Method and system for specifying, deploying and dynamically updating work flows
First Claim
1. A system for specifying, deploying and updating work flows in a computing environment, comprising:
- means for receiving a request from a user of a system comprising a plurality of components, said plurality of components including a computing system and one or more representatives, said computing system including one or more computing applications, said one or more representatives being human, and said plurality of components facilitating a routing of said request and a servicing of said request;
means for specifying a work flow, said work flow being an ordered set of steps for performing said routing and said servicing, said set of steps comprising one or more automatic steps and one or more manual steps, said one or more automatic steps performed by said one or more computing applications and said one or more manual steps performed by said one or more representatives;
means for uniformly defining said one or more automatic steps and said one or more manual steps in a single general-purpose markup language;
means for deploying said work flow to a data repository at which said work flow is available for a retrieval that facilitates an execution of said set of steps; and
means for updating one or more steps of said set of steps in response to said deploying.
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Abstract
A method and system for specifying, deploying and updating work flows. A request is received from a user of a system with components comprising a computing system and human representatives. The components facilitate routing and servicing the request. A work flow comprising manual and automatic steps is specified to perform the routing and servicing of the request. The automatic steps are automatically performed by the computing system and the manual steps are manually performed by the representatives. Both the automatic steps and the manual steps are uniformly defined in a single general-purpose markup language (e.g., XML). Further, a manual step is dynamically transformed into a new automatic step that is represented as a new XML action element. The new XML action element includes an identifier of a software routine to be executed to perform the new automatic step.
27 Citations
20 Claims
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1. A system for specifying, deploying and updating work flows in a computing environment, comprising:
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means for receiving a request from a user of a system comprising a plurality of components, said plurality of components including a computing system and one or more representatives, said computing system including one or more computing applications, said one or more representatives being human, and said plurality of components facilitating a routing of said request and a servicing of said request; means for specifying a work flow, said work flow being an ordered set of steps for performing said routing and said servicing, said set of steps comprising one or more automatic steps and one or more manual steps, said one or more automatic steps performed by said one or more computing applications and said one or more manual steps performed by said one or more representatives; means for uniformly defining said one or more automatic steps and said one or more manual steps in a single general-purpose markup language; means for deploying said work flow to a data repository at which said work flow is available for a retrieval that facilitates an execution of said set of steps; and means for updating one or more steps of said set of steps in response to said deploying. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)
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8. A computer program product comprising a non-transient computer-usable medium including computer-usable program code for specifying, deploying and updating work flows, said computer program product including:
- computer-usable program code for receiving a request from a user of a system comprising a plurality of components, said plurality of components including a computing system and one or more representatives, said computing system including one or more computing applications, said one or more representatives being human, said plurality of components facilitating a routing of said request and a servicing of said request;
computer-usable program code for specifying a work flow, said work flow being an ordered set of steps for performing said routing and said servicing, said set of steps comprising one or more automatic steps and one or more manual steps, said one or more automatic steps performed by said one or more computing applications and said one or more manual steps performed by said one or more representatives;
computer-usable program code for uniformly defining said one or more automatic steps and said one or more manual steps in a single general-purpose markup language;
computer-usable program code for deploying said work flow to a data repository at which said work flow is available for a retrieval that facilitates an execution of said set of steps; and
computer-usable program code for updating one or more steps of said set of steps in response to said deploying. - View Dependent Claims (9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14)
- computer-usable program code for receiving a request from a user of a system comprising a plurality of components, said plurality of components including a computing system and one or more representatives, said computing system including one or more computing applications, said one or more representatives being human, said plurality of components facilitating a routing of said request and a servicing of said request;
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15. A computer-implemented method of updating steps of a work flow in a computing system, comprising:
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creating a work flow in a computing system, said work flow being an ordered set of steps capable of performing a routing of a request initiated by a user of said computing system and a servicing of said request, said set of steps comprising one or more automatic steps and one or more manual steps, said one or more automatic steps to be performed by one or more computing applications included in said computing system, and said one or more manual steps to be performed by one or more representatives who are human; representing said one or more automatic steps in a first set of one or more XML schemas in a one-to-one correspondence, wherein each XML schema of said first set includes an identifier of a software routine to be executed to automatically perform a corresponding automatic step of said one or more automatic steps; representing said one or more manual steps in a second set of one or more XML schemas in a one-to-one correspondence, wherein each XML schema of said second set includes an instruction directing a representative of said one or more representatives to perform a corresponding manual step of said one or more manual steps, and does not include an identifier of a software routine to be executed to automatically perform said corresponding manual step; executing said work flow, said executing said work flow including executing said first set and executing said second set to facilitate performing said routing and said servicing, wherein said executing said work flow is performed by an execution of a runtime component of said computing system; and representing a manual step of said one or more manual steps in an XML schema to be added to said first set, said representing said manual step including transforming said manual step into an automatic step represented in said XML schema, said XML schema including a first identifier of a first software routine to be executed to facilitate automatically performing said automatic step. - View Dependent Claims (16, 17)
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18. A computer program product comprising a non-transient computer-usable medium including computer-usable program code for updating steps of a work flow, said computer program product including:
- computer-usable program code for creating a work flow in a computing system, said work flow being an ordered set of steps capable of performing a routing of a request initiated by a user of said computing system and a servicing of said request, said set of steps comprising one or more automatic steps and one or more manual steps, said one or more automatic steps to be performed by one or more computing applications included in said computing system, and said one or more manual steps to be performed by one or more representatives who are human;
computer-usable program code for representing said one or more automatic steps in a first set of one or more XML schemas in a one-to-one correspondence, wherein each XML schema of said first set includes an identifier of a software routine to be executed to automatically perform a corresponding automatic step of said one or more automatic steps;
computer-usable program code for representing said one or more manual steps in a second set of one or more XML schemas in a one-to-one correspondence, wherein each XML schema of said second set includes an instruction directing a representative of said one or more representatives to perform a corresponding manual step of said one or more manual steps, and does not include an identifier of a software routine to be executed to automatically perform said corresponding manual step;
computer-usable program code for executing said work flow, said executing said work flow including executing said first set and executing said second set to facilitate performing said routing and said servicing, wherein said executing said work flow is performed by an execution of a runtime component of said computing system; and
computer-usable program code for representing a manual step of said one or more manual steps in an XML schema to be added to said first set, said representing said manual step including transforming said manual step into an automatic step represented in said XML schema, said XML schema including a first identifier of a first software routine to be executed to facilitate automatically performing said automatic step. - View Dependent Claims (19, 20)
- computer-usable program code for creating a work flow in a computing system, said work flow being an ordered set of steps capable of performing a routing of a request initiated by a user of said computing system and a servicing of said request, said set of steps comprising one or more automatic steps and one or more manual steps, said one or more automatic steps to be performed by one or more computing applications included in said computing system, and said one or more manual steps to be performed by one or more representatives who are human;
Specification