Invoice adjustment data object for a common data object format
First Claim
1. A method comprising:
- receiving invoice adjustment information in a first application-specific data object format from a first processing system of a plurality of processing systems, whereineach processing system of the plurality of processing systems comprises an application,the invoice adjustment information is received at a communications transport layer, andthe invoice adjustment information comprisesan identification data element,an invoice adjustment base data element,a billing data element,a status data element, anda list of invoice adjustment line item details data element;
receiving, at the communications transport layer, configuration information relating to the processing systems, whereinthe configuration information is received via a communications protocol adapter; and
translating the invoice adjustment information into a common invoice adjustment data object format, whereinthe translating is performed by a processor, andthe translating comprises;
accessing a first storing unit configured to store transformation information, wherein the first storing unit is coupled to the processor,accessing a second storing unit, wherein the second storing unit stores at least one business process, and the second storing unit is coupled to the processor,executing the at least one business process in response to a predefined event, andthe common invoice adjustment data object format comprisesat least one relationship data element, whereinthe relationship data element specifies at least one relationship between a plurality of entities,the relationship data element comprises a plurality of elements,a first element of the plurality of elements corresponds to a first entity of the plurality of entities,a second element of the plurality of elements corresponds to a second entity of the plurality of entities, andat least one custom data element, whereinthe custom data element facilitates customization of the common invoice adjustment data object format.
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Abstract
Embodiments of the invention provide methods and data structures for the effective and efficient synchronization or inter-exchange of invoice adjustment information between business applications employing disparate DOFs. For one embodiment, a DOF is provided that allows for relationships between entities, also referred to as invoice adjustments, to be modeled as attributes of an entity and for customization of the DOF in a manner that facilitates upgrading of the DOF. For one embodiment, the invoice adjustment DOF is provided in a common software language such as XML. For one embodiment, invoice adjustment information from each of several business applications is translated to a common DOF. The invoice adjustment information, in the common DOF, is then inter-exchanged among the several business applications. Each application has only to translate the invoice adjustment information from the common DOF to the application-specific DOF of the respective business application.
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Citations
29 Claims
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1. A method comprising:
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receiving invoice adjustment information in a first application-specific data object format from a first processing system of a plurality of processing systems, wherein each processing system of the plurality of processing systems comprises an application, the invoice adjustment information is received at a communications transport layer, and the invoice adjustment information comprises an identification data element, an invoice adjustment base data element, a billing data element, a status data element, and a list of invoice adjustment line item details data element; receiving, at the communications transport layer, configuration information relating to the processing systems, wherein the configuration information is received via a communications protocol adapter; and translating the invoice adjustment information into a common invoice adjustment data object format, wherein the translating is performed by a processor, and the translating comprises; accessing a first storing unit configured to store transformation information, wherein the first storing unit is coupled to the processor, accessing a second storing unit, wherein the second storing unit stores at least one business process, and the second storing unit is coupled to the processor, executing the at least one business process in response to a predefined event, and the common invoice adjustment data object format comprises at least one relationship data element, wherein the relationship data element specifies at least one relationship between a plurality of entities, the relationship data element comprises a plurality of elements, a first element of the plurality of elements corresponds to a first entity of the plurality of entities, a second element of the plurality of elements corresponds to a second entity of the plurality of entities, and at least one custom data element, wherein the custom data element facilitates customization of the common invoice adjustment data object format. - 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 processor; and a tangible non-transitory machine-readable medium configured to be accessed by the processor, wherein the tangible non-transitory machine-readable medium has stored therein a data structure, wherein the data structure is defined in an extensible markup language format, the data structure is configured to facilitate translating invoice adjustment information into a common invoice adjustment data object format, and the data structure comprises; at least one relationship data element, wherein the relationship data element specifies at least one relationship between a plurality of entities, the relationship data element comprises a plurality of elements, a first element of the plurality of elements corresponds to a first entity of the plurality of entities, a second element of the plurality of elements corresponds to a second entity of the plurality of entities; at least one custom data element configured to facilitate customization of the common invoice adjustment data object format; an identification data element; an invoice adjustment base data element; a billing data element; a status data element; and a list of invoice adjustment line item details data element. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13)
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14. A tangible non-transitory machine-readable medium that provides executable instructions, which, when executed by a computing system, cause the computing system to perform a method comprising:
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receiving invoice adjustment information in a first application-specific data object format from a first processing system of a plurality of processing systems, wherein each processing system of the plurality of processing systems comprises an application, and wherein the invoice adjustment information is received at a communications transport layer; receiving, at the communications transport layer, configuration information relating to the processing systems, wherein the configuration information is configured to be received via a communications protocol adapter; and translating the invoice adjustment information into a common invoice adjustment data object format, wherein the translating comprises accessing a first storing unit configured to store transformation information, accessing a second storing unit, wherein the second storing unit stores at least one business process, and executing the business process in response to a predefined event, and the common invoice adjustment data object format comprises at least one relationship data element, wherein the relationship data element specifies at least one relationship between a plurality of entities, the relationship data element comprises a plurality of elements, a first element of the plurality of elements corresponds to a first entity of the plurality of entities, a second element of the plurality of elements corresponds to a second entity of the plurality of entities, at least one custom data element, wherein the custom data element facilitates customization of the common invoice adjustment data object format, an identification data element, an invoice adjustment base data element, a billing data element, a status data element, and a list of invoice adjustment line item details data element. - View Dependent Claims (15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22)
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23. A system comprising:
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a plurality of processing systems, wherein each processing system of the plurality of processing systems comprises a respective application that processes invoice adjustment information, the invoice adjustment information having a respective application-specific data object format, and each processing system of the plurality of processing systems is coupled to a communications protocol adapter, wherein the communications protocol adapter is configured to receive configuration information from the processing system; and an integration server coupled to each processing system of the plurality of processing systems, wherein the integration server translates invoice adjustment information from a first application-specific data object format to a common invoice adjustment data object format, wherein the common invoice adjustment data object format comprises at least one relationship data element, wherein
the relationship data element specifies at least one relationship between a plurality of entities,the relationship data element comprises a plurality of elements, a first element of the plurality of elements corresponds to a first entity of the plurality of entities,
a second element of the plurality of elements corresponds to a second entity of the plurality of entities,at least one custom data element, wherein
the custom data element facilitates customization of the common invoice adjustment data object format,an identification data element, an invoice adjustment base data element, a billing data element, a status data element, and a list of invoice adjustment line item details data element; and the integration server comprises; a communications transport layer configured to receive invoice adjustment information; a first storing unit configured to store transformation information; a second storing unit configured to store defined business processes; and a business process controller configured to execute the business processes, wherein the execution is in response to predefined events. - View Dependent Claims (24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29)
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Specification