Object-oriented framework for tracking collection documents

• US 6,687,708 B1
• Filed: 08/31/1999
• Issued: 02/03/2004
• Est. Priority Date: 08/31/1999
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: eBay Inc.
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Carey, James E., Porter, Stephen, Wiesenhofer, Siegfried, Kranzl, Verena, Brobst, Curtis H.
• Primary Examiner(s): CHILCOT, RICHARD E
• Application Number:
  US09/387,316
• Time in Patent Office: 1,617 Days
• Field of Search: 705/34, 705/35, 717/1, 707/102, 707/103, 707/103.R, 707/103.Y, 707/103.Z, 707/104.1
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/289 Object oriented databases
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/93 Document management systems
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/04 Billing or invoicing
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 40/00 Finance; Insurance; Tax strategies; Processing of corporate or income taxes
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99944 Object-oriented database structure
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99945 Object-oriented database structure processing

Abstract

An extensible Object-Oriented (OO) framework in an object-oriented programming system defines objects and classes used to correspond to and track a collection document. The collection document can be an accounts receivable (the debt is to be received) or an accounts payable (the debt is to be paid) collection document. A collection document is an unconditional order in writing in which a debtor promises to pay a debt to a bearer in exchange for at least one benefit that has been or will be received by the debtor. The OO framework defines a collection document object that corresponds to and tracks a collection document through its many states until the collection document finally ends in an ending state. Even then, the collection document object may be retained (e.g., in a persistent or frozen state) for future reference. Each of the states of the collection document object corresponds to one of the states of the collection document.

Claims

1. An apparatus comprising:

at least one processor;

a memory; and

an operating system residing in the memory and supporting an application having an application interface layer and an underlying application functionality layer associated with the interface layer, wherein the functionality layer comprises an object-oriented environment comprising a framework that provides at least one collection document object that corresponds to and tracks a collection document, which is an unconditional order in writing as satisfaction of a debt in which a debtor promises to pay a bearer in exchange for at least one benefit that has been or will be received by the debtor, wherein the at least one collection document object has a life cycle that begins when the at least one collection document object is created in a creation state, that traverses at least one of a plurality of intermediate states and that ends at one of a plurality of ending states, each state of the collection document object corresponding to a state of the collection document, each state connected to at least one other state through at least one transition.

2. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the collection document indicates that the debt is to be paid on a due date.

3. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the plurality of intermediate states comprise a state that indicates that the collection document has been sold to a bank but that the bearer retains risk of loss, a state that indicates if the collection document was sent to the bank for the bank to collect payment, and a state that indicates that the debt is now due.

4. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the plurality of ending states comprise a state that indicates that the collection document was sold to a third party and that the bearer does not retain risk of loss, a state that indicates that at least a portion of the debt has been cancelled, a state that indicates that at least a portion of the debt has been written off, and a state that indicates that the debt has been paid.

5. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein each of the transitions is a transition extension that causes its respective transition from a current state to a next state and wherein previously defined transition extensions are removed and new transition extensions are added during respective transitions from a current state to a next state.

6. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the collection document object further comprises at least one table, the at least one table corresponding to at least one of the states of the collection document object and comprising data that indicates which transitions are valid for the at least one state and at least one rule for each valid transition, each of the at least one rules indicating which transitions will be valid if the transition corresponding to the rule is taken.

7. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the collection document object is an accounts receivable collection document object that indicates that the debt is to be received by the bearer from the debtor.

8. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the collection document object is an accounts payable collection document object that indicates that the debt is to be paid to the bearer by the debtor.

9. An apparatus comprising:

at least one processor;

a memory; and

an operating system residing in the memory and supporting an application having an application interface layer and an underlying application functionality layer associated with the interface layer, wherein the functionality layer comprises an object-oriented environment comprising a framework that provides at least one collection document object that corresponds to and tracks a collection document, which is an unconditional order in writing as satisfaction of a debt in which a debtor promises to pay a bearer in exchange for at least one benefit that has been or will be received by the debtor, wherein the collection document object is instantiated from a class that inherits from a base class, the base class having at least one method or attribute that is common to both an accounts payable collection document object and an accounts receivable collection document object, wherein the accounts payable collection document object indicates that the debt is to be paid to the bearer by the debtor and the accounts receivable collection document object indicates that the debt is to be received by the bearer from the debtor.

10. A method for tracking collection documents, the method performed on a computer having an operating system and supporting an application having an application interface layer and an underlying application functionality layer associated with the interface layer, wherein the functionality layer comprises an object-oriented environment, the method comprising the steps of:

providing a framework within the functionality layer that comprises at least one collection document object that corresponds to and tracks a collection document, which is an unconditional order in writing in which a debtor promises to pay a debt to a bearer in exchange for at least one benefit that has been or will be received by the debtor;

tracking the collection document by transitioning the collection document object from a creation state into at least one intermediate state, each of the creation and intermediate states of the collection document object corresponding to a state of the collection document; and

ending by transitioning into one of a plurality of ending states, each ending state of the collection document object corresponding to an ending state for the collection document.

11. The method of claim 10 wherein the collection document indicates that the debt is to be paid on a due date.

12. The method of claim 10 wherein the plurality of intermediate states comprise a state that indicates that the collection document has been sold to a bank but that the bearer retains risk of loss, a state that indicates if the collection document was sent to the bank for the bank to collect payment, a state that indicates that the debt is now due.

13. The method of claim 10 wherein the plurality of ending states comprise a state that indicates that the collection document was sold to a third party and that the bearer does not retain risk of loss, a state that indicates that at least a portion of the debt has been cancelled, a state that indicates that at least a portion of the debt has been written off, and a state that indicates that the debt has been paid.

14. The method of claim 10 wherein each of the states of the collection document object is connected to another state through a transition extension, each of the transition extensions causing its respective transition from a current state to a next state and wherein the method further comprises the step of removing previously defined transition extensions and adding any new transition extensions during a transition from a current state to a next state.

15. The method of claim 10 wherein each of the states of the collection document object is connected to another state through a transition, wherein the collection document object further comprises at least one table, the at least one table corresponding to at least one of the states of the collection document object and comprising data that indicates which transitions are valid for the at least one state and at least one rule for each valid transition, each of the at least one rules indicating which transitions will be valid if the transition corresponding to the rule is taken, and wherein the method further comprises the step of removing previously defined transitions and adding any new transitions according to the at least one rule associated with a transition from a current state to a next state.

16. The method of claim 10 wherein the collection document object is an accounts receivable collection document object that indicates that the debt is to be received by the bearer from the debtor.

17. The method of claim 10 wherein the collection document object is an accounts payable collection document object that indicates that the debt is to be paid to the bearer by the debtor.

18. The method of claim 10 wherein the collection document object is instantiated from a class that inherits from a base class, the base class having at least one method or attribute that is common to both an accounts payable collection document object and an accounts receivable collection document object, wherein the accounts payable collection document object indicates that the debt is to be paid to the bearer by the debtor and the accounts receivable collection document object indicates that the debt is to be received by the bearer from the debtor.

19. A program product, tangibly embodying a program of machine-readable instructions executable by a computer system having an operating system that supports an application having an application interface layer and an application functionality layer associated with the interface layer, wherein the functionality layer comprises an object-oriented program environment, the program product comprising:

an object-oriented framework within the functionality layer that provides at least one collection document object that corresponds to and tracks a collection document, which is an unconditional order in writing in which a debtor promises to pay a debt to a bearer in exchange for at least one benefit that has been or will be received by the debtor; and

signal bearing media bearing the object-oriented framework, wherein the at least one collection document object has a life cycle that begins when the at least one collection document object is created in a creation state, that traverses at least one of a plurality of intermediate states and that ends at one of a plurality of ending states, each state of the collection document object corresponding to a state of the collection document, each state connected to at least one other state through at least one transition.

20. The program product of claim 19 wherein the signal bearing media comprises transmission media.

21. The program product of claim 19 wherein the signal bearing media comprises recordable media.

22. The program product of claim 19 wherein the collection document indicates that the debt is to be paid on a due date.

23. The program product of claim 19 wherein the plurality of intermediate states comprise a state that indicates that the collection document has been sold to a bank but that the bearer retains risk of loss, a state that indicates if the collection document was sent to the bank for the bank to collect payment, a state that indicates that the debt is now due.

24. The program product of claim 19 wherein the plurality of ending states comprise a state that indicates that the collection document was sold to a third party and that the bearer does not retain risk of loss, a state that indicates that at least a portion of the debt has been cancelled, a state that indicates that at least a portion of the debt has been written off, and a state that indicates that the debt has been paid.

25. The program product of claim 19 wherein each of the transitions is a transition extension that causes its respective transition from a current state to a next state and wherein previously defined transition extensions are removed and new transition extensions are added during respective transitions from a current state to a next state.

26. The program product of claim 19 wherein the collection document object further comprises at least one table, the at least one table corresponding to at least one of the states of the collection document object and comprising data that indicates which transitions are valid for the at least one state and at least one rule for each valid transition, each of the at least one rules indicating which transitions will be valid if the transition corresponding to the rule is taken.

27. The program product of claim 19 wherein the collection document object is an accounts receivable collection document object that indicates that the debt is to be received by the bearer from the debtor.

28. The program product of claim 19 wherein the collection document object is an accounts payable collection document object that indicates that the debt is to be paid to the bearer by the debtor.

29. A program product, tangibly embodying a program of machine-readable instructions executable by a computer system having an operating system that supports an application having an application interface layer and an application functionality layer associated with the interface layer, wherein the functionality layer comprises an object-oriented program environment, the program product comprising:

an object-oriented framework within the functionality layer that provides at least one collection document object that corresponds to and tracks a collection document, which is an unconditional order in writing in which a debtor promises to pay a debt to a bearer in exchange for at least one benefit that has been or will be received by the debtor; and

signal bearing media bearing the object-oriented framework, wherein the collection document object is instantiated from a class that inherits from a base class, the base class having at least one method or attribute that is common to both an accounts payable collection document object and an accounts receivable collection document object, wherein the accounts payable collection document object indicates that the debt is to be paid to the bearer by the debtor and the accounts receivable collection document object indicates that the debt is to be received by the bearer from the debtor.