Invocation of web services based on a policy file including processes of a workflow associated with user roles

• US 9,146,784 B2
• Filed: 08/03/2009
• Issued: 09/29/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 08/03/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Oracle International Corporation (Oracle Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Oracle International Corporation (Oracle Corporation)
• Inventors: Ramanathaiah, Gurudutta, Ramakrishnan, Deepak
• Primary Examiner(s): Lee, Tammy
• Application Number:
  US12/534,400
• Publication Number:
  US 20110029977A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,248 Days
• Field of Search: None
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/4881 Scheduling strategies for dispatcher, e.g. round robin, multi-level priority queues
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/5038 considering the execution order of a plurality of tasks, e.g. taking priority or time dependency constraints into consideration scheduling strategies G06F9/4881 and subgroups

Abstract

Techniques for orchestrating workflows are disclosed herein. In an embodiment, a method of orchestrating a workflow is disclosed. In an embodiment, data is stored in a policy file which associates attributes with processes. User input is received. A process associated with an attribute is selected, where the attribute is based on the user input. The selected process is performed as part of the workflow. Also, processes may be added dynamically as part of any category inside the policy file without having to recompile or redesign the logic of the BPEL project.

Claims

1. A method for orchestrating a workflow, comprising:

storing in a data store a policy file, the policy file at least associating user roles with one or more child processes of the workflow, the user roles identifying roles of users associated with a user input;

receiving the user input associated with the user;

invoking a web service of a plurality of web services to read the policy file of the data store in response to receiving the user input associated with the user;

identifying, based at least in part on a first user role identified in the user input associated with the user and a payload received from the web service, a first set of child processes of the one or more child processes of a process identified by the workflow that is associated with the first user role identified in the user input associated with the user;

identifying, from the policy file, a first set of one or more web services of the plurality of web services to be invoked for performing each child process of the first set of child processes associated with the first user role;

invoking, from the policy file, the first set of one or more web services for performing each child process of the first set of child processes associated with the first user role;

transmitting a notification of completion of the process identified by the workflow, based at least in part on performing each child process of the first set of child processes of the workflow;

identifying a second user role in the user input;

identifying, based at least in part on the second user role, a second set of child processes of the one or more child processes associated with the second user role; and

identifying, from the policy file, a second set of web services of the plurality of web services to be invoked for performing the second set of child processes associated with the second user role.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising, invoking, from the policy file, the second set of web services for performing the second set of child processes associated with the second user role.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the workflow is defined as a BPEL.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the policy file groups the one or more child processes into categories and wherein the identifying the first set of child processes or the second set of child processes includes invoking a category of the policy file based at least in part on the user input.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein the policy file includes at least one empty category.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising reconfiguring the workflow by modifying the policy file, the reconfiguring the workflow comprising modifying the policy file to specify a different web service of the plurality of web services to be invoked for performing the one or more child processes of the workflow, based at least in part on the first user role or the second user role identified in the user input.

7. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium having stored thereon instructions for causing at least one processor to perform a method of orchestrating a workflow, said instructions comprising:

instructions for causing the at least one processor to direct a data store to store a policy file, the policy file associating user roles with one or more child processes of the workflow, the user roles identifying roles of users associated with a user input;

instructions for causing the at least one processor to receive the user input associated with the user;

instructions for causing the at least one processor to invoke a web service of a plurality of web services to read the policy file of the data store in response to receiving the user input associated with the user;

instructions for causing the at least one processor to identify, based at least in part on a first user role identified in the user input and a payload received from the web service, a first set of child processes of the one or more child processes of a process identified by the workflow that is associated with the first user role identified in the user input;

instructions for causing the at least one processor to identify, from the policy file, a first set of one or more web services of the plurality of web services to be invoked for performing the first set of child processes associated with the first user role;

instructions for causing the at least one processor to invoke, from the policy file, the first set of one or more web services to perform each child process of the first set of child processes associated with the first user role;

instructions for causing the at least one processor to transmit a notification of completion of the process identified by the workflow, based at least in part on performing each child process of the first set of child processes of the workflow;

instructions for causing the at least one processor to identify a second user role in the user input;

instructions for causing the at least one processor to identify, based at least in part on the second user role, a second set of child processes of the one or more child processes associated with the second user role; and

instructions for causing the at least one processor to identify, from the policy file, a second set of web services of the plurality of web services to be invoked for performing the second set of child processes associated with the second user role.

8. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 7, wherein the instructions for causing the processor to perform the process comprise:

instructions for causing the at least one processor to invoke, from the policy file, the second set of web services for performing the second set of child processes associated with the second user role.

9. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 7, wherein the workflow is defined as a BPEL process.

10. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 7, wherein the policy file groups the one or more child processes into categories and wherein the instructions for causing the at least one processor to identify the first set of child processes or the second set of child processes includes instructions for causing the at least one processor to invoke a category of the policy file based on the user input.

11. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 10, wherein the policy file includes at least one empty category.

12. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 7, further comprising instructions for causing the at least one processor to reconfigure the workflow by modifying the policy file, the reconfiguring the workflow comprising modifying the policy file to specify a different web service of the plurality of web services to be invoked for performing the one or more child processes of the workflow, based at least in part on the first user role or the second user role identified in the user input.

13. A system for orchestrating a workflow, comprising:

a data store operable to store a policy file that associates attributes with one or more child processes of the workflow and operable to group at least one of the one or more child processes into categories, the attributes including at least a first role of a user, and the policy file including at least one empty category;

an input device operable to receive user input associated with the user;

a communication device operable to communicate with another communication device of another system; and

a processor communicatively coupled to the data store, input device, and communication device, said processor operable to;

receive said user input, said user input configured to identify the first role of the user;

identify, based at least in part on the first role of the user input, a first set of child processes of the one or more child processes of a process identified by the workflow that is associated with the first user role identified in the user input;

identify, from the policy file, a first set of one or more web services of a plurality of web services to be invoked for performing each child process of the first set of child processes associated with the first user role;

invoke, from the policy file, the first set of one or more web services to perform each child process of the first set of child processes associated with the first user role;

transmit a notification of completion of the process identified by the workflow, based at least in part on performing each child process of the first set of child processes of the workflow;

identify a second user role in the user input;

identify, based at least in part on the second user role, a second set of child processes of the one or more child processes associated with the second user role; and

identify, from the policy file, a second set of web services of the plurality of web services to be invoked for performing the second set of child processes associated with the second user role.

14. The system of claim 13, further comprising, invoking, from the policy file, the second set of web services for performing the second set of child processes associated with the second user role.

15. The system of claim 13, wherein the processor is operable to:

invoke, in response to receiving the user input, at least one web service of the plurality of web services to read the policy file;

receive a payload from the at least one web service based on the policy file; and

identify each child process of the one or more child processes of the workflow based on the payload.

16. The system of claim 15, wherein the workflow is defined as a BPEL process.

17. The system of claim 13, wherein the processor is operable to identify each child process of the one or more child processes of the workflow by invoking a category of the policy file based on the user input.