United States Patent |
6,125,391 |
Meltzer , et al. |
September 26, 2000 |
Market makers using documents for commerce in trading partner
networks
Abstract
A market making node in a network routes machine readable documents to
connect businesses with customers, suppliers and trading partners. The self
defining electronic documents, such as XML based documents, can be easily
understood amongst the partners. Definitions of these electronic business
documents, called business interface definitions, are posted on the Internet, or
otherwise communicated to members of the network. The business interface
definitions tell potential trading partners the services the company offers and
the documents to use when communicating with such services. Thus, a typical
business interface definition allows a customer to place an order by submitting
a purchase order or a supplier checks availability by downloading an inventory
status report. Also, the registration at a market maker node of a specification
of the input and output documents, coupled with interpretation information in a
common business library, enables participants in a trading partner network to
execute the transaction in a way which closely parallels the way in which paper
based businesses operate.
Inventors: |
Meltzer; Bart Alan (Aptos, CA);
Allen; Terry (Sebastopol, CA); Fuchs; Matthew Daniel (Los
Gatos, CA); Glushko; Robert John (San Francisco, CA); Maloney;
Murray (Pickering, CA) |
Assignee: |
Commerce One, Inc. (Mountain View, CA)
|
Appl. No.: |
173854 |
Filed: |
October 16, 1998 |
Current U.S. Class: |
709/223; 370/466; 705/26;
707/513; 709/230 |
Intern'l Class: |
G06F 013/00 |
Field of Search: |
709/223,230 705/26 707/513 370/466
|
References Cited [Referenced
By]
U.S. Patent Documents
5742845 |
Apr., 1998 |
Wagner |
710/11. |
6012098 |
Jan., 2000 |
Bayeh et al. |
709/246. |
Foreign Patent Documents |
0 704 795 A1 |
., 1996 |
EP |
. |
Other References
"W3C: Extensible Markup Language (XML) 1.0--W3C
Recommendation Feb. 10, 1998", http://www.w3.org/TR/1998/REC-xml-19980210,
Printed from Internet Feb. 17, 1998, pp. 1-37. Kimbrough, et al., "On
Automated Message Processing in Electronic Commerce and Work Support
Systems: Speech Act Theory and Expressive Felicity", ACM Transactions on
Information Systems, vol. 15, No. 4, Oct. 1997, pp. 321-367. Fuchs,
Matthew, "Domain Specific Languages for ad hoc Distributed Applications",
USENIX Associate, Conference on Domain-Specific Languages, Oct. 15-17,
1997, pp. 27-35. Finin, et al., "KQML as an Agent Communication
Language", Association of Computing Machinery, 1994, pp. 456-463.
|
Primary Examiner: Coulter; Kenneth R.
Attorney, Agent or Firm: Wilson, Sonsini, Goodrich & Rosati
Parent Case Text
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
The present application
is related to co-pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/173,858, filed on
Oct. 16, 1998, the same day as the present application, and having the same
inventors, entitled DOCUMENTS FOR COMMERCE IN TRADING PARTNER NETWORKS AND
INTERFACE DEFINITIONS BASED ON THE DOCUMENTS; and to co-pending U.S. patent
application Ser. No. 09/173,847, filed on Oct. 16, 1998, the same day as the
present application, and having the same inventors, entitled PARTICIPANT SERVER
WHICH PROCESSES DOCUMENTS FOR COMMERCE IN TRADING PARTNER NETWORKS.
Claims
What is claimed is:
1. A method for managing transactions among
nodes in a network including a plurality of nodes which execute processes
involved in the transactions, comprising:
storing machine-readable
specifications of a plurality of participant interfaces, the participant
interfaces identifying transactions, the respective transactions being
identified by definitions of input documents, and definitions of output
documents, the definitions of the input and output documents comprising
respective descriptions of sets of storage units and logical structures for the
sets of storage units;
receiving data comprising a document through a
communication network;
parsing the document according to the
specifications to identify an input document and one or more transactions which
accept the identified input document;
providing at least a portion of
the input document in a machine-readable format to transaction processes
associated with the one or more identified transactions.
2. The method
of claim 1, including:
providing a repository storing a library of
logical structures, schematic maps for logic structures, and definitions of
documents comprising logic structures used to build participant interface
descriptions.
3. The method of claim 2, including providing access to
the repository through the communication network to other nodes in the network.
4. The method of claim 1, wherein the machine-readable specification
includes documents compliant with a definition of a participant interface
document including logical structures for storing an identifier of a particular
transaction, and at least one of definitions and references to definitions of
input and output documents for the particular transaction.
5. The method
of claim 1, wherein the machine-readable specifications include documents
compliant with a definition of a participant interface document including
logical structures for storing an identifier of the participant interface, and
for storing at least one of specifications and references to specifications of a
set of one or more transactions supported by the participant interface.
6. The method of claim 5, wherein the documents compliant with a
definition of a participant interface document include a reference to a
specification of a particular transaction, and the specification of the
particular transaction includes a document including logical structures for
storing at least one of definitions and references to definitions of input and
output documents for the particular transaction.
7. The method of claim
1, wherein the storage units comprise parsed data.
8. The method of
claim 7, wherein the parsed data in at least one of the input and output
documents comprises:
character data encoding text characters in the one
of the input and output documents, and
markup data identifying sets of
storage units according to the logical structure of the one of the input and
output documents.
9. The method of claim 8, wherein at least one of the
sets of storage units encodes a plurality of text characters providing a natural
language word.
10. The method of claim 9, wherein the specification
includes interpretation information for at least one of the sets of storage
units identified by the logical structure of at least one of the input and
output documents, encoding respective definitions for sets of parsed characters.
11. The method of claim 9, wherein the storage units comprise unparsed
data.
12. The method of claim 1, wherein the providing at least a
portion of the input document in a machine-readable format to transaction
processes associated with the one or more identified transactions includes
executing a routing process according to a processing architecture, and
including:
compiling in response to the definitions of the input and
output documents in the participant interfaces, data structures corresponding to
the sets of storage units and logical structures of the input and output
documents compliant with the processing architecture of the transaction process,
instructions executable by the system to translate the input document to the
corresponding data structures.
13. The method of claim 1, wherein the
providing at least a portion of the input document in a machine-readable format
to transaction processes associated with the one or more identified transactions
includes executing a routing process according to a processing architecture, and
including translating at least of portion of the incoming document into a format
readable according to the processing architecture.
14. The method of
claim 13, wherein the translating includes producing programming objects
including variables and methods according to the processing architecture of the
routing process.
15. The method of claim 1, wherein providing at least a
portion of the input document in a machine-readable format to transaction
processes associated with the one or more identified transactions, includes
routing the portion of the input document to the identified transactions.
16. The method of claim 15, wherein the routing includes sending the
input document on the communication network to a node executing one of the
identified transactions.
17. The method of claim 1, wherein the
definitions of the input and output documents comprise document type definitions
compliant with a standard Extensible Markup Language XML.
18. The method
of claim 17, wherein the specifications of participant interfaces comprise
definitions of documents according to document type definitions compliant with a
standard Extensible Markup Language XML.
19. The method of claim 1,
wherein the repository includes standardized document types for use in a
plurality of transactions, and wherein the definition of one of the input and
output documents includes a reference to a standardized document type in the
repository.
20. The method of claim 19, wherein the repository includes
a standardized document type for identifying participant processes in the
network.
21. The method of claim 19, including providing a repository of
interpretation information for logical structures, including interpretation
information identifying parameters of transactions.
22. The method of
claim 1, wherein the transaction processes have respectively one of a plurality
of variant transaction processing architectures, and including translating at
least of portion of the incoming document into a format readable according to
the variant transaction processing architecture of the respective transaction
processes, and routing the translated portion to the respective transaction
processes.
23. The method of claim 22, wherein the translating includes
producing programming objects including variables and methods according to the
variant transaction processing architecture of the respective transaction
processes.
24. The method of claim 23, wherein the variant transaction
processing architectures of the transaction processes comprises a process
compliant with an interface description language.
25. Apparatus for
managing transactions among nodes in a network including a plurality of nodes
which execute processes involved in the transactions, comprising:
a
network interface;
memory storing data and programs of instructions,
including machine-readable specifications of a plurality of participant
interfaces, the participant interfaces identifying transactions, the respective
transactions being identified by definitions of input documents, and definitions
of output documents, the definitions of the input and output documents
comprising respective descriptions of sets of storage units and logical
structures for the sets of storage units;
a data processor coupled to
the memory and the network interface which executes the programs of
instructions; wherein the programs of instructions include
logic to
receive data comprising a document through a network interface;
logic to
parse the document according to the specifications to identify an input document
and one or more transactions which accept the identified input document; and
logic to provide at least a portion of the input document in a
machine-readable format to transaction processes associated with the one or more
identified transactions.
26. The apparatus of claim 25, including a
repository stored in memory accessible by the data processor storing a library
of logical structures, schematic maps for logic structures, and definitions of
documents comprising logic structures used to build participant interface
descriptions.
27. The apparatus of claim 25, including logic to access a
repository stored in memory through the network interface storing a library of
logical structures, schematic maps for logic structures, and definitions of
documents comprising logic structures used to build participant interface
descriptions.
28. The apparatus of claim 25, wherein the
machine-readable specification includes documents compliant with a definition of
a participant interface document including logical structures for storing an
identifier of a particular transaction, and at least one of definitions and
references to definitions of input and output documents for the particular
transaction.
29. The apparatus of claim 25, wherein the machine-readable
specifications include documents compliant with a definition of a participant
interface document including logical structures for storing an identifier of the
participant interface, and for storing at least one of specifications and
references to specifications of a set of one or more transactions supported by
the participant interface.
30. The apparatus of claim 29, wherein the
documents compliant with a definition of a participant interface document
include a reference to a specification of a particular transaction, and the
specification of the particular transaction includes a document including
logical structures for storing at least one of definitions and references to
definitions of input and output documents for the particular transaction.
31. The apparatus of claim 25, wherein the storage units comprise parsed
data.
32. The apparatus of claim 31, wherein the parsed data in at least
one of the input and output documents comprises:
character data encoding
text characters in the one of the input and output documents, and
markup
data identifying sets of storage units according to the logical structure of the
one of the input and output documents.
33. The apparatus of claim 32,
wherein at least one of the sets of storage units encodes a plurality of text
characters providing a natural language word.
34. The apparatus of claim
33, wherein the specification includes interpretation information for at least
one of the sets of storage units identified by the logical structure of at least
one of the input and output documents, encoding respective definitions for sets
of parsed characters.
35. The apparatus of claim 33, wherein the storage
units comprise unparsed data.
36. The apparatus of claim 25, wherein the
logic to provide at least a portion of the input document in a machine-readable
format to transaction processes associated with the one or more identified
transactions includes a routing process according to a processing architecture,
and including:
a compiler responsive to the definitions of the input and
output documents in the participant interfaces, to compile data structures
corresponding to the sets of storage units and logical structures of the input
and output documents compliant with the processing architecture of the
transaction process, and to compile instructions executable by the system to
translate the input document to the corresponding data structures.
37.
The apparatus of claim 25, wherein the logic to provide at least a portion of
the input document in a machine-readable format to transaction processes
associated with the one or more identified transactions includes a routing
process according to a processing architecture, and including logic to translate
at least of portion of the incoming document into a format readable according to
the processing architecture.
38. The apparatus of claim 37, wherein the
logic to translate includes producing programming objects including variables
and methods according to the processing architecture of the routing process.
39. The apparatus of claim 25, wherein logic to provide at least a
portion of the input document in a machine-readable format to transaction
processes associated with the one or more identified transactions, includes a
router to route the portion of the input document to the identified
transactions.
40. The apparatus of claim 39, wherein the router includes
logic to send the input document on the network interface to a node executing
one of the identified transactions.
41. The apparatus of claim 25,
wherein the definitions of the input and output documents comprise document type
definitions compliant with a standard Extensible Markup Language XML.
42. The apparatus of claim 41, wherein the specifications of participant
interfaces comprise definitions of documents according to document type
definitions compliant with a standard Extensible Markup Language XML.
43. The apparatus of claim 26, wherein the repository includes
standardized document types for use in a plurality of transactions, and wherein
the definition of one of the input and output documents includes a reference to
a standardized document type in the repository.
44. The apparatus of
claim 26, wherein the repository includes a standardized document type for
identifying participant processes in the network.
45. The apparatus of
claim 25, wherein the transaction processes have respectively one of a plurality
of variant transaction processing architectures, and including logic to
translate at least of portion of the incoming document into a format readable
according to the variant transaction processing architecture of the respective
transaction processes, and to route the translated portion to the respective
transaction processes.
46. The apparatus of claim 45, wherein the logic
to translate produces programming objects including variables and methods
according to the variant transaction processing architecture of the respective
transaction processes.
47. The apparatus of claim 45, wherein the
variant transaction processing architectures of the transaction processes
comprises a process compliant with an interface description language.
Description
COPYRIGHT NOTICE
A portion of the disclosure of this patent
document contains material which is subject to copyright protection. The
copyright owner has no objection to the facsimile reproduction by anyone of the
patent document or the patent disclosure as it appears in the Patent and
Trademark Office patent file or records, but otherwise reserves all copyright
rights whatsoever.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the
Invention
The present invention relates to systems and protocols
supporting transactions among diverse clients coupled to a network; and more
particularly to systems and protocols supporting commercial transactions among
platforms having variant architectures.
2. Description of Related Art
The Internet and other communications networks provide avenues for
communication among people and computer platforms which are being used for a
wide variety of transactions, including commercial transactions in which
participants buy and sell goods and services. Many efforts are underway to
facilitate commercial transactions on the Internet. However, with many competing
standards, in order to execute a transaction, the parties to the transaction
must agree in advance on the protocols to be utilized, and often require custom
integration of the platform architectures to support such transactions.
Commercial processes internal to a particular node not compatible with agreed
upon standards, may require substantial rework for integration with other nodes.
Furthermore, as a company commits to one standard or the other, the company
becomes locked-in to a given standardized group of transacting parties, to the
exclusion of others.
A good overview of the challenges met by Internet
commerce development is provided in Tenenbaum, et al., "Eco System: An Internet
Commerce Architecture", Computer, May 1997, pp. 48-55.
To open
commercial transactions on the Internet, standardization of architectural
frameworks is desired. Platforms developed to support such commercial frameworks
include IBM Commerce Point, Microsoft Internet Commerce Framework, Netscape ONE
(Open Network Environment), Oracle NCA (Network Computing Architecture), and
Sun/JAVASoft JECF (JAVA Electronic Commerce Framework).
In addition to
these proprietary frameworks, programming techniques, such as common distributed
object model based on CORBA IIOP (Common Object Request Broker Architecture
Internet ORB Protocol), are being pursued. Use of the common distributed object
model is intended to simplify the migration of enterprise systems to systems
which can inter-operate at the business application level for electronic
commerce. However, a consumer or business using one framework is unable to
execute transactions on a different framework. This limits the growth of
electronic commerce systems.
Companies implementing one framework will
have an application programming interface API which is different than the API's
supporting other frameworks. Thus, it is very difficult for companies to access
each others business services, without requiring adoption of common business
system interfaces. The development of such business system interfaces at the API
level requires significant cooperation amongst the parties which is often
impractical.
Accordingly, it is desirable to provide a framework which
facilitates interaction amongst diverse platforms in a communication network.
Such system should facilitate spontaneous commerce between trading partners
without custom integration or prior agreement on industry wide standards.
Further, such systems should encourage incremental path to business automation,
to eliminate much of the time, cost and risks of traditional systems
integration.
Overall, it is desirable to provide an electronic commerce
system that replaces the closed trading partner networks based on proprietary
standards with open markets.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The
present invention offers an infrastructure for connecting businesses with
customers, suppliers and trading partners. Under the infrastructure of the
present invention, companies exchange information and services using
self-defining, machine-readable documents, such as XML (Extensible Markup
Language) based documents, that can be easily understood amongst the partners.
Documents which describe the documents to be exchanged, called business
interface definitions BIDs herein, are posted on the Internet, or otherwise
communicated to members of the network. The business interface definitions tell
potential trading partners the services the company offers and the documents to
use when communicating with such services. Thus, a typical business interface
definition allows a customer to place an order by submitting a purchase order,
compliant with a document definition published in the BID of a party to receive
the purchase order. A supplier is allowed to check availability by downloading
an inventory status report compliant with a document definition published in the
BID of a business system managing inventory data. Use of predefined,
machine-readable business documents provides a more intuitive and flexible way
to access enterprise applications.
A node in the commerce network
establishes an interface for transactions according to the present invention
that comprises a machine-readable specification of an interface, along with a
machine-readable data structure that includes interpretation information for the
machine-readable specification of the interface. The machine-readable
specification of the interface includes a definition of an input document and a
definition of an output document, that are accepted and produced by transaction
processes for which the node acts as an interface. The definitions of the input
and output documents comprise respective descriptions of sets of storage units
and logical structures for sets of storage units, such as according to a
standard XML based document. The machine-readable data structure that includes
interpretation information according to various aspects of the invention
includes data type specifications (e.g. string, array, etc.) for logical
structures in the definitions of the input and output documents, content models
(e.g. lists of possible values) for logical structures and/or data structures
that map predefined sets of storage units for a particular logic structure to
respective entries in a list in order to provide a semantic definition of
logical structures (e.g. mapping codes to product names).
According to
other aspects of the invention, the interface includes a repository in memory
accessible by at least one node in the network that stores a library of logic
structures and interpretation information for the logic structures. The
repository can be extended to include a library of definitions of input and
output documents, a library of specifications of interfaces, and a library of
specifications for participant interface nodes in the network.
Thus, a
participant in the transaction framework of the present invention executes
transactions amongst nodes in a network that includes a plurality of nodes
executing processes involved in the transactions. The method includes storing a
machine-readable specification of an interface for a transaction, the
specification includes a definition of an input document and a definition of an
output document. The definition of the input and output documents comprise
respective descriptions of sets of storage units and logical structures for the
sets of storage units. In a preferred system, the definitions are expressed in a
manner compliant with a standard XML document type definition DTD, extended by
semantic mapping, content modeling and data typing of some elements. The
participant in the transaction receives data comprising a document through a
communication network. The participant parses the document according to the
specification stored for a transaction to identify an input document for the
transaction. After parsing the document, at least a portion of the input
document is provided in a machine-readable format to a transaction process which
produces an output. An output document is formed comprising the output of the
transaction process, based on the definition of an output document in the stored
specification. The output document is transmitted on the communication network,
typically back to the source of the input document, or elsewhere as suits the
needs of a particular type of transaction.
Thus the business interface
definition bridges the gap between the documents specified for example according
to XML and the programs which execute on the front end of the transaction
processing services at particular nodes. Such front ends are implemented for
example by JAVA virtual machines, or by other common architectures providing for
interconnection of systems across a network. The business interface definition
provides a technique by which a transaction protocol is programmed using the
business interface definition document. The program for the protocol of the
transaction is established by a detailed formal specification of a document
type.
The machine-readable specification of the interface of the
transaction is made accessible to other platforms in the network. Participant
platforms include resources to design input documents and output documents
according to the transaction interface specified at a complementary node. Thus,
participant nodes include resources to access the definition of an input
document for the complementary interface and a definition of an output document
for the complementary interface. The stored specification for the accessing
participant node is established by including at least part of the definition of
the output document of the complementary interface in the definition of the
input document of the interface stored in the specification.
The process
of establishing the stored specification of an interface according to another
aspect of the invention includes accessing elements of the machine-readable
specification from a repository. The repository stores a library of logic
structures, content models, and schematic maps for logic structures, and
definition of documents that comprise logic structures used to build interface
description. A repository accessible in the network facilitates the building of
interface descriptions which can be easily shared. Any differences between the
input document created for a particular process and the output document expected
as a return by a complementary process can be easily negotiated by communication
on the network and agreeing on common logic structures to express particular
information.
The machine-readable specification of an interface of a
transaction according to one aspect of the invention includes a document
compliant with a definition of an interface document that is shared amongst
members of the network. A definition of the interface document includes logic
structures for storing an identifier of a particular transaction and at least
one of definitions and references to definitions of input and output documents
for the particular transaction. That is, the interface description for a
particular service may actually encompass a definition of the input and output
documents. Alternatively, it may include pointers to a location in the
repository, or elsewhere in the network, of such definitions.
According
to another alternative of the invention, the machine-readable specification
includes a business interface definition BID document compliant with a
definition of an interface document that includes logical structures for storing
an identifier of the interface, and for storing at least one of specifications
and references to specifications of a set of one or more transactions supported
by the interface. For each supported transaction, the document includes at least
one of definitions and references to definitions of input and output documents
for the particular transaction.
According to another aspect of the
invention, the storage units defined in the definitions of the input and output
document comprise parsed data including character data encoding text characters,
and mark-up data identifying sets of storage units according to the logical
structures of the input and output documents. According to another aspect of the
invention, at least one of the sets of storage units encodes the plurality of
text characters providing a natural language word. This facilitates the use of
the definitions of input and output documents by human readers and developers of
such documents.
According to another aspect of the invention, the
specification of the input and output documents includes interpretation
information for at least one of the sets of storage units identified by the
logical structure. The interpretation information in one example encodes
definitions for sets of parsed characters. In another example, the
interpretation information provides for content model specifications, such as
requiring a specific logic structure to carry a member of a list of codes mapped
to product descriptions in a catalog. In some systems, the storage units in a
logic structure of a document may include sets of unparsed data, as suits the
needs of a particular implementation.
According to yet another aspect of
the invention, the transaction process in a particular platform has a
transaction processing architecture which is one of a plurality of variant
transaction processing architectures. Thus the participant node includes
resources for translating at least a portion of the input document into a format
readable according to the variant transaction processing architecture of the
transaction process utilizing the information. The elements of the document
definition are translated into programming objects that include variables and
methods according to the variant transaction processing architectures of the
transaction process. For a participant having a JAVA virtual machine acting as a
transaction process front end, particular fields in the documents are translated
into JAVA objects, including the data as well as get and set functions
associated with a JAVA object. Other transaction processing architectures
supportable according to the present invention include processes compliant with
an interface description language in the sense of Common Object Request Broker
Architecture CORBA, Component Object Model COM, On-Line Transaction Processing
OLTP, and Electronic Data Interchange EDI.
According to other aspects of
the invention, a repository is provided that stores document types for use in
the plurality of transactions. The machine-readable specification for a
particular transaction defines at least one of the input and output documents by
reference to a document type in the repository. According to another aspect, the
document type included in the repository include a document type for identifying
participants in the network. Such document type providing structures for
identifying a participant, specifying the services supported by the participant,
and specifying the input and output documents for each of such services.
In addition to the methods described above, the present invention
provides an apparatus for managing transactions among nodes that includes a
network interface, memory for storing data and programs of instructions
including a machine-readable specification of an interface for a transaction as
described above, and a data processor that is coupled with the memory and the
network interface. The programs of instructions stored in the apparatus include
logic to execute the processes described above for a participant in the
transactions.
The present invention further provides an apparatus for
establishing participant interfaces for transactions executed on a system that
include a network interface and a data processing resources that execute
transaction processes according to a transaction processing architecture. The
apparatus includes programs of instructions that are executable by the system
and stored on a medium accessible by the system that provide tools to build a
definition of a participant interface for a participant in a particular
transaction. The definition of a participant interface includes a definition of
an input document and a definition of an output document. The definitions of the
input and output documents comprise respective machine-readable descriptions of
sets of storage units in logical structures for the sets of storage units, which
may be compliant in one aspect of the invention with XML document type
definitions.
The apparatus for establishing participant interfaces
according to this aspect of the invention also includes programs of instructions
stored on a medium accessible by the data processing system and responsive to
the definitions of input and output documents to compile data structures
corresponding to the sets of storage units and logical structures of the input
and output documents that are compliant with the transaction processing
architecture, to compile instructions executable by the system to translate the
input document to the corresponding data structures, and to compile instructions
executable by the system to translate output of the transaction processes into
sets of storage units and logical structures of the output document.
The
tools to build a definition of a participant interface in a preferred system
include instructions executable by the system to access elements of the
definition from complementary nodes and/or from a repository that stores a
library of logical structures and interpretation information for logical
structures used to build interface descriptions. According to various aspects of
the invention, the repository includes not only a library of logical structures
but definitions of documents that comprise logical structures, and formats for
specifying participant interfaces. According to this aspect of the invention,
tools are provided for building specifications of business interfaces according
to the techniques described above in connection with the description of the
participant nodes. The tools for building interfaces and the tools for compiling
the interfaces into resources needed for communication with transaction
processing architectures according to this aspect of the invention, are
implemented in participant nodes in the preferred system, and utilized for the
development and optimization of the interface descriptions as use of the network
grows based on interface descriptions that define input and output documents.
Accordingly, another aspect of the invention provides an apparatus that
includes memory and a data processor that executes instructions stored in the
memory that include tools to build a definition of a participant interface and a
compiler performing the functions described above.
According to yet
another aspect of the invention, the use of the participant interface
descriptions enables the operation of a market maker node. At such a node, a
method for managing transactions is provided that comprises storing
machine-readable specifications of a plurality of participant interfaces which
identify transactions supported by the interfaces, and the respective input and
output documents of such transactions. As described above, the definitions of
the input and output documents comprise respective descriptions of sets of
storage units and logical structures for the sets of storage units, such as
according to the XML standard. In addition, the definitions of the transactions
and the definitions of the participant interfaces all comprise documents
specified according to a technique compliant with XML or other standardized
document expression language. At such market maker node, data comprising a
document is received over a communication network. The document is parsed
according to the specifications to identify an input document in one or more
transactions which accept the identified input document. At least a portion of
the input document is provided in a machine-readable format to a transaction
process associated with the one or more identified transactions. The step of
providing at least a portion of the input document to a transaction process
includes executing a routing process according to a processing architecture at
the market maker node. The routing process in one aspect of the invention is
executed according to a particular processing architecture, and at least a
portion of the incoming document is translated into the format of the processing
architecture of the routing process. The translating according to the preferred
aspect includes producing programming objects that include variables and methods
according to the processing architecture of the routing process.
According to another aspect of the invention, the market maker node also
supports the repository structure. Thus, a process is included at the market
maker node for allowing access by participants in the network to a repository
stored at the market maker node. As described above, the repository includes
definitions of logic structures, interpretation information, and document
definitions for use by the participant nodes to build transaction interface
documents and includes instances of business interface definitions that identify
the participants, and the transactions executed by the respective participants.
The routing process includes according to various alternatives the
translating of the input document into the variant processing architecture of
the processes to which the document is to be routed, or routing the input
document in its original document format across the network to a remote
processing node, or to combinations of such processes. In alternatives, the
routing process may also include techniques for transforming an input document
defined according to one input document definition into a different document
defined according to a different document specification for a process which has
registered to watch for the input document.
Also, the market maker node
is provided according to the present invention as apparatus that includes a
network interface, memory storing data and programs of instructions including
the specifications of the participant interfaces, and a data processor. The
logic is provided with the data processor in the form of programs of
instructions or otherwise to perform the market maker process as discussed
above.
Accordingly, the present invention provides a foundation for
electronic commerce based on the sharing of specifications of input and output
documents. Documents provide an intuitive and flexible way to access business
services, much simpler to implement than programming APIs. It is much easier to
interconnect companies in terms of documents that are exchanged, on which such
companies already largely agree, than in terms of business system interfaces
which invariably differ. In addition, such documents are specified in a human
readable format in the preferred embodiment. According to the present invention
the business interfaces are specified in documents, such as XML documents that
are readily interpretable by humans as well as by computers.
Utilization
of the document based transaction architecture of the present invention involves
the use of a parser which operates in basically the same way for any source of
documents, eliminating much of the need for custom programs to extract and
integrate information from each participant in the network. Thus, integrating
enterprise information from accounting, purchasing, manufacturing, shipping and
other functions can be accomplished by first converting each source to a
document having an architecture according to the present invention, and then
processing the parsed data stream. Each node in the system that participates in
the market only needs to know about the format of its internal systems, as well
as the format of the documents being specified for interchange according to the
transaction. Thus, there is no need to be able to produce the native format of
every other node which might want to participate in the electronic commerce
network.
For complete business integration, the present invention
provides a repository of standardized logical structures, like XML elements,
attributes or meta data, establishing a semantic language for particular
commerce communities, a means for mapping between different meta data
descriptions, and a server for processing the documents and invoking appropriate
applications and services. The basic building blocks of a network according to
the present invention include the business interface definitions which tell
potential trading partners what online services a company offers and which
documents to use to invoke the services; and servers which provide the bridge to
bind together the set of internal and external business services to create a
trading community. The server operates to parse the incoming documents and
invoke the appropriate services. Also the server according to the present
invention handles the translation tasks from the format of the documents being
received and transmitted, to and from the formats of the respective host
systems. Thus, trading partners need only agree on the structure, content and
sequencing of the business documents exchanged, and not on the details of
application programmer interfaces. How a document is processed and the actions
which result from receipt of a document are strictly up to the businesses
providing the services. This elevates integration from the system level to the
business level. It enables the business to present a clean and stable interface
to its partners despite changes in its internal technology implementation,
organization or processes.
The whole process of building business
interface definitions and enabling servers to manage commerce according to such
descriptions is facilitated by a common business library, or repository, of
information models for generic business concepts including business description
primitives like companies, services and products, business forms like catalogs,
purchase orders and invoices, and standard measurements, including time and
date, location and classification of goods.
Other aspects of the present
invention can be seen upon review of the figures, the detailed description, and
the claims which follow.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES
FIG. 1
is a simplified diagram of an electronic commerce network including business
interface definitions BIDs according to the present invention.
FIG. 2 is
a simplified diagram of a business interface definition document according to
the present invention.
FIG. 3 is a conceptual block diagram of a server
for a participant node in the network of the present invention.
FIG. 4
is a flow chart illustrating the processing of a received document at a
participant node according to the present invention.
FIG. 5 is a block
diagram of a parser and transaction process front end for an XML based system.
FIG. 6 is a conceptual diagram of the flow of a parse function.
FIG. 7 is a simplified diagram of the resources at a server used for
building a business interface definition according to the present invention.
FIG. 8 is a simplified diagram of a repository according to the present
invention for use for building business interface definitions.
FIG. 9 is
a flow chart illustrating the processes of building a business interface
definition according to the present invention.
FIG. 10 provides a
heuristic view of a repository according to the present invention.
FIG.
11 is a simplified diagram of the resources at a server providing the market
maker function for the network of the present invention based on business
interface definitions.
FIG. 12 is a flow chart for the market maker node
processing of a received document.
FIG. 13 is a flow chart illustrating
the process of registering participants at a market maker node according to the
present invention.
FIG. 14 is a flow chart illustrating the process of
providing service specifications at a market maker node according to the process
of FIG. 9.
FIG. 15 is a diagram illustrating the sequence of operation
at a participant or market maker node according to the present invention.
FIG. 16 is a conceptual diagram of the elements of a commercial network
based on BIDs, according to the present invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
A detailed description of the present invention is provided with respect
to the figures, in which FIG. 1 illustrates a network of market participants and
market makers based on the use of business interface definitions, and supporting
the trading of input and output documents specified according to such interface
descriptions. The network includes a plurality of nodes 11-18 which are
interconnected through a communication network such as the Internet 19, or other
telecommunications or data communications network. Each of the nodes 11-19
consists of a computer, such as a portable computer, a desktop personal
computer, a workstation, a network of systems, or other data processing
resources. The nodes include memory for storing the business interface
definition, processors that execute transaction processes supporting commercial
transactions with other nodes in the network, and computer programs which are
executed by the processors in support of such services. In addition each of the
nodes includes a network interface for providing for communication across the
Internet 19, or the other communication network.
In the environment of
FIG. 1, nodes 11, 12, 13, 14, 16 and 18 are designated market participants.
Market participants include resources for consumers or suppliers of goods or
services to be traded according to commercial transactions established according
to the present invention.
In this example, nodes 15 and 17 are market
maker nodes. The market maker nodes include resources for registering business
interface definitions, called a BID registry. Participants are able to send
documents to a market maker node, at which the document is identified and routed
to an appropriate participant which has registered to receive such documents as
input. The market maker also facilitates the commercial network by maintaining a
repository of standard forms making up a common business library for use in
building business interface definitions.
In this example, the market
participant 18 is connected directly to the market maker 17, rather than through
the Internet 19. This connection directly to the market maker illustrates that
the configuration of the networks supporting commercial transactions can be very
diverse, incorporating public networks such as the Internet 19, and private
connections such as a local area network or a Point-to-Point connection as
illustrated between nodes 17 and 18. Actual communication networks are quite
diverse and suitable for use to establish commercial transaction networks
according to the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a heuristic diagram of
nested structures in a business interface definition BID which is established
for market participants in the network according to the present invention. The
business interface definition illustrated in FIG. 2 is a data structure that
consists of logic structures and storage units arranged according to a formal
definition of a document structure, such as a XML document type definition DTD.
The structure of FIG. 2 includes a first logic structure 200 for identifying a
party. Associated with the logic structure 200 are nested logic structures for
carrying the name 201, the physical address 202, the network address or location
203, and a set of transactions for a service 204. For each transaction in the
service set, an interface definition is provided, including the transaction BID
205, the transaction BID 206, and the transaction BID 207. Within each
transaction BID, such as transaction BID 205, logical structures are provided
for including a name 208, a location on the network at which the service is
performed 209, the operations performed by the service 210, and a set of input
documents indicated by the tag 211. Also, the service BID 205 includes a set of
output documents indicated by the tag 212. The set of input documents 211
includes a business interface definition for each input document for which the
services are designed to respond, including input document business interface
definitions 213, 214, and 215. Each business interface definition for an input
document includes a name 216, a location on the network at which a description
of the document can be found 217, and the modules to be carried in the document
as indicated by the field 218. In a similar manner, the output document set 212
includes interface definitions for output documents including the output
document BID 219, output document BID 220, and output document BID 221. For each
output document BID, a name 222, a location on the network or elsewhere 223, and
the modules of the document 224 are specified. The business interface definition
for the participant as illustrated in FIG. 2 includes actual definitions of a
logic structures to be utilized for the input and output documents of the
respective services, or pointers or other references to locations at which these
definitions can be found.
In the preferred system, the document of FIG.
2 is specified in an XML document type definition DTD, although other document
definition architectures could be used, and includes interpretation information
for the logical structures used in interpretation of instances of the documents.
In addition, each of the transaction BIDs, input document BIDs and output
document BIDs are specified according to an XML document type definitions. The
XML type document is an example of a system based on parsed data that includes
mark-up data and character data. Mark-up data identifies logical structures
within the document and sets of character data identify the content of the
logical structures. In addition, unparsed data can be carried in the document
for a variety of purposes. See for example the specification of the Extensible
Mark-up Language XML 1.0 REC-XML-19980210 published by the WC3 XML Working Group
at WWW.W3.ORG/TR/1998/REC-XML-19980210.
Thus in an exemplary system,
participant nodes in the network establish virtual enterprises by
interconnecting business systems and services with XML encoded documents that
businesses accept and generate. For example, the business interface definition
of a particular service establishes that if a document matching the BID of a
request for a catalog entry is received, then a document matching a BID of a
catalog entry will be returned. Also, if a document matching the BID of a
purchase order is received, and it is acceptable to the receiving terminal, a
document matching the BID of an invoice will be returned. The nodes in the
network process the XML documents before they enter the local business system,
which is established according to the variant transaction processing
architecture of any given system in the network. Thus, the system unpacks sets
of related documents, such as MIME-encoded sets of XML documents, parses them to
create a stream of "mark-up messages". The messages are routed to the
appropriate applications and services using for example an event listener model
like that described below.
The documents exchanged between business
services are encoded using an XML language built from a repository of building
blocks (a common business language) from which more complex document definitions
may be created. The repository stores modules of interpretation information that
are focused on the functions and information common to business domains,
including business description primitives like companies, services and products;
business forms like catalogs, purchase orders and invoices; standard
measurements, like time, date, location; classification codes and the like
providing interpretation information for logical structures in the XML
documents.
The business interface definition is a higher level document
that acts as a schema used for designing interfaces that trade documents
according to the present invention. Thus the business interface definition
bridges the gap between the documents specified according to XML and the
programs which execute on the front end of the transaction processing services
at particular nodes. Such front ends are implemented by JAVA virtual machines,
or by other common architectures providing for interconnection of systems across
a network. Thus, the business interface definition provides a technique by which
a transaction protocol is programmed using the business interface definition
document. The program for the protocol of the transaction is established by a
detailed formal specification of a document type.
An example business
interface definition BID based on a market participant document which conforms
to an XML format is provided below. The market participant DTD groups business
information about market participants, associating contact and address
information with a description of services and financial information. This
business information is composed of names, codes, addresses, a dedicated
taxonomic mechanism for describing business organization, and a pointer to terms
of business. In addition, the services identified by the market participant DTD
will specify the input and output documents which that participant is expected
respond to and produce. Thus, documents which define schema using an exemplary
common business language for a market participant DTD, a service DTD, and a
transaction document DTD specified in XML with explanatory comments follow:
__________________________________________________________________________
Market Participant Sample
<!DOCTYPE SCHEMA SYSTBM "bidl.dtd">
<SCHEMA>
<H1 >Market Participant Sample BID</H1>
<META
WHO.OWNS="Veo Systems"
WHO.COPYRIGHT="Veo Systems"
WHEN.COPYRIGHT="1998"
DESCRIPTION="Sample BID"
WHO.CREATED="*" WHEN.CREATED="*"
WHAT.VERSION="*" WHO.MODIFIED="*"
WHEN.MODIFIED="*"
WHEN.EFFECTIVE="*"
WHEN.EXPIRES="*" WHO.EFFECTIVE="*"
WHO.EXPIRES="*">
</META>
<PROLOG>
<XMLDECL STANDALONE="no"></XMLDECL>
<DOCTYPE NAME="market.participant">
<SYSTBM>markpart.dtd</SYSTEM></DOCTYPE>
</PROLOG>
<DTD NAME="markpart.dtd">
<H2>Market Participant</H2>
<H3>Market Participant</H3>
<ELEMENTTYPE NAME="market.participant">
<EXPLAIN><TITLE>A Market Participant</TITLE>
<SYNOPSIS>A business or person and its service interfaces.</SYNOPSIS>
<P>A market participant is a document definition that is created to
describe a business and at least
one person with an email address and it presents a set of pointers to
service interfaces located on
the network. In this example the pointers have been resolved and the
complete BID is presented
here.</P>/EXPLAIN>
<MODEL><CHOICE>
<ELEMENT NAME="business"></ELEMENT>
<ELEMENT NAME="person"></ELEMENT>
</CHOICE></MODEL></ELEMENTTYPE>
<H3>Party Prototype</H3>
<PROTOTYPE NAME="party">
<EXPLAIN><TITLE>The Party Prototype</TITLE></EXPLAIN>
<MODEL><SEQUENCE>
<ELEMENT NAME="party.name"OCCURS="+"></ELEMENT>
<ELEMENT NAME="address.set"></ELEMENT>
</SEQUENCE></MODEL>
</PROTOTYPE>
<H3>Party Types</H3>
<ELEMENTTYPE NAME="business">
<EXPLAIN><TITLE>A Business</TITLE>
<SYNOPSIS>A business (party) with a business number attribute.</SYNOPSIS>
<P>This element inherits the content model of the party prototype and
adds a business number
attribute, which serves as a key for database lookup. The business number
may be used as a cross-
reference to/from customer id, credit limits contacts lists,
etc.</P></EXPLAIN>
<EXTENDS HREF="party">
<ATTDEF NAME="business.number"></REQUIRED></REQUIRED></ATTDBF>
</EXTENDS>
</ELEMENTTYPE>
<H3>Person Name</H3>
<ELEMENTTYPE NAME="person">
<EXPLAIN><TITLE>A Person</TITLE>/EXPLAIN>
<EXTENDS HREF="party">
<ATTDEF NAME="SSN"><IMPLIED></IMPLIED></ATTDEF>
</EXTENDS>
</ELEMENTTYPE>
<H3>Party Name</H3>
<ELEMENTTYPE NAME="party.name">
<EXPLAIN><TITLE>A Party's Name</TITLE>
<SYNOPSIS>A party's name in a string of character.</SYNOPSIS></EXPLAIN>
<MODEL><STRING></STRING></MODEL>
</ELEMENTTYPE>
<H3>Address Set</H3>
<ELEMENTTYPE NAME="address.set">
<MODEL><SEQUENCE>
<ELEMENT NAME="address.physical"></ELEMENT>
<ELEMENT NAME="telephone"OCCURS="*"></ELEMENT>
<ELEMENT NAME="fax"OCCURS="*"></ELEMENT>
<ELEMENT NAME="email"OCCURS="*"></ELEMENT>
<ELEMENT NAME="internet"OCCURS="*"></ELEMENT>
</SEQUENCE></MODEL>
</ELEMENTTYPE>
<H3>Physical Address</H3>
<ELEMENTTYPE NAME="address.physical">
<EXPLAIN><TITLE>Physical Address</TITLE>
<SYNOPSIS>The street address, city, state, and zip code.</SYNOPSIS></EXPLA
IN>
<MODEL><SEQUENCE>
<ELEMENT NAME="street"></ELEMENT>
<ELEMENT NAME="city"></ELEMENT>
<ELEMENT NAME="state"></ELEMENT>
<ELEMENT NAME="postcode"OCCURS="?"></ELEMENT>
<ELEMENT NAME="country"></ELEMENT>
</SEQUENCE></MODEL>
</ELEMENTTYPE>
<H3>Street</H3>
<ELEMENTTYPE NAME="street">
<EXPLAIN><TITLE>Street Address</TITLE>
<SYNOPSIS>Street or postal address.</SYNOPSIS></EXPLAIN>
<MODEL><STRING></STRING></MODEL>
</ELEMENTTYPE>
<H3>City</H3>
<ELEMENTTYPE NAME="city">
<EXPLAIN><TITLE>City Name or Code</TITLE>
<P>The city name or code is a string that contains sufficient information
to identity a city within a
designated state.</P>
</EXPLAIN>
<MODEL><STRING></STRING></MODEL>
</ELEMENTTYPE>
<H3>State</H3>
<ELEMENTTYPE NAME="state">
<EXPLAIN><TITLE>State, Province or Prefecture Name or Code</TITLE>
<P>The state name or code contains sufficient information to identfy a
state within a designated
country.</P></EXPLAIN>
<MODEL><STRING DATATYPE="COUNTRY.US.SUBENTITY"></STRING></MODEL>
</ELEMENTTYPE>
<H3>Postal Code</H3>
<ELEMENTTYPE NAME="postcode">
<EXPLAIN><TITLE>Postal Code</TITLE>
<P>A postal code is an alphanumeric code, designated by an appropriate
postal authority, that is
used to identfy a location or region within the jurisdiction of that
postal authority. Postal authorities
include designated national postal authorities.</P></EXPLAIN>
<MODEL><STRING DATATYPE="string"></STRING></MODEL>
</ELEMENTTYPE>
<H3>Country</H3>
<ELEMENTTYPE NAME="country">
<EXPLAIN><TITLE>Country Code</TITLE>
<P>A country code is a two-letter code, designated by ISO, that is used
to uniquely identfy a
country.</P>/EXPLAIN>
<MODEL><STRING DATATYPE="country"></STRING></MODEL>
</ELEMENTTYPE>
<H3>Network Addresses</H3>
<ELEMENTTYPE NAME="telephone">
<EXPLAIN><TITLE>Telephone Number<TITLE>
<P>A telephone number is a string of alphanumerics and punctuation that
uniquely identifies a
telephone service terminal, including extension number.<P></EXPLAIN>
<MODEL><STRING></STRING></MODEL>
</ELEMENTTYPE>
<H3>Fax</H3>
<ELEMENTTYPE NAME="fax">
<EXPLAIN><TITLE>Fax Number</TITLE>
<P>A fax number is a string of alphanumerics and punctuation that
uniquely identifies a fax service
terminal.</P>
</EXPLAIN>
<MODEL><STRING></STRING></MODEL>
</ELEMENTTYPE>
<H3>Email</H3>
<ELEMENTTYPE NAME="email">
<EXPLAIN><TITLE>Email Address</TITLE>
<P>An email address is a datatype-constrained string that uniquely
identifies a mailbox on a
server.</P></EXPLAIN>
<MODEL><STRING DATATYPE="email"></STRING></MODEL>
</ELEMENTTYPE>
<H3>Internet Address</H3>
<ELEMENTTYPE NAME="internet">
<EXPLAIN><TITLE>Internet Address</TITLE>
<P>An Internet address is a datatype-constrained string that uniquely
identifies a resource on the
Internet by means of a URL.</P></EXPLAIN>
<MODEL><STRING DATATYPE="url"></STRING></MODEL>
</ELEMENTTYPE>
</DTD>
</SCHEMA>
Service Description Sample
<!DOCTYPE schema SYSTEM "bidl.dtd">
<SCHEMA>
<H1>Service Description Sample BID</H1>
<META
WHO.OWNS="Veo Systems"
WHO.COPYRIGHT="Veo Systems"
WHEN.COPYRIGHT="1998"
DESCRIPTION="Sample BID"
WHO.CREATED="*" WHEN.CREATED="*"
WHAT.VERSION="*" WHO.MODIFIED="*"
WHEN.MODIFIED="*"
WHEN.EFFECTIVE="*"
WHEN.EXPIRES="*" WHO.EFFECTIVE="*"
WHO.EXPIRES="*">
</META>
<PROLOG>
<XMLDECL STANDALONE="no"></XMLDECL>
<DOCTYPE NAME="service">
<SYSTEM>service.dtd</SYSTEM></DOCTYPE>
<PROLOG>
<DTD NAME="service.dtd">
<H2>Services</H2>
<H3>Includes</H3>
<!-- INCLUDE><SYSTEM>comments.bim</SYSTEM></INCLUDE-->
<H3>Service Set</H3>
<ELEMENTTYPE NAME="service.set">
<EXPLAIN><TITLE>Service Set</TITLE>
<SYNOPSIS>A set of services.</SYNOPSIS></EXPLAIN>
<MODEL>
<ELEMENT NAME="service"OCCURS="+"></ELEMENT>
</MODEL></ELEMENTTYPE>
<H3>Services Prototype</H3>
<PROTOTYPE NAME="prototype.service">
<EXPLAIN><TITLE>Service</TITLE></EXPLAIN>
<MODEL><SEQUENCE>
<ELEMENT NAME="service.name"></ELEMENT>
<ELEMENT NAME="service.terms"OCCURS="+"></ELEMENT>
<ELEMENT NAME="service.location"OCCLRS="+"></ELEMENT>
<ELEMENT NAME="service.operation"OCCLRS="+"></ELEMENT>
<SEQUENCE></MODEL>
<!-- ATTGROUP><IMPLEMENTS HREF="common.atrrib"></IMPLEMENTS></ATTGROUP
</PROTOTYPE>
<H3>Service</H3>
<INTRO><P>A service is an addressable network resource that provides
interfaces to specific
operations by way of input and output documents.</P></INTRO>
<ELEMENTTYPE NAME="service">
<EXPLAIN><TITLE>Service</TITLE>
<P>A service is defined in terms of its name, the location(s) at which
the service is available, and
the operation(s) that the service performs.</P></EXPLAIN>
<MODEL><SEQUENCE>
<ELEMENT NAME="service.name"></ELEMENT>
<ELEMENT NAME="service.location"></ELEMENT>
<ELEMENT NAME="service.operation"OCCURS="+"></ELEMENT>
<ELEMENT NAME="service.terms"><ELEMENT>
</SEQUENCE></MODEL>
</ELEMENTTYPE>
<H3>Service Name</H3>
<ELEMENTTYPE NAME="service.name">
<EXPLAIN><TITLE>Service Name</TITLE>
<P>The service name is a human-readable string that ascribes a moniker
for a service. It may be
employed is user interfaces and documentation, or for other
purposes.</P></EXPLAIN>
<MODEL><STRING></STRING></MODEL>
</ELEMENTTYPE>
<H3>Service Location</H3>
<ELEMENTTYPE NAME="service.location">
<EXPLAIN><TITLE>Service Location</TITLE>
<SYNOPSIS>A LRI of a service.</SYNOPSIS>
<P>A service location is a datatype-constrained string that locates a
service on the Internet by
means of a URI.</P></EXPLAIN>
<MODEL><STRING DATATYPE="url"></STRING></MODEL>
</ELEMENTTYPE>
<H3>Service Operations</H3>
<INTRO><P>A service operation consists of a name, location and its
interface, as identified by the
type of input document that the service operation accepts and by the type
of document that it will
return as a result.</P></INTRO>
<ELEMENTTYPE NAME="service.operation">
<EXPLAIN><TITLE>Service Operations</TITLE>
<P>A service operation must have a name, a location, and at least one
document type as an input,
with one or more possible document types returned as a result of the
operation.</P>
</EXPLAIN>
<MODEL><SEQUENCE>
<ELEMENT NAME="service.operation.name"></ELEMENT>
<ELEMENT NAME="service.operation.location"></ELEMENT>
<ELEMENT NAME="service.operation.input"></ELEMENT>
<ELEMENT NAME="service.operation.output"></ELEMENT>
</SEQUENCE></MODEL>
</ELEMENTTYPE>
<H3>Service Operation Name</H3>
<ELEMENTTYPE NAME="service.operation.name">
<EXPLAIN><TITLE>Service Operation Name</TITLE>
<P>The service operation name is a human readable string that ascribes a
moniker to a service
operation. It may be employed in user interfaces and documentation, or
for other
purposes.</P></EXPLAIN>
<MODEL><STRING></STRING></MODEL>
</ELEMENTTYPE>
<H3>Service Operation Location</H3>
<INTRO><P>The service location is a network resource. That is to say, a
URI.</P></INTRO>
<ELEMENTTYPE NAME="service.operation.location">
<EXPLAIN><TITLE>Service Operation Location"</TITLE>
<SYNOPSIS>A URI of a service operation.</SYNOPSIS>
<P>A service operation location is a datatype-constrained string that
locates a service operation on
the Internet by means of a URL.</P></EXPLAIN>
<MODEL><STRING DATATYPE="url"></STRING></MODEL>
</ELEMENTTYPE>
<H3>Service Operation Input Document</H3>
<INTRO><P>The input to a service operation is defined by its input
document type. That is, the
service operation is invoked when the service operation location receives
an input document whose
type corresponds to the document type specified by this element.</P>
<P>Rather than define the expected input and output document types in the
market participant
document, this example provides pointers to externally-defined BIDs This
allows reuse of the same
BID as the input and/or output document type for multiple operations. In
addition, it encourages
parallel design and implementation.</P></INTRO>
<ELEMENTTYPE NAME="service.operation.input">
<EXPLAIN><TITLE>Service Operation Input</TITLE>
<SYNOPSIS>Identifies the type of the service operation input
document.</SYNOPSIS>
<P>Service location input is a datatype-constrained string that
identifies a BID on the Internet by
means of a URI.</P>
</EXPLAIN>
<MODEL><STRING DATATYPE="url"></STRING></MODEL>
</ELEMENTTYPE>
<H3>Service Operation Output Document Type</H3>
<INTRO><P>The output of a service operation is defined by its output
document type(s). That is,
the service operation is expected to emit a document whose type
corresponds to the document type
specified by this element.</P></INTRO>
<ELEMENTTYPE NAME="service.operation.output">
<EXPLAIN><TITLE>Service Operation Output</TITLE>
<SYNOPSIS>Identifies the type of the service operation output
document.</SYNOPSIS>
<P>Service location output is a datatype-constrained string that
identifies a BID on the Internet by
means of a URI.</P>
</EXPLAIN>
<MODEL><STRING DATATYPE="url"></STRING></MODEL>
</ELEMENTTYPE>
<H3>Service Terms</H3>
<INTRO><P>This is a simple collection of string elements, describing the
terms of an
agreement.</P></INTRO>
<ELEMENTTYPE NAME="service.terms">
<EXPLAIN><TITLE>Service Terms</TITLE>
<SYNOPSIS>Describes the terms of a given agreement.</SYNOPSIS>
</EXPLAIN>
<MODEL><STRING DATATYPE="string"></STRING></MODEL>
</ELEMENTTYPE>
</DTD>
</SCHEMA>
__________________________________________________________________________
The service DTD schema may be extended with a service type element
in a common business language repository as follows:
______________________________________
<!ELEMENT service.type EMPTY>
<!ATTLIST service.type
service.type.name (
catalog.operator
.vertline.commercial.directory.operator
.vertline.eft.services.provider
.vertline.escrower
.vertline.fulfillment.service
.vertline.insurer
.vertline.manufacturer
.vertline.market.operator
.vertline.order.originator
.vertline.ordering.service
.vertline.personal.services.provider
.vertline.retailer
.vertline.retail.aggregator
.vertline.schema.resolution.service
.vertline.shipment.acceptor
.vertline.shipper
.vertline.van
______________________________________
The service type element above illustrates interpretation
information carried by a business interface definition, in this example a
content form allowing identification of any one of a list of valid service
types. Other interpretation information includes data typing, such as for
example the element <H3> Internet Address </H3> including the
content form "url" and expressed in the data type "string." Yet other
interpretation information includes mapping of codes to elements of a list, such
as for example the element <H3> State </H3> including the code
mapping for states in the file "COUNTRY.US.SUBENTITY."
The service
description referred to by the market participant DTD defines the documents that
the service accepts and generates upon competition of the service. A basic
service description is specified below as a XML document transact.dtd.
Transact.dtd models a transaction description, such as an invoice, or a
description of an exchange of value. This document type supports many uses, so
the transaction description element has an attribute that allows user to
distinguish among invoices, performance, offers to sell, requests for quotes and
so on. The exchange may occur among more than two parties, but only two are
called out, the offeror and the counter party, each of whom is represented by a
pointer to a document conforming to the market participant DTD outlined above.
The counter party pointer is optional, to accommodate offers to sell. The
exchange description is described in the module tranprim.mod listed below, and
includes pricing and subtotals. Following the exchange description, charges
applying to the transaction as a whole may be provided, and a total charge must
be supplied. Thus, the transaction description schema document transact.dtd for
this example is set forth below:
______________________________________
- transact.dtd Version: 1.0 -->
<!-- Copyright 1998 Veo Systems, Inc. -->
. . .
<!ELEMENT transaction.description (meta?, issuer.pointer,
counterparty.pointer?, exhange.descrption+, general.charges?,
net.total?)>
<!ATTLIST transaction.description
transaction.type (invoice .vertline. pro.forma .vertline. offer.to.sell
.vertline. order
.vertline.request.for.quote .vertline. request.for.bid
.vertline.request.for.proposal .vertline. response.to.request.for.quote
.vertline.response.to.requestfor.bid
.vertline.response.to.request.for.proposal) "invoice"
%common.attrib;
%altrep.attrib;
%ttl.attrib;
______________________________________
Representative market participant, and service DTDs, created
according to the definitions above, are as follows:
__________________________________________________________________________
Market Participant DTD
<!ELEMENT business (party.name+, address.set)>
<!ATTLIST business business.number CDATA #REQUIRED
<!ELEMENT party.name (#PCDATA)>
<!ELEMENT city (#PCDATA)>
<!ELEMENT internet (#PCDATA)>
<!ELEMENT country (#PCDATA)>
<!ELEMENT state (#PCDATA)>
<!ELEMENT email (#PCDATA)>
<!ELEMENT address.physical (street, city, state postcode?, country)>
<!ELEMENT telephone (#PCDATA)>
<!ELEMENT person (party.name+, address.set)>
<!ATTLIST person SSN CDATA #IMPLIED
>
<!ELEMENT fax (#PCDATA)>
<!ELEMENT street (#PCDATA)>
<!ELEMENT address.set (address.physical, telephone*, fax*, email*,
internet*)>
<!ELEMENT postcode (#PCDATA)>
<!ELEMENT market.participant (business .vertline. person)>
Service DTD
<!ELEMENT service.location (#PCDATA)>
<!ELEMENT service.terms (#PCDATA)>
<!ELEMENT service.operation.name (#PCDATA)>
<!ELEMENT service.operation (service.operation.name, service.operation.loc
ation,
service.operation.input, service.operation. output)>
<!ELEMENT service (service.name, service.location, service.operation+,
service.terms) >
<!ELEMENT service.operation.input (#PCDATA)>
<!ELEMENT service.operation.location (#PCDATA)>
<!ELEMENT service.name (#PCDATA)>
<!ELEMENT service.set (service+)>
<!ELEMENT service.operation.output (#PCDATA)>
__________________________________________________________________________
One instance of a document produced according to the transact.dtd
follows:
__________________________________________________________________________
<?xml version="1.0"?>
<!--rorder.xml Version: 1.0 -->
<!Copyright 1998 Veo Systems, Inc. -->
<!DOCTYPE transaction.description SYSTEM "urn:x-veosystems:dtd:cbl:transac
t: 1.0:>
<transaction.description transaction.type="order">
<meta>
<urn?urn:x-veosystems:doc:00023
</urn>
<thread.id party.assigned.by="reqorg">FRT876
</thread.id>
</meta>
<issuer.pointer>
<xll.locator urllink="reqorg.xml">Customer
Pointer
</xll.locator>
</issuer.pointer>
<counterparty.pointer>
<xll.locator urllink="compu.xml">Catalog entry owner
pointer
</xll.locator>
</counterparty.pointer>
<exchange.description>
<line.item>
<product.instance>
<product.description.pointer>
<xll.locator urllink="cthink.xml">Catalogue Entry Pointer
<xll.locator>
</product.description.pointer>
<product.specifics>
<info.description.set>
<info.description>
<xml.descriptor>
<doctype>
<dtd system.id="urn:x-veosystems:dtd:cbl:gprod:1.0"/>
<doctype>
<xml.descriptor.details>
<xll.xptr.frag>DESCENDANT(ALL, os)STRING("Windows
95")
</xll.xptr.frag>
</xll.xptr.frag>DECENDANT(ALL,p.speed)STRING("200")
</xll.xptr.frag>
</xll.xptr.frag>DESCENDANT(ALL,hard.disk.capacity)
STRING("4")
</xll.xptr.frag>
</xll.xptr.frag>DESCENDANT(ALL,d.size)STRING("14.1")
</xll.xptr.frag>
</xml.descriptor.details>
</xml.descriptor>
</info.description>
</info.description.set>
</product.specifics>
</quantity>1
</quantity>
</product.instance>
<shipment.coordinates.set>
<shipment.coordinates>
<shipment.destination>
<address.set>
<address.named>SW-1
<address.named>
<address.physical>
<building.sublocation>208C</building.sublocation>
<location.in.street>123
</location.in. street>
<street>Frontage Rd.
</street>
<city>Beltway
</city>
<country.subentity.us
countiy.subentity.us.name="MD"/>
<postcode>20000
<postcode>
</address.physical>
<telephone>
<telephone.number>617-666-2000
</telephone.number>
<telephone.extension>1201
</telephone.extension>
</telephone>
</address.set>
</shipment.destination>
</shipment.special>No deliveries after 4 PM</shipment.special>
</shipment.coordinates>
</shipment.coordinates.set>
<payment.set>
<credit.card
issuer.name="VISA"
instrument.number="3787-812345-67893"
expiry.date="12/97"
currency.code="USD">
<amount.group>
<amount.monetary currency.code="USD">3975
</amount.monetary>
</amount.group>
</payment.set>
</line.item>
</exhange.description>
</tansaction.description>
__________________________________________________________________________
Accordingly, the present invention provides a technique by which a
market participant is able to identify itself, and identify the types of input
documents and the types of output documents with which it is willing to transact
business. The particular manner in which the content carried in such documents
is processed by the other parties to the transaction, or by the local party, is
not involved in establishing a business relationship nor carrying out
transactions.
FIG. 3 provides a simplified view of a participant node in
the network according to the present invention. The node illustrated in FIG. 3
includes a network interface 300 which is coupled to a communication network on
port 301. The network interface is coupled to a document parser 301. The parser
301 supplies the logical structures from an incoming document to a translator
module 302, which provides for translating the incoming document into a form
usable by the host transaction system, and vice versa translating the output of
host processes into the format of a document which matches the output document
form in the business interface definition for transmission to a destination. The
parser 301 and translator 302 are responsive to the business interface
definition stored in the participant module 303.
The output data
structures from the translator 302 are supplied to a transaction process front
end 304 along with events signaled by the parser 301. The front end 304 in one
embodiment consists of a JAVA virtual machine or other similar interface adapted
for communication amongst diverse nodes in a network. The transaction processing
front end 304 responds to the events indicated by the parser 301 and the
translator 302 to route the incoming data to appropriate functions in the
enterprise systems and networks to which the participant is coupled. Thus, the
transaction process front end 304 in the example of FIG. 3 is coupled to
commercial functions 305, database functions 306, other enterprise functions
such as accounting and billing 307, and to the specific event listeners and
processors 308 which are designed to respond to the events indicated by the
parser.
The parser 301 takes a purchase order like that in the example
above, or other document, specified according to the business interface
definition and creates a set of events that are recognized by the local
transaction processing architecture, such as a set of JAVA events for a JAVA
virtual machine.
The parser of the present invention is uncoupled from
the programs that listen for events based on the received documents. Various
pieces of mark-up in a received document or a complete document meeting certain
specifications serve as instructions for listening functions to start
processing. Thus listening programs carry out the business logic associated with
the document information. For example, a program associated with an address
element may be code that validates the postal code by checking the database.
These listeners subscribe to events by registering with a document router, which
directs the relevant events to all subscribers who are interested in them.
For example, the purchase order specified above may be monitored by
programs listening for events generated by the parser, which would connect the
document or its contents to an order entry program. Receipt of product
descriptions within the purchase order, might invoke a program to check
inventory. Receipt of address information within the purchase order, would then
invoke a program to check availability of services for delivery. Buyer
information fields in the document, could invoke processes to check order
history for credit worthiness or to offer a promotion or similar processing
based on knowing the identity of the consumer.
Complex listeners can be
created as configurations of primitive ones. For example, a purchase order
listener may contain and invoke the list listeners set out in the previous
paragraph, or the list members may be invoked on their own. Note that the
applications that the listeners run are unlikely to be native XML processes or
native JAVA processes. In these cases, the objects would be transformed into the
format required by the receiving trans application. When the application
finishes processing, its output is then transformed back to the XML format for
communication to other nodes in the network.
It can be seen that the
market participant document type description, and the transaction document type
description outlined above include a schematic mapping for logic elements in the
documents, and include mark-up language based on natural language. The natural
language mark-up, and other natural language attributes of XML facilitate the
use of XML type mark-up languages for the specification of business interface
definitions, service descriptions, and the descriptions of input and output
documents.
The participant module 303 in addition to storing the
business interface definition includes a compiler which is used to compile
objects or other data structures to be used by the transaction process front end
304 which corresponds to the logical structures in the incoming documents, and
to compile the translator 302. Thus, as the business interface definition is
modified or updated by the participant as the transactions with which the
participant is involved change, the translator 302 and parser 301 are
automatically kept up to date.
In a preferred system, the set of JAVA
events is created by a compiler which corresponds to the grove model of SGML,
mainly the standard Element Structure Information Set augmented by the "property
set" for each element. International Standard ISO/IEC 10179:1996 (E),
Information Technology--Processing Languages--Document Style Semantics and
Specification Language (DSSSL). Turning the XML document into a set of events
for the world to process contrasts with the normal model of parsing in which the
parser output is maintained as an internal data structure. By translating the
elements of the XML document into JAVA events or other programming structures
that are suitable for use by the transaction processing front end of the
respective nodes enables rich functionality at nodes utilizing the documents
being traded.
Thus, the transaction process front end 304 is able to
operate in a publish and subscribe architecture that enables the addition of new
listener programs without the knowledge of or impact on other listening programs
in the system. Each listener, 305, 306, 307, 308 in FIG. 3, maintains a queue in
which the front end 304 directs events. This enables multiple listeners to
handle events in parallel at their own pace.
Furthermore, according to
the present invention the applications that the listeners run need not be native
XML functions, or native functions which match the format of the incoming
document. Rather, these listeners may be JAVA functions, if the transaction
process front end 304 is a JAVA interface, or may be functions which run
according to a unique transaction processing architecture. In these cases, the
objects would be transformed into the format required by the receiving
application. When the application of the listener finishes, its output is then
transformed back into the format of a document as specified by the business
interface definition in the module 303. Thus, the translator 302 is coupled to
the network interface 300 directly for supplying the composed documents as
outputs.
The listeners coupled to the transaction processing front end
may include listeners for input documents, listeners for specific elements of
the input documents, and listeners for attributes stored in particular elements
of the input document. This enables diverse and flexible implementations of
transaction processes at the participant nodes for filtering and responding to
incoming documents.
FIG. 4 illustrates a process of receiving and
processing an incoming document for the system of FIG. 3. Thus, the process
begins by receiving a document at the network interface (step 400). The parser
identifies the document type (401) in response to the business interface
definition. Using the business interface definition, which stores a DTD for the
document in the XML format, the document is parsed (step 402). Next, the
elements and attributes of the document are translated into the format of the
host (step 403). In this example, the XML logic structures are translated into
JAVA objects which carry the data of the XML element as well as methods
associated with the data such as get and set functions. Next, the host objects
are transferred to the host transaction processing front end (step 404). These
objects are routed to processes in response to the events indicated by the
parser and the translator. The processes which receive the elements of the
document are executed and produce an output (step 405). The output is translated
to the format of an output document as defined by the business interface
definition (step 406). In this example, the translation proceeds from the form
of a JAVA object to that of an XML document. Finally, the output document is
transmitted to its destination through the network interface (step 407).
FIG. 5 is a more detailed diagram of the event generator/event listener
mechanism for the system of FIG. 3. In general the approach illustrated in FIG.
5 is a refinement of the JAVA JDK 1.1 event model. In this model, three kinds of
objects are considered. A first kind of object is an event object which contains
information about the occurrence of an event. There may be any number of kinds
of event objects, corresponding to all the different kinds of events which can
occur. A second kind of object is an Event generator, which monitors activity
and generates event objects when something happens. Third, event listeners,
listen for event objects generated by event generators. Event listeners
generally listen to specific event generators, such as for mouse clicks on a
particular window. Event listeners call an "ADD event listener" method on the
event generator. This model can be adapted to the environment of FIG. 3 in which
the objects are generated in response to parsing and walking a graph of objects,
such as represented by an XML document.
The system illustrated in FIG. 5
includes a generic XML parser 500. Such parser can be implemented using a
standard call back model. When a parsing event occurs, the parser calls a
particular method in an application object, passing in the appropriate
information in the parameters. Thus a single application 501 resides with the
parser. The application packages the information provided by the parser in an
XML event object and sends it to as many event listeners as have identified
themselves, as indicated by the block 502. The set of events 502 is completely
parser independent. The events 502 can be supplied to any number of listeners
and any number of threads on any number of machines. The events are based on the
element structure information set ESIS in one alternative. Thus, they consist of
a list of the important aspects of a document structure, such as the starts and
ends of elements, or of the recognition of an attribute. XML (and SGML) parsers
generally use the ESIS structure as a default set of information for a parser to
return to its application.
A specialized ESIS listener 503 is coupled to
the set of events 502. This listener 503 implements the ESIS listener API, and
listens for all XML events from one or more generators. An element event
generator 504 is a specialized ESIS listener which is also an XML event
generator. Its listeners are objects only interested in events for particular
types of elements. For example in an HTML environment, the listener may only be
interested in ordered lists, that is only the part of the document between the
<OL> and </OL> tags. For another example, a listener may listen for
"party.name" elements, or for "service.name" elements according to the common
business language, from the example documents above, process the events to
ensure that the elements carry data that matches the schematic mapping for the
element, and react according to the process needed at the receiving node.
This allows the system to have small objects that listen for particular
parts of the document, such as one which only adds up prices. Since listeners
can both add and remove themselves from a generator, there can be a listener
which only listens to for example the <HEAD> part of an HTML document.
Because of this and because of the highly recursive nature of XML documents, it
is possible to write highly targeted code, and to write concurrent listeners.
For example, an <OL> listener can set up an <LI> listener completely
separate from the manner in which the <UL> (unordered list) listener sets
up its <LI> listener. Alternatively, it can create a listener which
generates a graphic user interface and another which searches a database using
the same input. Thus, the document is treated as a program executed by the
listeners, as opposed to the finished data structure which the application
examines one piece at a time. If an application is written this way, it is not
necessary to have the entire document in memory to execute an application.
The next listener coupled to the set of events 502 is an attribute
filter 505. The attribute filter 505 like the element filter 504 is an attribute
event generator according to the ESIS listener model. The listener for an
attribute filter specifies the attributes it is interested in, and receives
events for any element having that attribute specified. So for example, a font
manager might receive events only for elements having a font attribute, such as
the <P FONT="Times Roman" /P>.
The element event generator 504
supplies such element objects to specialize the element listeners 504A.
The attribute event generator 505 supplies the attribute event objects
to attribute listeners 505A. Similarly, the attribute objects are supplied to a
"architecture" in the sense of an SGML/XML transformation from one document type
to another using attributes. Thus the architecture of 505B allows a particular
attribute with a particular name to be distinguished. Only elements with that
attribute defined become part of the output document, and the name of the
element in the output document is the value of the attribute in the input
document. For example, if the architecture 505B is HTML, the string:
<PURCHASES HTML="OL"><ITEM HTML="LI"><NAME
HTML="B">STUFF</NAME><PRICE
HTML="B">123</PRICE></ITEM></PURCHASES>
translates
into:
<OL><LI><B>STUFF</B><B>123</B></LI></OL>
which is correct HTML.
The next module which is coupled to the
set of events 502 is a tree builder 506. The tree builder takes a stream of XML
events and generates a tree representation of the underlying document. One
preferred version of the tree builder 506 generates a document object model DOM
object 507, according to the specification of the W3C (See,
http://www.w3.org/TR/1998/WD-DOM-19980720/introduction.html). However listeners
in event streams can be used to handle most requirements, a tree version is
useful for supporting queries around a document, reordering of nodes, creation
of new documents, and supporting a data structure in memory from which the same
event stream can be generated multiple times, for example like parsing the
document many times. A specialized builder 508 can be coupled to the tree
builder 506 in order to build special subtrees for parts of the document as
suits a particular implementation.
In addition to responses to incoming
documents, other sources of XML events 502 can be provided. Thus, an event
stream 510 is generated by walking over a tree of DOM objects and regenerating
the original event stream created when the document was being parsed. This
allows the system to present the appearance that the document is being parsed
several times.
The idea of an object which walks a tree and generates a
stream of events can be generalize beyond the tree of DOM objects, to any tree
of objects which can be queried. Thus, a JAVA walker 512 may be an application
which walks a tree of JAVA bean components 513. The walker walks over all the
publicly accessible fields and methods. The walker keeps track of the objects it
has already visited to ensure that it doesn't go into an endless cycle. JAVA
events 514 are the type of events generated by the JAVA walker 512. This
currently includes most of the kinds of information one can derive from an
object. This is the JAVA equivalent of ESIS and allows the same programming
approach applied to XML to be applied to JAVA objects generally, although
particularly to JAVA beans.
The JAVA to XML event generator 515
constitutes a JAVA listener and a JAVA event generator. It receives the stream
of events 514 from the JAVA walker 512 and translates selected ones to present a
JAVA object as an XML document. In the one preferred embodiment, the event
generator 515 exploits the JAVA beans API. Each object seen becomes an element,
with the element name the same as the class name. Within that element, each
embedded method also becomes an element whose content is the value returned by
invoking the method. If it is an object or an array of objects, then these are
walked in turn.
FIG. 6 outlines a particular application built on the
framework of FIG. 5. This application takes in an XML document 600 and applies
it to a parser/generator 601. ESIS events 602 are generated and supplied to an
attribute generator 603 and tree builder 604. The attribute generator
corresponds to the generator 505 of FIG. 5. It supplies the events to the
"architecture" 505B for translating the XML input to an HTML output for example.
These events are processed in parallel as indicated by block 605 and processed
by listeners. The output of the listeners are supplied to a document writer 506
and then translated back to an XML format for output. Thus for example this
application illustrated in FIG. 6 takes an XML document and outputs an HTML
document containing a form. The form is then sent to a browser, and the result
is converted back to XML. For this exercise, the architecture concept provides
the mapping from XML to HTML. The three architectures included in FIG. 6 include
one for providing the structure of the HTML document, such as tables and lists,
a second specifying text to be displayed, such as labels for input fields on the
browser document, and the third describes the input fields themselves. The
elements of the XML document required to maintain the XML documents structure
become invisible fields in the HTML form. This is useful for use in
reconstruction of the XML document from the information the client will put into
the HTTP post message that is sent back to the server. Each architecture takes
the input document and transforms it into an architecture based on a subset of
HTML. Listeners listening for these events, output events for the HTML document,
which then go to a document writer object. The document writer object listens to
XML events and turns them back into an XML document. The document writer object
is a listener to all the element generators listening to the architectures in
this example.
The organization of the processing module illustrated in
FIGS. 5 and 6 is representative of one embodiment of the parser and transaction
process front end for the system of FIG. 3. As can be seen, a very flexible
interface is provided by which diverse transaction processes can be executed in
response to the incoming XML documents, or other structured document formats.
FIG. 7 illustrates a node similar to that of FIG. 3, except that it
includes a business interface definition builder module 700. Thus, the system of
FIG. 7 includes a network interface 701, a document parser 702, and a document
translator 703. The translator 703 supplies its output to a transaction
processing front end 704, which in turn is coupled to listening functions such
as commercial functions 705, a database 706, enterprise functions 707, and other
generic listeners and processors 708. As illustrated in FIG. 7, the business
interface definition builder 700 includes a user interface, a common business
library CBL repository, a process for reading complementary business interface
definitions, and a compiler. The user interface is used to assist an enterprise
in the building of a business interface definition relying on the common
business library repository, and the ability to read complementary business
interface definitions. Thus, the input document of a complementary business
interface definition can be specified as the output document of a particular
transaction, and the output document of the complementary business interface
definition can be specified as the input to such transaction process. In a
similar manner a transaction business interface definition can be composed using
components selected from the CBL repository. The use of the CBL repository
encourages the use of standardized document formats, such as the example schema
(bid1) documents above, logical structures and interpretation information in the
building of business interface definitions which can be readily adopted by other
people in the network.
The business interface definition builder module
700 also includes a compiler which is used for generating the translator 703,
the objects to be produced by the translator according to the host transaction
processing architecture, and to manage the parsing function 702.
FIG. 8
is a heuristic diagram showing logical structures stored in the repository in
the business interface definition builder 700. Thus, the repository storage
representative party business interface definitions 800, including for example a
consumer BID 801, a catalog house BID 802, a warehouse BID 803, and an auction
house BID 804. Thus, a new participant in an online market may select as a basic
interface description one of the standardized BIDs which best matches its
business. In addition, the repository will store a set of service business
interface definitions 805. For example, an order entry BID 806, an order
tracking BID 807, an order fulfillment BID 808, and a catalog service BID 809
could be stored. As a new participant in the market builds a business interface
definition, it may select the business interface definitions of standardized
services stored in the repository.
In addition to the party and service
BIDs, input and output document BIDs are stored in the repository as indicated
by the field 810. Thus, a purchase order BID 811, an invoice BID 812, a request
for quote BID 813, a product availability report BID 814, and an order status
BID 815 might be stored in the repository.
The repository, in addition
to the business interface definitions which in a preferred system are specified
as document type definitions according to XML, stores interpretation information
in the form of semantic maps as indicated by the field 816. Thus, semantic maps
which are used for specifying weights 817, currencies 818, sizes 819, product
identifiers 820, and product features 821 in this example might be stored in the
repository. Further, the interpretation information provides for typing of data
structures within the logical structures of documents.
In addition,
logical structures used in the composing of business interface definitions could
be stored in the repository as indicated by block 822. Thus, forms for providing
address information 823, forms for providing pricing information 824, and forms
for providing terms of contractual relationships could be provided 825. As the
network expands, the CBL repository will also expand and standardize tending to
make the addition of new participants, and the modification of business
interface definitions easier.
FIG. 9 illustrates the process of building
a business interface definition using the system of FIG. 7. The process begins
by displaying a BID builder graphical interface to the user (step 900). The
system accepts user input identifying a participant, service and document
information generated by the graphical interface (step 901).
Next, any
referenced logical structures, interpretation information, document definitions
and/or service definitions are retrieved from the repository in response to user
input via the graphical user interface (step 902). In the next step, any
complementary business interface definitions or components of business interface
definitions are accessed from other participants in the network selected via
user input, by customized search engines, web browsers or otherwise (step 903).
A document definition for the participant is created using the information
gathered (step 904). The translators for the document to host and host to
document mappers are created by the compiler (step 905). Host architecture data
structures corresponding to the definition are created by the compiler (step
906), and the business interface definition which has been created is posted on
the network, such as by posting on a website or otherwise, making it accessible
to other nodes in the network (step 907).
Business interface definitions
tell potential trading partners the online services the company offers and which
documents to use to invoke those services. Thus, the services are defined in the
business interface definition by the documents that they accept and produce.
This is illustrated in the following fragment of an XML service definition.
______________________________________
<service>
<service.name>Order Service</service.name>
<service.location>www.veosystems.corn/order</service.location>
<service.op>
<service.op.name>Submit Order</service.op.name>
<service.op.inputdoc>www.commerce.net/po.dtd</service.op.inputdoc>
<service.op.outputdoc>
www.veosystems.com/invoice.dtd</service.op.outputdoc>
</service.op>
<service.op>
<service.op.name>Track Order</service.op.name>
<service.op.inputdoc>www.commerce.net
/request.track.dtd<service.op.inputdoc>
<service.op.outputdoc>
www.veosystems.com/response.track.dtd<service.op.outputdoc>
</service.op>
</service>
______________________________________
This XML fragment defines a service consisting of two
transactions, one for taking orders and the other for tracking them. Each
definition expresses a contract or promise to carry out a service if a valid
request is submitted to the specified Web address. The Order service here
requires an input document that conforms to a standard "po.dtd" Document Type
Definition located in the repository, which may be local, or stored in an
industry wide registry on the network. If a node can fulfill the order, it will
return a document conforming to a customized "invoice.dtd" whose definition is
local. In effect, the company is promising to do business with anyone who can
submit a Purchase Order that conforms to the XML specification it declares. No
prior arrangement is necessary.
The DTD is the formal specification or
grammar for documents of a given type; it describes the elements, their
attributes, and the order in which they must appear. For example, purchase
orders typically contain the names and addresses of the buyer and seller, a set
of product descriptions, and associated terms and conditions such as price and
delivery dates. In Electronic Data Interchange EDI for example, the X12 850
specification is a commonly used model for purchase orders.
The
repository encourages the development of XML document models from reusable
semantic components that are common to many business domains. Such documents can
be understood from their common message elements, even though they may appear
quite different. This is the role of the Common Business Library repository.
The Common Business Library repository consists of information models
for generic business concepts including:
business description primitives
like companies, services, and products;
business forms like catalogs,
purchase orders, and invoices;
standard measurements, date and time,
location, classification codes.
This information is represented as an
extensible, public set of XML building blocks that companies can customize and
assemble to develop XML applications quickly. Atomic CBL elements implement
industry messaging standards and conventions such as standard ISO codes for
countries, currencies, addresses, and time. Low level CBL semantics have also
come from analysis of proposed metadata frameworks for Internet resources, such
as Dublin Core.
The next level of elements use these building blocks to
implement the basic business forms such as those used in X12 EDI transactions as
well as those used in emerging Internet standards such as OTP (Open Trading
Protocol) and OBI (Open Buying on the Internet).
CBL's focus is on the
functions and information that are common to all business domains (business
description primitives like companies, services, and products; business forms
like catalogs, purchase orders, and invoices; standard measurements, date and
time, location, classification codes). CBL builds on standards or industry
conventions for semantics where possible (e.g., the rules that specify
"day/month/year" in Europe vs "month/day/year" in the U.S. are encoded in
separate CBL modules).
The CBL is a language that is used for designing
applications. It is designed to bridge the gap between the "document world" of
XML and the "programming world" of JAVA or other transaction processing
architectures. Schema embodies a philosophy of "programming with documents" in
which a detailed formal specification of a document type is the master source
from which a variety of related forms can be generated. These forms include XML
DTDs for CBL, JAVA objects, programs for converting XML instances to and from
the corresponding JAVA objects, and supporting documentation.
The CBL
creates a single source from which almost all of the pieces of a system can be
automatically generated by a compiler. The CBL works by extending SGML/XML,
which is normally used to formally define the structures of particular document
types, to include specification of the semantics associated with each
information element and attribute. The limited set of (mostly) character types
in SGML/XML can be extended to declare any kind of datatype.
Here is a
fragment from the CBL definition for the "datetime" module:
______________________________________
- datetime.mod Version: 1.0 -->
<!-- Copyright 1998 Veo Systems, Inc. -->
. . .
<!ELEMENT year (#PCDATA)>
<!ATTLIST year
schema CDATA #FIXED "urn:x-veosystems:stds:iso:8601:3.8"
<!ELEMENT month (#PCDATA)>
<!ATTLIST month
schema CDATA #FIXED "url:x-veosystems:stds:iso:8601:3.12"
>
. . .
______________________________________
In this fragment, the ELEMENT "year" is defined as character data,
and an associated "schema" attribute, also character data, defines the schema
for "year" to be section 3.8 of the ISO 8601 standard.
This "datetime"
CBL module is in fact defined as an instance of the Schema DTD. First, the
module name is defined. Then the "datetime" element "YEAR" is bound to the
semantics of ISO 8601:
______________________________________
<!DOCTYPE SCHEMA SYSTEM "schema.dtd">
<SCHEMA><H1>Date and Time Module</H1>
. . .
<ELEMNTTYPE NAME="year"DATATYPE="YEAR"><MODEL>
<STRING
DATATYPE="YEAR"></STRING></MODEL>
<ATTDEF NAME=:schema:iso8601" DATATYPE="CDATA">
<FIXED>3.8
Gregorian calendar</FIXED></ATTDEF></ELEMENTTYPE>
. . .
______________________________________
The example market participant and service modules above are also
stored in the CBL repository.
In FIG. 10, an Airbill 1000 is being
defined by customizing a generic purchase order DTD 1001, adding more specific
information about shipping weight 1002. The generic purchase order 1001 was
initially assembled from the ground up out of CBL modules for address, date and
time, currency, and vendor and product description. Using CBL thus significantly
speeds the development and implementation of XML commerce applications. More
importantly, CBL makes it easier for commercial applications to be
interconnected.
In the CBL, XML is extended with a schema. The
extensions add strong-typing to XML elements so that content can be readily
validated. For example, an element called <CPU.sub.-- clock.sub.-- speed>
can be defined as an integer with a set of valid values: {100, 133, 166, 200,
233, 266 Mhz.}. The schema also adds class-subclass hierarchies, so that
information can be readily instantiated from class definitions. A laptop, for
instance, can be described as a computer with additional tags for features such
as display type and battery life. These and other extensions facilitate data
entry, as well as automated translations between XML and traditional
Object-Oriented and relational data models.
Thus the completed BID is
run through the compiler which produces the DTDs for the actual instance of a
participant and a service as outlined above, the JAVA beans which correspond to
the logical structures in the DTD instances, and transformation code for
transforming from XML to JAVA and from JAVA to XML. In alternative systems
documentation is also generated for display on a user interface or for printing
by a user to facilitate use of the objects.
For the example market
participant and service DTDs set forth above, the JAVA beans generated by the
compiler are set forth (with some redactions for conciseness) as follows:
__________________________________________________________________________
import com.veo.vsp.doclet.meta.Document;
public class AddressPhysical extends Document {
public static final String DOC.sub.-- TYPE = "address.physical";
String mStreet;
String mCity;
public final static int AK = 0;
public final static int AL = 1;
public final static int AR = 2;
public final static int AZ = 3;
public final static int CA = 4;
public final static int WI = 48;
public final static int WV = 49;
public final static int WY = 50;
int mState;
String mPostcode;
public final static int AD = 51;
public final static int AE = 52;
public final static int AF = 53;
public final static int AG = 54;
public final static int AI = 55;
public final static int AM = 56;
. . .
int mCountry;
public AddressPhysical( ){
super(DOC.sub.-- TYPE);
mStreet = new String( );
mCity = new String( );
this.mState = -1;
mPostcode = null;
this.mCountry= -1;
public AddressPhysical(String doc.sub.-- type){
super(doc.sub.-- type);
mStreet = new String( );
mCity = new String( );
this.mState = -1;
mPostcode = null;
this.mCountry = -1;
}
static public AddressPhysical initAddressPhysical(String iStreet,String
iCity,int
iState,String iPostcode,int iCountry){
AddressPhysical obj = new AddressPhysical( );
obj.initializeAll(iStreet, iCity, iState, iPostcode, iCountry);
return obj;
}
public void initializeAll(String iStreet,String iCity,int iState,String
iPostcode,int
iCountry){
mStreet = iStreet;
mCity = iCity;
mState = iState;
mPostcode = iPostcode;
mCountry = iCountry;
}
public String getStreet( ){
return mStreet;
}
public String getStreetToXML( ){
if (getStreet( ) == null) return null;
char [ ] c = getStreet( ).toCharArray( );
StringBuffer sb = new StringBuffer( );
for (intx = 0; x < c.length; x++){
switch(c[x]){
case `>`:
sb.append(">");
break;
case `<`:
sb.append("<");
break;
case `&`:
sb.append("&");
break;
case `"`:
sb.append(""");
break;
case `.backslash.":
sb.append(""");
break;
default:
if (Character.isDefined(c[x]))
sb.append(c[x]);
}
}
return sb.toString( );
}
public void setStreet(String inp){
this.mStreet = inp;
}
public void streetFromXML(String n){
setStreet(n);
}
public String getCity( ){
return mCity;
}
public String getCityToXML( ){
if (getCity( ) == null) return null;
char [ ] c = getCity( ).toCharArray( );
StringBuffer sb = new StringBuffer( );
for (int x = 0; x < c.length; x++){
switch(c[x]){
case `>`:
sb.append(">");
break;
case `<`:
sb.append("<");
break;
case `&`:
sb.append("&");
break;
case `"`:
sb.append(""");
break;
case `.backslash.":
sb.append(""");
break;
default:
if (Character.isDefined(c[x]))
sb.append(c[x]);
}
}
return sb.toString( );
}
public void setCity(String inp){
this.mCity = inp;
}
public void cityFromXML(String n){
setCity(n);
}
public int getState( ){
return mState;
}
public String getStateToXML( ){
switch (mState) {
case AK: return "AK";
case AL: return "AL";
case AR: return "AR";
case AZ: return "AZ";
. . .
}
return null;
}
public void setState(int inp){
this.mState = inp;
}
public void stateFromXML(String s){
if (s.equals("AK")) mState = AK;
else if (s.equals("AL"))mState = AL;
else if (s.equals("AR"))mState = AR;
else if (s.equals("AZ"))mState = AZ;
. . .
}
public String getPostcode( ){
return mPostcode;
}
public String getPostcodeToXML( ){
if (getPostcode( ) == null) return null;
char [ ] c = getPostcode( ).toCharArray( );
StringBuffer sb = new StringBuffer( );
for (int x = 0; x < c.length; x++){
switch(c[x]){
case `>`:
sb.append(">");
break;
case `<`:
sb.append("<");
break;
case `&`:
sb.append("&");
break;
case `"`:
sb. append(""");
break;
case `.backslash.":
sb.append(""");
break;
default:
if (Character.isDefined(c[x]))
sb.append(c[x]);
}
}
return sb.toString( );
}
public void setPostcode(String inp){
this.mPostcode = inp;
}
public void postcodeFromXML(String n){
setPostcode(n);
}
public int getCountry( ){
return mCountry;
}
public String getCountryToXML( ){
switch (mCountry){
case AD: return "AD";
case AE: return "AE";
case AF: return "AF"
. . .
}
return null;
}
public void setCountry(int inp){
this.mCountry = inp;
}
public void countryFromXML(String s){
if(s.equals("AD")) mCountry = AD;
else if (s.equals("AE"))mCountry = AE;
else if (s.equals("AF"))mCountry = AF;
else if (s.equals("AG"))mCountry = AG;
else if (s.equals("AI"))mCountry = AI;
. . .
}
}
package com.veo.xdk.dev.schema.test.blib;
import com.veo.vsp.doclet.meta.Document;
public class AddressSet extends Document {
public static final String DOC.sub.-- TYPE = "address.set";
AddressPhysical mAddressPhysical;
String [ ] mTelephone;
String [ ] mFax;
String [ ] m Email;
String [ ] mInternet;
public AddressSet( ){
super(DOC.sub.-- TYPE);
this.mAddressPhysical = new AddressPhysical( );
mTelephone = null;
mFax = null;
mEmail = null;
mInternet = null;
}
public AddressSet(String doc.sub.-- type){
super(doc.sub.-- type);
this.mAddressPhysical = new AddressPhysical( );
mTelephone = null;
mFax = null;
mEmail = null;
mInternet = null;
}
static public AddressSet initAddressSet(AddressPhysical
iAddressPhysical,String [ ]
iTelephone,String [ ] iFax,String [ ] iEmail,String [ ] iInternet){
AddressSet obj = new AddressSet( );
obj.initializeAll(AddressPhysical, iTelephone, iFax, iEmail,
iInternet);
return obj;
}
public void initializeAll(AddressPhysical iAddressPhysical,String
[ ] iTelephone,String [ ]
iFax,String [ ] iEmail,String [ ] iInternet){
mAddressPhysical = iAddressPhysical;
mTelephone = iTelephone;
mFax = iFax;
mEmail = iEmail;
mInternet = iInternet;
}
public AddressPhysical getAddressPhysical( ){
return mAddressPhysical;
}
public void setAddressPhysical(AddressPhysical inp){
this.mAddressPhysical = inp;
}
public String [ ] getTelephone( ){
return mTelephone;
}
public String getTelephone(int index){
if (this.mTelephone = null)
return null;
if (index >= this.mTelephone.length)
return null;
if (index <0 && -index> this.mTelephone.length)
return null;
if (index >= 0) return this.mTelephone[index];
return this.mTelephone[this.mTelephone.length + index];
}
public String [ ] getTelephoneToXML( ){
String [ ] valArr = getTelephone( );
if (valArr == null) return null;
String [ ] nvArr = new String[valArr.length];
for (int z = 0; z < nvArr.length; z++){
char [ ] c = valArr[z].toCharArray( );
StringBuffer st = new StringBuffer( );
StringBuffer sb = new StringBuffer( );
for (int x = 0; x < c.length; x++){
switch(c[x]){
case `>`:
sb.append(">");
break;
case `<`:
sb.append("<");
break;
case `&`:
sb.append("&");
break;
case `"`:
sb.append(""");
break;
case `'`;
sb. append(""");
break;
default:
if (Character.isDefined(c[x]))
sb. append(c[x]);
}
}
nvArr[z] = sb.toString( );
}
return nvArr;
}
public void setTelephone(int index, String inp){
if (this.mTelephone == null){
if(index<0) {
this.mTelephone = new String[1];
this.mTelephone[0] = inp;
} else {
this.mTelephone = new String[index + 1];
this.mTelephone[index] = inp;
}
} else if (index < 0) {
String [ ] newTelephone = new String[this.mTelephone.length
+ 1];
java.lang.System.arraycopy((Object)mTelephone, 0,
(Object)newTelephone, 0, this.mTelephone.length);
newTelephone[newTelephone.length - 1] = inp;
mTelephone = newTelephone;
} else if (index >= this.mTelephone.length){
String [ ] newTelephone = new String[index + 1];
java.lang.System.arraycopy((Object)mTelephone, 0,
(Object)newTelephone, 0, this.mTelephone.length);
newTelephone[index] = inp;
mTelephone = newTelephone;
} else {
this.mTelephone[index] = inp;
}
}
public void setTelephone(String [ ] inp){
this.mTelephone = inp;
}
public void telephoneFromXML(String n){
setTelephone(-1, n);
}
public String [ ] getFax( ){
return mFax;
}
public String getFax(int index){
if(this.mFax == null)
return null;
if(index >= this.mFax.length)
return null;
if (index < 0 && -index> this.mFax.length)
return null;
if (index >= 0) return this.mFax[index];
return this.mFax[this.mFax.length + index];
}
public String [ ] getFaxToXML( ){
String [ ] valArr = getFax( );
if (valArr == null) return null;
String [ ] nvArr = new String[valArr.length];
for (int z = 0; z < nvArr.length; z++){
char [ ] c = valArr[z].toCharArray( );
StringBuffer st = new StringBuffer( );
StringBuffer sb = new StringBuffer( );
for (int x = 0; x < c.length; x++){
switch(c[x]){
case `>`:
sb.append(">");
break;
case `<`:
sb.append("<");
break;
case `&`:
sb.append("&");
break;
case `"`:
sb.append(""");
break;
case `'`:
sb.append(""");
break;
default:
if (Character.isDefined(c[x]))
sb.append(c[x]);
}
}
nvArr[z] = sb.toString( );
}
return nvArr;
}
public void setFax(int index, String inp){
if(this.mFax == null){
if(index < 0) {
this.mFax = new String[1];
this.mFax[0] = inp;
} else {
this.mFax = new String[index + 1];
this.mFax[index] = inp;
}
} else if (index < 0) {
String [ ] newFax = new String[this.mFax.length + 1];
java.lang.System.arraycopy((Object)mFax, 0, (Object)newFax,
0,
this.mFax.length);
newFax[newFax.length - 1] = inp;
mFax = newFax;
} else if (index >= this.mFax.length){
String [ ] newFax = new String[index + 1];
java.lang.System.arraycopy((Object)mFax, 0, (Object)newFax,
0,
this mFax length);
newFax[index] = inp;
mFax = newFax
} else{
this.mFax[index] = inp;
}
}
public void setFax(String [ ] inp){
this.mFax = inp;
}
public void faxFromXML(String n){
setFax(-1, n);
}
public String [ ] getEmail( ){
return mEmail;
}
public String getEmail(int index){
if (this.mEmail = null)
return null;
if (index >= this.mEmail.length)
return null;
if (index < 0 && -index> this.mEmail.length)
return null;
if (index >= 0) return this.mEmail[index];
return this.Email[this.Email.length + index];
}
public String [ ] getEmailToXML( ){
String [ ] valArr = getEmail( );
if (valArr == null) return null;
String [ ] nvArr = new String[valArr.length];
for (int z = 0; z < nvArr.length; z++){
char [ ] c = valArr[z].toCharArray( );
StringBuffer st = new StringBuffer( );
StringBuffer sb = new StringBuffer( );
for (int x = 0; x < c.length; x++){
switch(c[x]){
case `>`:
sb. append(">");
break;
case `<`:
sb.append("<");
break;
case `&`:
sb.append("&");
break;
case `"`:
sb. append(""");
break;
case `'`:
sb.append(""");
break;
default:
if (Character.isDefined(c[x]))
sb.append(c[x]);
}
}
nvArr[z] = sb.toString( );
}
return nvArr;
}
public void setEmail(int index, String inp){
if(this.mEmail == null) {
if(index < 0) {
this.mEmail = new String[1];
this.mEmail[0] = inp;
} else {
this.mEmail = new String[index + 1];
this.mEmail[index] = inp;
}
} else if (index < 0) {
String [ ] newEmail = new String[this.mEmail.length + 1];
java.lang.System.arraycopy((Object)mEmail, 0,
(Object)newEmail, 0,
this.mEmail.length);
newEmail[newEmail.length - 1] = inp;
mEmail = newEmail;
} else if (index >= this.mEmail.length){
String [ ] newEmail = new String[index + 1];
java.lang.System.arraycopy((Object)mEmail, 0,
(Object)newEmail, 0,
this.mEmail.length);
newEmail[index] = inp;
mEmail = newEmail;
} else {
this.mEmail[index] = inp;
}
}
public void setEmail(String [ ] inp){
this.mEmail = inp;
}
public void emailFromXML(String n){
setEmail(-1, n);
}
public String [ ] getInternet( ){
return mInternet;
}
public String getInternet(int index){
if (this.mInternet == null)
return null;
if (index >= this.mInternet.length)
return null;
if (index < 0 && -index > this.mInternet.length)
return null;
if (index >= 0) return this.mInternet[index];
return this.mInternet[this.mInternet.length + index];
}
public String [ ] getInternetToXML( ){
String [ ] valArr = getInternet( );
if (valArr == null) return null;
String [ ] nvArr = new String[valArr.length];
for (int z = 0; z < nvArr.length; z++){
char [ ] c = valArr[z].toCharArray( );
StringBuffer st = new StringBuffer( );
StringBuffer sb = new StringBuffer( );
for (int x = 0; x < c.length; x++){
switch(c[x]){
case `>`:
sb.append(">");
break;
case `<`:
sb.append("<");
break;
case `&`:
sb.append("&");
break;
case `"`:
sb.append(""");
break;
case `'`:
sb.append(""");
break;
default:
if (Character.isDefined(c[x]))
sb.append(c[x]);
}
}
nvArr[z] sb.toString( );
}
return nvArr;
}
public void setInternet(int index, String inp){
if (this.mInternet == null){
if(index < 0) {
this.mInternet = new String[1];
this.mInternet[0] = inp;
} else {
this.mInternet new String[index + 1];
this.mInternet[index] = inp;
}
} else if (index < 0) {
String [ ] newInternet = new String[this.mInternet.length +
1];
java.lang.System.arraycopy((Object)mInternet, 0,
(Object)newInternet,
0, this.mInternet.length);
newInternet[newInternet.length - 1] = inp;
mInternet = newInternet;
} else if (index >= this.mInternet,length){
String [ ] newInternet = new String[index + 1];
java.lang.System.arraycopy((Object)mInternet, 0,
(Object)newInternet,
0, this.mInternet.length);
newInternet[index] = inp;
mInternet = newInternet;
} else {
this.mInternet[index] = inp;
}
}
public void setInternet(String [ ] inp){
this.mInternet = inp;
}
public void internetFromXML(String n){
setInternet(-1, n);
}
}
package com.veo.xdk.dev.schema.test.blib;
import com.veo.vsp.doclet.meta.Document;
public class Business extends Party {
public static final String DOC.sub.-- TYPE = "business";
String aBusinessNumber;
public Business( ){
super(DOC.sub.-- TYPE);
aBusinessNumber = new String( );
}
public Business(String doc.sub.-- type){
super(doc.sub.-- type);
aBusinessNumber = new String( );
}
static public Business initBusiness(String iBusinessNumber,String
[ ]
iPartyName,AddressSet iAddressSet){
Business obj = new Business( );
obj.initializeAll(iBusinessNumber, iPartyName, iAddressSet);
return obj;
}
public void initializeAll(String iBusinessNumber,String [ ]
iPartyNameAddressSet
iAddressSet){
aBusinessNumber = iBusinessNumber;
super.initializeAll(iPartyName, iAddressSet);
}
public String getBusinessNumber( ){
return aBusinessNumber;
}
public String getBusinessNumberToXML( ){
if (getBusinessNumber( ) == null) return null;
char [ ] c = getBusinessNumber( ).toCharArray( );
StringBuffer sb = new StringBuffer( );
for (int x = 0; x < c.length; x++){
switch(c[x]){
case `>`:
sb.append(">");
break;
case `<`:
sb. append("<");
break;
case `&`:
sb.append("&");
break;
case `"`:
sb.append(""");
break;
case `.backslash.":
sb.append(""");
break;
default:
if (Character.isDefined(c[x]))
sb.append(c[x]);
}
}
return sb.toString( );
}
public void setBusinessNumber(String inp){
this.aBusinessNumber = inp;
}
public void businessNumberFromXML(String n){
setBusinessNumber(n);
}
}
import com.veo.vsp.doclet.meta.Document;
public class Party extends Document{
public static final String DOC.sub.-- TYPE = "party";
String [ ] mPartyName;
AddressSet mAddressSet;
public Party( ){
super(DOC.sub.-- TYPE);
mPartyName = new String[0];
this.mAddressSet = new AddressSet( );
}
public Party(String doc.sub.-- type){
super(doc.sub.-- type);
mPartyName = new String[0];
this.mAddressSet = new AddressSet( );
}
static public Party initParty(String [ ] iPartyName,AddressSet
iAddressSet){
Party obj = new Party( );
obj.initializeAll(iPartyName, iAddressSet);
return obj;
}
public void initializeAll(String [ ] iPartyName,AddressSet
iAddressSet){
mPartyName = iPartyName;
mAddressSet = iAddressSet;
}
public String [ ] getPartyName( ){
return mPartyName;
}
public String getPartyName(int index){
if (this.mPartyName == null)
return null;
if (index >= this.mPartyName.length)
return null
if (index < 0 && -index> this.mPartyName.length)
return null;
if(index >= 0) return this.mPartyName[index];
return this.mPartyName[this.mPartyName.length + index];
}
public String [ ] getPartyNameToXML( ){
String [ ] valArr = getPartyName( );
if (valArr == null) return null;
String [ ] nvArr = new String[valArr.length];
for (int z = 0; z < nvArr.length; z++){
char [ ] c = nvArr[z].toCharArray( );
StringBuffer st = new StringBuffer( );
StringBuffer sb = new StringBuffer( );
for (int x = 0; x < c.length; x++){
switch(c[x]){
case `>`
sb.append(">");
break;
case `<`:
sb.append("<");
break;
case `&`:
sb.append("&");
break;
case `"`:
sb.append(""");
break;
case `'`:
sb.append(""");
break;
default:
if (Character.isDefined(c[x]))
sb.append(c[x]);
}
}
nvArr[z] = sb.toString( );
}
return nvArr;
}
public void setPartyName(int index, String inp){
if (this.mPartyName == null) {
if(index < 0) {
this.mPartyName = new String[1];
this.mPartyName[0] = inp;
} else {
this.mPartyName = new String[index + 1];
this.mPartyName[index] = inp;
}
} else if (index < 0) {
String [ ] newPartyName = new String[this.mPartyName.length +
1];
java.lang.System.arraycopy((Object)mPartyName, 0,
(Object)newPartyName, 0, this.mPartyName.length);
newPartyName[newPartyName.length - 1] = inp;
mPartyName = newPartyName;
} else if (index >= this.mPartyName.length){
String [ ] newPartyName = new String[index + 1];
java.lang.System.arraycopy((Object)mPartyName, 0,
(Object)newPartyName, 0, this.mPartyName.length);
newPartyName[index] = inp;
mPartyName = newPartyName;
} else {
this.mPartyName[index] = inp;
}
}
public void setPartyName(String [ ] inp){
this.mPartyName = inp;
}
public void PartyNameFromXML(String n){
setPartyName(-1, n);
}
public AddressSet getAddressSet( ){
return mAddressSet;
}
public void setAddressSet(AddressSet inp){
this.mAddressSet = inp;
}
}
package com.veo.xdk.dev.schema.test.blib;
import com.veo.vsp.doclet,meta.Document;
public class Person extends Party {
public static final String DOC.sub.-- TYPE = "person";
String aSSN;
public Person( ){
super(DOC.sub.-- TYPE);
aSSN = null;
}
public Person(String doc.sub.-- type){
super(doc.sub.-- type);
aSSN = null;
}
static public Person initPerson(String iSSN,String
[ ] iPartyName,AddressSet
iAddressSet){
Person obj = new Person( );
obj.initializeAll(iSSN, iPartyName, iAddressSet);
return obj;
}
public void initializeAll(String iSSN,String [ ] iPartyName,Address
Set iAddressSet){
aSSN = iSSN;
super.initializeAll(iPartyName, iAddressSet);
}
public String getSSN( ){
return aSSN;
}
public String getSSNToXML( ){
if (getSSN( ) == null) return null;
char [ ] c = getSSN( ).toCharArray( );
StringBuffer sb = new StringBuffer( );
for (int x = 0; x < c.length; x++){
switch(c[x]){
case `>`:
sb.append(">");
break;
case `<`:
sb.append("<");
break;
case `&`:
sb.append("&");
break;
case `"`:
sb.append(""");
break;
case `.backslash.":
sb.append(""");
break;
default:
if (Character.isDefined(c[x]))
sb.append(c[x]);
}
}
return sb.toString( );
}
public void setSSN(String inp){
this.aSSN = inp;
}
public void sSNFromXML(String n){
setSSN(n);
}
}
package com.veo.xdk.dev.schema.test.blib;
import com.veo.vsp.doclet.meta.Document;
public class PrototypeService extends Document{
public static final String DOC.sub.-- TYPE = "prototype.service";
String mServiceName;
String [ ] mServiceTerms;
String [ ] mServiceLocation;
ServiceOperation [ ] mServiceOperation;
public PrototypeService( ){
super(DOC.sub.-- TYPE);
mServiceName = new String( );
mServiceTerms = new String[0];
mServiceLocation = new String[0];
this.mServiceOperation = new ServiceOperation[0];
}
public PrototypeService(String doc.sub.-- type){
super(doc.sub.-- type);
mServiceName = new String( );
mServiceTerms = new String[0];
mServiceLocation = new String[0];
this.mServiceOperation = new ServiceOperation[0];
}
static public PrototypeService initPrototypeService(String
iServiceName,String [ ]
iServiceTerms,String [ ] iServiceLocation,ServiceOperation
[ ] iServiceOperation){
PrototypeService obj = new PrototypeService( );
obj.initializeAll(iServiceName, iServiceTerms,
iServiceLocation,
iServiceOperation);
return obj;
}
public void initializeAll(String iServiceName,String
[ ] iServiceTerms,String [ ]
iServiceLocation,ServiceOperation [ ] iServiceOperation){
mServiceName = iServiceName;
mServiceTerms = iServiceTerms;
mServiceLocation = iServiceLocation;
mServiceOperation = iServiceOperation;
}
public String getServiceName( ){
return mServiceName;
}
public String getServiceNameToXML( ){
if (getServiceName( ) == null) return null;
char [ ] c = getServiceName( ).toCharArray( );
StringBuffer sb = new StringBuffer( );
for (int x = 0; x < c.length; x++){
switch(c[x]){
case `>`:
sb.append(">");
break;
case `<`:
sb.append("<");
break;
case `&`:
sb.append("&");
break;
case `"`:
sb.append(""");
break;
case `.backslash.":
sb.append(""");
break;
default:
if (Character.isDefined(c[x]))
sb.append(c[x]);
}
}
return sb.toString( );
}
public void setServiceName(String inp){
this.mServiceName = inp;
}
public void serviceNameFromXML(String n){
setServiceName(n);
}
public String [ ] getServiceTerms( ){
return mServiceTerms;
}
public String getServiceTerms(int index){
if (this.mServiceTerms == null)
return null;
if (index >= this.mServiceTerms.length)
return null;
if (index < 0 && -index>this.mServiceTerms.length)
return null;
if (index >= 0) return this.mServiceTerms[index];
return this.mServiceTerms[this.mServiceTerms.length + index];
}
public String [ ] getServiceTermsToXML( ){
String [ ] valArr = getServiceTerms( );
if (valArr == null) return null;
String [ ] nvArr = new String[valArr.length];
for (int z = 0; z < nvArr.length; z++){
char [ ] c = valArr[z].toCharArray( );
StringBuffer st = new StringBuffer( );
StringBuffer sb = new StringBuffer( );
for (int x = 0; x < c.length; x++){
switch(c[x]){
case `>`:
sb.append(">");
break;
case `<`:
sb.append("<");
break;
case `&`:
sb.append("&");
break;
case `"`:
sb.append(""");
break;
case `'`:
sb.append(""");
break;
default:
if (Character.isDefined(c[x]))
sb.append(c[x]);
}
}
nvArr[z] = sb.toString( );
}
return nvArr;
}
public void setServiceTerms(int index, String inp){
if (this.mServiceTerms == null){
if(index < 0) {
this.mServiceTerms = new String[1];
this.mServiceTerms[0] = inp;
} else {
this.inServiceTerms = new String[index + 1];
this.mServiceTerms[index] = inp;
}
} else if (index < 0) {
String [ ] newServiceTerms = new String[this.mServiceTerms.leng
th +
1];
java.lang.System.arraycopy((Object)mServiceTerms; 0,
(Object)newServiceTerms, 0, this.mServiceTerms.length);
newServiceTerms[newServiceTerms.length - 1] = inp;
mServiceTerms = newServiceTerms;
} else if (index >= this.mServiceTerms.length){
String [ ] newServiceTerms = new String[index + 1];
java.lang.System.arraycopy((Object)mServiceTerms, 0,
(Object)newServiceTerms, 0, this.mServiceTerms.length);
newServiceTerms[index] = inp;
mServiceTerms = newServiceTerms,
} else {
this.mServiceTerms[index] = inp,
}
}
public void setServiceTerms(String [ ] inp){
this.mServiceTerms = inp;
}
public void serviceTermsFromXML(String n){
setServiceTerms(-1, n);
}
public String [ ] getServiceLocation( ){
return mServiceLocation;
}
public String getServiceLocation(int index){
if (this.mServiceLocation == null)
return null;
if (index >= this.mServiceLocation.length)
return null;
if (index < 0 && -index>this.mServiceLocation.length)
return null;
if (index >= 0) return this.mServiceLocation[index];
return this.mServiceLocation[this.mServiceLocation.length +
index);
}
public String [ ] getServiceLocationToXML( ){
String [ ] valArr = getServiceLocation( );
if (valArr == null) return null;
String [ ] nvArr = new String[valAr.length];
for (int z = 0; z < nvArr.length; z++){
char [ ] c = valArr[z].toCharArray( );
StringBuffer st = new StringBuffer( );
StringBuffer sb = new StringBuffer( );
for (int x = 0; x < c.length; x++){
switch(c[x]){
case `>`:
sb.append(">");
break;
case `<`:
sb.append("<");
break;
case `&`:
sb.append("&");
break;
case `"`:
sb.append(""");
break;
case `'`:
sb.append(""");
break;
default:
if (Character.isDefined(c[x]))
sb.append(c[x]);
}
}
nvArr[z] = sb.toString( );
}
return nvArr;
}
public void setServiceLocation(int index, String inp){
if (this.mServiceLocation == null) {
if(index < 0) {
this.mServiceLocation = new String[1];
this.mServiceLocation[0] = inp;
} else{
this.mServiceLocation = new String[index + 1];
this.mServiceLocation[index] = inp;
}
} else if (index < 0) {
String [ ] newServiceLocation = new
String[this.mServiceLocation.length + 1];
java.lang.System.arraycopy((Object)mServiceLocation, 0,
(Object)newServiceLocation, 0, this.mServiceLocation.length);
newServiceLocation[newServiceLocation.length - 1] = inp;
mServiceLocation = newServiceLocation;
} else if (index > this.mServiceLocation.length){
String [ ] newServiceLocation = new String[index + 1];
java.lang.System.arraycopy((Object)mServiceLocation, 0,
(Object)newServiceLocation, 0, this.mServiceLocation.length);
newServiceLocation[index] = inp;
mServiceLocation = newServiceLocation;
} else {
this.mServiceLocation[index] = inp;
}
}
public void setServiceLocation(String [ ] inp){
this.mServiceLocation = inp;
}
public void serviceLocationFromXML(String n){
setServiceLocation(-1, n);
}
public ServiceOperation [ ] getServiceOperation( ){
return mServiceOperation;
}
public ServiceOperation getServiceOperation(int index){
if (this.mServiceOperation == null)
return null;
if (index >= this.mServiceOperation.length)
return null;
if (index < 0 && -index >= this.mServiceOperation.length)
return null;
if (index >= 0) return this.mServiceOperation[index];
return this.mServiceOperation[this.mServiceOperation.length +
index];
}
public void setServiceOperation(int index, ServiceOperation inp){
if (this.mServiceOperation = null){
if(index < 0) {
this.mServiceOperation = new ServiceOperation[1];
this.mServiceOperation[0] = inp;
} else {
this.mServiceOperation = new ServiceOperation[index + 1];
this.mServiceOperation[index] = inp;
}
} else if (index < 0) {
ServiceOperation [ ] newServiceOperation = new
ServiceOperation[this.mServiceOperation.length + 1];
java.lang.System.arraycopy((Object)mServiceOperation, 0,
(Object)newServiceOperation, 0, this.mServiceOperation.length);
newServiceOperation[newserviceOperation.length - 1] = inp;
mServiceOperation = newServiceOperation;
} else if (index >= this.mServiceOperation.length){
ServiceOperation [ ] newServiceOperation = new
ServiceOperation[index + 1];
java.lang.System.arraycopy((Object)mServiceOperation, 0,
(Object)newServiceOperation, 0, this.mServiceOperation.length);
newServiceOperation[index] = inp;
mServiceOperation = newServiceOperation;
} else {
this.mServiceOperation[index] = inp;
}
}
public void setServiceOperation(ServiceOperation [ ] inp){
this.mServiceOperation = inp;
}
}
package com.veo.xdk.dev.schema.test.blib;
import com.veo.vsp.doclet.meta.Document;
public class Service extends Document{
public static final String DOC.sub.-- TYPE = "service";
String mServiceName;
String mServiceLocation;
ServiceOperation [ ] mServiceOperation;
String mServiceTerms;
public Service( ){
super(DOC.sub.-- TYPE);
mServiceName = new String( );
mServiceLocation = new String( );
this.mServiceOperation = new ServiceOperation[0];
mServiceTerms = new String( );
}
public Service(String doc.sub.-- type){
super(doc.sub.-- type);
mServiceName = new String( );
mServiceLocation = new String( );
this.mServiceOperation = new ServiceOperation[0];
mServiceTerms = new String( );
}
static public Service initService(String iServiceName,String
iServiceLocation,ServiceOperation [ ] iServiceOperation,String
iServiceTerms){
Service obj = new Service( );
obj.initializeAll(iServiceName, iServiceLocation,
iServiceOperation,
iServiceTerms);
return obj;
}
public void initializeAll(String iServiceName,String
iServiceLocation,ServiceOperation
[ ] iServiceOperation,String iServiceTerms){
mServiceName = iServiceName;
mServiceLocation = iServiceLocation;
mServiceOperation = iServiceOperation;
mServiceTerms = iServiceTerms;
}
public String getServiceName( ){
return mServiceName;
}
public String getServiceNameToXML( ){
if (getServiceName( ) == null) return null;
char [ ] c = getServiceName( ).toCharArray( );
StringBuffer sb = new StringBuffer( );
for (int x= 0; x < c.length; x++){
switch(c[x]){
case `>`:
sb. append(">");
break;
case `<`:
sb.append("<");
break;
case `&`:
sb.append("&");
break;
case `"`:
sb. append(""");
break;
case `.backslash.":
sb.append(""");
break;
default:
if (Character.isDefined(c[x]))
sb.append(c[x]);
}
}
return sb.toString( );
}
public void setServiceName(String inp){
this.mServiceName = inp;
}
public void serviceNameFromXML(String n){
setServiceName(n);
}
public String getServiceLocation( ){
return mServiceLocation;
}
public String getServiceLocationToXML( ){
if (getServiceLocation( ) == null) return null;
char [ ] c = getServiceLocation( ).toCharArray( );
StringBuffer sb = new StringBuffer( );
for (int x = 0; x < c.length; x++){
switch(c[x]){
case `>`:
sb.append(">");
break;
case `<`:
sb.append("<");
break;
case `&`:
sb.append("&");
break;
case `"`:
sb.append(""");
break;
case `.backslash.":
sb.append(""");
break;
default:
if (Character.isDefined(c[x]))
sb.append(c[x]);
}
}
return sb.toString( );
}
public void setServiceLocation(String inp){
this.mServiceLocation = inp;
}
public void serviceLocationFromXML(String n){
setServiceLocation(n);
}
public ServiceOperation [ ] getServiceOperation( ){
return mServiceOperation;
}
public ServiceOperation getServiceOperation(int index){
if (this.mServiceOperation == null)
return null;
if (index >= this.mServiceOperation.length)
return null;
if (index < 0 && -index > this.mServiceOperation.length)
return null;
if (index >= 0) return this.mServiceOperation[index];
return this.mServiceOperation[this.mServiceOperation.length +
index];
}
public void setServiceOperation(int index, ServiceOperation inp){
if (this.mServiceOperation == null) {
if (index < 0) {
this.mServiceOperation = new ServiceOperation[1];
this.mServiceOperation[0] = inp;
} else {
this.mServiceOperation = new ServiceOperation[index + 1];
this.mServiceOperation[index] = inp;
}
} else if (index < 0) {
ServiceOperation [ ] newServiceOperation = new
ServiceOperation[this.mServiceOperation.length + 1];
java.lang.System.arraycopy((Object)mServiceOperation, 0,
(Object)newServiceOperation, 0, this.mServiceOperation.length);
newServiceOperation[newServiceOperation.length - 1] = inp;
mServiceOperation = newServiceOperation;
} else if (index >= this.mServiceOperation.length){
ServiceOperation [ ] newServiceOperation = new
ServiceOperation[index + 1];
java.lang.System.arraycopy((Object)mServiceOperation, 0,
(Object)newServiceOperation, 0, this.mServiceOperation.length);
newServiceOperation[index] = inp;
mServiceOperation = newServiceOperation;
} else {
this.mServiceOperation[index] = inp;
}
}
public void setServiceOperation(ServiceOperation [ ] inp){
this.mServiceOperation = inp;
}
public String getServiceTerms( ){
return mServiceTerms;
}
public String getServiceTermsToXML( ){
if (getServiceTerms( ) == null) return null;
char [ ] c = getServiceTerms( ).toCharArray( );
StringBuffer sb = new StringBuffer( );
for (int x = 0; x < c.length; x++){
switch(c[x]){
case `>`:
sb.append(">");
break;
case `<`:
sb.append("<");
break;
case `&`:
sb.append("&");
break;
case `"`:
sb.append(""");
break;
case `.backslash.":
sb.append(""");
break;
default:
if (Character.isDefined(c[x]))
sb.append(c[x]);
}
}
return sb.toString( );
}
public void setServiceTerms(String inp){
this.mServiceTerms = inp;
}
public void serviceTermsFromXML(String n){
setServiceTerms(n);
}
}
package com.veo.xdk.dev.schema.test.blib;
import com.veo.vsp.doclet.meta.Document;
public class ServiceOperation extends Document{
public static final String DOC.sub.-- TYPE = "service.operation";
String mServiceOperationName;.
String mServiceOperationLocation;
String mServiceOperationInput;
String mServiceOperationOutput;
public ServiceOperation( ){
super(DOC.sub.-- TYPE);
mServiceOperationName = new String( );
mServiceOperationLocation = new String( );
mServiceOperationInput = new String( );
mServiceOperationOutput = new String( );
}
public ServiceOperation(String doc.sub.-- type){
super(doc.sub.-- type);
mServiceOperationName = new String( );
mServiceOperationLocation = new String( );
mServiceOperationInput = new String( );
mServiceOperationOutput = new String( );
}
static public ServiceOperation initServiceOperation(String
iServiceOperationName,String iServiceOperationLocation,String
iServiceOperationInput,String
iServiceOperationOutput){
ServiceOperation obj = new ServiceOperation( );
obj.initializeAll(iServiceOperationName, iServiceOperationLocatio
n,
iServiceOperationInput, iServiceOperationOutput);
return obj;
}
public void initializeAll(String iServiceOperationName,String
iServiceOperationLocation,String iServiceOperationInput,String
iServiceOperationOutput){
mServiceOperationName = iServiceOperationName;
mServiceOperationLocation = iServiceOperationLocation;
mServiceOperationInput = iServiceOperationInput;
mServiceOperationOutput = iServiceOperationOutput;
}
public String getServiceOperationName( ){
return mServiceOperationName;
}
public String getServiceOperationNameToXML( ){
if (getServiceOperationName( ) == null) return null;
char [ ] c = getServiceOperationName( ).toCharArray( );
StringBuffer sb = new StringBuffer( );
for (int x = 0; x < c.length; x++){
switch(c[x]){
case `>`:
sb.append(">");
break;
case `<`:
sb.append("<");
break;
case `&`:
sb.append("&");
break;
case `"`:
sb. append(""");
break;
case `.backslash.":
sb. append(""");
break;
default:
if (Character.isDefined(c[x]))
sb.append(c[x]);
}
}
return sb.toString( );
}
public void setServiceOperationName(String inp){
this.mServiceOperationName = inp;
}
public void serviceOperationNameFromXML(String n){
setServiceOperationName(n);
}
public String getServiceOperationLocation( ){
return mServiceOperationLocation;
}
public String getServiceOperationLocationToXML( ){
if (getServiceOperationLocation( ) == null) return null;
char [ ] c = getServiceOperationLocation( ).toCharArray( );
StringBuffer sb = new StringBuffer( );
for (int x = 0; x < c.length; x++){
switch(c[x]){
case `>`:
sb.append(">");
break;
case `<`:
sb.append("<");
break;
case `&`:
sb.append("&");
break;
case `"`:
sb.append(""");
break;
case `.backslash.":
sb. append(""");
break;
default:
if (Character.isDefined(c[x]))
sb.append(c[x]);
}
}
return sb.toString( );
}
public void setServiceOperationLocation(String inp){
this.mServiceOperationLocation = inp;
}
public void serviceOperationLocationFromXML(String n){
setServiceOperationLocation(n);
}
public String getServiceOperationInput( ){
return mServiceOperationInput;
}
public String getServiceOperationInputToXML( ){
if (getServiceOperationInput( ) == null) return null;
char [ ] c = getServiceOperationInput( ).toCharArray( );
StringBuffer sb = new StringBuffer( );
for (int x = 0; x < c.length; x++){
switch(c[x]){
case `>':
sb.append(">");
break;
case `<`:
sb.append("<");
break;
case `&`:
sb.append("&");
break;
case `"`:
sb. append("quot;");
break;
case `.backslash.":
sb.append(""");
break;
default:
if (Character.isDefined(c[x]))
sb.append(c[x]);
}
}
return sb.toString( );
}
public void setServiceOperationInput(String inp){
this.mServiceOperationInput = inp;
}
public void serviceOperationInputFromXML(String n){
setServiceOperationInput(n);
}
public String getServiceOperationOutput( ){
return mServiceOperationOutput;
}
public String getServiceOperationOutputToXML( ){
if (getServiceOperationOutput( ) = null) return null;
char [ ] c = getServiceOperationOutput( ).toCharArray( );
StringBuffer sb = new StringBuffer( );
for (int x = 0; x < c.length; x++){
switch(c[x]){
case `>`:
sb.append(">");
break;
case `<`:
sb.append("<");
break;
case `&`:
sb.append("&");
break;
case `"`:
sb.append(""");
break;
case `.backslash.":
sb.append(""");
break;
default:
if (Character.isDefined(c[x]))
sb.append(c[x]);
}
}
return sb.toString( );
}
public void setServiceOperationOutput(String inp){
this.mServiceOperationOutput = inp;
}
public void serviceOperationOutputFromXML(String n){
setServiceOperationOutput(n);
}
}
package com.veo.xdk.dev.schema.test.blib;
import com.veo.vsp.doclet.meta.Document;
public class ServiceSet extends Document {
public static final String DOC.sub.-- TYPE = "service.set";
Service [ ] mService;
public ServiceSet( ){
super(DOC.sub.-- TYPE);
this.mService = new Service[0];
}
public ServiceSet(String doc.sub.-- type){
super(doc.sub.-- type);
this.mService = new Service[0];
}
static public ServiceSet initServiceSet(Service [ ] iService){
ServiceSet obj = new ServiceSet( );
obj.initializeAll(iService);
return obj;
}
public void initializeAll(Service [ ] iService){
mService = iService;
}
public Service [ ] getService( ){
return mService;
}
public Service getService(int index){
if (this.mService == null)
return null;
if (index >= this.mService.length)
return null;
if (index < 0 && -index> this.mService.length)
return null;
if (index >= 0) return this.mService[index];
return this.mService[this.mService.length + index];
}
public void setService(int index, Service inp){
if (this.mService = null) {
if (index < 0) {
this.mService = new Service[1];
this.mService[0] = inp;
} else {
this.mService = new Service[index + 1];
this.mService[index] = inp;
}
} else if (index < 0) {
Service [ ] newService = new Service[this.mService.length +
1];
java.lang.System.arraycopy((Object)mService, 0,
(Object)newService,
0, this.mService.length);
newService[newService.length - 1] = inp;
mService = newService;
} else if (index >= this.mService.length){
Service [ ] newService = new Service[index + 1];
java.lang.System.arraycopy((Object)mService, 0,
(Object)newService,
0, this.mService.length);
newService[index] = inp;
mService = newService;
} else {
this.mService[index] = inp;
}
}
public void setService(Service [ ] inp){
this.mService inp;
}
}
__________________________________________________________________________
In addition to the JAVA beans set forth above, transformation code
is produced for translating from JAVA to XML and XML to JAVA as set forth below:
__________________________________________________________________________
Java to XML
<!.DOCTYPE tree SYSTEM "tree.dtd">
<tree source = "null" pass-through = "false">
<before>
<vardef name = "attribute.def">
<element source = "ATTRIBUTE" class = "NAME" type = "5" position =
"-2">
<parse>
<data class = "java.lang.String" position = "-2"/>
</parse>
</element>
</vardef>
<vardef name = "pcdata.def">
<element source = "PCDATA" class = "NAME" type = "4"position = "-2">
<parse>
<data class = "999" type = "6" position = "-2"/>
</parse>
</element>
</vardef>
<vardef name = "content.def">
<element source = "PCDATA">
<parse>
<data class = "999" type = "6" position = "-2"/>
</parse>
</element>
</vardef>
<vardef name = "ServiceSet.var">
<element source = "com.veo.xdk.dev.schema.test.blib.ServiceSet" class =
"service.set" type = "4"
position = "-2">
<parse>
<callvar name = "Service.var">
</parse>
</element>
</vardef>
<vardef name = "PrototypeService.var">
<element source = "com.veo.xdk.dev.schema.test.blib.PrototypeService"
class =
"prototype.service" type = "4" position = "-2">
<parse>
<callvar name = "pcdata.def" parms = "setSource ServiceNameToXML
setGenerator
service.name"/>
<callvar name = "pcdata.def" parms = "setSource ServiceTermsToXML
setGenerator
service.terms"/>
<callvar name = "pcdata.def" parms = "setSource ServiceLocationToXML
setGenerator
service.location"/>
<callvar name = "ServiceOperation.var"/>
</parse>
</element>
</vardef>
<vardef name = "Service.var">
<element source = "com.veo.xdk.dev.schema.test.blib.Service" class =
"service" type = "8"
position = "0">
<parse>
<callvar name = "pcdata.def" parms = "setSource ServiceNameToXML
setGenerator
service.name"/>
<callvar name = "pcdata.def" parms = "setSource ServiceLocationToXML
setGenerator
service.location"/>
<callvar name = "ServiceOperation.var">
<callvar name = "pcdata.def" parms = "setSource ServiceTermsToXML
setGenerator
service.terms"/>
</parse>
</element>
</vardef>
<vardef name = "ServiceOperation.var"/>
<element source = "com.veo.xdk.dev.schema.test.blib.ServiceOperation"
class =
"service.operation" type = "4" position = "-2">
<parse>
<callvar name = "pcdata.def" parms = "setSource ServiceOperationNameToXM
L setGenerator
service.operation.name"/>
<callvar name = "pcdata.def" parms = "setSource ServiceOperationLocation
ToXML
setGenerator service.operation.location"/>
<callvar name = "pcdata.def" parms = "setSource ServiceOperationInputToX
ML setGenerator
service.operation.input"/>
<callvar name = "pcdata.def" parms = "setSource ServiceOperationOutputTo
XML
setGenerator service.operation.output"/>
</parse>
</element>
</vardef>
</before>
<parse>
<callvar name = "ServiceSet.var"/>
<callvar name = "PrototypeService.var"/>
<callvar name = "Service.var"/>
<callvar name = "ServiceOperation.var"/>
</parse>
</tree>
XML to Java
<!DOCTYPE tree SYSTEM "tree.dtd">
<tree source = "null" pass-through = "false">
<before>
<vardef name = "business.var">
<element source = "business"
class = "com.veo.xdk.dev.schema.test.blib.Business"
type = "7" setter = "setBusiness">
<before>
<onattribute name = "business.number">
<actions>
<callmeth name = "businessNumberFromXML">
<parms>
<getattr name = "business.number"/>
</parms>
</callmeth>
</actions>
</onattribute>
<before>
<parse>
<callvar name = "party.name.var" parms = "setPosition -1"/>
<callvar name = "address.set.var"/>
</parse>
</element>
</vardef>
<vardef name = "party.name.var">
<element source = "party.name" setter = "partyNameFromXML" position =
"-1" class =
"java.lang.String">
<parse>
<data class = "java.lang.String" position = "0"/>
</parse>
</element>
</vardef>
<vardef name = "city.var">
<element source = "city" setter = "cityFromXML" position = "-1" class =
"java.lang.String">
<parse>
<data class = "java.lang.String" position = "0"/>
</parse>
</element>
</vardef>
<vardef name = "internet.var">
<element source = "internet" setter = "internetFromXML" position = "-1"
class =
"java.lang.String">
<parse>
<data class = "java.lang.String" position = "0"/>
</parse>
</element>
</vardef>
<vardef name = "country.var">
<element source = "country" setter = "countryFromXML" position = "1"
class =
"java.lang.String">
<parse>
<data class = "java.lang.String" position = "0"/>
/<parse>
</element>
</vardef>
<vardef name = "state.var">
<element source = "state" setter = "stateFromXML" position = "-1" class
= "java.lang.String">
<parse>
<data class = "java.lang.String" position = "0"/>
</parse>
</element>
</vardef>
<vardef name = "email.var">
<element source = "email" setter "emailFromXML" position = "-1" class =
"java.lang.String">
<parse>
<data class = "java.lang.String" position = "0"/>
</parse>
</element>
</vardef>
<vardef name = "address.physical.var">
<element source = "address.physical"
class = "com.veo.xdk.dev.schema.test.blib.AddressPhysical"
type = "7" setter = "setAddressPhysical">
<before>
</before>
<parse>
<callvar name = "streetvar" parms = "setPosition -1"/>
<callvar name = "city.var" parms = "setPosition -1"/>
<callvar name = "state.var" parms = "setPosition -1"/>
<callvar name = "postcode.var" parms = "setPosition -1"/>
<callvar name = "country.var" parms = "setPosition -1"/>
</parse>
</element>
</vardef>
<vardef name = "telephone.var">
<element source = "telephone" setter = "telephoneFromXML" position =
"-1" class =
"java.lang.String">
<parse>
<data class = "java.lang.String" position = "0"/>
</parse>
</element>
</vardef>
<vardef name = "person.var">
<element source = "person"
class = "com.veo.xdk.dev.schema.test.blib.Person"
type = "7" setter = "setPerson">
<before>
<onattribute name = "SSN">
<actions>
<callmeth name = "sSNFromXML">
<parms>
<getattr name = "SSN"/>
</parms>
</callmeth>
</actions>
</onattribute>
</before>
<parse>
<callvar name = "party.name.var" parms = "setPosition -1"/>
<callvar name = "address.set.var"/>
</parse>
</element>
</vardef>
<vardef name = "fax.var">
<element source = "fax" setter = "faxFromXML" position = "-1" class =
"java.lang.String">
<parse>
<data class = "java.lang.String" position = "0"/>
<parse>
<element>
</vardef>
<vardef name = "street.var">
<element source = "street" setter = "streetFromXML" position = "-1"
class = "java.lang.String">
<parse>
<data class = "java.lang.String" position = "0"/>
</parse>
</element>
</vardef>
<vardef name = "address.set.var">
<element source = "address.set"
class = "com.veo.xdk.dev.schema.test.blib.AddressSet"
type = "7" setter = "setAddressSet">
<before>
</before>
<parse>
<callvar name = "address.physical.var">
<callvar name = "telephone.var" parms = "setPosition -1"/>
<callvar name = "fax.var" parms = "setPosition -1"/>
<callvar name = "email.var" parms = "setPosition -1"/>
<callvar name = "internet.var" parms = "setPosition "-1"/>
</parse>
</element>
</vardef>
<vardef name = "postcode.var">
<element source = "postcode" setter = "postcodeFromXML" position = "-1"
class =
"java.lang.String">
<parse>
<data class = "java.lang.String" position = "0"/>
</parse>
</element>
</vardef>
<vardef name = "market.participant.var">
<element source = "market.participant"
class = "com.veo.xdk.dev.schema.test.blib.MarketParticipant"
type = "7" position = "0"/>
<before>
</before>
<parse>
<callvar name = "business.var"/>
<callvar name = "person.var"/>
</parse>
</element>
</vardef>
</before>
<parse>
<callvar name = "business.var"/>
<callvar name = "party.name.var"/>
<callvar name = "city.var"/>
<callvar name = "internet.var"/>
<callvar name = "country.var"/>
<callvar name = "state.var"/>
<callvar name = "email.var"/>
<callvar name = "address.physical.var"/>
<callvar name = "telephone.var"/>
<callvar name = "person.var"/>
<callvar name = "fax.var"/>
<callvar name = "street.var"/>
<callvar name = "address.set.var"/>
<callvar name = "postcode.var"/>
<callvar name = "market.participant.var"/>
</parse>
</tree>
__________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________
Makefiles:
______________________________________
# this makefile was generated by bic version 0.0. 05/02/1998
#
#
#
#
# get the package name from the package argument passed to SchemaGen
PACKAGE.sub.-- NAME = com/veo/xdk/dev/schema/test/blib
JAVA.sub.-- SOURCES += .backslash.
MarketParticipant.java .backslash.
Business.java .backslash.
Person.java .backslash.
Party.java .backslash.
AddressPhysical.java .backslash.
AddressSet.java .backslash.
MAKEFILE.sub.-- MASTER.sub.-- DIR = xxx
include $(MAKEFILE.sub.-- MASTER.sub.-- DIR)/Makefile.master
all:: $(JAVA.sub.-- CLASSES)
#
# this makefile was generated by bic version 0.0. 05/02/1998
#
#
#
#
# get the package name from the package argument passed to SchemaGen
PACKAGE.sub.-- NAME = com/veo/xdk/dev/schema/test/blib
JAVA.sub.-- SOURCES += .backslash.
ServiceSet.java .backslash.
PrototypeService.java .backslash.
Service.java .backslash.
ServiceOperation.java .backslash.
MAKEFILE.sub.-- MASTER.sub.-- DIR = xxx
include $(MAKFILE.sub.-- MASTER.sub.-- DIR)/Makefile.master
all:: $(JAVA.sub.-- CLASSES)
______________________________________
Finally, the XML document instances generated at run time
according to the model above for one example follows:
__________________________________________________________________________
<!DOCTYPE market.participant SYSTEM "market.participant.dtd">
<market.participant>
<business business.number="1234567890">
<party.name>IBM</party.name>
<address.set>
<address.physical>
<street>1 IBM Way</street>
<city>Palo Alto</city>
<state>CA</state>
<postcode>94304</postcode>
<country>USA</country>
</address.physical>
<telephone>123 456-7890</telephone>
<fax>123 456 0987</fax>
<email>ibmec@ibm.com</email>
</address.set>
</business>
</market.participant>
<!DOCTYPE service SYSTEM "service.dtd">
<service.set>
<service>
<service.name>Order Service</service.name>
<service.location>www.ibm.com/order</service.location>
<service.operation>
<service.operation.name>Submit Order<service.operation.name>
<service.operation.location>www.ibm.com/order/submit</service.location>
<service.operation.input>urn:x-ibm:services:order:operations:po.dtd</servi
ce.operation.input>
<service.operation.outut>urn:x-
ibm:services:order:operations:poack.dtd</service.operation.output>
</service.operation>
<service.operation>
<service.operation.name>Track Order</service.operation.name>
<service.operation.location>www.ibm.com/order/track</service.location>
<service.operation.input>urn:x-
ibm:services:order:operations:track.irequest.dtd</service.operation.input>
<service.operation.output>urn:x-
ibm:services:order:operations:track.iresponse.dtd</service.operation.outpu
t>
</service.operation>
</service>
</service.set>
__________________________________________________________________________
Using the tools along with a BID composer application, which
provides a drag, drop and forms editing user interface, a developer is able to
create a business interface definition and to produce a well formed, valid
business interface definition in the form of an XML document. Thus, the example
run time instance is a business interface definition for an ordering service for
IBM to be used by Ingram Micro and others to order laptop computers from IBM.
(There is no relationship between the applicant and IBM or Ingram Micro).
Utilizing these processes, a user is able to build a system that allows for
programming of a business interface using the documents defined according to the
present invention.
The role of CBL and the BID processor of the present
invention in an XML/JAVA environment can be further understood by the following
explanation of the processing of a Purchase Order.
Company A defines its
Purchase Order document type using a visual programming environment that
contains a library of CBL DTDs and modules, all defined using common business
language elements so that they contain data type and other interpretation
information. Company A's PO might just involve minor customizations to a more
generic "transaction document" specification that comes with the CBL library, or
it might be built from the ground up from CBL modules for address, date and
time, currency, etc.
The documentation for the generic "transaction
document" specification (such as the transact.dtd set out above) typifies the
manner in which CBL specifications are built from modules and are interlinked
with other CBL DTDs.
A compiler takes the purchase order definition and
generates several different target forms. All of these target forms can be
derived through "tree to tree" transformations of the original specification.
The most important for this example are:
(a) the XML DTD for the
purchase order.
(b) a JAVA Bean that encapsulates the data structures
for a purchase order (the JAVA classes, arguments, datatypes, methods, and
exception structures are created that correspond to information in the Schema
definition of the purchase order).
(c) A "marshaling" program that
converts purchase orders that conform to the Purchase Order DTD into a Purchase
Order JAVA Bean or loads them into a database, or creates HTML (or an XSL style
sheet) for displaying purchase orders in a browser.
(d) An
"unmarshaling" program that extracts the data values from Purchase Order JAVA
Beans and converts them into an XML document that conforms to the Purchase Order
DTD.
Now, back to the scenario. A purchasing application generates a
Purchase Order that conforms to the DTD specified as the service interface for a
supplier who accepts purchase orders.
The parser uses the purchase order
DTD to decompose the purchase order instance into a stream of information about
the elements and attribute values it contains. These "property sets" are then
transformed into corresponding JAVA event objects by wrapping them with JAVA
code. This transformation in effect treats the pieces of marked-up XML document
as instructions in a custom programming language whose grammar is defined by the
DTD. These JAVA events can now be processed by the marshaling applications
generated by the compiler to "load" JAVA Bean data structures.
Turning
the XML document into a set of events for JAVA applications to process, is
unlike the normal model of parsing in which the parser output is maintained as
an internal data structure and processing does not begin until parsing
completes. The event based processing, in response to the BID definitions, is
the key to enabling the much richer functionality of the processor because it
allows concurrent document application processing to begin as soon as the first
event is emitted.
JAVA programs that "listen for" events of various
types are generated from the Schema definition of those events. These listeners
are programs created to carry out the business logic associated with the XML
definitions in the CBL; for example, associated with an "address" element may be
code that validates the postal code by checking a database. These listeners
"subscribe" to events by registering with the document router, which directs the
relevant events to all the subscribers who are interested in them.
This
publish and subscribe architecture means that new listener programs can be added
without knowledge by or impact on existing ones. Each listener has a queue into
which the router directs its events, which enables multiple listeners can handle
events in parallel at their own pace.
For the example purchase order
here, there might be listeners for:
the purchase order, which would
connect it to an order entry program,
product descriptions, which might
check inventory,
address information, which could check Fed Ex or other
service for delivery availability,
buyer information, which could check
order history (for creditworthiness, or to offer a promotion, or similar
processing based on knowing who the customer is).
Complex listeners can
be created as configurations of primitive ones (e.g., a purchase order listener
may contain and invoke these listeners here, or they may be invoked on their
own).
FIG. 11 illustrates the market maker node in the network of FIG.
1. The market maker node includes the basic structures of the system of FIG. 3,
including a network interface 1101, a document parser 1102, a document to host
and host to document translator 1103, and a front end 1104, referred to as a
router in this example. The market maker module 1105 in this example includes a
set of business interface definitions, or other identifiers sufficient to
support the market maker function, for participants in the market, a CBL
repository, and a compiler all serving the participants in the market. The
router 1104 includes a participant registry and document filters which respond
to the events generated at the output of the translator and by the parser to
route incoming documents according to the participant registry and according to
the element and attribute filters amongst the listeners to the XML event
generators. Thus, certain participants in the market may register to receive
documents that meet prespecified parameters. For example, input documents
according to a particular DTD, and including an attribute such as numbers of
products to be purchased greater than a threshold, or such as a maximum price of
a document request to be purchased, can be used to filter documents at the
router 1104. Only such documents as match the information registered in the
participant registry at the router 1104 are then passed on to the registered
participant.
The router 1104 may also serve local host services 1105 and
1106, and as such act as a participant in the market as well as the market
maker. Typically, documents that are received by the router 1104 are traversed
to determine the destinations to which such documents should be routed, there
again passed back through the translator 1103, if necessary, and out the network
interface 1101 to the respective destinations.
The market maker is a
server that binds together a set of internal and external business services to
create a virtual enterprise or trading community. The server parses incoming
documents and invokes the appropriate services by, for example, handing off a
request for product data to a catalog server or forwarding a purchase order to
an ERP system. The server also handles translation tasks, mapping the
information from a company's XML documents onto document formats used by trading
partners and into data formats required by its legacy systems.
With
respect to the service definition above, when a company submits a purchase
order, the XML parser in the server uses the purchase order DTD to transform the
purchase order instance into a stream of information events. These events are
then routed to any application that is programmed to handle events of a given
type; in some cases, the information is forwarded over the Internet to a
different business entirely. In the purchase order example, several applications
may act on information coming from the parser:
An order entry program
processes the purchase order as a complete message;
An ERP system checks
inventory for the products described in the purchase order;
A customer
database verifies or updates the customer's address;
A shipping company
uses the address information to schedule a delivery
A bank uses the
credit card information to authorize the transaction.
Trading partners
need only agree on the structure, content, and sequencing of the business
documents they exchange, not on the details of APIs. How a document is processed
and what actions result is strictly up to the business providing the service.
This elevates integration from the system level to the business level. It
enables a business to present a clean and stable interface to its business
partners despite changes in its internal technology implementation,
organization, or processes.
FIGS. 12, 13 and 14 illustrate processes
executed at a market maker node in the system of FIG. 11. In FIG. 12, an input
document is received at the network interface from an originating participant
node (step 1200). The document is parsed (step 1201). The document is translated
to the format of the host, for example XML to JAVA (step 1202). The host
formatted events and objects are then passed to the router service (step 1203).
The services registered to accept the document according to the document type
and content of the document are identified (step 1204). The document or a
portion of the document is passed to the identified services (step 1205). As
service is performed in response to the document content (step 1206). The output
data of the service is produced (step 1207). The output is converted to the
document format, for example from a JAVA format to an XML format (step 1208).
Finally, the output document is sent to a participant node (step 1209).
The registration service is one such function which is managed by the
router. Thus, a market participant document is accepted at the network interface
as shown in FIG. 13 (step 1300). The market participant document is stored in
the business interface definition repository (step 1301) for the market maker
node. In addition, the document is parsed (step 1302). The parsed document is
translated into the format of the host (step 1303). Next, the document is passed
to the router service (step 1304). The router service includes a listener which
identifies the registration service as the destination of the document according
to the document type and content (step 1305). The document or elements of the
document are passed to the registration service (step 1306). In the registration
service, the needed service specifications are retrieved according to the
business interface definition (step 1307). If the service specifications are
gathered, at step 1308, the router service filters are set according to the
business interface definition and the service specifications (step 1309).
Registration acknowledgment data is produced (1310). The registration
acknowledgment data is converted to a document format (step 1311). Finally, the
acknowledgment document is sent to the participant node indicating to the
participant that is successfully registered with the market maker (step 1312).
The process at step 1307 of gathering needed service specifications is
illustrated for one example in FIG. 14. This process begins by locating a
service business interface definition supported by the market participant (step
1400). The service definition is retrieved, for example by an E-mail transaction
or web access to repository node (step 1401). The service specification is
stored in the BID repository (step 1402). The service business interface
definition document is parsed (step 1403). The parsed document is translated
into the format of the host (step 1404). Host objects are passed to the router
service (step 1405). The registration service is identified according to the
document type and content (step 1406). Finally, the information in the service
business interface definition document is passed to the registration service
(step 1407) for use according to the process of FIG. 13.
FIG. 15
illustrates the processor, components and sequence of processing of incoming
data at market maker node according to the present invention. The market maker
node includes a communication agent 1500 at the network interface. The
communication agent is coupled with an XML parser 1501 which supplies events to
an XML processor 1502. The XML processor supplies events to a document router.
The document router feeds a document service 1504 that provides an interface for
supplying the received documents to the enterprise solution software 1505 in the
host system. The communication agent 1500 is an Internet interface which
includes appropriate protocol stacks supporting such protocols as HTTP, SMTP,
FTP, or other protocols. Thus, the incoming data could come in an XML syntax, an
ASCII data syntax or other syntax as suits a particular communication channel.
All the documents received in non-XML syntaxes are translated into XML and
passed the XML parser. A translation table 1506 is used to support the
translation from non-XML form into XML form.
The converted documents are
supplied to the parser 1501. The XML parser parses the received XML document
according to the document type definition which matches it. If an error is
found, then the parser sends the document back to the communication agent 1500.
A business interface definition compiler BIDC 1507 acts as a compiler for
business interface definition data. The DTD file for the XML parser, JAVA beans
corresponding to the DTD file, and translation rules for translating DTD files
to JAVA beans are created by compiling the BID data. An XML instance is
translated to JAVA instance by referring to these tools. Thus the BID compiler
1507 stores the DTD documents 1508 and produces JAVA documents which correspond
1509. The XML documents are passed to the processor 1502 which translates them
into the JAVA format. In a preferred system, JAVA documents which have the same
status as the document type definitions received in the XML format are produced.
The JAVA beans are passed to the document router 1503. The document router 1503
receives the JAVA beans and passes the received class to the appropriate
document service using a registry program, for example using the event listener
architecture described above. The document service 1504 which receives the
document in the form of JAVA beans from the router 1503 acts as the interface to
the enterprise solution software. This includes a registry service 1510 by which
listeners to XML events are coupled with the incoming data streams, and a
service manager 1511 to manage the routing of the incoming documents to the
appropriate services. The document service manager 1511 provides for
administration of the registry service and for maintaining document consistency
and the like.
The document service communicates with the back end system
using any proprietary API, or using such more common forms as the CORBA/COM
interface or other architectures.
FIG. 16 provides a heuristic diagram
of the market maker and market participant structures according to the present
invention. Thus, the electronic commerce market according to the present
invention can be logically organized as set forth in FIG. 16. At the top of the
organization, a market maker node 1600 is established. The market maker node
includes resources that establish a marketplace 1601. Such resources include a
market registry service and the like. Businesses 1602 register in the
marketplace 1601 by publishing a business interface definition. The business
interface definition defines the services 1603 for commercial transactions in
which the businesses will participate. The transactions 1604 and services 1603
use documents 1605 to define the inputs and outputs, and outline the commercial
relationship between participants in the transaction. The documents have content
1606 which carries the particulars of each transaction. The manner in which the
content is processed by the participants in the market, and by the market maker
is completely independent of the document based electronic commerce network
which is established according to the present invention. Overall, a robust,
scalable, intuitive structure is presented for enabling electronic commerce on
communication networks is provided.
Thus, the present invention in an
exemplary system provides a platform based on the XML processor and uses XML
documents as the interface between loosely coupled business systems. The
documents are transferred between businesses and processed by participant nodes
before entering the company business system. Thus the platform enables
electronic commerce applications between businesses where each business system
operates using different internal commerce platforms, processes and semantics,
by specifying a common set of business documents and forms.
According to
the present invention, virtual enterprises are created by interconnecting
business systems and service, are primarily defined in terms of the documents
(XML-encoded) that businesses accept and generate:
"if you send me a
request for a catalog, I will send you a catalog:
"if you send me a
purchase order and I can accept it, I will send you an invoice".
The
foregoing description of a preferred embodiment of the invention has been
presented for purposes of illustration and description. It is not intended to be
exhaustive or to limit the invention to the precise forms disclosed. Obviously,
many modifications and variations will be apparent to practitioners skilled in
this art. It is intended that the scope of the invention be defined by the
following claims and their equivalents.
* * * * *