent software effecting each of the series of processes in the plurality of series of processes;

wherein each deployment unit is associated with at least one of the series of processes in the plurality of series of processes.

20. A computer-implemented method for grouping process components in a software modeling environment, the method comprising:

processing at least one input identifying at least one group of process components, each group characterizing independently operable and context-independent software; and

processing at least one input defining a plurality of deployment units, each deployment unit associated with at least one identified group of process components, wherein each process component is entirely included in exactly one deployment unit, each deployment unit corresponding to a hardware platform on which a process component is deployed;

wherein each of the process components characterizes software implementing a respective and distinct process, and each of the process components defines a respective at least one service interface for communicating and interacting with other process components, and all communication and interaction between process components takes place through the respective interfaces of the process components, each service interface comprising at least one service operation, and each service operation belonging to exactly one process component and comprising a separately-callable function, wherein interaction between a first process component in a first deployment unit and a second process component in a second deployment unit external to the first deployment unit takes place through an incoming message to the first process component from the second process component in the second deployment unit through the respective service interfaces of the first and second process components, and interaction between the first process component and a third process component arranged in the same deployment unit takes place through at least one of business objects accessible to the first and third process components in the same deployment unit or messages passed between the first and third process components in the same deployment unit.

21. The method of claim 20, wherein at least two of the deployment units are deployed on separate hardware platforms.

22. The method of claim 20, wherein software characterized by the groups of process components are deployable on separate physical computer hardware platforms.