Netscape Communications Corporation

Jeremy Chone

Edwin Khodabakchian

A lightweight directory access protocol workflow management system. The invention converts a logical process into a reusable Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP) directory representation. The directory representation is a hierarchical tree structure where each process element in the process is represented as an LDAP directory entry and is assigned a unique distinguished name and is stored in a Directory Server database or filesystem. The tree structure of the LDAP representation allows the sharing of LDAP trees or subtrees among users. The LDAP trees and subtrees can be remotely located and distributed among different LDAP servers. Another preferred embodiment of the invention provides a graphical user interface for creating a Workflow process definition which is comprised of process elements: activities; actions; and entry/exit points. The user constructs a Workflow process using the process elements, logically interrelating each activity. Once the Workflow process is defined it is converted into an LDAP directory representation and stored in a Directory Server database or filesystem.

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Mountain View, CA, United States of America

Jeremy Chone