Quantity conversion interface for external program calls

• US 20060020685A1
• Filed: 07/22/2004
• Published: 01/26/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 07/22/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: SAP SE
• Original Assignee: SAP AG (SAP SE)
• Inventors: Mueller, Ralf, Seng, Markus, Spens, Guenter
• Granted Patent: US 7,962,576 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 709/219
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/0875 Itemisation or classification of parts, supplies or services, e.g. bill of materials
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 40/12 Accounting
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/125 involving control of end-device applications over a network
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/565 Conversion or adaptation of application format or content adding application control or application functional data H04L67/561
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/5682 Policies or rules for updating, deleting or replacing the stored data

Abstract

The application is directed to methods, systems, procedures, networks and storage apparatus used to conduct conversions of data using remote conversion servers. In one embodiment of the present invention, recent query results may be stored and then used to solve subsequent conversions rather than querying a remote conversion server when the same conversion was previously completed. A counter may be referenced to determine if too much time has passed since the original query was stored in the buffer and, if too much time has passed, the buffer may be cleared and the remote conversion server may be queried to convert the pending data. The resulting conversion may be stored for subsequent use.

Claims

1. A system for querying a remote server over a network, the system comprising:

a computer memory device;

a processor;

an input device, the input device providing input data for the processor; and

an output device, the output device sending data processed by the processor,

wherein the computer memory device stores instructions processor that, when executed, cause the processor to;

recognize generation of input data containing measured parameters of a substance,

search the computer memory device to determine if conversion results corresponding to the measured parameters are stored therein, and

if the conversion results are stored in the memory, provide the stored conversion results in a response to the input data,

otherwise, refer the measured parameters to a service via the output device and receive computed conversion results in response thereto, and provide the computed conversion results in the response to the input data.

2. The system of claim 1 wherein the measured parameters are rheological measurements of a petroleum product.

3. The system of claim 1 wherein the computer memory device includes further instructions that instruct the processor to query a counter to determine if a preselected period has expired.

4. The system of claim 1 wherein the computer memory includes further instructions that instruct the processor to convert the measured parameters to a preselected unit of measure.

5. The system of claim 1 wherein the computer memory includes further instructions to perform a security verification on a user of the system prior to sending a query to a remote server.

6. The system of claim 2 wherein the rheological measurements of the petroleum product have been sensed by a remote sensor interfacing with the product.

7. The system of claim 5 wherein the security verification includes verifying that the user is authorized to convert the requested types of data.

8. The system of claim 1 wherein the computer memory includes further instructions to perform a security verification of a remote conversion server to verify that the server is authorized to complete a requested conversion.

9. The system of claim 1 wherein the computer memory includes further instructions to have the processor to output converted rheological data from a remote server to a buffer storage accessible over a network.

10. The system of claim 1 wherein the conversion results are conversions to industry standard parameters.

11. The system of claim 1 wherein the conversion results include volumetric conversions.

12. The system of claim 1 wherein the conversion results were derived from an API conversion server.

13. The system of claim 1 wherein the conversion results were derived from an AGA conversion server.

14. A programmable storage device storing instructions for a processor, the processor having communication inputs and communication outputs, the instructions comprising:

instructing the processor to recognize the presence of input data containing measured parameters of a substance; and

instructing the processor to invoke the generation of a query to a computer storage device to determine if conversion results for the measured parameters are stored in the storage device.

15. The device of claim 14 wherein the measured parameters are rheological measurements of a petroleum product.

16. The device of claim 14 further comprising instructions that instruct the processor to query a counter to determine if a preselected period has expired.

17. The device of claim 14 further comprising instructions that instruct the processor to convert the measured parameters to a preselected unit of measure.

18. The device of claim 14 further comprising instructions to perform a security verification on a user of the processor prior to sending a query to a remote server.

19. The device of claim 15 wherein the Theological measurements of the petroleum product have been sensed by a remote sensor interfacing with the product.

20. The device of claim 18 wherein the security verification includes verifying that the user is authorized to convert the requested types of data.

21. The device of claim 14 further comprising instructions to perform a security verification of a remote conversion server to verify that the server is authorized to complete a requested conversion.

22. The device of claim 14 further comprising instructions to have the processor to output converted rheological data from a remote server to a buffer storage accessible over a network.

23. The device of claim 14 wherein the conversion results are conversions to industry standard parameters.

24. The device of claim 14 wherein the conversion results include volumetric conversions.

25. The device of claim 14 wherein the conversion results were derived from an API conversion server.

26. The device of claim 14 wherein the conversion results were derived from an AGA conversion server.

27. A quantity conversion method, comprising:

responsive to a request to perform a standard condition conversion calculation, the request including rheological conditions of a product, comparing the rheological conditions against stored conditions of prior calculations maintained in a local memory,

if the comparison yields a match, retrieving conversion results associated with the rheological conditions from the local memory,

otherwise, referring the Theological conditions to a standard conversion agent via a network and receiving conversion results therefrom, and

outputting the conversion results as a response to the request.

28. The method of claim 27, further comprising:

identifying a timestamp associated with the stored conversion results, and

referring the rheological conditions to the standard conversion agent via the network if the timestamp indicates an age of the stored conversion results exceeds a predetermined value.

wherein the measured parameters are rheological measurements of a petroleum product.

29. The method of claim 27 further comprising:

converting measured parameters to a preselected unit of measure.

30. The method of claim 27 further comprising

performing a security verification on a user prior to referring rheological conditions to a standard conversion agent.

31. The method of claim 27 wherein the local memory is a volatile memory.