Method and apparatus for processing jobs on an enterprise-wide computer system

• US 20020023122A1
• Filed: 04/27/2001
• Published: 02/21/2002
• Est. Priority Date: 04/27/2000
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Oracle International Corporation (Oracle Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Hyperion Solutions Corporation (Oracle Corporation)
• Inventors: Bick, Robert Mark, Burton, Peter Alan, Hippenmeyer, William, Murphy, Anthony John, Ewry, Jeffrey Alan, Godbeer, Gail Helen, Yedwab, Gadi, Polizzi, Kathleen Riddell, Norris, Jack
• Granted Patent: US 7,266,821 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 709/202
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/954 Navigation, e.g. using categorised browsing
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/958 Organisation or management of web site content, e.g. publishing, maintaining pages or automatic linking
• 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: Y10S 707/955 Object-oriented
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/959 Network
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99931 Database or file accessing
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99942 Manipulating data structure, e.g. compression, compaction, compilation

Abstract

A method and apparatus for processing jobs on an enterprise-wide computer system. The computer system uses a portal architecture to allow a user to view a wide variety of content retrieved from a variety of different computer systems. The computer system is configured such that a plurality of users can access the system at the same time through a computer network such as the Internet. Users may access the computer system by using a standardized browser program, thus simplifying the user interface. The computer system may also be connected to one or more back-end databases that correspond to the different computer systems within the enterprise. The computer system is configured to run predefined jobs to process data. These jobs can perform a variety of tasks such as retrieving data from a back-end database, preparing a report based upon retrieved data, processing data already resident within the portal system, or notifying a user when a particular condition occurs within the portal system. These jobs can be executed on a predefined schedule or on an ad-hoc basis at the request of a user. The computer system also allows users to subscribe to the job. A user that subscribes to a job receives a notification whenever the job is executed by the computer system. The portal system also allows a user to configure one or more exception conditions for a job that indicate when some element of the output report is outside of a predefined range. A user can subscribe to exceptions and thus be notified when an exception condition is found.

Claims

1. A computer system configured to communicate with a plurality of users through a network interface, wherein at least one of the plurality of users communicates with the network interface through a computer network, the computer system comprising:

a service broker electrically connected to the network interface, the service broker controlling a level of access to the computer system by a user;

an authentication server electrically connected to the service broker, the authentication server configured to determine a level of access to be granted to a user based upon data stored therein;

a repository electrically connected to the service broker, the repository comprising a computer memory encoded with a plurality of objects including at least one job which may be accessed by the users;

a job server electrically connected to the service broker, the job server configured to execute a job stored within the repository and produce an output report, the job server also configured to transmit an output report to the network interface for transmission to the user; and

an event server electrically connected to the service broker, the event server comprising a computer memory encoded with instructions for dispatching a job for processing on the job server according to a predefined schedule.

2. A computer system according to claim 1, wherein the computer memory of the repository is further encoded with job properties corresponding to said at least one job, wherein said job properties define a set of input data be provided to a corresponding job server when the job is executed;

and wherein the job server is configured to process the set of input data with the job when the job is executed.

3. A computer system according to claim 1, wherein the computer memory of the repository is further encoded with job properties corresponding to said at least one job, wherein said job properties define a list of users to be notified when the job is executed;

and wherein the job server is configured to process said job properties and provide notification to the list of users when the job is executed.

4. A computer system according to claim 1, wherein the computer memory of the repository is further encoded with job properties corresponding to said at least one job, wherein said job properties defme an exception condition and a list of users subscribing to the exception condition, and wherein the job server is configured to compare said exception condition to the output report to determine the existence of an exception, and to provide notification to the list of users subscribing to the exception condition if the exception condition exists when the job is executed.

5. A computer system electrically connected to at least one back-end database, the computer system configured to communicate with at least one user through a network interface, wherein said least one user communicates with the network interface through a computer network, the computer system comprising:

a service broker electrically connected to the network interface, the service broker controlling a level of access to the computer system by a user;

an authentication server electrically connected to the service broker, the authentication server configured to determine a level of access to be granted to a user based upon data stored therein;

a repository electrically connected to the service broker, the repository comprising a computer memory encoded with a plurality of objects including at least one job which may be accessed by the users;

a job server electrically connected to the service broker and to said at least one back-end database, the job server configured to execute a job which retrieves and processes data from the back-end database, the job server also configured to transmit an output report to the network interface for transmission to the user; and

an event server electrically connected to the service broker, the event server comprising a computer memory encoded with instructions for dispatching a job for processing on the job server according to a predefined schedule.

6. A computer system according to claim 5, wherein the computer memory of the repository is further encoded with job properties corresponding to said at least one job, wherein said job properties define a set of input data be provided to a corresponding job server when the job is executed;

and wherein the job server is configured to process the set of input data with the job when the job is executed.

7. A computer system according to claim 5, wherein the computer memory of the repository is further encoded with job properties corresponding to said at least one job, wherein said job properties define a list of users to be notified when the job is executed;

and wherein the job server is configured to process said job properties and provide notification to the list of users when the job is executed.

8. A computer system according to claim 5, wherein the computer memory of the repository is further encoded with job properties corresponding to said at least one job, wherein said job properties define an exception condition and a list of users subscribing to the exception condition, and wherein the job server is configured to compare said exception condition to the output report to determine the existence of an exception, and to provide notification to the list of users subscribing to the exception condition if the exception condition exists when the job is executed.

9. A computer system configured to communicate with at least one user through a network interface, wherein said at least one user communicates with the network interface through a computer network, the computer system comprising:

a service broker electrically connected to the network interface, the service broker controlling a level of access to the computer system by a user;

an authentication server electrically connected to the service broker, the authentication server configured to determine a level of access to be granted to a user based upon data stored therein;

a repository electrically connected to the service broker, the repository comprising a computer memory encoded with a plurality of objects including at least one job which may be accessed by the users and wherein the computer memory of the repository is further encoded with job properties corresponding to said at least one job, wherein the job properties defme an input forms be provided to a corresponding job server when the job is executed;

a job server electrically connected to the service broker, the job server configured to execute a job stored within the repository, and wherein the job server is configured to provide a corresponding input form to a user; and

wherein the job server also configured to receive input from a user based upon the user form, the job server also configured to process the input from the user with the job to produce an output report, the job server also configured to transmit the output report to the network interface for transmission to the user.

10. A computer system according to claim 9, wherein the computer memory of the repository is further encoded with job properties defining a list of users to be notified when the job is executed;

and wherein the job server is configured to process said job properties and provide notification to the list of users when the job is executed.

11. A computer system according to claim 9, wherein the computer memory of the repository is further encoded with job properties defining an exception condition and a list of users subscribing to the exception condition, and wherein the job server is configured to compare said exception condition to the output report to determine the existence of an exception, and to provide notification to the list of users subscribing to the exception condition if the exception condition exists when the job is executed.

13. A computer system according to claim 12, wherein the computer memory of the repository is further encoded with job properties defining a list of users to be notified when the job is executed;

and wherein the job server is configured to process said job properties and provide notification to the list of users when the job is executed.

14. A computer system according to claim 12, wherein the computer memory of the repository is further encoded with job properties defining an exception condition and a list of users subscribing to the exception condition, and wherein the job server is configured to compare said exception condition to the output report to determine the existence of an exception, and to provide notification to the list of users subscribing to the exception condition if the exception condition exists when the job is executed.

16. A method according to claim 15, wherein the job server is connected to at least one back-end database, and wherein the job server is configured to execute a job that retrieves and processes data from the back-end database, further comprising the steps of:

retrieving a set of data from a back-end database corresponding to the requested job; and

processing in the job server the requested job with the set of data retrieved from the back-end database and the set of input data received from the user so as to produce an output report.

12. A computer system electrically connected to at least one back-end database, the computer system configured to communicate with at least one user through a network interface, wherein said least one user communicates with the network interface through a computer network, the computer system comprising:

a service broker electrically connected to the network interface, the service broker controlling a level of access to the computer system by a user;

an authentication server electrically connected to the service broker, the authentication server configured to determine a level of access to be granted to a user based upon data stored therein;

a repository electrically connected to the service broker, the repository comprising a computer memory encoded with a plurality of objects including at least one job which may be accessed by a user, and wherein the computer memory of the repository is further encoded with job properties corresponding to said at least one job, wherein the job properties define an input form be provided to a corresponding job server when the job is executed;

a job server electrically connected to the service broker and to at least one back- end database, the job server configured to execute a job which retrieves and processes data from the back-end database, and wherein the job server is configured to provide a corresponding input form to a user; and

wherein the job server also configured to receive input from a user based upon the user form, and wherein the job server also configured to process the input from the user with the job to produce an output report, and wherein the job server also configured to transmit the output report to the network interface for transmission to the user.

15. A method of processing a job in a computer system comprised of a service broker, a repository including computer memory encoded with a plurality of objects including at least one job and an input form corresponding to said at least one job, an authentication server, and a job server, the computer system configured for communication with at least one user through a network interface, the method comprising the steps of:

receiving a request to execute a job stored in the repository from a user connected to the computer system through the computer network;

retrieving the requested job and a corresponding input form from the repository;

dispatching the requested job and the corresponding input form for processing on a corresponding job server;

providing the input form to a user;

receiving a set of input data from a user corresponding to the input form;

processing the requested job with the set of input data received from the user in the job server so as to produce an output report; and

transmitting the output report to the user through the network interface.