Declarations for transformations within service sequences

• US 7,869,585 B2
• Filed: 03/17/2006
• Issued: 01/11/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 03/17/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
• Inventors: Schackow, Stefan N., Kung, Hsiang-Hao, Kothari, Nikhil
• Primary Examiner(s): ADDY, THJUAN KNOWLIN
• Application Number:
  US11/378,711
• Publication Number:
  US 20070220177A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,761 Days
• Field of Search: 379/266.07, 379/243, 379/201.01, 379/201.02, 379/201.05, 379/207.02, 379/242, 717/114
• US Class Current: 379/243
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/541 via adapters, e.g. between incompatible applications

Abstract

A declarative model for specifying appropriate transformations that may occur at the input and output of each service of a sequence of services that accomplish a more complex task. Each of the services may have access to the appropriate transformation declarations, and may interpret the declarations to thereby be appropriate directed on transforms to occur in its input data and/or output data. In order to change a transformation, the transformation declaration may be altered.

Claims

1. One or more computer storage media having stored thereon a data structure, the data structure comprising a declarative model that defines transformations to data as it passes between two or more services, but does not implement the transformations, the data structure including the following:

a plurality of service identification fields, each identifying a service in a sequence of two or more services;

a transformation class field specifying a class of transformation to be performed on either input data prior to being provided to the sequence of services, inter-service data provided between two services of the plurality of services in the sequence of services, or output data output from the sequence of services, wherein the input data, inter-service data, and output data are separate from the data structure; and

one or more transformation parameter fields identifying one or more parameters of the class of transformation to thereby more specifically define the transformation;

wherein the one or more computer storage media further store a transformation component and one or more transformation classes that are identified by the transformation class field of the data structure, and wherein upon receiving the data structure, the transformation component instantiates one or more objects derived from the one or more identified transformation classes and populates the one or more objects with the one or more parameters of the one or more transformation parameter fields, wherein once instantiated, the one or more objects are executed to perform the transformation specified in the transformation class field of the data structure on either the input data, the inter-service data, or the output data.

2. One or more computer storage media in accordance with claim 1, wherein the plurality of service identification fields, the class transformation class field, and the one or more transformation parameter fields are specified using text.

3. One or more computer storage media in accordance with claim 1, wherein the transformation class field specifies a class of transformation to be performed on the input data prior to being provided to the sequence of services.

4. One or more computer storage media in accordance with claim 1, wherein the transformation class field specifies a class of transformation to be performed on the inter-service data.

5. One or more computer storage media in accordance with claim 1, wherein the transformation class field specifies a class of transformation to be performed on the output data output from the sequence of services.

6. One or more computer storage media in accordance with claim 1, wherein the transformation class field is a first transformation class field, the class of transformation is a first class transformation, the transformation is a first transformation, and the one or more transformation parameter fields are first one or more transformation parameter fields, wherein the first transformation class field specifies a class of transformation to be performed on the input data prior to being provided to the sequence of one or more services, the computer storage media further having thereon the following:

a second transformation class field specifying a second class of transformation to be performed on the inter-service data provided between two services of the plurality of services in the sequence of services; and

second one or more transformation parameter fields identifying one or more parameters of the second class of transformation to thereby more specifically define the second transformation.

7. One or more computer storage media in accordance with claim 6, the computer storage media further having thereon the following:

a third transformation class field specifying a third class of transformation to be performed on the output data output from the sequence of services; and

third one or more transformation parameter fields identifying one or more parameters of the third class of transformation to thereby more specifically define the third transformation.

8. One or more computer storage media in accordance with claim 1, wherein the transformation class field is a first transformation class field, the class of transformation is a first class transformation, the transformation is a first transformation, and the one or more transformation parameter fields are first one or more transformation parameter fields, wherein the first transformation class field specifies a class of transformation to be performed on the input data prior to being provided to the sequence of one or more services, the computer storage media further having thereon the following:

a second transformation class field specifying a second class of transformation to be performed on the output data output from the sequence of services; and

second one or more transformation parameter fields identifying one or more parameters of the second class of transformation to thereby more specifically define the second transformation.

9. One or more computer storage media in accordance with claim 1, wherein the transformation class field is a first transformation class field, the class of transformation is a first class transformation, the transformation is a first transformation, and the one or more transformation parameter fields are first one or more transformation parameter fields, wherein the first transformation class field specifies a class of transformation to be performed on the inter-service data provided between two services of the plurality of services in the sequence of services, the computer storage media further having thereon the following:

a second transformation class field specifying a second class of transformation to be performed on the output data output from the sequence of services; and

second one or more transformation parameter fields identifying one or more parameters of the second class of transformation to thereby more specifically define the second transformation.

10. One or more computer storage media in accordance with claim 1, wherein the class of transformation comprise a parameter mapping transformation.

11. One or more computer storage media in accordance with claim 1, wherein the class of transformation comprises format conversion transformation.

12. One or more computer storage media in accordance with claim 1, wherein the at least one or more of the plurality of services is at a different network node than at least one or more of the other of the plurality of services.

13. One or more computer storage media in accordance with claim 12, wherein the plurality of services are at one or more different network nodes as compared to a component that generated the input data.

14. A method for a service to receive and process input data from another network node, the method comprising

an act of receiving a request for a service and associated input data;

an act of accessing a data structure stored on a computer storage medium the data structure comprising a declarative model, the data structure being separate from the input data, the data structure including a plurality of service identification fields, each identifying a service in a sequence of two or more services, and at least one of which identifying the requested service;

a transformation class field specifying a class of transformation to be performed on input data prior to being provided to the sequence of two or more services; and

one or more transformation parameter fields identifying one or more parameters of the class of transformation to thereby more specifically define the transformation;

an act of determining that the service request is for one of the plurality of services;

an act of instantiating an instance of a transformation class that is identified in the transformation class field of the data structure and populating the instance with the one or more parameters; and

an act of performing the transformation specified by the combination of the transformation class field and the one or more transformation parameter fields by performing the transformation on the input data by executing the instance.

15. A method in accordance with claim 14, wherein the transformation class field is a first transformation class field, the class of transformation is a first class transformation, the transformation is a first transformation, the one or more transformation parameter fields are first one or more transformation parameter fields, the data structure further including a second transformation class field specifying a class of transformation to be performed on output data prior to being provided to a next service in the sequence of service or prior to being output by the service;

and one or more transformation parameter fields identifying one or more parameters of the class of transformation to thereby more specifically define the transformation, the method further comprising;

an act of processing the service request to generate the resulting data;

an act of interpreting the second transformation class field and the second one or more transformation parameter fields; and

an act of performing the second transformation specified by the combination of the transformation class field and the one or more transformation parameter fields by performing the transformation on the resulting data.

16. A computer program product comprising one or more computer storage media having computer-executable instructions thereon that, when executed by one or more processors of the computing system cause the computing system to perform the method of claim 14.

17. A method for a service to process resulting data, the method comprising:

an act of processing a service request to generate the resulting data;

an act of the accessing a data structure stored on a computer storage medium, the data structure comprising a declarative model, the data structure being separate from the resulting data, the data structure including a transformation class field specifying a class of transformation to be performed on the resulting data prior to being provided to a next service in the sequence of service or prior to being output by the service; and

one or more transformation parameter fields identifying one or more parameters of the class of transformation to thereby more specifically define the transformation;

an act of instantiating an instance of a transformation class that is identified in the transformation class field of the data structure and populating the instance with the one or more parameters;

an act of performing the transformation specified by the combination of the transformation class field and the one or more transformation parameter fields by performing the transformation on the resulting data by executing the instance.

18. A computer program product comprising one or more computer storage media having computer-executable instructions thereon that, when executed by one or more processors of the computing system cause the computing system to perform the method of claim 17.