Sap Ag

Sap Atkiengesellschaft

Klaus-Peter Lang

Wolfgang Herzog

Ulrich Frenzel

Joachim Fitzer

Frank Wagner

Thomas Reiss

Jens Freund

Joachim Kenntner

Stephan Lange

Klaus Eschenroeder

Andreas M Schuh

David M R Brenner

Methods and apparatus, including computer program products, to realize a software model are described. Process components are defined that characterize software implementing respective and distinct business processes and additionally define at least one process agent that enables communications between a business object associated with the corresponding process component and a business object associated with any other process component. Business Process Variant Types are also defined that associate one or more of the process agents for the corresponding process component so that selection of a process variant type causes the associated one or more process agents to be activated.

Software model business process variant types

Various embodiments include one or more of systems, methods, software, and data structures to provide flexibility when configuring systems to new or different processes while not disrupting incomplete processes. Some embodiments include receiving input representative of a configuration change to at least one configuration setting and storing a copy of a setting of the at least one configuration setting from a current configuration to an historical configuration setting storage location. Such embodiments may further include storing the input representative of the configuration change into the current configuration. Following such configuring processes already initiated may be completed according to the copied historical configuration setting and new processes may be initiated according to the new configuration setting. These and other embodiments are described herein.

Configuration change without disruption of incomplete processes

A configuration server includes a configuration repository that stores a wide range of configuration information for possible use by application programs. The configuration repository may include configuration parameters, settings for the parameters, and meta-data of definitions and descriptions of the parameters. Configuration information is selected from the configuration repository and stored in a configuration directory for later use by application programs at runtime. The configuration information is accessed from the configuration directory when needed by an application program or a component thereof.

Configuring computer systems with business configuration information

In a database whose entries contain values organized in categories, a first query is performed that includes input query values respectively associated with at least some of the categories and that seeks entries whose values match each input query value. Upon finding no entries, a category whose input query value to eliminate is identified. A second query is performed that includes the input query values except for the identified at least one category. The second query seeks any of the entries whose values match each of the input query values of the second query and that has no specified value for the identified at least one category. A data structure is configured to indicate an order that at least some of several categories will be eliminated when generating a new query after a previous query does not result in a match among entries of a database.

Performing a query for a rule in a database

Various embodiments described herein relate to systems, software, and methods of utilizing application system configuration packages. Some such embodiments include maintaining a representation of one or more configuration settings of a first set of application functionality in a first package and maintaining a representation of one or more configuration settings of a second set of application functionality in a second package. This embodiment also includes maintaining, in both the first and the second packages, a representation of one or more configuration setting interdependencies between the first and second sets of application functionality. Some such embodiments further include receiving a configuration setting update to the first set of application functionality and checking the representation of the one or more configuration setting interdependencies of the first package to determine if the configuration setting update to the first set of application functionality impacts the configuration settings of the second package.

Growing community of inventors

Brackenheim, Germany

Klaus-Peter Lang