Accessing application services from forms

• US 9,858,321 B2
• Filed: 08/19/2014
• Issued: 01/02/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 09/20/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Oracle International Corporation (Oracle Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Oracle International Corporation (Oracle Corporation)
• Inventors: Shakespeare, Darryl Martin, Nowakowski, David Wayne, Laurent, Nicole Jodie
• Primary Examiner(s): Leroux, Etienne
• Assistant Examiner(s): Glasser, Dara J
• Application Number:
  US14/463,532
• Publication Number:
  US 20150088866A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,232 Days
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/252 between a Database Management System and a front-end application

Abstract

A method, system, and computer program product for computer-aided deployment of mobile system apps for accessing enterprise applications. A form field service request originates from a non-native system. The service request comprises at least one form field identifier. The native computer system processes the service request using the form field identifier to identify corresponding forms stored at locations accessible to the native system (e.g., in a database engine). The native computer system processes the service request to map the form field to business logic operations and/or to other actions before delivering the service request to a native application that is configured to process the form field using native business logic. The business logic within the native application produces results from the native application which in turn are sent from the native application to the non-native system. The non-native system comprises any number of mobile devices, smart phones, and/or tablet devices.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

receiving, by a native computer system, a service request comprising at least one form field identifier and form data for forms processing, wherein

the service request originates from a non-native computer system as an access request for a native application that resides on the native computer system;

identifying a form that corresponds to the form data and is stored at a location accessible by the native system by using at least the at least one form field identifier;

delivering the service request to the native application that is configured to perform one or more operations of form processing on at least a portion of the form for the forms processing;

performing the one or more operations for the forms processing within the native application to produce results from the native application;

sending at least a portion of the results from the native application to the non-native system using the at least one form field identifier

identifying, at the non-native computer system, a specification of a user request comprising a form data payload to access the native application hosted by the native computer system for the form;

receiving, at the non-native computer system from a user, user provided data in the form that is pre-existing on and provided by the native computer system;

receiving, at the non-native computer system, a user credential from the user;

receiving, at the non-native computer system, an identifier of the native application from the user;

receiving, at the non-native computer system, a version of the native application from the user;

receiving, at the non-native computer system, a form identifier of the form from the user;

receiving, at the non-native computer system, one or more references to the one or more operations to be performed on the form from the user;

receiving, at an intermediate computer system comprising at least one form processor, the service request from the non-native computer system;

transmitting the user provided data, the user credential, the identifier, the version, and the one or more references from the non-native computer system to the native computer system via a network communication channel;

prior to sending the service request to the native computer system, processing the service request at the at least one form processor of the intermediate computer system;

configuring a request emulator remote from the non-native computer system to include a security interface, which is configured to pass parameters to at least one field in the form, and data and capability of handling a plurality of protocols that are implemented on the intermediate computer system;

receiving, at a request emulator remote from the non-native computer system, the service request from a service proxy that has been processed by the at least one form processor and resides at the intermediate computer system;

modifying, at the request emulator, the service request into a modified service request that comprises information about the at least one form field identifier based in part or in whole upon at least one requirement of the native application residing on the native computer system;

communicating, at the native application, the modified service request with a database engine that comprises a plurality of forms and form metadata that correspond to respective form components in the form and describe a structure of the form and a plurality of components of the form;

identifying, at the database engine, the form on which the one or more operations are to be performed and one or more fields in the form with the information about the at least one form field identifier;

executing, at the native computer system using the form metadata and data received from the user, the native application in a silent mode or a headless mode where the one or more operations are performed on the form as if the user had requested the one or more operations from the native computer system;

receiving, at the native computer system, the one or more references to the one or more operations to be performed on the form;

initiating, at the native computer system, the one or more operations;

raising a post event at least by initiating a post dialog after initiating the one or more operations at the native computer system;

executing post-operation logic to obtain additional user provided data that satisfy operation requirements for the one or more operations;

generating, at the native application, the results at least by performing the one or more operations on the form;

executing the post-operation logic to provide for data filter and formatting that comports to non-native computer system requirements for the non-native computer system to receive the at least a portion of the results from the native application;

transmitting the at least the portion of the results generated by the native application to the request emulator;

processing, at the request emulator, the at least the portion of the results into one or more messages; and

transmitting the one or more messages from the request emulator to the non-native computer system while enabling a backend computer system to perform one or more CRUD (create, read, update, and delete) operations on the native computer system that is remotely connected to the non-native computer system.

2. The method of claim 1 further comprising sending the at least the portion of the results from a middleware component to the non-native system, and processing the service request within the middleware component that is stored at least partially in memory and functions in tandem with at least one microprocessor, wherein the at least one form field identifier is mapped to an operation of the native application, and the non-native system is at least one of, a mobile device, a smart phone, and a tablet.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising a middleware component that includes a form service request processor.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein sending the results from the native application to the non-native system uses a JSON message.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the at least one form field identifier received from the non-native system serves to uniquely identify a particular form that is processed by an application running on the native system.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the at least one form field identifier uniquely identifies the form.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising delivering the service request to an application server that hosts the native application that is configured to process the service request that includes the at least one form field identifier.

8. A computer program product embodied in a non-transitory computer readable medium, the non-transitory computer readable medium having stored thereon a sequence of instructions which, when executed by a processor, causes the processor to execute a set of acts, the set of acts comprising:

receiving, by a native computer system, a service request comprising at least one form field identifier and form data for forms processing, wherein

the service request originates from a non-native computer system as an access request for a native application that resides on the native computer system;

identifying a form that corresponds to the form data and is stored at a location accessible by the native computer system by using at least the at least one form field identifier;

delivering the service request to the native application that is configured to perform one or more operations on at least a portion of the form for the forms processing;

performing the one or more operations for the forms processing within the native application to produce results from the native application;

sending at least a portion of the results from the native application to the non-native system using the at least one form field identifier;

identifying, at the non-native computer system, a specification of a user request comprising a form data payload to access the native application hosted by the native computer system for the form;

receiving, at the non-native computer system from a user, user provided data in the form that is pre-existing on and provided by the native computer system;

receiving, at the non-native computer system, a user credential from the user;

receiving, at the non-native computer system, an identifier of the native application from the user;

receiving, at the non-native computer system, a version of the native application from the user;

receiving, at the non-native computer system, a form identifier of the form from the user;

receiving, at the non-native computer system, one or more references to the one or more operations to be performed on the form from the user;

receiving, at an intermediate computer system comprising at least one form processor, the service request from the non-native computer system;

transmitting the user provided data, the user credential, the identifier, the version, and the one or more references from the non-native computer system to the native computer system via a network communication channel;

prior to sending the service request to the native computer system, processing the service request at the at least one form processor of the intermediate computer system;

configuring a request emulator remote from the non-native computer system to include a security interface, which is configured to pass parameters to at least one field in the form, and data and capability of handling a plurality of protocols that are implemented on the intermediate computer system;

receiving, at a request emulator remote from the non-native computer system, the service request from a service proxy that has been processed by the at least one form processor and resides at the intermediate computer system;

modifying, at the request emulator, the service request into a modified service request that comprises information about the at least one form field identifier based in part or in whole upon at least one requirement of the native application residing on the native computer system;

communicating, at the native application, the modified service request with a database engine that comprises a plurality of forms and form metadata that correspond to respective form components in the form and describe a structure of the form and a plurality of components of the form;

identifying, at the database engine, the form on which the one or more operations are to be performed and one or more fields in the form with the information about the at least one form field identifier;

executing, at the native computer system using the form metadata and data received from the user, the native application in a silent mode or a headless mode where the one or more operations are performed on the form as if the user had requested the one or more operations from the native computer system;

receiving, at the native computer system, the one or more references to the one or more operations to be performed on the form;

initiating, at the native computer system, the one or more operations;

raising a post event at least by initiating a post dialog after initiating the one or more operations at the native computer system;

executing post-operation logic to obtain additional user provided data that satisfy operation requirements for the one or more operations;

generating, at the native application, the results at least by performing the one or more operations on the form;

executing the post-operation logic to provide for data filter and formatting that comports to non-native computer system requirements for the non-native computer system to receive the at least a portion of the results from the native application;

transmitting the at least the portion of the results generated by the native application to the request emulator;

processing, at the request emulator, the at least the portion of the results into one or more messages; and

transmitting the one or more messages from the request emulator to the non-native computer system while enabling a backend computer system to perform one or more CRUD (create, read, update, and delete) operations on the native computer system that is remotely connected to the non-native computer system.

9. The computer program product of claim 8, wherein the at least one form field identifier is mapped to an operation of the native application.

10. The computer program product of claim 8, wherein the non-native system comprises at least one of, a mobile device, a smart phone, and a tablet.

11. The computer program product of claim 8, further comprising instructions for processing the service request within a middleware component.

12. The computer program product of claim 11 further comprising instructions for sending at least a portion of the results from the middleware component to the non-native system.

13. The computer program product of claim 11, wherein the middleware component includes a form service request processor.

14. The computer program product of claim 8, wherein the at least one form field identifier received from the non-native system serves to uniquely identify a particular form that is processed by an application running on the native system.

15. The computer program product of claim 8, further comprising delivering the service request to an application server that hosts the native application that is configured to process the identified form.

18. The computer program product of claim 8, wherein the non-transitory computer readable medium further stores thereupon the sequence of instructions which, when executed by the processor, causes the processor to execute the set of acts, and the set of acts further comprises sending the at least the portion of the results from a middleware component to the non-native system, and processing the service request within the middleware component that is stored at least partially in memory and functions in tandem with at least one microprocessor, wherein the at least one form field identifier is mapped to an operation of the native application, and the non-native system is at least one of, a mobile device, a smart phone, and a tablet.

16. A computer system comprising:

a receiving unit, which is stored at least partially within memory of a native computer system and functions in tandem with at least one microprocessor, configured to receive a service request comprising at least one form field identifier and form data for forms processing, wherein

the service request originates from a non-native system as an access request for a native application that resides on the native computer system, and

the native computer system is further configured to identify a form that corresponds to the form data and is stored at a location accessible by the native computer system by using at least the at least one form field identifier;

a middleware component, which is stored at least partially in memory and functions in tandem with at least one microprocessor, configured to deliver the service request to the native application that is configured to perform one or more operations on at least a portion of the form for the forms processing;

a native application module comprising the native application and being configured to perform one or more operations of forms processing within the native application to produce results from the native application, wherein the native application module sends at least a portion of the results from the native application to the non-native system using the at least one form field identifier, wherein the computer system is further configured to;

identify, at the non-native computer system, a specification of a user request comprising a form data payload to access the native application hosted by the native computer system for the form;

receive, at the non-native computer system from a user, user provided data in the form that is pre-existing on and provided by the native computer system;

receive, at the non-native computer system, a user credential from the user;

receive, at the non-native computer system, an identifier of the native application from the user;

receive, at the non-native computer system, a version of the native application from the user;

receive, at the non-native computer system, a form identifier of the form from the user;

receive, at the non-native computer system, one or more references to the one or more operations to be performed on the form from the user;

receive, at an intermediate computer system comprising at least one form processor, the service request from the non-native computer system;

transmit the user provided data, the user credential, the identifier, the version, and the one or more references from the non-native computer system to the native computer system via a network communication channel;

prior to sending the service request to the native computer system, process the service request at the at least one form processor of the intermediate computer system;

configure a request emulator remote from the non-native computer system to include a security interface, which is configured to pass parameters to at least one field in the form, and data and capability of handling a plurality of protocols that are implemented on the intermediate computer system;

receive, at a request emulator remote from the non-native computer system, the service request from a service proxy that has been processed by the at least one form processor and resides at the intermediate computer system;

modify, at the request emulator, the service request into a modified service request that comprises information about the at least one form field identifier based in part or in whole upon at least one requirement of the native application residing on the native computer system;

communicate, at the native application, the modified service request with a database engine that comprises a plurality of forms and form metadata that correspond to respective form components in the form and describe a structure of the form and a plurality of components of the form;

identify, at the database engine, the form on which the one or more operations are to be performed and one or more fields in the form with the information about the at least one form field identifier;

execute, at the native computer system using the form metadata and data received from the user, the native application in a silent mode or a headless mode where the one or more operations are performed on the form as if the user had requested the one or more operations from the native computer system;

receive, at the native computer system, the one or more references to the one or more operations to be performed on the form;

initiate, at the native computer system, the one or more operations;

raise a post event at least by initiating a post dialog after initiating the one or more operations at the native computer system;

execute post-operation logic to obtain additional user provided data that satisfy operation requirements for the one or more operations;

generate, at the native application, the results at least by performing the one or more operations on the form;

execute the post-operation logic to provide for data filter and formatting that comports to non-native computer system requirements for the non-native computer system to receive the at least a portion of the results from the native application;

transmit the at least the portion of the results generated by the native application to the request emulator;

process, at the request emulator, the at least the portion of the results into one or more messages; and

transmit the one or more messages from the request emulator to the non-native computer system while enabling a backend computer system to perform one or more CRUD (create, read, update, and delete) operations on the native computer system that is remotely connected to the non-native computer system.

17. The computer system of claim 16, wherein the at least one form field identifier is mapped to an operation of the native application.

19. The computer system of claim 16, wherein the computer system is further configured to send the at least the portion of the results from a middleware component to the non-native system, and processing the service request within the middleware component that is stored at least partially in memory and functions in tandem with at least one microprocessor, wherein the at least one form field identifier is mapped to an operation of the native application, and the non-native system is at least one of, a mobile device, a smart phone, and a tablet.

20. The computer system of claim 16, wherein the computer system is further configured to deliver the service request to an application server that hosts the native application that is configured to process the service request that includes the at least one form field identifier.