Information exchange using generic data streams

• US 8,806,345 B2
• Filed: 12/10/2009
• Issued: 08/12/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 12/10/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Business Objects Incorporated (SAP SE)
• Original Assignee: Business Objects Incorporated (SAP SE)
• Inventors: Pontier, Laurent, Dumant, Bruno
• Primary Examiner(s): TILLERY, RASHAWN N
• Application Number:
  US12/634,867
• Publication Number:
  US 20110145712A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,706 Days
• Field of Search: 709/230, 709/231, 707/955, 715/764, 715/765
• US Class Current: 715/738
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/541 via adapters, e.g. between incompatible applications

Abstract

Systems and methods for information exchange using generic data streams, wherein a data stream is sent from one computer system to another, and the receiving computer system is not aware of the structure of the information in the data stream. A header of the data stream includes a description of a data object. A body of the data stream includes information for instances of a data object stored on a computer system. The object is compliant with the description provided in the header of the data stream. The information in the body of the stream is extracted based on the description provided in the header of the data stream. A user interface (UI) is dynamically created based on the description of data object to display portions of the received information, and further to allow a user to change the information.

Claims

1. A non-transitory article of manufacture comprising computer readable instructions stored thereon which when executed by a processor cause a computing environment to:

receive, from a remote computer system, a data stream containing information from at least one instance of a data object with a structure unknown to the computing environment, the data stream comprising;

a header, wherein the header of the data stream includes metadata describing one or more structure elements of the data object, and

a body, wherein the body of the data stream includes the information from the at least one instance of the data object;

extract the information from the at least one instance of the data object from the body of the data stream in accordance with the one or more structure elements described in the metadata; and

dynamically create a user interface (UI) based on the one or more structure elements of the data object, wherein the UI includes

a first area to show the one or more structure elements based on a description in the metadata,

a second area to present information from the at least one instance of the data object corresponding to a selected element from the one or more structure elements, and

a UI control mechanism to allow a user to select the element of the one or more structure elements, and to change a structure of the selected element or the information from the at least one instance of the data object corresponding to the selected element.

2. The article of manufacture of claim 1, comprising further computer readable instructions stored thereon which when executed by the processor cause the computing environment to:

send a synchronization request to the remote computer system in response to a change in the structure of the selected element or in the information from the at least one instance of the data object corresponding to the selected element, the synchronization request including the change.

3. The article of manufacture of claim 1, comprising further computer readable instructions stored thereon which when executed by the processor cause the computing environment to:

receive supplementary information in the header of the data stream related to the data object, wherein the supplementary information is selected from a group consisting of;

a default value of a property of the data object;

a start index indicating a position of an instance in an order of instances of the data object persisted in a computer system, wherein information from the instance with the start index position is included into the body of the data stream;

a number of instances of the data object persisted in the computer system from which information is included in the body of the data stream; and

a total number of instances of the data object persisted in the computer system.

4. The article of manufacture of claim 1, comprising further computer readable instructions stored thereon which when executed by the processor cause the computing environment to:

read from the metadata a definition of a property of the data object indicative of a structure element of the one or more structure elements of the data object, wherein the definition of the property includes a name of the property and a type corresponding to the property.

5. The article of manufacture of claim 1, comprising further computer readable instructions stored thereon which when executed by the processor cause the computing environment to:

read from the metadata a definition of a hyperlink property of the data object indicative of a nested structure element of the one or more structure elements of the data object, wherein each instance of the data object includes a reference to at least one instance of another data object.

6. The article of manufacture of claim 1, comprising further computer readable instructions stored thereon which when executed by the processor cause the computing environment to:

read from the metadata a definition of a compound property of the data object indicative of a compound structure element of the one or more structure elements of the data object, wherein the definition of the compound property includes a name of the compound property and a combination of types corresponding to the compound property.

7. The article of manufacture of claim 1, comprising further computer readable instructions stored thereon which when executed by the processor cause the computing environment to:

read from the metadata a definition of a morphable property of the data object indicative of a morphable structure element of the one or more structure elements of the data object, wherein the definition of the morphable property includes a name of the morphable property and a plurality of alternative types or combinations of types corresponding to the morphable property.

8. The article of manufacture of claim 1, comprising further computer readable instructions stored thereon which when executed by the processor cause the computing environment to:

read from the body of the data stream a name of a property and a value of the property, wherein the value is of a type that corresponds to the property.

9. A computer implemented method for information exchange using generic data streams, the method comprising:

receiving, from a remote computer system, a data stream containing information from at least one instance of a data object with a structure unknown to the computer, the data stream comprising;

a header, wherein the header of the data stream includes a description of the data object, and

receiving a body, wherein the body of the data stream includes information from the at least one instance of the data object;

extracting the information from the at least one instance of the data object from the body of the data stream based on the description in the header of the data stream; and

dynamically creating a user interface (UI) based on the description in the header of the data stream to include information from one or more of the header of the data stream and the body of the data stream.

10. The method of claim 9 further comprising:

sending a synchronization request to the remote computer system in response to a change of the description in the header of the data stream or in response to a change in the extracted information from the body of the data stream, the synchronization request including the change.

11. The method of claim 9, wherein receiving the header of the data stream comprises:

receiving supplementary information related to the data object, wherein the supplementary information is selected from a group consisting of;

a default value of a property of the data object;

a start index indicating a position of an instance in an order of instances of the data object persisted in a computer system, wherein the instance with the start index position is retrieved in response to the query request;

a number of instances of the data object retrieved from the computer system in response to the query request; and

a total number of instances of the data object persisted in the computer system.

12. The method of claim 9, wherein receiving the header of the data stream comprises:

receiving a definition of a property of the data object indicative for the structure of the data object, wherein the definition of the property includes a name of the property and a type corresponding to the property.

13. The method of claim 9, wherein receiving the header of the data stream comprises:

receiving a definition of a hyperlink property of the data object indicative for a nested structure of the data object, wherein each instance of the data object includes a reference to at least one instance of another data object.

14. The method of claim 9, wherein receiving the header of the data stream comprises:

receiving a definition of a compound property of the data object, wherein the definition of the compound property includes a name of the compound property and a combination of types corresponding to the compound property.

15. The method of claim 9, wherein receiving the header of the data stream comprises:

receiving a definition of a morphable property of the data object, wherein the definition of the morphable property includes a name of the morphable property and a plurality of alternative types or combinations of types corresponding to the morphable property.

16. The method of claim 9, wherein receiving the body of the data stream comprises:

receiving a name of a property and a value of the property, wherein the value is of a type that corresponds to the property.

17. A computer system for processing streamed data object instances, the system comprising:

a processor; and

a memory coupled to the processor and storing instructions, which when executed from the memory, cause the processor to;

receive a data stream containing information from at least one instance of a data object with a structure unknown to the computer system, the data stream comprising;

as a response to the requesting;

a header including a description of one or more structure elements of the data object, and

a body including the information from the at least one instance of the data object,

extract information from the body of the data stream based on the description in the header of the data stream, and

dynamically create a user interface (UI) based on the description in the header of the data stream to include information from one or more of the header of the data stream and the body of the data stream.

18. The system of claim 17 further comprising:

a display device coupled to the memory to render the created UI.

19. The system of claim 17, wherein the memory further storing instructions, which when executed from the memory, cause the processor to:

generate a query request, wherein the query request comprises criteria selected from a group consisting of;

a data object name;

a data object kind;

a search string;

a start index indicating a position of an instance in an order of instances of a requested data object persisted in a computer system; and

a number of instances of the requested data object to retrieve.

20. The system of claim 17, wherein the memory further storing instructions, which when executed from the memory, cause the processor to:

generate a synchronization request, wherein the synchronization request includes information for a change in one or more of the header of the data stream and the body of the data stream.