International Business Machines Corporation

Charles Franklin Berry

Amy Jeanne Snavely

Glenn C Godoy

Nitin Jhingan

Judy J Kogut-O'Connell

James D Episale

Luella A Korsky

Cindy L Crowningshield

David C Marsh

A method and associated system for interfacing between a caller application and a service module. A service module builds a service module data structure pursuant to a previously received request. The request includes at least one caller application attribute describing the request. The service module data structure includes a generic service document and at least one service module attribute. Each service module attribute is stored in a relational table of the service module data structure. The requests serviced within the service module data structure, resulting in instantiating the generic service document. The generic service document is returned to the caller application. Building each service module attribute includes: constructing the generic service document and creating at least one container in the generic service document. Each container is respectively associated with each service module attribute in each mapping of at least one mapping.

Extensible data interface for shared service module

A method and system for interfacing between a caller application and a service module. A request for performing a transaction from the caller application is received. The request includes at least one caller application attribute describing the request. A service module data structure is built pursuant to the received request. The service module data structure includes a generic service document and at least one service module attribute. Each service module attribute is stored in a relational table of the service module data structure. The request is serviced within the service module data structure, which results in instantiating the generic service document. The generic service document is returned to the caller application.

Interfacing between a caller application and a service module

A method and associated system for interfacing between a caller application and a service module. Upon receiving a request for performing a transaction that includes at least one caller application attribute describing the request, the service module builds a service module data structure pursuant to the received request. The service module data structure includes a generic service document and at least one service module attribute. Each service module attribute is stored in a relational table of the service module data structure. The request is serviced within the service module data structure, resulting in instantiating the generic service document. The generic service document is returned to the caller application. Storing each service module attribute in the relational table includes: determining a category and a level of a first service module attribute; and storing in the relational table a first container pursuant to the category and the level.

A method and associated system for interfacing between a caller application and a service module. Upon receiving a request for performing a transaction that includes at least one caller application attribute describing the request, the service module builds a service module data structure pursuant to the received request. The service module data structure includes a generic service document and at least one service module attribute. Each service module attribute is stored in a relational table of the service module data structure. The request is serviced within the service module data structure, resulting in instantiating the generic service document. The generic service document is returned to the caller application. Building each service module attribute includes: constructing the generic service document and creating at least one container in the generic service document. Each container is respectively associated with each service module attribute in each mapping of at least one mapping.

A method and associated system for interfacing between a caller application and a service module. Upon receiving a request for performing a transaction that includes at least one caller application attribute describing the request, the service module builds a service module data structure pursuant to the received request. The service module data structure includes a generic service document and at least one service module attribute. Each service module attribute is stored in a relational table of the service module data structure, which includes. The request is serviced within the service module data structure, resulting in instantiating the generic service document. The generic service document is returned to the caller application. Servicing the request includes: servicing comprising: performing the transaction; reloading containers from the relational table into respective containers of the generic service document; and returning the generic service document to the caller application.

A system and associated method for receiving an unlimited number of data items modified by a Web transaction. A processor requests a service from a Web-service program by sending the service program a set of data items and a client identifier. The Web-service program responds with a Web-interface program identifier and a user session identifier. The processor uses the session identifier, the Web-interface program identifier, and a storage location of the data items to open a session with a Web-interface program, during which the processor directs the Web-interface program to modify the data items and store them on a data storage device without interacting with the Web-service program. When the user session terminates, the processor requests from the Web-service program the modified data items and the Web-service program sends the data items to the processor without involvement of the Web-interface program.

Receiving an unlimited number of data items modified by a web transaction

A method and associated system for interfacing between a caller application and a service module. Upon receiving a request for performing a transaction that includes at least one caller application attribute describing the request, the service module builds a service module data structure pursuant to the received request. The service module data structure includes a generic service document and at least one service module attribute. Each service module attribute is stored in a relational table of the service module data structure, which includes. The request is serviced within the service module data structure, resulting in instantiating the generic service document. The generic service document is returned to the caller application. Storing each service module attribute in the relational table includes: determining a category and a level of a first service module attribute; and storing in the relational table a first container pursuant to the category and the level.

An approach for transforming a starting list of purchase types into a selection list of valid purchase types by employing a configurable rule is presented. A unit price and commodity code are received for an item whose purchase is being charged to an account. Based on a category of the item, a starting list including purchase types is generated. Each purchase type specifies a corresponding accounting function. A rule set is identified in a table that associates the rule set with purchase type(s) specifying corresponding accounting functions. Identifying the rule set includes determining that the purchase type(s) are in a maximal subset of the purchase types included in the starting list. Based on the rule set and the unit price, a rule is identified in another table. The rule is applied to generate a selection list comprising a proper subset of the starting list.

Transforming a list of purchase types based on a configurable rule

An approach for sharing data between a calling application and a callee application is presented. A callee application receives a request for processing data owned and stored by the calling application in a data table. The callee application receives a document to which containers that include data elements from the data table are attached in a predefined order. The callee application identifies element types corresponding to the containers based on a mapping interface table. The callee application unloads data elements from the containers into a data store via the predefined order and associates the data elements with the corresponding element types. The callee application processes the data according to the request. The processing includes applying a business rule to a data element based on the business rule being associated with an element type of the data element. Only the callee application has knowledge of the applied business rule.

Data sharing between applications where only one application knows the business purpose of the data

A system and associated method for web service data for a web service transaction are disclosed. A client program that employs the web service transaction invokes a pair of web service calls to transfer the web service data to and from a web service program that executes the web service transaction. The web service program establishes a user session between the web service program and a web interface program. During the user session, the web service transaction is performed as a user of the client program directly interacts with the web service program through the web interface program. When the user session is completed, the client program retrieves the web service data resulting from the web service transaction from the web service program.

System and method for transferring large amount of data in web service transaction

A system and associated method for interfacing between caller applications and a shared service module. Upon receiving a request for a transaction, the shared service module creates a separate data structure per request from a caller application and configures a caller identifier to uniquely identify the caller application. The separate data structure per request can be extended by the shared service module with additional attributes that may be used, without impacting the service application data model, in the request to support servicing the request. The shared service module generates a generic service document to return the result after servicing the request to the caller application.

System and method for extensible data interface for shared service module

A method and system for sharing data between a calling application and a callee application. A callee application receives a request for processing data owned and stored by the calling application in a data table. The callee application receives a document to which containers that include data elements from the data table are attached in a predefined order. The callee application identifies element types corresponding to the containers based on a mapping interface table. The callee application unloads data elements from the containers into a data store via the predefined order and associates the data elements with the corresponding element types. The callee application processes the data according to the request. The processing includes applying a business rule to a data element based on the business rule being associated with an element type of the data element. Only the callee application has knowledge of the applied business rule.

A method and system for transforming a starting list into a selection list by employing a configurable rule. Parameters of an item being processed by an application are received. A starting list of elements is generated. Each starting list element specifies a corresponding function performed by the application. A rule set of a set of rule sets stored in a rule set table is identified. The rule set table associates the rule set with values that specify corresponding functions performed by the software application. The rule set is identified by a determination that the associated values comprise a maximal subset of the starting list elements. A rule stored in a rule database table is identified based on the rule set and the parameters. The rule is applied to generate a selection list comprising a proper subset of the starting list. The selection list is displayed on a display device.

Transforming a list of values based on a configurable rule

A method and system for satisfying rules through a configuration of list processing methods. A document received from a calling application includes items being processed. A procedure for satisfying rules is identified by matching, via a database, a combination of values to the procedure. The combination of values includes attributes of the calling application and the document. Steps included in the procedure are determined by matching, via the database, the procedure to the steps. The order for executing the steps is determined by identifying, via the database, predecessor and successor steps. Sets of one or more list processing methods are determined and associated with each step. The order for executing each set of list processing methods is determined. The steps are executed. A selection list of elements is displayed to facilitate a selection of an element to characterize an item included in the document.

Satisfying rules through a configuration of list processing methods

A system and associated method for looking up a best-fit record identified by a multi-field key. The multi-field key comprises multiple fields that are hierarchically organized in an order of significance in identifying a record. The system generates a set of key values that is used for a best-fit lookup of a search key value. Each value in the set of key values is specified in contiguous fields from the most significant field to a distinctive respective field. In looking up a record for the search key value, the most specific key value in the set is first compared with the search key value, and one-level less specific in the least significant field is next compared with the search key value, until the best-fit record for the search key value is found.

Growing community of inventors

Apalachin, NY, United States of America

Charles Franklin Berry