Architectural design for product catalog management application software
First Claim
1. A computer program product comprising instructions encoded on a non-transitory, computer-readable medium, the instructions being structured as process components interacting with each other through service interfaces, the instructions performing operations when executed by one or more processors to:
- define a plurality of process components, each of the process components comprising a modular and application-independent package of reusable granular software implementing a respective and distinct business process, the business process comprising functionality exposed by the process component via a corresponding service interface, the plurality of process components including;
a Purchasing Contract Processing process component that handles agreements between a purchaser and a supplier related to supply of goods or performance of services;
a Product Catalogue Authoring process component that creates and edits product catalogs by collecting product information from relevant sources, controls the quality of the product catalogues'"'"' contents, and controls when and to what extent Product Catalogues can be published for use in other business processes; and
a Product Catalogue Publishing process component that makes published product catalogues available to a large number of users electronically as a means to interactively search for and select products for use in other business processes;
define a plurality of service interfaces, each service interface associated with exactly one process and comprising at least one operation, each operation being implemented for exactly one process component, the operations comprising inbound and outbound operations, the outbound operation for a first process component being operable to send a message to a second process component of the plurality of process components, the second process component having an inbound operation for receiving the message, the sending and receiving of messages between an inbound and an outbound operation defining a message-based pair-wise interaction between the respective process components of the respective operations, the pair-wise interactions between pairs of the process components including interactions between;
the Purchasing Contract Processing process component and the Product Catalogue Authoring process component, where the pair-wise interaction between the Purchasing Contract Processing process component and the Product Catalogue Authoring process component includes transmission of a catalogue update notification message, from the Purchasing Contract Processing process component to the Product Catalogue Authoring process component, requesting that at least one particular catalog be updated based at least in part on identification of at least one item of modified product data; and
the Product Catalogue Authoring process component and the Product Catalogue Publishing component, where the pair-wise interaction between the Purchasing Contract Processing process component and the Product Catalogue Authoring process component includes transmission of;
a catalogue publication request message from the Product Catalogue Authoring process component to the Product Catalogue Publishing process component, the catalogue publication request message comprising a request for performance of a publication task on a catalogue, anda catalogue publication transmission package notification message from the Product Catalogue Publishing process component to the Product Catalogue Authoring process component, the catalogue publication transmission package notification message comprising a notification that a catalogue publication request message has been received at the Product Catalogue Authoring process component, the catalogue publication transmission package notification message further providing information about the validity of content included in the received catalogue publication request message;
a catalogue publication confirmation message from the Product Catalogue Publishing process component to the Product Catalogue Authoring process component, the catalogue publication confirmation message comprising confirmation from the Product Catalogue Publishing process component to the Product Catalogue Authoring process component describing whether the publication or deletion of a catalogue requested by a catalogue publication request message was successful;
a catalogue publication transmission cancellation request message from the Product Catalogue Authoring process component to the Product Catalogue Publishing process component, the catalogue publication transmission cancellation request message comprising a request for cancellation of transmission of a catalogue;
a catalogue publication transmission cancellation confirmation message from the Product Catalogue Publishing process component to the Product Catalogue Authoring process component, comprising a confirmation of a received catalog publication transmission cancellation request;
a catalogue item lock request message from the Product Catalogue Authoring process component to the Product Catalogue Publishing process component, the catalogue item lock request message comprising a request to lock items of the catalogue contained in a catalogue publication transmission;
a catalogue item lock confirmation message from the Product Catalogue Publishing process component to the Product Catalogue Authoring process component, the catalogue item lock confirmation message comprising a confirmation of a catalogue item lock;
a catalogue publication transmission content change request message from the Product Catalogue Authoring process component to the Product Catalogue Publishing process component, the catalogue publication transmission content change request message comprising a request to change, create or to delete a limited number of catalog items contained in a catalog publication transmission; and
a catalogue publication transmission content change confirmation message from the Product Catalogue Publishing process component to the Product Catalogue Authoring process component, the catalogue publication transmission content change confirmation message comprising a confirmation from Product Catalogue Publishing to Product Catalogue Authoring regarding whether a limited number of catalogue items contained in the catalogue publication transmission could be changed, created or deleted in response to a received catalogue publication transmission content change request message; and
store the defined process components and service interface operations in memory.
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Abstract
Methods, systems, and apparatus, including computer program products, for implementing a software architecture design for a software application implementing catalog management useful to create or update published catalogs based on product master data changes or external supplier catalogs. The application is structured as multiple process components interacting with each other through service interfaces, and multiple service interface operations, each being implemented for a respective process component. The process components include a Purchasing Contract Processing process component that handles agreements between a purchaser and a supplier; a Product Catalogue Authoring process component that creates and edits product catalogs by collecting product information from relevant sources, controls the quality of the product catalogs'"'"' contents, and controls when and to what extent Product Catalogues can be published; and a Product Catalogue Publishing process component that makes published product catalogs available to a large number of users electronically for use in other business processes.
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Citations
16 Claims
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1. A computer program product comprising instructions encoded on a non-transitory, computer-readable medium, the instructions being structured as process components interacting with each other through service interfaces, the instructions performing operations when executed by one or more processors to:
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define a plurality of process components, each of the process components comprising a modular and application-independent package of reusable granular software implementing a respective and distinct business process, the business process comprising functionality exposed by the process component via a corresponding service interface, the plurality of process components including; a Purchasing Contract Processing process component that handles agreements between a purchaser and a supplier related to supply of goods or performance of services; a Product Catalogue Authoring process component that creates and edits product catalogs by collecting product information from relevant sources, controls the quality of the product catalogues'"'"' contents, and controls when and to what extent Product Catalogues can be published for use in other business processes; and a Product Catalogue Publishing process component that makes published product catalogues available to a large number of users electronically as a means to interactively search for and select products for use in other business processes; define a plurality of service interfaces, each service interface associated with exactly one process and comprising at least one operation, each operation being implemented for exactly one process component, the operations comprising inbound and outbound operations, the outbound operation for a first process component being operable to send a message to a second process component of the plurality of process components, the second process component having an inbound operation for receiving the message, the sending and receiving of messages between an inbound and an outbound operation defining a message-based pair-wise interaction between the respective process components of the respective operations, the pair-wise interactions between pairs of the process components including interactions between; the Purchasing Contract Processing process component and the Product Catalogue Authoring process component, where the pair-wise interaction between the Purchasing Contract Processing process component and the Product Catalogue Authoring process component includes transmission of a catalogue update notification message, from the Purchasing Contract Processing process component to the Product Catalogue Authoring process component, requesting that at least one particular catalog be updated based at least in part on identification of at least one item of modified product data; and the Product Catalogue Authoring process component and the Product Catalogue Publishing component, where the pair-wise interaction between the Purchasing Contract Processing process component and the Product Catalogue Authoring process component includes transmission of; a catalogue publication request message from the Product Catalogue Authoring process component to the Product Catalogue Publishing process component, the catalogue publication request message comprising a request for performance of a publication task on a catalogue, and a catalogue publication transmission package notification message from the Product Catalogue Publishing process component to the Product Catalogue Authoring process component, the catalogue publication transmission package notification message comprising a notification that a catalogue publication request message has been received at the Product Catalogue Authoring process component, the catalogue publication transmission package notification message further providing information about the validity of content included in the received catalogue publication request message; a catalogue publication confirmation message from the Product Catalogue Publishing process component to the Product Catalogue Authoring process component, the catalogue publication confirmation message comprising confirmation from the Product Catalogue Publishing process component to the Product Catalogue Authoring process component describing whether the publication or deletion of a catalogue requested by a catalogue publication request message was successful; a catalogue publication transmission cancellation request message from the Product Catalogue Authoring process component to the Product Catalogue Publishing process component, the catalogue publication transmission cancellation request message comprising a request for cancellation of transmission of a catalogue; a catalogue publication transmission cancellation confirmation message from the Product Catalogue Publishing process component to the Product Catalogue Authoring process component, comprising a confirmation of a received catalog publication transmission cancellation request; a catalogue item lock request message from the Product Catalogue Authoring process component to the Product Catalogue Publishing process component, the catalogue item lock request message comprising a request to lock items of the catalogue contained in a catalogue publication transmission; a catalogue item lock confirmation message from the Product Catalogue Publishing process component to the Product Catalogue Authoring process component, the catalogue item lock confirmation message comprising a confirmation of a catalogue item lock; a catalogue publication transmission content change request message from the Product Catalogue Authoring process component to the Product Catalogue Publishing process component, the catalogue publication transmission content change request message comprising a request to change, create or to delete a limited number of catalog items contained in a catalog publication transmission; and a catalogue publication transmission content change confirmation message from the Product Catalogue Publishing process component to the Product Catalogue Authoring process component, the catalogue publication transmission content change confirmation message comprising a confirmation from Product Catalogue Publishing to Product Catalogue Authoring regarding whether a limited number of catalogue items contained in the catalogue publication transmission could be changed, created or deleted in response to a received catalogue publication transmission content change request message; and store the defined process components and service interface operations in memory. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
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11. A system, comprising:
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a computer system comprising at least one hardware platform for executing computer instructions, the computer instructions structured as a plurality of process components interacting with each other through service interfaces, each hardware platform including at least one processor for executing the computer instructions; at least one memory storing a plurality of process components executable by the respective processor of the particular hardware platform, each of the process components comprising a modular and application-independent package of reusable granular software implementing a respective and distinct business process, the business process comprising functionality exposed by the process component via at least one service interface, the plurality of process components including; a Purchasing Contract Processing process component that handles agreements between a purchaser and a supplier related to supply of goods or performance of services; a Product Catalogue Authoring process component that creates and edits product catalogues by collecting product information from relevant sources, controls the quality of the product catalogues'"'"' contents, and controls when and to what extent product catalogues can be published for use in other business processes; and a Product Catalogue Publishing process component that makes published product catalogues available to a large number of users electronically as a means to interactively search for and select products for use in other business processes; and the at least one memory further storing a plurality of service interfaces, each service interface associated with exactly one process component and comprising at least one operation, each operation being implemented for exactly one process component, the operations comprising inbound and outbound operations, the outbound operation for a first process component being operable to send a message to a second process component of the plurality of process components, the second process component having an inbound operation for receiving the message, the sending and receiving of messages between an inbound and an outbound operation defining a message based pair wise interaction between the respective process components of the respective operations, the pair-wise interactions between pairs of the process components including interactions between; the Purchasing Contract Processing process component and the Product Catalogue Authoring process component, where the pair-wise interaction between the Purchasing Contract Processing process component and the Product Catalogue Authoring process component includes transmission of a catalogue update notification message, from the Purchasing Contract Processing process component to the Product Catalogue Authoring process component, requesting that at least one particular catalogue be updated based at least in part on identification of at least one item of modified product data; and the Product Catalogue Authoring process component and the Product Catalogue Publishing process component, where the pair-wise interaction between the Purchasing Contract Processing process component and the Product Catalogue Authoring process component includes transmission of; a catalogue publication request message from the Product Catalogue Authoring process component to the Product Catalogue Publishing process component, the catalogue publication request message comprising a request for performance of a publication task on a catalog, and a catalogue publication transmission package notification message from the Product Catalogue Publishing process component to the Product Catalogue Authoring process component, the catalogue publication transmission package notification message comprising a notification that a catalogue publication request message has been received at the Product Catalogue Authoring process component, the catalogue publication transmission package notification message further providing information about the validity of content included in the received catalogue publication request message; a catalogue publication confirmation message from the Product Catalogue Publishing process component to the Product Catalogue Authoring process component, the catalogue publication confirmation message comprising confirmation from the Product Catalog Publishing process component to the Product Catalog Authoring process component describing whether the publication or deletion of a catalog requested by a catalog publication request message was successful; a catalogue publication transmission cancellation request message from the Product Catalogue Authoring process component to the Product Catalogue Publishing process component, the catalogue publication transmission cancellation request message comprising a request for cancellation of transmission of a catalog; a catalogue publication transmission cancellation confirmation message from the Product Catalogue Publishing process component to the Product Catalogue Authoring process component, comprising a confirmation of a received catalog publication transmission cancellation request; a catalogue item lock request message from the Product Catalogue Authoring process component to the Product Catalogue Publishing process component, the catalogue item lock request message comprising a request to lock items of the catalog contained in a catalog publication transmission; a catalogue item lock confirmation message from the Product Catalogue Publishing process component to the Product Catalogue Authoring process component, the catalogue item lock confirmation message comprising a confirmation of a catalogue item lock; a catalogue publication transmission content change request message from the Product Catalogue Authoring process component to the Product Catalogue Publishing process component, the catalogue publication transmission content change request message comprising a request to change, create or to delete a limited number of catalog items contained in a catalog publication transmission; and a catalogue publication transmission content change confirmation message from the Product Catalogue Publishing process component to the Product Catalogue Authoring process component, the catalogue publication transmission content change confirmation message comprising a confirmation from Product Catalogue Publishing to Product Catalogue Authoring regarding whether a limited number of catalog items contained in the catalog publication transmission could be changed, created or deleted in response to a received catalogue publication transmission content change request message. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13, 14, 15, 16)
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Specification