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

• US 9,600,334 B2
• Filed: 08/19/2015
• Issued: 03/21/2017
• 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:
  US14/830,509
• Publication Number:
  US 20160041843A1
• Time in Patent Office: 580 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, comprising:

receiving user input associated with a user, the user input comprising a request that identifies a process to be performed for a user and a user role associated with the user;

identifying, from a policy file, a set of one or more child processes corresponding to the process to be performed for the user;

identifying, from the policy file, a set of one or more web services for performing a child process of the set of one or more child processes corresponding to the process associated with the request;

determining, from the policy file, that a first web service in the set of one or more web services is related to a first user role associated with the user;

determining, from the policy file, that a second web service in the set of one or more web services is related to a second user role associated with the user;

invoking, from the policy file, the first web service when the user role comprises the first user role;

invoking, from the policy file, the second web service when the user role comprises the second user role; and

transmitting a notification of completion of the process based at least in part on performance of each child process by the set of one or more child processes of the process.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising storing the policy file in a data store, the policy file associating user roles with the set of one or more child processes corresponding to the process, the user roles identifying roles of users associated with the user input.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

invoking, in response to receiving the user input, at least one web service of the set of one or more web services to read the policy file;

receiving a payload from the at least one web service based at least in part on the policy file; and

identifying each child process of the set of one or more child processes of the process based at least in part on the payload.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the process is defined as a business process execution language (BPEL) process, and wherein the at least one web service is a child process of the BPEL process.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein the payload comprises information indicating the set of one or more child processes to be performed as part of the BPEL process.

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

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising modifying the policy file to specify a different web service of the set of one or more web services to be invoked for performing a different set of one or more child processes based at least in part on the user role.

8. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium having stored thereon instructions for causing at least one processor to perform the instructions, comprising:

instructions for causing the at least one processor to receive user input associated with a user, the user input comprising a request that identifies a process to be performed for the user and a user role associated with the user;

instructions for causing the at least one processor to identify, from a policy file, a set of one or more child processes corresponding to the process to be performed for the user;

instructions for causing the at least one processor to identify, from the policy file, a set of one or more web services for performing a child process of the set of one or more child processes corresponding to the process associated with the request;

instructions for causing the at least one processor to determine, from the policy file, that a first web service in the set of one or more web services is related to a first user role associated with the user;

instructions for causing the at least one processor to determine, from the policy file, that a second web service in the set of one or more web services is related to a second user role associated with the user;

instructions for causing the at least one processor to invoke, from the policy file, the first web service when the user role comprises the first user role;

instructions for causing the at least one processor to invoke, from the policy file, the second web service when the user role comprises the second user role; and

instructions for causing the at least one processor to transmit a notification of completion of the process based at least in part on performance of each child process by the set of one or more child processes of the process.

9. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 8, further comprising instructions for causing the at least one processor to store the policy file in a data store, the policy file associating user roles with the set of one or more child processes corresponding to the process, the user roles identifying roles of users associated with the user input.

10. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 8, further comprising instructions for causing the at least one processor to:

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

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

identify each child process of the set of one or more child processes of the workflow based at least in part on the payload.

11. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 10, wherein the process is defined as a business process execution language (BPEL) process and wherein the at least one web service is a child process of the BPEL process.

12. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 11, wherein the payload comprises information indicating the set of one or more child processes to be performed as part of the BPEL process.

13. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 8, wherein the policy file groups the set of one or more child processes into categories, and wherein identifying the set of one or more child processes includes invoking a category of the policy file based at least in part on the user input.

14. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 8, further comprising instructions for causing the at least one processor to modify the policy file to specify a different web service of the set of one or more web services to be invoked for performing a different set of one or more child processes based at least in part on the user role.

15. A system, comprising:

a processor; and

a memory subsystem including instructions that, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to;

receive user input associated with a user, the user input comprising a request that identifies a process to be performed for the user and a user role associated with the user;

identify, from a policy file, a set of one or more child processes corresponding to the process to be performed for the user;

identify, from the policy file, a set of one or more web services for performing a child process of the set of one or more child processes corresponding to the process associated with the request;

determine, from the policy file, that a first web service in the set of one or more web services is related to a first user role associated with the user;

determine, from the policy file, that a second web service in the set of one or more web services is related to a second user role associated with the user;

invoke, from the policy file, the first web service when the user role comprises the first user role;

invoke, from the policy file, the second web service when the user role comprises the second user role; and

transmit a notification of completion of the process based at least in part on performance of each child process by the set of one or more child processes of the process.

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

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

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

identify each child process of the set of one or more child processes of the process based at least in part on the payload.

17. The system of claim 16, wherein the process is defined as a business process execution language (BPEL) process and wherein the at least one web service is a child process of the BPEL process.

18. The system of claim 17, wherein the payload comprises information indicating the set of one or more child processes to be performed as part of the BPEL process.

19. The system of claim 15, wherein the policy file groups the set of one or more child processes into categories and wherein the identifying the set of one or more child processes includes invoking a category of the policy file based at least in part on the user input.

20. The system of claim 15, wherein the processor is further operable to modify the policy file to specify a different web service of the set of one or more web services to be invoked for performing a different set of one or more child processes based at least in part on the user role.