System and method for meta-data driven, semi-automated generation of web services based on existing applications

• US 8,799,319 B2
• Filed: 06/18/2009
• Issued: 08/05/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 09/19/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Oracle International Corporation (Oracle Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Oracle International Corporation (Oracle Corporation)
• Inventors: Srinivasan, Nagaraj, Anbuselvan, Ananthalakshmi, Rangarajan, Keshava, Krishnamurthy, Sudharsan, Sinha, Murari, Chen, Yuling, Rao, Aditya Ramamurthy, Dasararaju, Jayateja, Gupta, Harish
• Primary Examiner(s): MORRISON, JAY A
• Application Number:
  US12/487,004
• Publication Number:
  US 20100082556A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,874 Days
• Field of Search: 707/802, 707/804, 707/999.102, 707/782
• US Class Current: 707/782
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/972 Access to data in other repository systems, e.g. legacy data or dynamic Web page generation
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 8/36 Software reuse
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 8/72 Code refactoring
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/541 via adapters, e.g. between incompatible applications

Abstract

Techniques for reusing logic implemented in an existing software application such that the logic can be exposed as a Web service or in any other service-oriented context. In one set of embodiments, a design-time technique is provided that comprises, inter alia, receiving program code for an existing software application, generating metadata based on the program code, and customizing the metadata to align with an intended Web service. Artifacts for the Web service are then generated based on the customized metadata. In another set of embodiments, a run-time technique is provided that comprises, inter alia, receiving a payload representing an invocation of a Web service operation of the generated Web service, processing the payload, and, based on the processing, causing the existing software application to execute an operation in response to the invocation of the Web service operation.

Claims

1. A method for facilitating the reuse of logic implemented in an existing software application, the method comprising:

receiving, at a computer system, a selection of an existing software application, wherein the existing software application is built using an application technology that is not Web service-enabled;

generating, by the computer system, metadata based on data parsed from program code for the existing software application;

receiving, at the computer system, one or more customizations to be applied to the metadata;

modifying, by the computer system, the metadata based on the one or more customizations; and

generating, by the computer system, artifacts for a Web service based on the modified metadata, the Web service being configured to expose a Web service operation that, when executed, causes an existing operation implemented in the existing software application to be executed, wherein the generating the artifacts for the Web service based on the modified metadata comprises;

generating a mapping file identifying the existing operation, its associated data objects, and a mapping between the existing operation and an alternative operation name; and

generating a template payload file defining a template payload to be transmitted to the existing software application at a time of invocation of the Web service operation, the template payload including an invocation of the existing operation, one or more placeholder values for one or more input parameters, and a sequence of zero or more sub-operations to be executed by the existing software application in order to carry out the existing operation.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein the metadata comprises a first metadata file defining the existing operation implemented in the existing software application, a second metadata file defining one or more data objects associated with the existing operation, and a third metadata file defining names for the existing operation and its associated data objects.

3. The method of claim 2 wherein the one or more customizations include an alternative operation name for the existing operation.

4. The method of claim 3 wherein the one or more customizations further include alternative data object names for the one or more data objects associated with the existing operation.

5. The method of claim 3 wherein modifying the metadata based on the one or more customizations comprises modifying the metadata to include the alternative operation name.

6. The method of claim 5 wherein generating artifacts for the Web service based on the modified metadata comprises:

generating an operation definition file defining the Web service operation, the Web service operation being identified in the operation definition file by the alternative operation name; and

generating an object definition file defining Web service data objects corresponding to the one or more data objects associated with the existing operation.

7. The method of claim 6 wherein generating artifacts for the Web service based on the modified metadata further comprises:

generating program code and related metadata for the Web service, the program code and related metadata including one or more Java classes and one or more Web Service Description Language (WSDL) files, the one or more WSDL files being generated based on the operation definition file.

8. The method of claim 7 further comprising:

executing a script for packaging the program code and related metadata for the Web service into an archive; and

deploying the archive to an application server in a run-time environment.

9. The method of claim 8 further comprising:

storing the mapping file and the template payload file in a repository accessible to the application server.

10. The method of claim 6 further comprising:

receiving, at another computer system configured to run the Web service, a payload file representing an invocation of the Web service operation and including one or more input parameter values for the Web service operation; and

invoking, at the another computer system, an orchestration process for processing the payload file.

11. The method of claim 10 wherein the orchestration process is a Business Process Execution Language (BPEL) process.

12. The method of claim 10 wherein the orchestration process is configured to:

invoke a first utility Web service by passing the payload file as input;

receive from the first utility Web service a name of the existing software application and a name of the existing operation;

invoke the first utility Web service by passing the name of the existing software application and the name of the existing operation as input;

receive from the first utility Web service the mapping file and the template payload file;

invoke a second utility Web service by passing the mapping file, the template payload file, and the payload file as input;

receive from the second utility Web service a final payload file generated based on the mapping file, the template payload file, and the payload file, the final payload file identifying the existing operation, a sequence of zero or more sub-operations to be performed by the existing software application in order to carry out the existing operation, and the one or more input parameter values included in the payload file; and

invoking a third utility Web service by passing the final payload file as input, the third utility Web service being configured to communicate with the existing software application and cause the existing software application to execute the existing operation.

13. The method of claim 12 wherein the orchestration process is further configured to:

receive from the third utility Web service one or more output parameter values outputted by the existing operation;

invoke a fourth utility Web service by passing the one or more output parameter values as input, the fourth utility Web service being configured to transform a format of the one or more output parameter values into a format understood by the Web service;

receive the one or more transformed output parameter values; and

pass the one or more transformed output parameter values to the Web service.

14. The method of claim 1, wherein the metadata generated based on data parsed from the program code comprises a set of operations, associated application operation names, a set of data objects, and associated application data object names found in the program code.

15. The method of claim 14, further comprising selecting one or more web service operations from the set of operations to expose through a web service interface, wherein at least one operation from the set of operations is not selected.

16. The method of claim 15, wherein receiving customizations to be applied to the metadata further comprises receiving an external name associated with each of the selected web service operations and data object associated with each selected web service operation;

wherein the external name is used to invoke said each selected web service, and in response to invoking the web service, the operation is invoked in the existing software application using the associated application name operation name.

17. A system for facilitating the reuse of logic implemented in an existing software application, the system comprising:

a first computer system in a design-time environment, the first computer system being configured to;

receive a selection of an existing software application, wherein the existing software application is built using an application technology that is not Web service-enabled;

generate metadata based on data parsed from program code for the existing software application;

receive one or more customizations to be applied to the metadata;

modify the metadata based on the one or more customizations; and

generate artifacts for a Web service based on the modified metadata, the Web service being configured to expose a Web service operation that, when executed, causes an existing operation implemented in the existing software application to be executed, wherein the generating the artifacts for the Web service based on the modified metadata comprises;

generating a mapping file identifying the existing operation, its associated data objects, and a mapping between the existing operation and an alternative operation name; and

generating a template payload file defining a template payload to be transmitted to the existing software application at a time of invocation of the Web service operation, the template payload including an invocation of the existing operation, one or more placeholder values for one or more input parameters, and a sequence of zero or more sub-operations to be executed by the existing software application in order to carry out the existing operation.

18. The system of claim 17 wherein the metadata comprises a first metadata file defining the existing operation implemented in the existing software application, a second metadata file defining one or more data objects associated with the existing operation, and a third metadata file defining names for the existing operation and its associated data objects.

19. The system of claim 18 wherein the one or more customizations include an alternative operation name for the existing operation.

20. The system of claim 19 wherein modifying the metadata based on the one or more customizations comprises modifying the metadata to include the alternative operation name.

21. The system of claim 20 wherein generating artifacts for the Web service based on the modified metadata comprises:

generating an operation definition file defining the Web service operation, the Web service operation being identified in the operation definition file by the alternative operation name; and

generating an object definition file defining Web service data objects corresponding to the one or more data objects associated with the existing operation.

22. The system of claim 17 further comprising:

a second computer system in a run-time environment, the second computer system being configured to;

receive a payload file representing an invocation of the Web service operation and including one or more input parameter values for the Web service operation; and

invoke an orchestration process for processing the payload file.

23. A non-transitory machine-readable medium having stored thereon program code which, when executed by a processing component of a computer system, facilitates the reuse of logic implemented in an existing software application, the program code comprising:

code for receiving a selection of an existing software application, wherein the existing software application is built using an application technology that is not Web service-enabled;

code for generating metadata comprising code for parsing data from program code for the existing software application;

code for receiving one or more customizations to be applied to the metadata;

code for modifying the metadata based on the one or more customizations; and

code for generating artifacts for a Web service based on the modified metadata, the Web service being configured to expose a Web service operation that, when executed, causes an existing operation implemented in the existing software application to be executed, wherein the generating the artifacts for the Web service based on the modified metadata comprises;

generating a mapping file identifying the existing operation, its associated data objects, and a mapping between the existing operation and an alternative operation name; and

generating a template payload file defining a template payload to be transmitted to the existing software application at a time of invocation of the Web service operation, the template payload including an invocation of the existing operation, one or more placeholder values for one or more input parameters, and a sequence of zero or more sub-operations to be executed by the existing software application in order to carry out the existing operation.

24. The non-transitory machine-readable medium of claim 23 wherein the program code further comprises:

code for receiving a payload file representing an invocation of the Web service operation and including one or more input parameter values for the Web service operation; and

code for invoking an orchestration process for processing the payload file.