Patent Grant
7895226
Modern firms use complex business systems to define and perform the business processes used by the firms. The business system typically includes a variety of backend applications to perform related tasks and define related processes, such as inventory management, employee management, customer relations, etc. Each application makes use of a variety of business objects, which contain data and business logic to manipulate the data.
Typically, the user interface used to access these backend applications does not include any business or functional logic itself. Rather, the backend applications provide functions and services to the user interface, which provides communication between a user and the applications using the services provided by the applications. Thus, the functionality presented by the user interface is limited by the services exposed by the backend applications.
In many cases the user interface may be created by a different entity than the backend applications. For example, a customer might purchase a generic business system from a supplier, then create (or have created by a second supplier) a customized user interface. Creating the client (frontend) interface may be problematic for a variety of reasons. Often, it requires creating large amounts of functionality to interface with various data sources in the business system. Since each business object and/or backend application might have a different interface, this can require large amounts of time and work. Similarly, data received from various data sources in the business system may have different formatting and structure. To present a consistent user interface, client applications may have to harmonize data received from these disparate sources.
Since user interfaces may result in additions, deletions, and/or modifications to stored data, allowing arbitrary access to user interfaces may be problematic for the security and data integrity of the backend. Various access mechanisms are used to maintain security and data integrity. For example, client proxies may provide services that let user interfaces modify data stored in the backend.
However, conventional approaches can have several problems. Typically, data modification calls made by the user interface must be coordinated by the user interface. Since one data change can require multiple updates to maintain data integrity, multiple data calls may be needed. Thus, large amounts of code are typically written for each modification, and a high amount of network traffic may be generated by data updates.
Client proxies also typically have a fixed level of granularity for data modifications. That is, a client has no way to define the granularity of modifications to data stored by the backend. This can also result in increased network traffic between the client and the backend.
Thus there is a need in the art for a uniform, flexible way to modify the data stored in and services provided by business objects.
Methods and systems for building client-defined queries from structured business object data are provided. The queries may be defined in a business object-specific structured query language (BQL). The BQL engine can translate the structured query into a query suited for use by the appropriate business object. In an embodiment, the BQL engine and the related query language provide the primary interface to backend applications and business objects. Embodiments may include a search infrastructure to create indexed views of business objects and a local client proxy to handle requests that are not handled by indexed views, by operating on a business object directly.
Since the structured query is written in a pre-defined structured language, relatively little code or processing is required to construct the query in a client application. Similarly, a developer or user of the client application can use the structured language to specify the amount and format of data desired, which can decrease the amount of data sent by a backend application in response to the query. Thus, embodiments of the present invention may allow for faster and more efficient client applications.
The operation of the BQL engine 100 during a read query is further described in U.S. application Ser. No. 11/760,483, filed Jun. 8, 2007, the disclosure of which is incorporated by reference in its entirety. When a client application 170 sends a request to add, delete, or update (i.e., modify) data used by the backend applications 150, the update request may be formulated using a structured query language. The BQL engine may receive the structured update request, and translate it into one or more native commands that can be understood by the target applications and/or business objects contained in the applications. The backend applications 150 may contain typical business objects 190, with each business object having nodes 191, 195, each node storing various elements 192, 193. For clarity, the business object 190 is shown using representative nodes 191, 195 and elements 192, 193. Typically, and as would be understood by one of skill in the art, a business object may include a multi-level hierarchy of nodes, where each node may have child nodes and/or parent nodes, and a node at any level may have one or more elements associated with it. As described in further detail below, a structured update request sent by a client application may reference a specific business object, node, and/or property within one or more of the backend applications.
The BQL engine 100 may include sub-components to realize various functions performed by the engine. For example, a parser 101 may receive, analyze, and/or decompose structured update requests received from various requestors 170, 120, 130, 140. An execution decider 102 may determine appropriate business objects to receive translated update commands, perform tests to determine efficient execution strategies, and/or otherwise route native commands to backend applications. It also may formulate an estimated execution process or time, such as when an “explain plan” request is received. A native query translation engine 105 may translate a received update query into a command format native to a target business object. For example, if the parser 101 decomposes a structured update request, the components of the update query may be passed to the native translation engine 105, which can use the components to construct a native command for processing by a business object, node, or backend application. Other components may be included in or in communication with the BQL engine, such as a fast search infrastructure (FSI) 103 and/or a local client proxy (LCP) 104.
A structured query such as a BQL call 220 may then be sent to the BQL engine from the client application or the service layer. The BQL engine may translate 260 the BQL update call 220 into native commands that can be processed by a node in the backend application 150, and send the native commands 265 to the backend application. The backend application, business object, or node may receive the native commands and execute an appropriate service 270. If an error is generated by the update commands, an error 275 may be returned by the backend. For example, the BQL update command 220 may have a syntax error that results in non-executable native commands, or it may reference an improper or nonexistent object. Other errors may be identified by the backend. If no error condition is encountered, the backend application may return a result, such as a notification of a newly-created object, a verification that an update has been processed correctly, or another notice.
The BQL engine also may identify errors in a BQL update call 220 sent by the client application. In this case, the BQL engine may return an error message or other notification to the client application 170 before or instead of translating the BQL update call into native backend commands.
The BQL engine may return 280 various results and/or error messages to the client application. This return message may include error messages generated by the BQL engine, error messages generated by the backend, and verifications created by the backend in response to an update. Other messages may be included.
As a specific non-limiting example of the generation and processing of an update request,
When a client application, service layer, or other requestor 310 wants to update information stored in a business object, it may construct a structured update query. Still referring to the specific non-limiting example of
The structured update query may use a predefined grammar including an INSERT clause that identifies target values (i.e., nodes and/or properties), a SET clause that specifies details about the update to be performed, and a WITH clause that identifies a related item in the backend. In the example, a new entry is added to a Supplier_invoice business object for two “Pen” products from the “ACME” Party. The requestor may wish the update to be associated with a specific parent node; in the example, it is associated with a parent node having an identifier of “978748329.” The structured update request 300 may be received by a BQL engine 100, which parses the structured update query. As previously described, The BQL engine may parse the structured update query into native commands that can be processed by the target business object (Supplier_Invoice). For example, the BQL engine 100 may construct the native command 340 that conforms to the format and structure of commands expected by the Supplier_Invoice business object 330. It will be understood that the native queries 340 is provided as a non-limiting example, and that different applications, business objects, and/or nodes may utilize various different structures and formats for native queries.
When the native update command 340 is received by the backend application 350, an appropriate service (such as a “Create_Order” service) may be executed. In this example, the service extracts information from the nodes and properties identified in the native update command 340. The extracted information typically is returned in a format native to the service, such as the native results 365. Since the backend application, business object, and related services are only aware of the native command 340 (and not the structured update request 300), various types and formats of results and/or error messages may be generated. The native format may use a flat file, data stream, or other data transfer format with a specific structure. The native results 365 may be returned to the BQL engine as the requesting entity. The BQL engine may transform the native results 365 into a format expected by the requester, and return an appropriate result or error 301. For example, the results may be placed in a table conforming to the format of the BQL update request 300. Notably, when structured update requests are sent to a BQL engine, the structured update request may include multiple operations to be performed by the backend, including operations to be performed by multiple backend entities. A single structured update request also may generate multiple native commands. That is, a client application generate a single BQL update request instead of multiple native-format commands. This may be particularly useful in environments where round-trip communications are costly, such as in distributed environments with high latency. It may also reduce complexity in operations used by the client application, and improve performance by moving complex query structures from the client to the backend infrastructure.
It will be understood that the system and communication shown in
The projection clause may include a column specification 411 to identify the part of a business object that should be included in a result, including a business object node or attribute. The column specification may include an identification of the appropriate business object 413 and an identification 412 of the node or part of the business object to be included in the result. The column specification also may identify the node 413 to which the query is directed, as well as any associations 416 desired in the query. Attributes 414 and sub-attributes 415 of the column may be specified. Aliases may be specified for the headings of the result set.
The from clause 420 may specify a business object node from which data is selected by including a name or other identifier 421 of the appropriate node.
The where clause 430 may restrict tuples returned in the result set by specifying one or more conditions that must be met by result tuples. For example, boolean expressions may be included, in which case only the data sets matching the boolean expressions will be included in the result set. As a specific example, if the where clause is “WHERE ID<20,” then only data sets having an attribute ID with a value less than 20 are returned.
In an embodiment, the BQL engine may be configured to perform query responses using search indices and other structures. For example,
When the BQL engine receives an update request, it typically will interface directly with the LCP 104. In general, the LCP may include a programming interface that presents a consistent way of accessing business objects in a backend application. To translate a command from a structured update request into a format expected by the LCP and/or the backend applications, the BQL engine may first create an internal, virtual table. This virtual table may list entities involved in processing and executing the native commands. For example, each row of the table may include a business object identifier, a business object node identifier, a temporary ID, and an assignment command (such as assigning a value to an attribute of the business object node):
Other columns may be included. For example, each row may include an indication of the type of operation (insert, update, delete) associated with the data in the row. Although only a single business object is shown for clarity, a virtual table may include multiple business objects, nodes, and/or assignments, depending on the operations to be performed in the backend applications.
Once the virtual table is created, the BQL engine may step through each row in the table and create a command in the appropriate native format (i.e., a format expected by the LCP and/or the appropriate backend application). In the example virtual table shown above, three native-format commands are created. Each column in the virtual table may correspond to a parameter expected by the LCP when executing native commands. Identifiers, such as “temp ID” above, may be used to refer to the table row and/or the related LCP commands, such as where a later command makes reference to the results generated by an earlier command. A native command template may be used to create the native commands. For example, a native command template may include fields to identify the business object, node, and attribute/value assignment for a command. As the BQL engine steps through the virtual table, each entry in the row being processed may be inserted into the appropriate field of the command template to generate the command defined by the row.
After one or more operations are successfully performed by the backend applications, the BQL engine may instruct the index server 500 and/or the FSI 103 to update search indices appropriately. For example, if an update request adds entries to a backend application, the FSI and/or index server may update search indices and/or indexed views of the appropriate data to include the new entries. Similarly, if an update request modifies or deletes data, any appropriate indexed views may be updated to reflect the modifications or deletions. Thus, the indexed views may be kept up-to-date with changes made to data stored in and accessed by the backend applications.
Exemplary structured queries used to retrieve information from a backend system are presented below. The examples make use of two exemplary business objects, SupplierInvoice and Product, with the structures shown below:
For demonstration purposes, the following exemplary data set will be used. Each table shows the data for one business object node:
A structured query may be used to select all Header nodes of the Supplier Invoice business object. For example, the following query may be used:
More complex structured queries may be used, such as queries that include an implicit join of multiple elements. For example, the query
A similar structured query may include a further restriction in the WHERE clause:
In this case, only Supplier Invoice Header nodes are selected which have the ID 1:
A system according to the present invention may also return query results in a structured format. Structured results may be suitable for services that allow for structured data, such as a Web Service based query service. In an embodiment, XML or a similar representation format may be used for structured results. For example, the following query may select Supplier Invoice Header nodes and the Item nodes associated with each:
In this query, all attibutes of the Header node may be transported. The attributes ProductID and Quantity are returned for the implicitly-joined Item nodes. In XML notation, the results of this query using the above sample data set may be returned as:
As another example, the following query demonstrates the use of an alias in a structured result:
The alias name “MySIV” in the projection provides the name for the element in the structured result set:
An update request may be structured in a similar fashion. Typically, the most direct way to manipulate data is to change a row of a business object node using a unique NodeID. The NodeID may be predetermined, or it may be the result of a previous request. A business object node row also may be identified by entries other than the unique NodeID, such as where multiple rows are to be affected. As previously described, Boolean expressions also may be used. For example, the following requests may be used to modify existing business objects:
Update requests also may be used to delete rows of business object nodes. Rows may be identified using any of the techniques described herein. The following commands are exemplary DELETE commands:
Similarly, new rows may be inserted into business object nodes. Typically, no reference is provided for the new row, although a parent or other related node may be specified:
(where ‘9BC46027290E4582’ denotes a NodeID of a previously-existing row in SupplierInvoice.Root). Multiple rows may be inserted at the same time, and a later-inserted row may reference a prior row by defining a “handle” for the earlier row:
Typically, update requests for inserts, updates, and deletes take the following generalized forms:
As previously described, an object identifier may be any expression that identifies a row in a business object node. It may identify a single row or a group of rows, and may include Boolean expressions to define the rows being manipulated. A set clause specifies data changes such as attribute/value assignments to perform on the identified rows. A with clause describes handles for recursive operation within a single transaction. It can include, for example, a handle ID, a parent handle, and/or a parent node ID. A where clause identifies a row of a business object node on which the operations are to be performed. As previously described, it may identify a single row or multiple rows, and may use Boolean expressions to define the relevant rows.
As previously described, a business object may have a multi-level hierarchy of nodes. In some cases, this hierarchy may be quite complex. Therefore, it may be useful to define “deep” operations that affect not only an initial business object node, but all nodes dependent on the initial node. For example, a generalized “deep delete” statement may be used to delete an initial node or nodes and all nodes dependent below the specified node(s):
In an embodiment, a BQL implementation may be embedded in various other programming structures, syntaxes, and/or languages. For example, BQL commands may be embedded in various programming languages, including C, C++, Java, C#, Net, and other languages. BQL commands may be included in a library in a language or programming environment, allowing for native access to BQL functionality.
The various computer systems described herein may each include a storage component for storing machine-readable instructions for performing the various processes as described and illustrated. The storage component may be any type of machine readable medium (i.e., one capable of being read by a machine) such as hard drive memory, flash memory, floppy disk memory, optically-encoded memory (e.g., a compact disk, DVD-ROM, DVD±R, CD-ROM, CD±R, holographic disk), a thermomechanical memory (e.g., scanning-probe-based data-storage), or any type of machine readable (computer readable) storing medium. Each computer system may also include addressable memory (e.g., random access memory, cache memory) to store data and/or sets of instructions that may be included within, or be generated by, the machine-readable instructions when they are executed by a processor on the respective platform. The methods and systems described herein may also be implemented as machine-readable instructions stored on or embodied in any of the above-described storage mechanisms.
Although the present invention has been described with reference to particular examples and embodiments, it is understood that the present invention is not limited to those examples and embodiments. The present invention as claimed therefore includes variations from the specific examples and embodiments described herein, as will be apparent to one of skill in the art.
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