Mechanism and method for flexible coupling of processes in an object oriented framework

Abstract

In an object oriented computer system, a framework mechanism defines a mechanism that separates the ability to complete a process from the results of that process. A task is defined in the framework in terms of a sequence of processes. The framework includes a coupling mechanism for flexibly coupling any of these processes together in any suitable order to define the run-time behavior of the framework without changing the core functions of the framework. The coupling mechanism includes the definition of a processable interface and a processing interface. A particular process generally takes detail information as input and produces detail information that is used in a subsequent process. The detail information input into a process is said to be “processable”, and therefore implements the “processable” interface. The detail information output from a process is said to be “processing” detail that is output to the next process, and therefore implements the processing interface. Thus, an object that uses “shippable” detail information as input through its processable interface generates corresponding “shipping” detail information for each shippable detail, which is output to one or more subsequent processes via the processing interface. A particular processable can be associated with any processing interface that supports the processable interface. In other words, any process-related class in the framework can be coupled to any other process-related class, provided one class has a processing interface that corresponds to the processable interface of the subsequent class. In this manner, classes in the framework mechanism can be flexibly coupled together in any suitable order or fashion to accommodate a great variety of different configurations. The framework mechanism therefore provides a high degree of implementation while maintaining the ability to achieve a high degree of customization.