A system, method and article of manufacture for an e-commerce based user framework design for maintaining user preferences, roles and details

A SYSTEM, METHOD AND ARTICLE OF MANUFACTURE FOR AN E-COMMERCE BASED USER FRAMEWORK DESIGN FOR MAINTAINING USER PREFERENCES,

ROLES AND DETAILS

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to software framework designs and more particularly to managing user preferences, roles and details in a user framework design.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

An important use of computers is the transfer of information over a network. Currently, the largest computer network in existence is the Internet. The Internet is a worldwide interconnection of computer networks that communicate using a common protocol. Millions of computers, from low end personal computers to high-end super computers are coupled to the Internet.

The Internet grew out of work funded in the 1960s by the U.S. Defense Department's Advanced Research Projects Agency. For a long time, Internet was used by researchers in universities and national laboratories to share information. As the existence of the Internet became more widely known, many users outside of the academic/research community (e.g., employees of large corporations) started to use Internet to carry electronic mail.

In 1989, a new type of information system known as the World- Wide- Web ("the Web") was introduced to the Internet. Early development of the Web took place at CERN, the European

Particle Physics Laboratory. The Web is a wide-area hypermedia information retrieval system aimed to give wide access to a large universe of documents. At that time, the Web was known to and used by the academic/research community only. There was no easily available tool which allows a technically untrained person to access the Web.

In 1993, researchers at the National Center for Supercomputing Applications (NCSA) released a Web browser called "Mosaic" that implemented a graphical user interface (GUI). Mosaic's graphical user interface was simple to leam yet powerful. The Mosaic browser allows a user to retrieve documents from the World- Wide- Web using simple point-and-click commands. Because the user does not have to be technically trained and the browser is pleasant to use, it has the potential of opening up the Internet to the masses. The architecture of the Web follows a conventional client-server model. The terms "client" and "server" are used to refer to a computer's general role as a requester of data (the client) or provider of data (the server). Under the Web environment, Web browsers reside in clients and Web documents reside in servers. Web clients and Web servers communicate using a protocol called "HyperText Transfer Protocol" (HTTP). A browser opens a connection to a server and initiates a request for a document. The server delivers the requested document, typically in the form of a text document coded in a standard Hypertext Markup Language (HTML) format, and when the connection is closed in the above interaction, the server serves a passive role, i.e., it accepts commands from the client and cannot request the client to perform any action.

The communication model under the conventional Web environment provides a very limited level of interaction between clients and servers. In many systems, increasing the level of interaction between components in the systems often makes the systems more robust, but increasing the interaction increases the complexity of the interaction and typically slows the rate of the interaction. Thus, the conventional Web environment provides less complex, faster interactions because of the Web's level of interaction between clients and servers.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

A system, method and article of manufacture are provided for managing user information. A site server is provided with information stored thereon including preferences, roles, and details relating to users. A database separate from the site server is also provided. The database has information stored thereon including preferences, roles, and details relating to the users. An identity of one of the users is authenticated. A single interface is displayed which provides the user access to both the site server and the database upon authentication of the identity of the user. The user is allowed to view and change the information that is stored on the site server and the database and that is associated with the user. The single interface is tailored based on the information associated with the user.

In one embodiment of the present invention, the identity of the user may be authenticated by verifying a user name and a password, a secure sockets layer (SSL) certificate, and/or a log-in form. Further, the preferences relating to the users may include a currency in which monetary values are displayed and a language in which text is displayed. Also, the roles relating to the users may include a customer, a manager, and an employee. Additionally, the details of the users may include a user name and a legal name.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The invention will be better understood when consideration is given to the following detailed description thereof. Such description makes reference to the annexed drawings wherein:

Figure 1 illustrates an exemplary hardware implementation of one embodiment of the present invention;

Figure 1.1 illustrates a flowchart for a codes table framework that maintains application consistency by referencing text phrases through a short codes framework according to an embodiment of the present invention;

Figure 1.2 is a flowchart depicting a method for providing an interface between a first server and a second server with a proxy component situated therebetween;

Figure 1.3 shows the execution architecture for components that make up the SAP Framework Execution Architecture according to an embodiment of the present invention;

Figure 1.4 is a flowchart illustrating a method for sharing context objects among a plurality of components executed on a transaction server;

Figure 2 illustrates the create component instances method according to an embodiment of the present invention;

Figure 3 illustrates multiple components in the same transaction context according to an embodiment of the present invention;

Figure 4 illustrates the forcing of a component's database operations to use a separate transaction according to an embodiment of the present invention;

Figure 5 illustrates the compose work form multiple activities in the same transaction according to an embodiment of the present invention; Figure 6 illustrates JIT activation where MTS intercepts the Customer creation request, starts a process for the Customer package containing Customer component, creates the ContextObject and returns a reference to the client according to an embodiment of the present invention;

Figure 7 illustrates JIT activation when the customer object has been deactivated (the customer object is grayed out) according to an embodiment of the present invention;

Figure 8 is a flowchart depicting a method for providing an activity framework;

Figure 8.1 is an illustration of the MTS mntime environment according to an embodiment of the present invention;

Figure 9 is a flowchart illustrating a method for accessing services within a server without a need for knowledge of an application program interface of the server;

Figure 9.1 illustrates the different layers in a Site Server framework architecture according to an embodiment of the present invention;

Figure 10 illustrates schema attributes and classes, with class "Role" and attribute "RoleName" shown;

Figure 11 illustrates the creating of Container "Roles" according to an embodiment of the present invention;

Figure 12 is an illustration of a graphic display at a point where a user has right-clicked on the

Schema folder and selected New - Attribute according to an embodiment of the present invention;

Figure 13 illustrates the adding of different Roles according to an embodiment of the present invention;

Figure 14 illustrates an example of the graphic display showing the attributes of member "Joe Bloggs" according to an embodiment of the present invention; Figure 15 is a flowchart that illustrates a method for handling events in a system;

Figure 15.1 illustrates a ReTA Event Handler framework that manages the informational, warning and error events that an application raises according to an embodiment of the present invention;

Figure 16 is a flowchart depicting a method for managing user information;

Figure 16.1 illustrates a User framework which enables two approaches to maintaining user information according to an embodiment of the present invention;

Figure 17 is a flowchart that illustrates a method for managing business objects in a system that includes a plurality of sub-activities which each include sub-activity logic adapted to generate an output based on an input received from a user upon execution, and a plurality of activities which each execute the sub-activities in a unique manner upon being selected for accomplishing a goal associated with the activity;

Figure 17.1 shows a SubActivity component using the Persistence framework to retrieve a Customer Object from the Database according to an embodiment of the present invention;

Figure 18 is a flow chart depicting a method for persisting information during a user session;

Figure 18.1 illustrates a Session Flow Diagram - On Session Start according to an embodiment of the present invention;

Figure 19 illustrates a Session Flow Diagram - On Start ASP Page according to an embodiment of the present invention;

Figure 20 is a flow chart illustrating a method for generating a graphical user interface;

Figure 20.1 is an illustration showing the steps for generating a HTML page consisting of a form with a TextBox, a DropDown list and a PushButton according to an embodiment of the present invention; Figure 21 is a flow chart depicting a method for software configuration management

Figure 21.1 is an illustration of an IDEA framework on which the ReTA Development Architecture Design is based according to an embodiment of the present invention;

Figure 22 illustrates the Configuration Management Life Cycle according to an embodiment of the present invention;

Figure 23 illustrates the change control 'pipeline' and each phase within the pipeline according to an embodiment of the present invention;

Figure 24 depicts the application of Roles within the Microsoft Transaction Server (MTS) management console according to an embodiment of the present invention;

Figure 25 illustrates an environment migration process that guides development within ReTA engagement environments according to an embodiment of the present invention;

Figure 26 is an illustration of a Development/Unit test for existing applications according to an embodiment of the present invention;

Figure 27 illustrates an assembly test for existing applications according to an embodiment of the present invention;

Figure 28 illustrates a system test for existing applications according to an embodiment of the present invention;

Figure 29 is a flowchart for production of existing applications according to an embodiment of the present invention;

Figure 30 illustrates a graphic display of Visual Source Safe according to an embodiment of the present invention;

Figure 31 illustrates a frame of PVCS Version Manager I-Net Client according to an embodiment of the present invention; Figure 32 is an illustration of a Build Source Control Model according to an embodiment of the present invention;

Figure 33 illustrates an Assembly Test phase control mode according to an embodiment of the present invention;

Figure 34 illustrates a Microsoft Visual SourceSafe 'Labels' dialog box according to an embodiment of the present invention;

Figure 35 illustrates a Database Diagram within Visual Studio according to an embodiment of the present invention;

Figure 36 illustrates Object Modeling within Rational Rose according to an embodiment of the present invention;

Figure 37 illustrates directly calling a wrapped CICS component according to an embodiment of the present invention;

Figure 38 illustrates indirectly calling a wrapped CICS component according to an embodiment of the present invention;

Figure 39 illustrates RSW eTest Automated Testing Tool according to an embodiment of the present invention;

Figure 40 is an illustration which describes the physical configuration necessary for ReTA development according to an embodiment of the present invention;

Figure 41 illustrates the application & architecture configuration for a typical ReTA Build environment according to an embodiment of the present invention;

Figure 42 illustrates the application & architecture configuration for a typical ReTA Build environment according to an embodiment of the present invention; Figure 43 illustrates an IDEA Framework with components in scope ReTA Phase 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention;

Figure 44 illustrates a NCAF Framework with the shaded components in scope for Phase 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention;

Figure 45 illustrates a MODEnc Framework according to an embodiment of the present invention;

Figure 46 illustrates a NCAF Framework according to an embodiment of the present invention;

Figure 47 illustrates the components that comprise the ReTA execution architecture and their physical location according to an embodiment of the present invention;

Figure 48 illustrates a MODEnc Framework for Operations Architecture according to an embodiment of the present invention;

Figure 49 is an illustrative representation of a solicited event resulting from the direct (synchronous) polling of a network component by a network management station according to an embodiment of the present invention;

Figure 50 is an illustrative representation of when an unsolicited event occurs when a network component sends (asynchronously) data to the network management station according to an embodiment of the present invention;

Figure 51 illustrates event management in a net-centric environment according to an embodiment of the present invention;

Figure 52 illustrates event management in an Intranet-based net-centric model according to an embodiment of the present invention;

Figure 53 illustrates event management when using an Extranet-based net-centric model according to an embodiment of the present invention; Figure 54 illustrates the tables and relationships required for the ReTA Phase 1 Architecture Frameworks according to an embodiment of the present invention;

Figure 55 illustrates tables and relationships required for the ReTA Phase 1 validation application according to an embodiment of the present invention;

Figure 56 illustrates the physical configuration of a possible ReTA-engagement development environment according to an embodiment of the present invention;

Figure 57 illustrates the physical configuration of possible ReTA-based Assembly, Product and

Performance testing environments according to an embodiment of the present invention;

Figure 58 illustrates Separate Web and Application Servers according to an embodiment of the present invention;

Figure 59 illustrates a Single Web and Application Server according to an embodiment of the present invention;

Figure 60 illustrates a Commerce Membership Server [Membership Authentication] properties view according to an embodiment of the present invention;

Figure 61 illustrates a Membership Directory Manager Properties Dialog according to an embodiment of the present invention;

Figure 62 is an illustration of a Membership Server Mapping Property according to an embodiment of the present invention;

Figure 63 is an illustration of a Create New Site Foundation Wizard according to an embodiment of the present invention;

Figure 64 illustrates the web application being placed under the "Member" directory of "cm" in Windows Explorer according to an embodiment of the present invention; Figure 65 depicts a typical ReTA engagement development environment according to an embodiment of the present invention;

Figure 66 illustrates the development environment configuration for a ReTA Phase 1 engagement according to an embodiment of the present invention;

Figure 67 illustrates an interface associated with the ability of inserting or removing statements within a block without worrying about adding or removing braces according to an embodiment of the present invention;

Figure 68 shows a Visual J++ Build Environment according to an embodiment of the present invention;

Figure 69 shows an interface for attaching to the MTS Process for debugging according to an embodiment of the present invention;

Figure 70 shows an interface for debugging an Active Server Page (example global. asa file) according to an embodiment of the present invention;

Figure 71 illustrates an example of Rose generated java file and javadoc comments according to an embodiment of the present invention;

Figure 72 is a flowchart illustrating a method for testing a technical architecture;

Figure 72.1 illustrates the application & architecture configuration for a typical ReTA Build environment according to an embodiment of the present invention;

Figure 73 illustrates that the code for technology architecture assembly test may be migrated from the technology architecture component test environment as defined in the migration procedures according to an embodiment of the present invention;

Figure 74 illustrates the application & architecture configuration for a typical ReTA Build environment according to an embodiment of the present invention; Figure 75 illustrates the physical characteristics of the testing environment to be utilized during the Performance Testing Phases according to an embodiment of the present invention;

Figure 76 is a flow chart depicting a method for managing change requests in an e-commerce environment;

Figure 76.1 illustrates a framework associated with the change tracker according to an embodiment of the present invention;

Figure 77 illustrates the Change Tracker Main Window according to an embodiment of the present invention;

Figure 78 illustrates the Change Request Detail Screen according to an embodiment of the present invention;

Figure 79 illustrates a History of Changes Window according to an embodiment of the present invention;

Figure 80 illustrates the Ad-Hoc Reporting Window according to an embodiment of the present invention;

Figure 81 illustrates the Manager Reporting Window according to an embodiment of the present invention;

Figure 82 illustrates the Migration Checklist Window according to an embodiment of the present invention;

Figure 83 is a flow chart illustrating a method for managing issues in an e-commerce environment;

Figure 83.1 illustrates the Issue Tracker Main Screen according to an embodiment of the present invention;

Figure 84 illustrates the New Issue Screen according to an embodiment of the present invention; Figure 85 illustrates the Modify Issue Screen according to an embodiment of the present invention;

Figure 86 illustrates the Report Selection Screen according to an embodiment of the present invention;

Figure 87 is a flow chart depicting a method for network performance modeling;

Figure 87.1 illustrates the end to end process associated with Performance Modeling according to an embodiment of the present invention;

Figure 88 illustrates the Effective Network Performance Management according to an embodiment of the present invention;

Figure 89 illustrates an example of overhead introduced at lower layers according to an embodiment of the present invention;

Figure 90 illustrates a graph depicting a Network Usage Profile according to an embodiment of the present invention;

Figure 91 illustrates a Network Layout according to an embodiment of the present invention;

Figure 92 illustrates how the four tool categories relate to each other according to an embodiment of the present invention;

Figure 93 is a flow chart depicting a method for managing software modules during development;

Figure 93.1 illustrates the PVCS Migration Flow according to an embodiment of the present invention;

Figure 94 illustrates SCM Planning according to an embodiment of the present invention; Figure 95 illustrates an Identify CM Units & Baselines Process Flow according to an embodiment of the present invention;

Figure 96 illustrates a manner in which CM Repositories and Practices Process Flow are established according to an embodiment of the present invention;

Figure 97 illustrates the Establish Change Control Process according to an embodiment of the present invention;

Figure 98 illustrates Collect Metrics and Identify Cl Activities according to an embodiment of the present invention;

Figure 99 illustrates the Review/Establish Project Security according to an embodiment of the present invention;

Figure 100 illustrates the Determine Training Requirements according to an embodiment of the present invention;

Figure 101 illustrates the Create Project CM Plan according to an embodiment of the present invention;

Figure 102 shows the Manage CM Repository Process Flow according to an embodiment of the present invention;

Figure 103 is a flow chart illustrating a method for providing a system investigation report workbench;

Figure 103.1 illustrates a SIR Workbench Main Window screen which provides navigation buttons for adding new SIRs, viewing existing SIRs, viewing/printing existing reports and help according to an embodiment of the present invention;

Figure 104 illustrates New SIR window displayed upon select the New button on the Main Window according to an embodiment of the present invention; Figure 105 illustrates a window for reviewing and modifying existing SIRs according to an embodiment of the present invention;

Figure 106 illustrates the Change Control Details Window according to an embodiment of the present invention;

Figure 107 illustrates a Report Selection Screen upon selection the Report button from the main menu according to an embodiment of the present invention;

Figure 108 illustrates a graphic display of SourceSafe Administrator according to an embodiment of the present invention;

Figure 109 illustrates a configuration of a project tree within Visual SourceSafe Explorer according to an embodiment of the present invention;

Figure 109.1 illustrates a dialog box of the projection tree in Figure 109 designed to allow developers to quickly located and retrieve desired projects and/or files according to an embodiment of the present invention;

Figure 110 illustrates a graphic display when the user gets the latest of the server-side application code from VSS according to an embodiment of the present invention;

Figure 111 illustrates a window that appears where selection the Recursive checkbox permits copying of any sub-projects according to an embodiment of the present invention;

Figure 112 illustrates a History window displayed upon selection of View History menu item according to an embodiment of the present invention;

Figure 113 illustrates the VSS Explorer reflecting the status of the checked out files for other developers to see at a point where one can open the local project or files and make any desired changes according to an embodiment of the present invention;

Figure 114 illustrates Check In from within the VSS Explorer according to an embodiment of the present invention; Figure 115 illustrates the prompting for Check In details according to an embodiment of the present invention;

Figure 116 illustrates a label creation dialog box according to an embodiment of the present invention;

Figure 117 illustrates a History of Project dialog box according to an embodiment of the present invention;

Figure 118 illustrates a History Details dialog according to an embodiment of the present invention;

Figure 119 illustrates the end to end evaluation process of an Internet firewall for ReTA according to an embodiment of the present invention;

Figure 120 is a chart of Firewall Products according to an embodiment of the present invention;

Figure 121 depicts the two firewall vendors selected for the product evaluation stage according to an embodiment of the present invention;

Figure 122 is a diagram of the Activity Framework classes with the VB Activity Wrapper according to an embodiment of the present invention;

Figure 123 illustrates the relationships IVB Activity interface according to an embodiment of the present invention;

Figure 124 is a flow chart depicting a method for providing a global internetworking gateway architecture in an e-commerce environment;

Figure 124.1 illustrates a simple high level internetworking gateway architecture according to an embodiment of the present invention; Figure 125 illustrates an Internetworking Gateway with a Specialized Proxy/Cache Server according to an embodiment of the present invention;

Figure 126 illustrates a high level global internetworking gateway architecture according to an embodiment of the present invention;

Figure 127 shows an illustrative West Coast internetworking gateway architecture according to an embodiment of the present invention;

Figure 128 shows a Remote Access Internetworking Gateway architecture according to an embodiment of the present invention;

Figure 129 illustrates an Internetworking Gateway with Partner collaboration on Internet Development according to an embodiment of the present invention;

Figure 130 illustrates a persistable business object extending Persistence. RetaPersistableObj. According to an embodiment of the present invention;

Figure 131 illustrates layers of a shared property group manager according to an embodiment of the present invention;

Figure 132 is a flow chart depicting a method for initializing a database used with an issue tracker;

Figure 132.1 illustrates configuring of an issue tracker tool for normal operation according to an embodiment of the present invention;

Figure 133 illustrates a dialog box prompting to confirm the removal of linked tables within a database;

Figure 134 illustrates a New Table' dialog window being displayed upon selection of a 'New' button in order to insert a new table according to an embodiment of the present invention; Figure 135 illustrates a prompting by Access for selecting tables to link according to an embodiment of the present invention;

Figure 136 illustrates a dialog box indicating linked tables according to an embodiment of the present invention;

Figure 137 illustrates a 'Welcome Form' window according to an embodiment of the present invention;

Figure 138 illustrates a 'Issue Form' window according to an embodiment of the present invention;

Figure 139 illustrates a window which permits modification of the available reports within the Issue tool according to an embodiment of the present invention;

Figure 140 illustrates a window displayed permitting modification of desired report elements to the new project name according to an embodiment of the present invention;

Figure 141 illustrates a Team Code Table window which allows adding and deleting of project locations according to an embodiment of the present invention;

Figure 142 illustrates a Team Membership Table window which allows adding and deleting of team members according to an embodiment of the present invention;

Figure 143 illustrates a Project Phases Table window which allows changing of project phases according to an embodiment of the present invention;

Figure 144 illustrates a Startup window which allows changing of the title of a database according to an embodiment of the present invention;

Figure 145 is a flowchart depicting a method for generating software based on business components; Figure 145.1 illustrates a relationship between business components and partitioned business components according to an embodiment of the present invention;

Figure 146 illustrates how a Billing Business Component may create an invoice according to an embodiment of the present invention;

Figure 147 illustrates the relationship between the spectmm of Business Components and the types of Partitioned Business Components according to an embodiment of the present invention;

Figure 148 illustrates the flow of workflow, dialog flow, and/or user interface designs to a User

Interface Component according to an embodiment of the present invention;

Figure 149 is a diagram of the Eagle Application Model which illustrates how the different types of Partitioned Business Components may interact with each other according to an embodiment of the present invention;

Figure 150 illustrates what makes up a Partitioned Business Component according to an embodiment of the present invention;

Figure 151 illustrates the role of patterns and frameworks according to an embodiment of the present invention;

Figure 152 illustrates a Business Component Identifying Methodology according to an embodiment of the present invention;

Figure 153 is a flow chart depicting an exemplary embodiment of a resources e-commerce technical architecture;

Figure 154 is a flow chart illustrating a second exemplary embodiment of a method for maintaining data in an e-commerce based technical architecture;

Figure 155 is a flow chart illustraing an exemplary embodiment of a method for providing a resources e-commerce technical architecture; Figure 156 illustrates another exemplary embodiment of a method for providing a resources e- commerce technical architecture; and

Figure 157 illustrates an additional exemplary embodiment of a method for providing a resources e-commerce technical architecture.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The Resources eCommerce Technology Architecture (ReTA) is a solution that allows the use of packaged components to be integrated into a client based eCommerce solution. Before the present invention, the Resources architecture offerings provided services that supported the constmction, execution and operation of very large custom built solutions. In the last few years, client needs have shifted towards requirements for solutions that continually integrate well with third party applications (i.e., data warehouse and portion of the present description management systems). Previous engagements have proven that it is difficult to integrate these applications into a new solution. As application vendors continue to produce new releases that incorporate technical advancements, it is even more difficult to ensure that these integrated applications continue to work with a given solution.

The ReTA approach to constmcting, executing and operating a solution emphasizes the ability to change solution components with minimal impact on the solution as a whole. From this approach, ReTA views third party applications as another component in the overall solution. ReTA is component based, which means the engagement can choose to take only the pieces it needs to meet its specific business requirements. ReTA is especially suited to building small applications, implementing tools and packages, integrating applications and web enabling applications.

ReTA leverages the best capabilities from established market leaders such as Microsoft, SAP and

Oracle. In addition, ReTA leverages some of the Resources prior efforts to integrate solutions. The present invention is an assembly of these best capabilities that helps to ensure a holistic delivered solution.

In short, the benefits ReTA provides to the Resources practice and clients are:

• Save engagement teams the redundant effort of repeatedly evaluating the same technology. • Help engagement teams avoid the risk of combining solution components that may be difficult to get to work together.

Make it cost effective and low risk to apply upgrades to each of the solution products without negatively affecting the other solution components.

• Show the clients a solution to a real challenge that cannot be offered by SAP, Microsoft, IBM, Oracle or many technology startups involved in eCommerce work.

• Focus the Resources architecture offering on common technology choices that coexist nicely.

In accordance with at least one embodiment of the present invention, a system is provided for affording various features which support a resources eCommerce Technical Architecture. The present invention may be enabled using a hardware implementation such as that illustrated in

Figure 1. Further, various functional and user interface features of one embodiment of the present invention may be enabled using software programming, i.e. object oriented programming (OOP). HARDWARE OVERVIEW

A representative hardware environment of a preferred embodiment of the present invention is depicted in Figure 1, which illustrates a typical hardware configuration of a workstation having a central processing unit 110, such as a microprocessor, and a number of other units interconnected via a system bus 112. The workstation shown in Figure 1 includes Random Access Memory

(RAM) 114, Read Only Memory (ROM) 116, an I O adapter 118 for connecting peripheral devices such as disk storage units 120 to the bus 112, a user interface adapter 122 for connecting a keyboard 124, a mouse 126, a speaker 128, a microphone 132, and/or other user interface devices such as a touch screen (not shown) to the bus 112, communication adapter 134 for connecting the workstation to a communication network (e.g., a data processing network) and a display adapter 136 for connecting the bus 112 to a display device 138. The workstation typically has resident thereon an operating system such as the Microsoft Windows NT or Windows/95 Operating System (OS), the IBM OS/2 operating system, the MAC OS, or UNIX operating system. SOFTWARE OVERVIEW

Object oriented programming (OOP) has become increasingly used to develop complex applications. As OOP moves toward the mainstream of software design and development, various software solutions require adaptation to make use of the benefits of OOP. A need exists for the principles of OOP to be applied to a messaging interface of an electronic messaging system such that a set of OOP classes and objects for the messaging interface can be provided.

OOP is a process of developing computer software using objects, including the steps of analyzing the problem, designing the system, and constmcting the program. An object is a software package that contains both data and a collection of related stmctures and procedures. Since it contains both data and a collection of structures and procedures, it can be visualized as a self- sufficient component that does not require other additional stmctures, procedures or data to perform its specific task. OOP, therefore, views a computer program as a collection of largely autonomous components, called objects, each of which is responsible for a specific task. This concept of packaging data, stmctures, and procedures together in one component or module is called encapsulation.

In general, OOP components are reusable software modules which present an interface that conforms to an object model and which are accessed at mn-time through a component integration architecture. A component integration architecture is a set of architecture mechanisms which allow software modules in different process spaces to utilize each other's capabilities or functions. This is generally done by assuming a common component object model on which to build the architecture. It is worthwhile to differentiate between an object and a class of objects at this point. An object is a single instance of the class of objects, which is often just called a class. A class of objects can be viewed as a blueprint, from which many objects can be formed.

OOP allows the programmer to create an object that is a part of another object. For example, the object representing a piston engine is said to have a composition-relationship with the object representing a piston. In reality, a piston engine comprises a piston, valves and many other components; the fact that a piston is an element of a piston engine can be logically and semantically represented in OOP by two objects. OOP also allows creation of an object that "depends from" another object. If there are two objects, one representing a piston engine and the other representing a piston engine wherein the piston is made of ceramic, then the relationship between the two objects is not that of composition. A ceramic piston engine does not make up a piston engine. Rather it is merely one kind of piston engine that has one more limitation than the piston engine; its piston is made of ceramic. In this case, the object representing the ceramic piston engine is called a derived object, and it inherits all of the aspects of the object representing the piston engine and adds further limitation or detail to it. The object representing the ceramic piston engine "depends from" the object representing the piston engine. The relationship between these objects is called inheritance.

When the object or class representing the ceramic piston engine inherits all of the aspects of the objects representing the piston engine, it inherits the thermal characteristics of a standard piston defined in the piston engine class. However, the ceramic piston engine object overrides these ceramic specific thermal characteristics, which are typically different from those associated with a metal piston. It skips over the original and uses new functions related to ceramic pistons. Different kinds of piston engines have different characteristics, but may have the same underlying functions associated with them (e.g., how many pistons in the engine, ignition sequences, lubrication, etc.). To access each of these functions in any piston engine object, a programmer would call the same functions with the same names, but each type of piston engine may have different/overriding implementations of functions behind the same name. This ability to hide different implementations of a function behind the same name is called polymorphism and it greatly simplifies communication among objects.

With the concepts of composition-relationship, encapsulation, inheritance and polymoφhism, an object can represent just about anything in the real world. In fact, the logical perception of the reality is the only limit on determining the kinds of things that can become objects in object- oriented software. Some typical categories are as follows:

• Objects can represent physical objects, such as automobiles in a traffic-flow simulation, electrical components in a circuit-design program, countries in an economics model, or aircraft in an air-traffic-control system.

• Objects can represent elements of the computer-user environment such as windows, menus or graphics objects. • An object can represent an inventory, such as a personnel file or a table of the latitudes and longitudes of cities.

• An object can represent user-defined data types such as time, angles, and complex numbers, or points on the plane.

With this enormous capability of an object to represent just about any logically separable matters, OOP allows the software developer to design and implement a computer program that is a model of some aspects of reality, whether that reality is a physical entity, a process, a system, or a composition of matter. Since the object can represent anything, the software developer can create an object which can be used as a component in a larger software project in the future.

If 90% of a new OOP software program consists of proven, existing components made from preexisting reusable objects, then only the remaining 10% of the new software project has to be written and tested from scratch. Since 90% already came from an inventory of extensively tested reusable objects, the potential domain from which an eπor could originate is 10% of the program. As a result, OOP enables software developers to build objects out of other, previously built objects.

This process closely resembles complex machinery being built out of assemblies and sub- assemblies. OOP technology, therefore, makes software engineering more like hardware engineering in that software is built from existing components, which are available to the developer as objects. All this adds up to an improved quality of the software as well as an increase in the speed of its development.

Programming languages are beginning to fully support the OOP principles, such as encapsulation, inheritance, polymoφhism, and composition-relationship. With the advent of the C++ language, many commercial software developers have embraced OOP. C++ is an OOP language that offers a fast, machine-executable code. Furthermore, C++ is suitable for both commercial-application and systems-programming projects. For now, C++ appears to be the most popular choice among many OOP programmers, but there is a host of other OOP languages, such as Smalltalk, Common Lisp Object System (CLOS), and Eiffel. Additionally, OOP capabilities are being added to more traditional popular computer programming languages such as Pascal. The benefits of object classes can be summarized, as follows:

• Objects and their coπesponding classes break down complex programming problems into many smaller, simpler problems.

• Encapsulation enforces data abstraction through the organization of data into small, independent objects that can communicate with each other. Encapsulation protects the data in an object from accidental damage, but allows other objects to interact with that data by calling the object's member functions and stmctures.

• Subclassing and inheritance make it possible to extend and modify objects through deriving new kinds of objects from the standard classes available in the system. Thus, new capabilities are created without having to start from scratch.

• Polymoφhism and multiple inheritance make it possible for different programmers to mix and match characteristics of many different classes and create specialized objects that can still work with related objects in predictable ways.

• Class hierarchies and containment hierarchies provide a flexible mechanism for modeling real-world objects and the relationships among them.

• Libraries of reusable classes are useful in many situations, but they also have some limitations. For example:

• Complexity. In a complex system, the class hierarchies for related classes can become extremely confusing, with many dozens or even hundreds of classes. • Flow of control. A program written with the aid of class libraries is still responsible for the flow of control (i.e., it must control the interactions among all the objects created from a particular library). The programmer has to decide which functions to call at what times for which kinds of objects.

• Duplication of effort. Although class libraries allow programmers to use and reuse many small pieces of code, each programmer puts those pieces together in a different way.

Two different programmers can use the same set of class libraries to write two programs that do exactly the same thing but whose internal stmcture (i.e., design) may be quite different, depending on hundreds of small decisions each programmer makes along the way. Inevitably, similar pieces of code end up doing similar things in slightly different ways and do not work as well together as they should.

Class libraries are very flexible. As programs grow more complex, more programmers are forced to reinvent basic solutions to basic problems over and over again. A relatively new extension of the class library concept is to have a framework of class libraries. This framework is more complex and consists of significant collections of collaborating classes that capture both the small scale patterns and major mechanisms that implement the common requirements and design in a specific application domain. They were first developed to free application programmers from the chores involved in displaying menus, windows, dialog boxes, and other standard user interface elements for personal computers.

Frameworks also represent a change in the way programmers think about the interaction between the code they write and code written by others. In the early days of procedural programming, the programmer called libraries provided by the operating system to perform certain tasks, but basically the program executed down the page from start to finish, and the programmer was solely responsible for the flow of control. This was appropriate for printing out paychecks, calculating a mathematical table, or solving other problems with a program that executed in just one way.

The development of graphical user interfaces began to turn this procedural programming arrangement inside out. These interfaces allow the user, rather than program logic, to drive the program and decide when certain actions should be performed. Today, most personal computer software accomplishes this by means of an event loop which monitors the mouse, keyboard, and other sources of external events and calls the appropriate parts of the programmer's code according to actions that the user performs. The programmer no longer determines the order in which events occur. Instead, a program is divided into separate pieces that are called at unpredictable times and in an unpredictable order. By relinquishing control in this way to users, the developer creates a program that is much easier to use. Nevertheless, individual pieces of the program written by the developer still call libraries provided by the operating system to accomplish certain tasks, and the programmer must still determine the flow of control within each piece after it's called by the event loop. Application code still "sits on top of the system.

Even event loop programs require programmers to write a lot of code that should not need to be written separately for every application. The concept of an application framework carries the event loop concept further. Instead of dealing with all the nuts and bolts of constmcting basic menus, windows, and dialog boxes and then making all these things work together, programmers using application frameworks start with working application code and basic user interface elements in place. Subsequently, they build from there by replacing some of the generic capabilities of the framework with the specific capabilities of the intended application.

Application frameworks reduce the total amount of code that a programmer has to write from scratch. However, because the framework is really a generic application that displays windows, supports copy and paste, and so on, the programmer can also relinquish control to a greater degree than event loop programs permit. The framework code takes care of almost all event handling and flow of control, and the programmer's code is called only when the framework needs it (e.g., to create or manipulate a proprietary data stmcture).

A programmer writing a framework program not only relinquishes control to the user (as is also tme for event loop programs), but also relinquishes the detailed flow of control within the program to the framework. This approach allows the creation of more complex systems that work together in interesting ways, as opposed to isolated programs, having custom code, being created over and over again for similar problems.

Thus, as is explained above, a framework basically is a collection of cooperating classes that make up a reusable design solution for a given problem domain. It typically includes objects that provide default behavior (e.g., for menus and windows), and programmers use it by inheriting some of that default behavior and overriding other behavior so that the framework calls application code at the appropriate times.

There are three main differences between frameworks and class libraries:

• Behavior versus protocol. Class libraries are essentially collections of behaviors that you can call when you want those individual behaviors in your program. A framework, on the other hand, provides not only behavior but also the protocol or set of mles that govern the ways in which behaviors can be combined, including mles for what a programmer is supposed to provide versus what the framework provides.

• Call versus override. With a class library, the code the programmer instantiates objects and calls their member functions. It's possible to instantiate and call objects in the same way with a framework (i.e., to treat the framework as a class library), but to take full advantage of a framework's reusable design, a programmer typically writes code that oveπides and is called by the framework. The framework manages the flow of control among its objects. Writing a program involves dividing responsibilities among the various pieces of software that are called by the framework rather than specifying how the different pieces should work together.

Implementation versus design. With class libraries, programmers reuse only implementations, whereas with frameworks, they reuse design. A framework embodies the way a family of related programs or pieces of software work. It represents a generic design solution that can be adapted to a variety of specific problems in a given domain. For example, a single framework can embody the way a user interface works, even though two different user interfaces created with the same framework might solve quite different interface problems.

Thus, through the development of frameworks for solutions to various problems and programming tasks, significant reductions in the design and development effort for software can be achieved. A preferred embodiment of the invention utilizes HyperText Markup Language (HTML) to implement documents on the Internet together with a general-puφose secure communication protocol for a transport medium between the client and a company. HTTP or other protocols could be readily substituted for HTML without undue experimentation. Information on these products is available in T. Bemers-Lee, D. Connoly, "RFC 1866: Hypertext Markup Language - 2.0" (Nov. 1995); and R. Fielding, H, Frystyk, T. Bemers-Lee, J. Gettys and J.C. Mogul, "Hypertext Transfer Protocol - HTTP/1.1 : HTTP Working Group Internet Draft" (May 2, 1996). HTML is a simple data format used to create hypertext documents that are portable from one platform to another. HTML documents are SGML documents with generic semantics that are appropriate for representing information from a wide range of domains. HTML has been in use by the World-Wide Web global information initiative since 1990. HTML is an application of ISO Standard 8879; 1986 Information Processing Text and Office Systems; Standard Generalized Markup Language (SGML).

To date, Web development tools have been limited in their ability to create dynamic Web applications which span from client to server and interoperate with existing computing resources. Until recently, HTML has been the dominant technology used in development of Web-based solutions. However, HTML has proven to be inadequate in the following areas:

• Poor performance;

• Restricted user interface capabilities;

• Can only produce static Web pages;

• Lack of interoperability with existing applications and data; and • Inability to scale.

Sun Microsystem's Java language solves many of the client-side problems by:

• Improving performance on the client side; • Enabling the creation of dynamic, real-time Web applications; and

• Providing the ability to create a wide variety of user interface components.

With Java, developers can create robust User Interface (UI) components. Custom "widgets" (e.g., real-time stock tickers, animated icons, etc.) can be created, and client-side performance is improved. Unlike HTML, Java supports the notion of client-side validation, offloading appropriate processing onto the client for improved performance. Dynamic, real-time Web pages can be created. Using the above-mentioned custom UI components, dynamic Web pages can also be created.

Sun's Java language has emerged as an industry-recognized language for "programming the

Internet." Sun defines Java as "a simple, object-oriented, distributed, inteφreted, robust, secure, architecture-neutral, portable, high-performance, multithreaded, dynamic, buzzword-compliant, general-puφose programming language. Java supports programming for the Internet in the form of platform-independent Java applets." Java applets are small, specialized applications that comply with Sun's Java Application Programming Interface (API) allowing developers to add

"interactive content" to Web documents (e.g., simple animations, page adornments, basic games, etc.). Applets execute within a Java-compatible browser (e.g., Netscape Navigator) by copying code from the server to client. From a language standpoint, Java's core feature set is based on C++. Sun's Java literature states that Java is basically, "C++ with extensions from Objective C for more dynamic method resolution."

Another technology that provides similar function to JAVA is provided by Microsoft and ActiveX Technologies, to give developers and Web designers wherewithal to build dynamic content for the Internet and personal computers. ActiveX includes tools for developing animation, 3-D virtual reality, video and other multimedia content. The tools use Internet standards, work on multiple platforms, and are being supported by over 100 companies. The group's building blocks are called ActiveX Controls, which are fast components that enable developers to embed parts of software in hypertext markup language (HTML) pages. ActiveX Controls work with a variety of programming languages including Microsoft Visual C++, Borland Delphi, Microsoft Visual Basic programming system and, in the future, Microsoft's development tool for Java, code named "Jakarta." ActiveX Technologies also includes ActiveX Server Framework, allowing developers to create server applications. One of ordinary skill in the art readily recognizes that ActiveX could be substituted for JAVA without undue experimentation to practice the invention.

Various aspects of ReTA will now be set forth under separate headings:

CODES TABLE FRAMEWORK

With reference to Figure 1.1, a codes table framework 140 is provided for maintaining application consistency by referencing text phrases through a short codes framework. First, in operation 142, a table of codes each having a text phrase associated therewith is provided. Such table of codes is stored on a local storage medium. Next, in operation 144, the table of codes is accessed on the local storage medium. One of the text phrases is subsequently retrieved by selecting a corresponding one of the codes of the table, as indicated in operation 146. During operation, modification of the text phrases associated with each of the codes of the table is permitted. See operation 148.

The modification may be carried out during a business logic execution. Further, various services may be provided such as retrieving a single one of the text phrases, retrieving all of the text phrases in response to a single command, updating a single code and text phrase combination, updating all of the code and text phrase combinations, naming the table, adding a new code and text phrase combination, removing one of the code and text phrase combinations, and/or adding another table.

Further, a name of the table may be stored upon retrieval of the text phrase. Further, a total number of code and text phrase combinations in the table may be determined and stored. In the case where a plurality of tables are provided, any number of the tables may be removed during operation. Additional information will be now be discussed relative to the various foregoing operations.

This portion of the present description details the ReTA Codes Table framework design from the perspective of the application developer. The puφose of a codes table is to maintain application consistency by referencing text phrases (to be displayed to the end user) through short codes. The code and text phrase (decode) are stored in a standard table format. The codes table component stores this table locally on the web server, thus reducing the overhead of accessing the database each time the application needs to translate a code.

Description

The role of this framework is to store frequently used code/decode sets on the web server and provide services that enable the application developer to retrieve the decode(s) associated with code(s). In addition, the framework provides services to enable the developer to modify the contents of the locally stored codes table during business logic execution.

Services

The Codes Table Framework provides the following services:

<img file="WO0109792A2_D0001.tif" />

Components

The Codes Table Framework consist of the following COM objects: <img file="WO0109792A2_D0002.tif" />These components are described in detailed in the following sub-sections.

AFRetrieval

The AFRetrieval component enables the application developer to load the specified codes table into local memory (for faster access) and retrieve the requested decode(s).

Methods

The LAFRetrieval interface defines the access to the AFRetrieval component. This interface supports the following methods:

Method Description agπrsfeMM iBi^' Retrieve the requested codes table into local memory and store the table name for subsequent retrieval requests (instead of retrieving from MTS shared memory). Search through the cuπently identified local codes table and return the 'decode' associated with the 'code'. Refer to setTableName method.

Return the number of code / decode pairs contained in the currently identified local codes table. Refer to setTableName method.

Return all the codes and decodes for the specified codes table.

AFMaintenance

The AFMaintenance component maintains the specified local codes table.

Methods The lAFMaintenance interface defines the access to the AFMaintenance component. This interface supports the following methods: <img file="WO0109792A2_D0003.tif" />

SAP FRAMEWORK DESIGN

Figure 1.2 illustrates a method 150 for providing an interface between a first server and a second server with a proxy component situated therebetween. Initially, in operation 152, a request for a business object is identified by an application on the first server. The first server is connected to the second server in operation 153. In operation 154, selection criteria from the first server is transmitted to the second server. In response to the selection criteria, the first server receives a first recordset and a second recordset from the second server in operation 155. Business data is included in the first recordset and result codes are included in the second recordset. The first and second recordsets are mapped to the business object in operation 156 and, in operation 157, the business object is sent to the application on the first server.

The first and second recordsets may also be mapped to the business object using a utility conversion function. Additionally, the first and second recordsets may also be mapped to the business object using a utility conversion function. Optionally, the recordsets may be ActiveX data objects (ADO) recordsets.

The first server may also receive a third recordset from the second server in response to the selection criteria. This third recordset may include eπors and references to an eπor table on the first server for allowing processing of the eπors.

In a further embodiment of the present invention, changes to the proxy component may be prevented from affecting the application on the first server. Additionally, generation of a plurality of the proxy components by a user may be allowed. The following material provides a more detailed description of the above-described method.

This portion of the present description details the ReTA SAP framework design from the perspective of the application developer. The role of this framework is to provide designs and templates that describe how to integrate an Internet application with a SAP server. Unlike the other ReTA frameworks, this does not provide any code components for connecting to SAP, but uses the SAP/DCOM component connector created jointly by Microsoft and SAP. This portion of the present description provides a framework for the design of the architecture using the SAP DCOM connector components to integrate with SAP.

The DCOM Component Connector provides interoperability between R/3 objects and COM objects across a heterogeneous network through well-defined business interfaces. It provides the development tools for connecting with SAP to standard SAP BAPI 's (Business Application Programmer Interface) as well as custom developed or modified BAPI's. The DCOM component connector can connect to SAP on Windows NT or UNIX. The Application server needs to be R/3 Version 2.1 or higher or R/2 with 50D. The ReTA SAP framework uses an adapter layer design that places a wrapper around the DCOM component connector. The adapter layer improves developer productivity by managing some of the lower level tasks, and improves the flexibility of the final solution.

The remainder of this portion of the present description describes the Execution and

Development Architectures for the SAP framework.

SAP Framework Execution Architecture

The DCOM Component connector uses COM ro y components that map to SAP Business

Objects. There is one proxy component for each SAP business object. The SAP business objects can contain both the standard BAPI 's (Business Application Programmer Interface) as well as custom developed or modified BAPI's. The SAP/DCOM component generation wizard connects to SAP, examines the SAP business object, and generates a proxy component with the same interface. The SAP/DCOM connector component can connect to SAP on Windows NT or UNIX.

Figure 1.3 shows the execution architecture for components that make up the SAP Framework Execution Architecture 160.

Referring again to Figure 1.3, the different layers in the SAP framework architecture are shown. The SAP/DCOM connector generated components 162 provide the actual connection to SAP

164. These components are generated from the SAP Business Application Programmer Interface (BAPI) 166,168. The BAPI's are either the standard SAP BAPI's, custom created BAPI's or Remote Function Calls.

The ReTA framework uses an Adapter layer to provide a thin wrapper on the SAP/DCOM connector components. The adapter layer provides the following benefits:

• It insulates the application from changes in the SAP/DCOM connector components.

• It provides utility functions for mapping the SAP/DCOM connector data types to the types required by the application. • It maps the SAP return eπor codes to the format required by the application.

The SAP/DCOM connector generated components use ADO (ActiveX Data Objects) recordsets to pass data to SAP. The adapter layer components map from these recordsets to the Business Objects or Business Data format used by the application. If a given method returns business data from SAP then this is in the form of an ADO recordset. If a method updates information in SAP then one must pass in an ADO recordset with all the data. To initialize this ADO recordset one calls a separate standard interface method of the proxy component. SAP returns business eπors by returning a separate ADO recordset that references an eπor table.

The ReTA framework's adapter layer maps the ADO recordsets that the DCOM connector uses to the business objects or data objects used by the application. The adapter layer also maps the eπor table recordset returned by SAP to the eπor handling mechanism used by the application.

SAP Framework Development Architecture

SAP/DCOM component connector generation

The SAP/DCOM connector portion of the present description gives a detailed description of how to generate a COM proxy component for a given SAP BAPI. The steps for creating a proxy component are:

• Using the DCOM Component Connector browser based tool, create a destination entry for the SAP Application server.

• Use the DCOM Connector wizard to connect to this destination.

• Browse through the available SAP Business Objects on the remote SAP system.

• Select a business object and click Generate Component DLL.

The DCOM Component connector may then generate C++ and LDL files, compile these files to create the proxy component and install this component in MTS.

SAP Adapter component design

This portion of the description describes the responsibility of the SAP adapter components and gives a template for a component.

The SAP Adapter components are responsible for: • Insulating the application from changes in the SAP BAPI.

• Receiving business data from SAP

• Updating business data in SAP • Mapping to/from the SAP returned data types

• Mapping the SAP eπor return codes to the eπor handling mechanism used by the application.

There is a one to one mapping between the SAP Adapter components and the generated SAP/DCOM connector components.

SAP Adapter component template

This template gives an example of an SAP connector component with one method to receive business data and one method to send business data. It describes how to convert to/from the data types required by the SAP Connector component and how to manage the SAP return eπor codes.

Function GetSAPData(&lt;in&gt;selectionCriteria, &lt;out&gt; businessObject): integer

• Create instance of the coπesponding SAP connector component • Call coπesponding SAP method passing in selectionCriteria.SAP may return an ADO

Recordset with the business data and a second ADO Recordset with the Result codes.

• Call an eπor utility function that maps the eπor return codes onto the applications eπor handling system.

• Map the return recordset onto the businessObject (possibly using utility conversion function). Return the business object to the caller of the function.

Function S etS APData(&lt;in&gt;businessObj ect) : integer

• Create instance of the corresponding SAP connector component

• Call the SAP connector standard method DimAS to retrieve the recordset that may be populated from the businessObject.

• Populate the recordset from the businessObject (possibly using utility conversion function).

• Cal the coπesponding SAP method passing in the recordset. • Call the eπor utility function that maps the eπor return codes onto the applications eπor handling system.

• Gives an example of an adapter component that demonstrates retrieving and updating SAP data and handling the SAP eπor codes.

MTS FRAMEWORK DESIGN

Figure 1.4 illustrates a method for sharing context objects among a plurality of components executed on a transaction server. In operation 170, a first component is executed on a transaction server. A context object is then generated for the first component in operation 172 to control a scope of the execution of the first component. In operation 174, a call made by the first component is identified to execute a second component. The context object of the first component is utilized for controlling the scope of the execution of the second component in operation 176. Optionally, the first and second components may be service order item components.

The first component may be an activity component and the second component may be a business component. As an option, a plurality of activity components may be provided. As another option, a call made by the activity component may also be identified to execute a second business component with the context object of the activity component utilized for controlling the scope of the execution of the second business component. As a further option, a call made by the activity component may be identified to execute an eπor logging component with an additional context object separate from the context object of the activity component being utilized for controlling the scope of the execution of the eπor logging component. The following material provides a more detailed description of the above-described method.

This portion of the present description details the ReTA approach to performing "logical unit of work" database operations in the context of transactions. Applications developed with ReTA implement transactions through Microsoft Transaction Server (MTS). Within the MTS transaction context, ReTA applications group business components into transactions. The application developer designs each business component to define whether its actions should be performed within a transaction. In addition, this portion of the present description details the MTS framework features and their implications on ReTA application design.

MTS Transactions: Application Design Implementation

Description

There are two main tasks the developer performs to design applications that use MTS to support transactions:

• Code the application component to be MTS aware.

• Use MTS services to group database operations into transactions.

Design MTS aware components

Figure 2 illustrates a create component instances method 200. MTS controls the scope of transactions by using transaction context objects. Each transaction server component has an associated MTS context object 202, which controls the transaction context. If a component 204 needs to create instances of other components 206 during its processing, it uses the

Createlnstance method of the MTS context object to create the new object. Calling this method ensures that the new component has an associated MTS context object 202 with the coπect transaction scope.

Group database operations into MTS transactions

The following portions of the present description include three database operations grouping scenarios that a ReTA application developer can implement through MTS.

Compose work from multiple components in the same transaction

As illustrated in Figure 3, in this scenario, the developer composes the work of a business activity 300 into a single transaction. Activity 300 uses business objects in components 302 and 304 to compete its work. Any database operations generated by either of these business components are completed in the context of a single transaction. To achieve this functionality, the developer uses the default transaction context scope that MTS provides. The developer sets the transaction attribute of the Activity component to Requires a transaction and the attribute of the business components to either Requires a transaction or Supports transactions. When the activity component initializes, MTS creates a coπesponding context object 306. Subsequently, when the activity component initializes the business components, these business components share the same context object and are therefore committed in the same transaction.

When the Activity completes and the reference to the activity component is removed, the transaction is committed. If any of the database calls, fails or any of the components decides to abort the transaction, the transaction is aborted and all the database actions performed are rolled back.

Force a component's database operations to use a separate transaction.

In this scenario, as illustrated in Figure 4, the developer creates a component whose database operations are always carried out in a separate transaction. For example, an eπor logging component 402 should not use the transaction context of the component generating the eπor. This could cause the eπor logged to the database to be rolled back if an eπor occurs in a separate database operation. This scenario has an activity component 400, two business components

404,406 and an eπor logging component 402. If an eπor occurs in the activity, then an eπor message is sent to the eπor logging component (which logs the eπor in a database). The transaction of the activity is rolled back, however, the transaction of the eπor logging component is committed to the database.

In this scenario, the developer uses the default behavior of MTS. The eπor logging component is registered as Requires a new transaction. When the activity component initializes the eπor logging component, MTS creates a new transaction context for the component. If an eπor occurs in the activity, the database operations for the activity is rolled back, but any database operations that the eπor component generates is committed.

Compose work from multiple activities in the same transaction. With reference to Figure 5 (which illustrates the compose work form multiple activities in the same transaction), in this scenario, the developer creates two separate activities 500,502 whose work sometimes need to be composed into a single transaction. To achieve this functionality using MTS, the developer creates a third activity component 504 that calls the other two activities. The third activity component is registered as Requires a transaction. When this component initializes, MTS creates a new transaction context. When the activity 504 initializes the other two activities 500,502, they share the same transaction context 506 (and any objects they create also have the ability to share the transaction context).

MTS Features: Application Design Implications

Description

Note: A FinancialWorks Knowledge Exchange (kX) posting (Optimizing Performance) provided most of the content for this portion of the description.

This portion of the description provides insight on the following MTS features:

• Connection Pooling

• Stateless/Stateful objects • Package threading

• Transactions

• Just in Time activation

• Object creation

• Parameter Passing.

Connection Pooling

MTS and ODBC provide connection pooling. MTS/ODBC associates a connection pool with a specific user account. Therefore, it is important that all data access components have a pre- defined account to use when requesting database connections. In addition, connections are pooled only within the same process. This implies that every MTS package may have a pool of connections, as each MTS package runs in its own process. Note that the ODBC connections are pooled, not the ADO connections. When the application code closes the ADO connection, the coπesponding ODBC connection stays in the pool until a configurable timeout expires (cptimeout). The configurable timeout key is in the registry under "Hkey_Local_Machine\Software\ODBC\ODBCLNST.INT\&lt;driver name&gt;\cptimeout" (with a default value of 60 seconds). Connection pooling can be turned off by setting this value to 0. In effect, connection pooling keeps more connections open with the database but saves the (expensive) overhead of re-creating the connection every time.

Note: Connection pooling is a feature of the ODBC resource manager. MTS automates the configuration of the ODBC resource to enable connection pooling.

Implications on application design:

Create accounts for account packages. Group components under the appropriate credentials and packages. The Database server is a resource bottleneck. To improve performance, ensure high bandwidth connections exist between application and database servers.

Connection pooling provides performance improvement especially in the case where connections are used and released frequently such as Internet application.

Stateful and Stateless Objects

MTS supports the concept of a stateful object. However, the object must satisfy the following conditions:

1) The object can not be transactional.

2) Even if it is marked as non-transactional, it cannot participate in a transaction (i.e. cannot be called from a transactional object or call a transactional object). The reason is that MTS implements an activity concept. In the activity concept, all objects participating in a transaction (or LUW) are logically "grouped" together. Upon the completion of that transaction, SetComplete is called and all objects in that activity are freed. Thus, no object in the transaction holds context (state) on transaction completion. 3) To enable a stateful object to participate in a transaction, partition the object into two parts: Stateful and Transactional. The Stateful part lives outside MTS and uses the TransactionContext object to manage manually (making explicit calls to start, commit and/or abort) the transaction inside MTS. To maintain transactional integrity, use the TransactionContext (as opposed to the ObjectContext) to create MTS objects. Therefore, the TransactionContext is passed inside MTS for later use of any MTS object instantiation. On the server, the code looks like the following: Set MtsObject = MtxTransactionContext.CreateInstance("progid")

Implication on application design:

In general, be deliberate with MTS and state. When working with MTS components, it is recommended to keep the context(state) on the client and have the server components be service driven. These components are instantiated to provide a service and then are freed.

Package Threading

Every time a package receives a method call, MTS creates a new thread to service the request. At the time of writing this portion of the present description, MTS packages have a maximum limit of 100 threads per package. If the number of the incoming concuπent calls exceeds 100,

MTS serializes all excess calls. Project testing (a Finacial Works project) proved that performance degraded significantly after reaching the 100 concuπent threads mark.

Implication on application design: Due to this limitation, package the application DLLs in a way to minimize thread contention.

For future releases of MTS, Microsoft claims the limit for concuπent calls may increase to 1000.

Activities

MTS defines an activity as set of objects acting on behalf of a client's request. Every MTS object belongs to one activity. The activity LD is recorded in the context of the object. The objects in an activity consist of the object created by a base client and any subsequent object created by it and all of its descendants. Objects in an activity can be distributed across several processes (and machines). Whenever a base client creates an MTS object, a new activity is created. When a MTS object is created from an existing context, the new object becomes part of the same activity. The object's context inherits the activity identifier of the creating context.

Implication on application design:

Activities define a single logical thread of execution. When a base client calls into an activity, all subsequent requests from other clients are blocked until control is returned to the original caller.

Automatic Transaction Control

MTS initiates a transaction when a method on a transactional component is called. MTS records the transaction LD in the component's object context. This transaction LD is passed to other MTS components' context objects requiring participation in the same transaction.

MTS operates with an optimistic assumption that the transaction is going to succeed. If the component never calls SetAbort, SetComplete, DisableCommit, or EnableCommit, the transaction commits when the client releases its last reference to the MTS component.

If the component calls SetComplete, the transaction commits as soon as the method call returns to the client. When the component calls SetAbort the transaction aborts as soon as the method call returns to the client.

If the component calls DisableCommit, the transaction aborts when the client releases its last reference to the component. If the component calls EnableCommit, the transaction commits when the client releases its last reference to the component.

Implications on application design:

When designing the transaction timeout, consider the potential for slow system and network response times. The application design should avoid long mnning transactions and attempt to break them into smaller ones. Note:

There is no explicit Commit method. If no objects have aborted the transaction by calling SetAbort or disabled commitment by calling DisableCommit, MTS may automatically commit the transaction when the client releases its object references.

Manual Transaction Control

Transactions can also be manually controlled from a base client by using the transaction context to start and commit/abort a transaction. This is particularly useful in the case where a stateful base client activates an MTS-managed transactional object to carry out a distributed transaction.

In order to achieve that, MTS uses the Transaction Context created by the base client.

Just-In-Time Activation

For every business object created, MTS intercepts the call and creates a sibling object called the

Object Context. It is the object context that may manage the transaction and the business object activation/deactivation.

One of the interface methods on the context object is SetComplete. When SetComplete is called, the transaction (if any) is signaled as ready to be committed and the instance of the business object is destroyed releasing all resources used by it. The next time the client issues a method call, MTS creates a new instance of the business object and delegates the call to it (this is assuming that the client did not release its original reference to the MTS-supplied context wrapper). In the MTS world, this is known as JIT activation.

The following method call trace illustrates JIT activation:

• The client application starts, and the client requests an instance of the Customerlnterface of the Customer component.

• Set objICustomer = CreateObject("CustomerComponent. Customerlnterface").

• COM searches the Running Object Table to determine whether an instance of the component is active on the client. • If not, COM searches the Registry for the information describing Customerlnterface and invokes the creation of the interface.

MTS 600 intercepts the Customer creation request 602, starts a process for the Customer package containing Customer component 604, creates the ContextObject 606 and returns a reference to the client. See Figure 6.

• The client application requests an operation on the Customerlnterface.

• MTS invokes the operation and commits the transaction (if any) by calling SetComplete.

• MTS 700 deactivates the component, freeing the thread, the memory and returns the result to the client. Figure 7 shows that the customer object 702 has been deactivated (the customer object is grayed out).

To take advantage of JIT activation, the clients do not release the reference to the MTS-supplied context wrapper (the client code does not set objICustomer = null). When the client requests a new operation, the Context wrapper creates a new instance of the Customer component and delegates the incoming call to it. By keeping the reference to the context wrapper, MTS does not need to recreate the object.

Implications on application design:

To take advantage of JIT activation, client applications acquire references to the server components as early as possible and uses them as needed. It would be ideal to obtain references at application startup, but this has the drawback of not being reliable. If for some reason the references were lost, this may result in mn time eπors.

Object Creation: New vs. CreateObject vs. Createlnstance

This portion of the description describes the appropriate usage of the different types of object creation methods.

New: The keyword "New" creates an object with private instantiation property. It is used with early binding.

CreateObject: Normally used with late binding and used to create objects with public instantiation property. If other MTS object are instantiated using CreateObject (on the server), they mn the risk of mnning in the wrong context. CreateObject can be used from the client to instantiate any MTS object.

Createlnstance: It is the interface method of the context object used to instantiate other MTS objects. This is the only way to guarantee the newly created object participates in the same cuπent transaction. When MTS instantiates a transaction, it records the transaction LD in the component's object context. This transaction LD is passed to other MTS components only when Createlnstance is used to create these objects.

Implication on application Design:

When CreateObject is used, Java/VB uses COM to create an instance of the object. If the Object is registered in MTS, MTS loads the DLL and creates a new instance passing back a MTS- managed handle to the object. The object gets a new MTS context.

When New is used in Java/VB, the action depends on where the object being created lives. If it is in a different DLL, COM is used and the mechanism is the same as CreateObject. If it is in the same DLL Java/VB creates the instance internally and may not create a new MTS-managed object, whereas CreateObject may. Private classes can only be created using New since they are not exposed to COM.

When one MTS object creates another MTS object, the new object gets a new context. If CreateObject (or New for an object in a different DLL) is used, the contexts are independent of each other. If a transaction is involved, the new context manages a completely different transaction from the original. If Createlnstance is used, the new object's context shares the same transaction as the invoking one. Using New is only a problem in the following scenario. The application contains one DLL that contains more than one MTS-managed class. The application wants an instance of one of these classes to create an instance of the other (in separate contexts). New may not do this, whereas CreateObject and Createlnstance may. However, Createlnstance is required if they are to mn under the same transaction.

Parameter Passing

If Visual Basic is the language of choice, make sure to pass parameters by value (as the default in VB is by reference). This may help reduce network trips and hence improves performance.

If one is passing the collection object in MTS, make sure to use the Microsoft provided wrapper collection object. The standard VB collection object is known to cause eπors when mnning under MTS. It is better to use a variant array instead of collection to pass information around. It is more robust and performs better.

As parameters, MTS registered business objects are passed by reference as they use standard marshalling

When working with MTS objects, ensure that object references are exchanged through the return from an object creation interface such ITransactionContext.Createlnstance or IObjectContext.Createlnstance. This allows MTS to manage context switches and Object lifetime.

Data Access and Locking Policy

Database Locking should be in place to ensure the integrity of the database in a multi-user environment. Locking prevents the common problem of lost updates from multiple users updating the same record. The optimistic approach of record locking is based on the assumption that it is rarely the case for multiple users to read and update the same records concuπently.

Such a situation is treated as exceptional processing rather than normal. Optimistic locking does not place any locks at read time; locks are actually placed at update time. A time stamp mechanism should be provided to ensure that at update or delete times the record has not changed since the last time it is read. It is recommended to use optimistic locking with ADO and MTS to improve performance. If the data access mechanism uses ADO disconnected RecordSets, then the only possible locking policy is optimistic.

Implication on application Design: If one is using optimistic locking and ADO, it is recommended that one uses disconnected recordsets to marshal data. Project experience (FinancialWorks project) shows that the application should avoid using the ADO RecordSet.GetRows method, as it significantly slows performance.

Data Marshaling

Use disconnected Recordsets. This may ensure high performance result when marshaling data across a network. Client applications have to reference an ADOR.Recrodset, which is a lighter version of the ADODB. Recordset designed specifically for client's use. With disconnected Recordsets only optimistic locking can be employed.

If the marshalling of data from client to server is done by collection, beware to use the wrapper collection provided on the MTS site. MTS may not work correctly when passing the VB standard collection object. It is known to cause runtime errors.

ACTIVITY FRAMEWORK DESIGN

Figure 8 illustrates a method for providing an activity framework. First, in operation 800 a plurality of sub-activities are created which each include sub-activity logic adapted to generate an output based on an input received from a user upon execution. In operation 802, a plurality of activities are defined, each of which execute the sub-activities in a unique manner upon being selected for accomplishing a goal associated with the activity. Selection of one of the activities is allowed in operation 804 by receiving user indicia. In operation 806, an interface is depicted for allowing receipt of the input and display of the output during execution of the sub-activities associated with the selected activity. The sub-activity logic may be adapted for verifying that all required input has been received prior to generating the output. Access to the input received from the user by each of the sub-activities of the activities may also be allowed.

Optionally, the activity may include creating a service order. Further, the sub-activities each may additionally include at least one business component.

The interface may include a plurality of displays that are each displayed during the execution of a coπesponding one of the sub-activities. The following material provides a more detailed description of the above-described method.

This portion of the present description details the ReTA Activity framework design from the perspective of the application developer. The primary role of this framework is to provide services that support the "model view controller" (MVC) design pattern. In this pattern, the application implements a "separation of concern" among the user interface (view), logical unit of work (controller) and business components (model). Separating the user interface from the business logic increases reuse of the interface and the business component. In this design pattern, different types of interfaces can reuse the same model and the same interface can view different models. Another goal of separating presentation and storage responsibilities is to reduce the impact of change. For example, changing the user interface design should only impact the user interface components and not the business logic. Through modeling the "separation of concern" pattern, the ReTA Activity framework increases application maintainability and flexibility. It also encourages "best practice" coding standards.

Activity Framework

Description

See Figure 8.1, which illustrates the MTS mntime environment 830. The ReTA Activity framework distributes the application development responsibilities as follows:

• Web page (Active Server Page) (View/Controller) The application's web page logic 832 starts the activity 834, executes the sub-activity and creates the user interfaces. No business logic is contained directly in the web page code. The application developer leverages the ReTA Session, ReTA Activity and the ReTA UI frameworks from the web page code.

• Activity Components (Controller) The application's activity logic implements the business process logic (functional control logic) 836. Activities support high-level processes that are not the responsibility of any individual business components. This includes high-level steps related to a user's "logical unit of work" or business function. Thus, activities enable multiple web pages to implement a "logical unit of work". An example of an activity implementing a "logical unit of work" with multiple web pages is "Create Service Order". In this example activity, the user selects a service to order on the first page, enters the customer information on the second page, reviews and submits the order on the third page and receives an order confirmation on the fourth page.

• Business Components: (Model) Business components 837 implement the application's business entity logic. These components represent individual business entities (such as customer or account). Each entity encapsulates its own data and behavior acting on that data. Note: The Activity implements business logic that spans multiple business components.

The ReTA Activity framework consists of the following three main components:

Activity

• An activity 834 encompasses a combination of web pages, which fulfill a business function. The activity has the following responsibilities:

• Provide a "logical unit of work" context to all sub-activities within the activity. The Activity framework uses Microsoft Transaction Server (MTS) transactions to implement the "logical unit of work" concept. On the completion of a transaction (whether successful or abort), MTS ensures that each sub-activity may be in a consistent state (either completed or rolled back).

• Check that requested information and conditions are fulfilled before executing logic. • Maintain information shared between the pages of the activity.

• Create, trigger and manage sub-activities.

• Check page access authorization, when browsing through activity pages.

• Release all maintained information when closed. • Execute post-conditions when closed. Examples of post conditions are releasing resources tied up for the activity or removing pessimistic locks on tables.

• Commit or abort all opened sub-activities.

• The activity (by itself) does not contain any business logic. Sub-activities (and their associated business components) provide the business logic. Thus, the activity maintains a context and provides a "logical unit of work" for a specific business functionality.

Sub-activity

A sub-activity 838 executes a sub-part of the overall activity business logic. The sub-activity represents the smallest grained business logic. For example in a "Create Service Order" activity, one sub-activity retrieves all the service types information to display on the first web page. A sub-activity has the following responsibilities:

• Check pre-conditions. Ensure requested information and conditions are fulfilled before executing business logic. • Execute business logic

• Execute post-conditions.

View

A view 840 defines the mapping between a user interface and business components containing the values to display. The view has the following responsibilities:

• Unplugging the user interface from the business component values.

• Automatically and transparent to the developer, capture all the values entered by the user and update the related business components.

• Display the business component values attached to the user interface. • Trigger a sub-activity when capturing values.

• Note: The Activity component maintains a separate view for each web page defined to be part of the activity.

Note: The ReTA Activity framework fully supports business activity components written in Java or

Visual Basic. In addition, the Activity framework provides partial support for business activity components written C++. For C++ components, the application developer must implement the services provided by the Activity utility classes AFView and AFViewBOMapping. Services

The Activity Framework provides the following services: <img file="WO0109792A2_D0004.tif" />

Components and Classes

The Activity Framework implements these services through the following COM and Class objects: <img file="WO0109792A2_D0005.tif" /><img file="WO0109792A2_D0006.tif" />

These components and classes are described in detailed in the following sub-portions of the description. AFActivity

The AFActivity component provides the stmcture for implementing business logic, state management among web pages, management of views and sub-activities, and transactional support for carrying out a "logical unit of work". The application developer creates an activity component for each specific business activity by extending the AFActivity component.

The activity component shares the services provided within the Activity framework allowing the application developer to concentrate on the business logic. Application business logic is organized into three separate areas within an activity: pre-conditions, execution, and post conditions.

Methods

The LAF Activity, LAFContext and LAFEventListener interfaces define the access to the

AFActivity component. These interfaces support the following methods: iHRggi Description

Start the activity. The application developer calls this method from the ASP page.

Release the activity and all its associated instances. Calls the commit method. The application developer calls this method from the last ASP page for the business activity.

Gracefully abort the activity. Abort associated sub- activities. Remove all references to sub-activities, business components and stateful UI components.

Declare that the cuπent activity and all its sub-activities have completed their work and should be deactivated when the cuπently executing method returns to the client. This method may call the SetComplete method of MTS. (See MTS portion of the present description for more information) Retrieve a User Interface component instance from the UI context of the activity.

Add a User Interface component to the Ul context of the activity.

Execute the sub-activity related to the cuπent page for the Activity. Call the sub-activity precondition, execute and postcondition methods.

If the ASP name passed as a parameter is part of the activity, return t e. This method calls the AFTrackingManager component of the ReTA Session framework in order to get the result.

Ask the tracking object related to the activity to check the page authorization (uses the AFTrackingManager component of the ReTA Session framework). If the user is allowed to access this page, set the current page of the activity with the page passed as parameter.

Return the business component value that is mapped to the specified UI field (uses the Activity framework View service).

Return the activity name.

Return the name of the frame where to display the encountered events.

Return a string containing all parameters to send to the next page. This string contains the names of all UI fields of the page and the JavaScript code needed to retrieve their values. Called by the ReTA UI framework component AFScriptGenerator.

Return the starting page of the activity.

Return the next page for the current activity, based on the cuπent activity page saved in the AFTracking object of the activity and on the action passed as parameter. S&gt; m m5ba Return the cuπent page. <img file="WO0109792A2_D0007.tif" />

Abstract Methods

The application developer implements the following abstract methods in the business activity component: <img file="WO0109792A2_D0008.tif" /><img file="WO0109792A2_D0009.tif" />

AFSubActivity

The AFSubActivity component implements a sub-part of the overall activity business logic. The application developer creates a sub-activity component for each sub-part of a specific business activity by extended the AFSubActivity component. As with activities, the sub-activity workflow sequence is pre-condition, execution and post-condition.

Note:

There may be zero or more sub-activities on an ASP Page.

Methods

The IAFSubActivity interface defines the access to the AFSubActivity component. This interface supports the following methods: <img file="WO0109792A2_D0010.tif" /><img file="WO0109792A2_D0011.tif" />

Abstract Methods

The application developer implements the following abstract methods in the business sub- activity component: <img file="WO0109792A2_D0012.tif" />

AFCollection

The AFCollection component is a general puφose collection component. The collection component can be used to store and retrieve a collection of COM components, integers or strings.

Methods

The LAFCoUection interface defines the access to the AFCollection component. This interface supports the following methods:

■snQϋ i Description

Number of elements in the collection component. <img file="WO0109792A2_D0013.tif" />

I^^SBøHPS-i Remove all the elements from the collection component.

AFVBActivityWrapper

The AFVBActivityWrapper component enables the application developer to add Activities that are written in Visual Basic.

Methods

The LAF Activity, LAFContext, LAFEventListener and LAFVBActivityWrapper interfaces define the access to the AFVBActivityWrapper component. These interfaces support the following methods:

Method Description

Store the VB activity name, the starting page for the activity and the reference to the application developer's VB Activity component to the AFVBActivityWrapper component. <img file="WO0109792A2_D0014.tif" /> Gracefully abort the activity. Abort associated sub-

'riiiϊ l activities. Remove all references to sub-activities, business components and stateful UI components.

Declare that the cuπent activity and all its sub-activities have completed their work and should be deactivated when the currently executing method returns to the client. This method may call the SetComplete method of MTS. (See MTS portion of the present description for more information)

Retrieve a User Interface component instance from the UI context of the activity.

Add a User Interface component to the UI context of the activity.

Execute the sub-activity related to the current page for the Activity. Call the sub-activity precondition, execute and postcondition methods.

If the ASP name passed as a parameter is part of the activity, return tme. This method calls the AFTrackingManager component of the ReTA Session framework in order to get the result.

Ask the tracking object related to the activity to check the page authorization (uses the AFTrackingManager component of the ReTA Session framework). If the user is allowed to access this page, set the current page of the activity with the page passed as parameter.

Return the activity name.

ISSel Return the name of the frame where to display the encountered events.

Return the starting page of the activity.

Return the next page for the cuπent activity, based on the cuπent activity page saved in the AFTracking object of the activity and on the action passed as parameter.

Return the current page. <img file="WO0109792A2_D0015.tif" />

lAFVBActivity Interface Methods

The application developer implements the following interface methods in the VB business activity component: <img file="WO0109792A2_D0016.tif" /><img file="WO0109792A2_D0017.tif" />

AFView (AFVBView)

The AFView class provides a mapping between a User Interface and a set of Business Components (the view maps one web page form to one or more business components). When the user requests the next web page, the previous web page values are passed along with the URL request. Upon starting the next web page, the Session framework invokes the receiveEvent method on the appropriate Activity component. The Activity component uses the View class to record, into the appropriate business component, the data entered by the user at the previous web page. Also, the View class obtains the cuπent user interface field values for the next web page as requested by the application developer through ASP scripting logic.

Note:

Multiple views can exist for a single ASP. Since a view contains a collection of mapped field, one view can be defined for each form of an ASP.

Methods

The following AFView class methods are important for the application developer to understand: <img file="WO0109792A2_D0018.tif" /><img file="WO0109792A2_D0019.tif" />

AFViewBOMapping (AFVBViewBOMapping)

The AFViewBOMapping component defines the mapping between a user interface entry field and the business component instances containing the value to display. This class gets/sets an UI field value by getting/setting the business component instance contained in the activity context. Each mapped business component instance should implement the LAFEditable interface. This interface provides the setValue and getValue methods used to set and get values of the business component instance.

Methods

The following AFViewBOMapping class methods are important for the application developer to understand: <img file="WO0109792A2_D0020.tif" />

AFViewRadioButtonBOMapping (AFVBViewRadioButtonBOMapping)

The AFViewRadioButtonBOMapping component defines the mapping between a user interface radio button field and the business component instances containing the value to display. This class gets/sets an UI field value by getting/setting the business component instance contained in the activity context. Each mapped business component instance should implement the LAFEditable interface. This interface provides the setValue and getValue methods used to set and get values of the business component instance.

Methods

The following AFViewRadioButtonBOMapping class methods are important for the application developer to understand:

IΛBIΠBI Description

Create a new

AFViewRadioButtonBOMapping instance defining a UI field to business component attribute mapping for an ASP page (parameters passed by the application developer). The application developer calls this method from the implemented views method of the business activity component.

Return a string containing the parameters defined for this "UI field to business component mapping" to send to the next page. This string contains the name of the UI field mapped to the business component attribute for this view of the page and the JavaScript code needed to retrieve its value. Called by the getParameter method of the AFView component. The Activity framework implements this logic for the application developer. <img file="WO0109792A2_D0021.tif" />

AFViewDynamicBOMapping (AFVBViewDynamicBOMapping)

The AFViewDynamicBOMapping component defines the mapping between a dynamically created user interface field and the business component instances containing the value to display. This class gets/sets an UI field value by getting/setting the business component instance contained in the activity context. Each mapped business component instance should implement the LAFEditable interface. This interface provides the setValue and getValue methods used to set and get values of the business component instance.

Methods

The following AFViewDynamicBOMapping class methods are important for the application developer to understand: fMs Description

Create a new AFViewDynamicBOMapping instance defining a UI field to business component attribute mapping for an ASP page (parameters passed by the application developer). The application developer calls this method from the implemented views method of the business activity component. <img file="WO0109792A2_D0022.tif" />

AFViewTextAreaBOMapping (AFVBViewTextAreaBOMapping)

The AFViewTextAreaBOMapping component defines the mapping between a user interface multi-line entry field and the business component instances containing the value to display. This class gets/sets an UI field value by getting/setting the business component instance contained in the activity context. Each mapped business component instance should implement the LAFEditable interface. This interface provides the setValue and getValue methods used to set and get values of the business component instance.

Methods

The following AFViewTextAreaBOMapping class methods are important for the application developer to understand:

ES OE&amp;I Description <img file="WO0109792A2_D0023.tif" />

AFViewDropDownBOMapping (AFVBViewDropDownBOMapping)

The AFViewDropDownBOMapping component defines the mapping between a user interface drop down field and the business component instances containing the value to display. This class gets/sets an UI field value by getting/setting the business component instance contained in the activity context. Each mapped business component instance should implement the LAFEditable interface. This interface provides the setValue and getValue methods used to set and get values of the business component instance. Methods

The following AFViewDropDownBOMapping class methods are important for the application developer to understand: lώmϋsii Description

Create a new AFViewDropDownBOMapping instance defining a UI field to business component attribute mapping for an ASP page (parameters passed by the application developer). The application developer calls this method from the implemented views method of the business activity component.

Return a string containing the parameters defined for this "UI field to business component mapping" to send to the next page. This string contains the name of the UI field mapped to the business component attribute for this view of the page and the JavaScript code needed to retrieve its value. Called by the getParameter method of the AFView component. The Activity framework implements this logic for the application developer.

Based on the parameter passed to the cuπent Active Server Page, update the business components containing the value entered by the user from the previous page for the mapped UI field. The Activity framework implements this logic for the application developer.

AFViewUIListBOMapping (AFVBViewUIListBOMappmg) The AFViewUIListBOMapping component defines the mapping between a user interface Selected List field and the AFCollection component instance containing the values to display. This class gets/sets an UI field value by getting/setting the AFCollection component instance contained in the activity context.

Methods

The following AFViewSelectedListBOMapping class methods are important for the application developer to understand:

Method Description

Create a new AFViewUIListBOMapping instance defining the selected list box field name (and optionally, the name of a sub-activity to execute on the "capture" method invocation) for an ASP page (parameters passed by the application developer). The application developer calls this method from the implemented views method of the business activity component.

Return a string containing the parameters defined for this mapping to send to the next page. This string contains the name of the selected list box field and the JavaScript code needed to retrieve its value. Called by the getParameter method of the AFView component. The Activity framework implements this logic for the application developer.

Based on the parameter passed to the cuπent Active Server Page, update the AFCollection component containing the values entered by the user from the previous page for the selected list box field. The Activity framework implements this logic for the application developer. AFViewThumbNailBOMapping (AFVBViewThumbNailBOMapping)

The AFViewThumbNailBOMapping component defines the mapping between a user interface ThumbNail (iconic pushbutton) field and the business component instances containing the value to display. This class gets/sets an UI field value by getting/setting the business component instance contained in the activity context. Each mapped business component instance should implement the LAFEditable interface. This interface provides the setValue and getValue methods used to set and get values of the business component instance.

Methods

The following AFViewThumbNailBOMapping class methods are important for the application developer to understand: t mi Description

Create a new AFViewThumbNailBOMapping instance defining the selected list box field name (and optionally, the name of a sub- activity to execute on the "capture" method invocation) for an ASP page (parameters passed by the application developer). The application developer calls this method from the implemented views method of the business activity component.

Return a string containing the parameters defined for this mapping to send to the next page. This string contains the name of the selected list box field and the JavaScript code needed to retrieve its value. Called by the getParameter method of the AFView component. The Activity framework implements this logic for the application developer. <img file="WO0109792A2_D0024.tif" />

SITE SERVER FRAMEWORK DESIGN

Figure 9 illustrates a method 900 for accessing services within a server without a need for knowledge of an application program interface of the server. A role container is first created in operation 902. In operation 904, a role class is defined and in operation 906 an attribute for the role class is generated which includes a default start page attribute. In the role container, a role object is made in the role class with the default start page attribute associated therewith in operation 908. A uniform resource locator is selected in operation 910 for the default start page attribute.

A plurality of attributes may be generated for the role container. Further, these attributes may include a default start page attribute, a user name attribute, a user identifier attribute, and/or a role name attribute.

A user may be assigned to the role object. Optionally, a plurality of role objects may be made in the role class with each role object having a unique default start page associated therewith. As another option, an operator role object and a customer role object may be made as well. The following material provides a more detailed description of the above-described method.

This portion of the present description details the ReTA Site Server framework design from the perspective of the application developer. The role of this framework is to provide components that allow one to integrate the ReTA custom frameworks with Site Server. This provides a user component connecting to Site Server, but does not require knowledge of the Site Server API itself to integrate with Site Server. Site Server Framework Execution Architecture

To connect to Site Server a COM component (UserSS) is used to make calls to Site Server's API. The ReTA UserSS component allows the developer to access Site Server's Personalization and

Membership Services without any knowledge of Site Server's API.

Figure 9.1 illustrates Site Server Framework Architecture. This figure shows the different layers in the Site Server framework architecture. The UserSS COM component 930 connects to Site Server 932. The UserSS component uses Site Server's Personalization and Membership; UserSS also performs security as well on a Commerce Site. The ReTA framework 934 uses the UserSS layer to provide access to Site Server. The UserSS layer provides the following benefits:

• It insulates the application developer from Site Server's API.

• It provides functionality for using Site Server's Personalization and Membership Services.

Site Server Framework Development Architecture

UserSS Interface Methods

The UserSS component interfaces with the SiteServer personalization and membership services. This component uses SiteServer to handle the user security, role and preferences.

Methods

The IAFUser, IAFUserPreferences, and IAFUserRole interfaces define the access to the AFUserSS component. These interfaces support the following methods: <img file="WO0109792A2_D0025.tif" /> Method Description mMKBi This method returns a string value representing the user's real name. SiteServer's API is used to obtain this value.

This method takes as input a preference label and returns a string value representing the user's preference value. SiteServer's API is used to obtain this value. This method accepts two parameters (String thePrefLabel, String thePrefValue). The preference is set that matches the "thePrefLabel" passed in.

This method returns the cuπent users Role id.

This method returns the cuπent user's role name.

This method takes as input a preference label returns the cuπent user's role preference value.

This method sets the cuπent user's role preference

Site Server Personalization and Membership/ Directory Membership Manager

This portion of the description describes the required settings in Site Server Commerce Edition used by the ReTA frameworks. This portion of the description also describes the steps involved in creating the required settings.

ReTA Required Settings

The Membership Directory Manager is used to manage administration and access control for Membership Directory objects, including users and groups, and schema objects. The Membership Directory stores objects used by all Site Server features.

The ReTA UserSS framework requires schema objects to be created. The schema objects required by the ReTA Frameworks are: Roles container 1000, RoleName attribute 1002, username attribute 1004, webUserld attribute, and a Role class. Figure 10 illustrates schema attributes and classes, with class "Role" and attribute "RoleName" shown.

Required Container, Class, and Attribute Setup Instmctions Users may have different roles within the system. In Site Server ReTA takes advantage of this by creating a Container "Roles" that contains different "Roles" or different objects of the class "Role". These "Roles" have attributes such as a default start page. Therefore different "Roles" (different objects of the class "Role") such as "Operator" or "Customer" may both have a default start page attribute that may point to different URL's.

The Site Server portion of the present description details how to setup a Container, Class, and Attributes. The following lists the steps involved to setup the required attributes for the ReTA Frameworks to integrate with Site Server.

Using the Site Server Console, right click on the Membership Directory Manager folder.

• Select New - Container, then type in Roles for the Container name.

• Figure 11 illustrates the creating of Container "Roles". Right click on Membership Directory Manager 1100 and select New 1102 - Container 1104. After creating the Container "Roles", create the attribute "DefaultStartPage", "usemame", webUserld", and "RoleName" in the Schema. To create these attributes expand the Admin Container under the Membership Directory Manager.

• Right click on the Schema folder 1200 and select New 1202 - Attribute 1204 (See Figure 12)

• Define the class "Role" the same way by right clicking on Schema and selecting New -

Class.

• Select the "common-name" as a required attribute, also select the "DefaultStartPage" as an attribute but do not make it required.

• Create the Roles for our Application, "Operator" and "Customer".

• See Figure 13, which illustrates the adding of different Roles. Right click the Roles Container 1300 under the Membership Directory Manager folder 1302. Select New 1304 - Object 1306, select "Role" for the class of object to create, type the name of the object i.e. "Operator", add the attribute "DefaultStartPage" by clicking Add Attribute button and enter the URL.

• Once these have been created, a member of the system can be assigned to a "Role" and the ReTA Framework required attributes can be added to the user. Figure 14 illustrates an example showing the attributes 1400 of member "Joe Bloggs" (Note RoleName).

EVENT HANDLER FRAMEWORK DESIGN

Figure 15 illustrates a method 1500 for handling events in a system. In operation 1502, an event which includes metadata is recognized. Next, in operation 1504, the metadata of the event is read and, in operation 1506 a table look-up is performed for information relating to the event based on the metadata. The information includes a severity of the event and further information such as a type of the event, and a location where the event occuπed. In operation 1508, a message is displayed either in-line in a cuπently depicted display or in a separate display based on the severity of the event.

Optionally, the event may additionally be indicated to components of the system other than the component in which the event occuπed. The type of the event may be a database eπor, an architecture eπor, a security eπor, and/or an application eπor. Further the location of the event may be at least one of a method and an object where the event occuπed. Also, the information may further relate to a code associated with the event.

The message may include the information relating to the event. In additionally, the message may also include a time during which the event occuπed. Further, the message may include a string altered based on a user profile. The following material provides a more detailed description of the above-described method.

This portion of the present description details the ReTA Event Handler framework design from the perspective of the application developer. The role of this framework is to provide services to manage the informational, warning and eπor events that an application may raise. These services include: • Presenting the user with an understandable event explanation.

• Informing other Components when eπors happen (for example to restore transactional data to a consistent state) using a Publish/Subscribe mechanism. • Logging informational, warning and eπor event messages.

The Event Handler uses an Event Reference meta-data database table to maintain information about the types of events in an application and the policy for dealing with them. This gives a flexible approach and the event messages, the severity and other policies for the events can be changed during operations.

Phase 2 - Event Handler Enhancements

For phase 2, Event Handler consists of the following enhancements:

• The Event Handler framework is componentized. It no longer maintains references to any of the other framework components. Internally, the Event Handler continues to use the persistence light framework to log events to the database.

• As in phase 1 , it can be used as a Session level component. As an enhancement for phase 2, the Event Handler framework can be used as a stateless page level component. This means that a new instance of the component is created at the beginning of each ASP page and is released at the end of each page.

• The Event Handler framework no longer requires Event Collection components as parameters to implement event handling, which only allowed handling events at the page level. In phase 2, the new method "processSingleEvent" takes the parameters of a single event as its input, which enables handling events at the occuπence of the event. • As in phase 1 , The Event Handler can format eπor descriptions in HTML. As an enhancement for phase 2, the Event Handler can return the eπor message as a string and enables the application to implement client specific formatting (HTML or other).

• The process event method no longer calls the ASP redirect method. Instead, it returns the severity level code. On return, the application logic determines whether to redirect to the eπor page or display the eπor in-line in the cuπent page.

• The Translator is no longer a separate component. Instead, it is a Java class inside the Event Handler component. Event Handler Framework

Description

With reference to Figure 15.1, the ReTA Event Handler Framework 1530 manages the informational, warning and eπor events that an application raises. The following describes the ReTA event handling sequence:

1) The event(s) occurs • When an event occurs the following event information is recorded: o event type (defined in database Event Reference table), for example:

■ database eπor

^■ security eπor

^■ architecture eπor ■ application eπor o event location:

^■ method and object name where the event occuπed o event code (sub-type):

■ SQL eπor code, ■ application eπor code - mapped to a unique description in the database

■ architecture eπor code - mapped to a unique description in the database o event context:

■ Any relevant information about when the event occurred stored in a tagged

^■ name value pair format. Eg. [OrderNumber=l] [Description- 'Repeat Order"]

• If the event occurs within a Java class inside a COM object, use the Java exception mechanism by throwing an AFEventException. If the exception occurs elsewhere, call the add method on the Event Collection passing the event information.

• Each method defining a COM component interface captures these event exceptions and either adds them to an Event Collection component or directly calls a method on the

Event Handler component.

• Events are processed from the ASP page by calling the process method of the Event Handler. Events can also processed from the point where the event occuπed by calling the "processSingleEvent" method of the Event Handler. 2) The Event Handler processes the event(s):

• For each event, set the user id and cuπent page

• For each event, retrieve the event severity from the event handler's "translator" class. This class caches in memory all event descriptions and severity levels retrieved from the event reference database table.

• Add the events to the Event Handler context.

• Implement the persistence policy on the events - events are logged in a batch.

• Return the severity of the most severe event to the caller. The caller is responsible for either redirecting to the eπor page or displaying the event in-line in the Cuπent Page. 3) Display the event:

• Use the Event Handler component to generate the eπor message. This message can contain context information describing when the event was created.

• Create the HTML formatting and display the event message.

• The Eπor Message is either displayed in-line in the cuπent page or in a separate eπor page.

4) The Event Handler generates eπor display message:

• Get the event with the highest severity level from its event context.

• If the most severe event is "fatal", display the user description associated with the event. Broadcast a SESSION_ABORT message using the Publish/Subscribe mechanism. Any component that is interested in these events must implement the LAFEventListener interface and register with the Event Broadcaster component as interested. To do this they call the addListener method of the Event Handler component.

• If the most severe event is "logical unit of work", display the user description associated with the event. Broadcast an ACT VITY ABORT message using the Publish/Subscribe mechanism.

• If the most severe event is "warning", display the user description associated with the event.

Note: The user event descriptions are retrieved from the database either on session start or on demand and are cached by the Translator class. When generating the event description page, this description is requested from the Translator. Event descriptions can have embedded context parameters. When generating the event description page, the event handler replaces these parameters with their values specified when creating the event.

Database Tables

The Event Handler uses two database tables: The T_AF_EventReference 1534 is a static table that describes the Event meta-data, giving the policies for each event type. The policies include:

• The message that is displayed to the user. These messages can contain data from the Context that is included when the event is generated. • The severity of the event. The severity can be Information, Warning, Eπor and Fatal.

• Whether to persist the event in the database event log.

The T_AF_EventLog 1536 contains the log of the events that occuπed. The following information is logged:

• Event type and Code • The location where the event occuπed. I.e. ASP, Object name and Method Name.

• The user that raised the event.

• The datestamp.

• The context information giving other information about what caused the event.

Services

The Event Handler Framework provides the following services: <img file="WO0109792A2_D0026.tif" />Components and Classes

The Event Handler Framework implements these services through the following COM and Class objects: <img file="WO0109792A2_D0027.tif" />

These components and classes are described in detailed in the following sub-portions of the description.

AFEventHandler

The AFEventHandler component 1538 handles the events generated by the system. Depending on the severity level, the event handler may redirect the user to another ASP page and may abort the activity or session. The event handler also determines whether and when to log an event.

Methods The LAFEventHandler interface defines the access to the AFEventHandler component. This interface supports the following methods: i&amp; iϊ I Description

Persist all the events stored by the event handler to the database.

Gather associated event information. Call the add method to persist the events in the event log. Return the event severity to the caller. This method is called either from the ASP page or from a Java class where the Event was trapped.

Examine the events and gather associated event information. Call the add method to persist the events in the event log. Return the event severity of the most severe event to the caller. The application developer calls this method from an ASP page to check the events generated during the scripting logic execution.

Return generated HTML which describes the severity of the eπor, gives the target URL (depending on the severity - previous page, activity start page or home page) and an eπor log. The Event Handler page calls this method.

The application developer can invoke this method to load all event descriptions in memory (normally used to speed access during user session).

Return eπor message as a string, which describes the severity of the eπor. This allows the application to determine the HTML formatting used to display an eπor.

If the event handler contains at least one fatal eπor, returns tme. AFEventCollection

The AFEventCollection component contains a collection of events.

Methods

The LAFEventCollection interface defines the access to the AFEventCollection component. This interface supports the following methods: <img file="WO0109792A2_D0028.tif" />

AFResult

The AFResult component defines the result return by a method execution.

Methods

The LAFResult interface defines the access to the AFResult component. This interface supports the following methods: <img file="WO0109792A2_D0029.tif" />AFTranslator

The AFTranslator class returns event reference information (based on the event type and event code.

Methods

The AFTranslator class has the following methods: <img file="WO0109792A2_D0030.tif" />

AFEventException

The AFEventException class contains the event exception information and is added to the

AFEventCollection component for processing by the AFEventHandler component.

Methods

The following AFEventException class methods are important for the application developer to understand: iHH Description <img file="WO0109792A2_D0031.tif" />

AFEventReference

The AFEventReference component 1540 contains the event reference information that is defined by the application through database table T_AF_EventReference. The architecture reads the event reference data into memory on session start.

T AF EventReference:

Column name ; Description

Unique id

The event type

The event code <img file="WO0109792A2_D0032.tif" />

AFPersistableEvent

The AFPersistableEvent 1542 contains the event information captured during the application execution that is persisted to the database table T AF EVENTLOG.

T AF EVENTLOG: <img file="WO0109792A2_D0033.tif" /><img file="WO0109792A2_D0034.tif" />

USER FRAMEWORK DESIGN

Figure 16 depicts a method 1600 for managing user information. A site server is provided in operation 1602. The side server has information stored on it including preferences, roles, and details relating to users. A database separate from the site server is provided in operation 1604. The database has information stored thereon including preferences, roles, and details relating to the users. In operation 1606, an identity of one of the users is authenticated. A single interface is displayed in operation 1608, which provides the user access to both the site server and the database upon authentication of the identity of the user. In operation 1610, the user is allowed to view and change the information that is stored on the site server and the database and that is associated with the user. The single interface is tailored in operation 1612 based on the information associated with the user.

The identity of the user may be authenticated by verifying a user name and a password, a secure sockets layer (SSL) certificate, and/or a log-in form. Further, the preferences relating to the users may include a cuπency in which monetary values are displayed and a language in which text is displayed. Also, the roles relating to the users may include a customer, a manager, and an employee. Additionally, the details of the users may include a user name and a legal name. The following material provides a more detailed description of the above-described method.

This portion of the present description details the ReTA User framework design from the perspective of the application developer. The primary role of this framework is to provide services that allow the application developer to maintain user preferences, roles and security. In regards to security, the User framework provides User Authentication services through any of the standard Internet Information Server security methods:

• Usemame/Password sent in clear text. • SSL Certificates

• Windows NT Challenge/Response (Intranet only)

• HTML Forms login (Site Server version only)

Once the user has been authenticated, the User framework provides services for accessing: • User information - NT usemame, Real Name.

• User Preference information - For example Language, Cuπency (These are configurable)

• User Role information (e.g. Customer, Manager, Employee)

• User Role Preference information

There are two implementations of the User Component: One is database driven and the other interfaces with Site Server Personalization and Membership directory.

User Framework

Description

With reference to Figure 16.1, the User framework 1630 enables two approaches to maintaining user information. The framework supports two approaches by exposing a single set of interfaces that can be used by either of the two user framework components. With the AFUserSS component 1632, the framework interfaces with the Microsoft Site Server products

Personalization and Membership Directory. For this user component, SiteServer holds and manages user information. With the AFUserDB component 1634, the framework interfaces with database tables. For this user component, database tables define the user information.

Services

The User Framework provides the following services:

Service ■BSEffl

<img file="WO0109792A2_D0035.tif" />

Components

The User Framework implements these services through the following COM objects:<img file="WO0109792A2_D0036.tif" />

These components are described in detailed in the following sub-portions of the description.

AFUserDB

The AFUserDB component holds the user role, preferences and details retrieved from the database. When created the user component retrieves the user NT login name, user details and constmcts the user preference and user role objects.

Methods

The IAFUser, IAFUserPreferences and IAFUserRole interfaces define the access to the AFUserDB component. These interfaces support the following methods:

IfflHSREl Description

<img file="WO0109792A2_D0037.tif" />

AFUserSS

The UserSS component interfaces with the SiteServer personalization and membership services. This component uses SiteServer to handle the user security, role and preferences.

Methods

The IAFUser, IAFUserPreferences, and IAFUserRole interfaces define the access to the AFUserSS component. These interfaces support the following methods: <img file="WO0109792A2_D0038.tif" /><img file="WO0109792A2_D0039.tif" />

PERSISTENCE FRAMEWORK DESIGN

Figure 17 illustrates a method 1700 for managing business objects in a system that includes a plurality of sub-activities which each include sub-activity logic adapted to generate an output based on an input received from a user upon execution, and a plurality of activities which each execute the sub-activities in a unique manner upon being selected for accomplishing a goal associated with the activity. First, in operation 1702, an identifier and a reference to a business object are received from one of the sub-activities upon the execution thereof. In operation 1704, a database is accessed and data from the database is retrieved based on the identifier. The business object is created and populated with the data retrieved from the database in operation 1706.

The data may be stored on the database in tables. Further, the created business object may replace an existing business object. Additionally, the identifier may identify a customer and the business object may be a customer object. Also, a business object referenced by one of the sub- activities may be removed upon the execution thereof.

The business object may be a Visual Basic business object. In another aspect of the present invention, the business object may be a Java business object. The following material provides a more detailed description of the above-described method. This portion of the present description details the ReTA Persistence framework design from the perspective of the application developer. The role of this framework is to provide services that interact with application database(s) to create, retrieve, update and delete business objects.

Persistence Framework

Description

The ReTA Persistence framework provides a transparent and flexible mapping of the business object attributes to relational database tables. To implement this "business object to database table" mapping, the framework is tightly integrated with all business objects. The framework exposes abstract methods that the application developer implements in the business objects. In contrast with the other ReTA frameworks, the Persistence framework is not implemented as a separate component. The Persistence framework is a set of local language classes available in

Java or Visual Basic. Figure 17.1 shows a SubActivity component 1730 using the Persistence framework 1732 to retrieve a Customer Object 1734 from the Database.

Services

The Persistence Framework provides the following services: <img file="WO0109792A2_D0040.tif" /> Classes

The Persistence Framework implements these services through the following Java or Visual Basic Classes:

BSHUBwasI EΞS3

This is the superclass of all Java Persistable Objects in the application. Application developers create a subclass for each Business Object and implement all the abstract methods that this class defines.

MtLSsffiasfi Provides the mapping between the business object and its associated database table and manages the database connection.

Visual Basic Class KHHIBl

This is the interface class that all Persistable VB must implement. Application developers create a subclass for each Business Object and implement all the methods that this class defines.

Provides the mapping between the business object and its associated database table and manages the database connection.

These classes are described in detailed in the following sub-portions of the description.

AFPLPersistableObj

The AFPLPersistableObj abstract class contains methods called by the application developer objects to manage attribute values common to all persistable business objects (user id and last update timestamp). In addition, the AFPLPersistableObj class represents the superclass of a persisted object. In order to persist a business class; the application developer extends AFPLPersistableObj and implements the AFPLPersistableObj abstract methods.

The AFPLPersistableObj defines the following methods: )escπptιon

Return the column names common to all persistable business objects (user id and last update timestamp). The application developer invokes this method from the constmctor method of a business object.

Return attributes common to all persistable business objects (user id and last update timestamp). The application developer invokes this method from the getPersistedAttributes method of a business object.

Abstract method that all Business Objects must implement. If the passed in attribute is one of the attributes common to all persistable business objects (user id and last update timestamp), compare the passed in value to the currently held attribute value. The application developer should also invoke the superclass isEqual.

Abstract method that all Business Objects must implement. Populate the Business Object using the result set passed as an attribute. The application developer should also invoke the superclass newFrom method to populate the Userid and lastUpdate attributes.

Abstract method that all Business Objects must implement. Return the value of the attribute passed as parameter

Abstract method that all Business Objects must implement. Set the value of the attribute passed as parameter

Set the user id value <img file="WO0109792A2_D0041.tif" />

AFPLExtent The AFPLExtent class provides the mapping between the business object and its associated database table. In addition, the AFPLExtent class represents the domain defined by the visible part of the database table for the specified user. This class holds the passed in database URL, usemame and password used during the access to the database. Lastly, the AFPLExtent class manages the database connection.

Methods

The AFPLExtent class implements the following methods used by the application developer from business factory objects: <img file="WO0109792A2_D0042.tif" />

VBPersistObj

The VBPersistObj interface class contains methods that need to be implemented on every VB

Business Object.

The application developer implements the following methods from their business object: <img file="WO0109792A2_D0043.tif" /><img file="WO0109792A2_D0044.tif" /><img file="WO0109792A2_D0045.tif" />

VBExtent

The VBExtent class provides the mapping between the business object and its associated database table. In addition, the VBExtent class represents the domain defined by the visible part of the database table for the specified user. This class holds the passed in database URL, username and password used during the access to the database. Lastly, the VBExtent class manages the database connection.

Methods

The VBExtent class implements the following methods used by the application developer from business factory objects: <img file="WO0109792A2_D0046.tif" />

SESSION FRAMEWORK DESIGN Figure 18 illustrates a method 1800 for persisting information during a user session. First, in operation 1802, a session is initiated upon a user accessing a predetermined starting page. A cuπent page accessed by the user is then tracked in operation 1804 while browsing a plurality of pages during the session. In operation 1806, a record is maintained of a page previously accessed by the user during the session. Information is persisted in operation 1808. This information is selected from a group of items such as user identifier, a time of a most recent user action during the session, activity components accessed during the session, and business components accessed during the session. During the session, the cuπent page, previous page record, and information are provided to at least one activity component in operation 1810. Also in operation 1810, the activity component generates output based on input provided by the user via the plurality of pages.

In one embodiment of the present invention, the activity components to which the cuπent page, previous page record, and information are provided may be selectively determined. In addition, the activity component may be provided an indication as to whether the user is permitted to access each of the pages. In such a case, the activity component may also be provided the indication as to whether the user is permitted to access each of the pages based on the previous page record.

In another embodiment of the present invention, the information may also include the user identifier. In such an embodiment, user preferences may be looked up based on the user identifier with the information including the user preferences. Also, in order to identify the persisted information, references to activity components, business components, a user component, a tracking manager component, a system preference component, and an event handler component may be employed. The following material provides a more detailed description of the above-described method.

This portion of the present description details the ReTA Session framework design from the perspective of the application developer. The primary role of this framework is to provide services to handle the stateless nature of Lntemet. By default, the Internet does not provide services for maintaining information between pages. Without these services, it would not be possible to implement most eCommerce functionality. For example, session level state is necessary to implement eCommerce functionality where a customer can select products on multiple product description pages and then submit a complete product order request from a confirm order page. The ReTA Session framework leverages the Internet Information Server / Active Server Page (LIS/ASP) session object, which is automatically created when a user who has no open US sessions requests a Web page.

Session Framework

Description

Figure 18.1 illustrates a Session Flow Diagram - On Session Start. As shown, a Session framework 1830 operates in the MTS Runtime Environment 1832. Figure 19 illustrates a Session Flow Diagram - On Start ASP Page. Again, the Session framework 1900 operates in the MTS Runtime Environment 1902. The ReTA Session framework provides services required throughout a user session. The user creates the Session framework at log on and removes the Session framework at log off. During the lifetime of the user session, application and architecture components require certain data to persist. This framework provides services to store and retrieve all information needed for a particular user session. This information may persist throughout the user session. The Session framework also provides services to uniquely identify the user and enforce access rights.

The user information that the Session framework persists, in memory, between Active Server Page requests includes:

• User id o Identifies session user • Last page o Last page accessed by the session user.

• Current page o Cuπent page accessed by the session user.

• Last connection time: o Session user's last connection time.

• Current activity: o Activity cuπently being executed by the session user (refer to activity framework design)

• Activity Components o All activity components accessed during user session • Business Components o All business components accessed during user session required by multiple activity components.

Note:

This framework uses the Active Server Page's Session Object. Thus, the framework only works with browsers that accept cookies. For other browsers (or if cookies are disabled), a new ASP Session Object may start for each web page.

Services

The Session Framework provides the following services: <img file="WO0109792A2_D0047.tif" />Components

The Session Framework implements these services through the following COM objects:

Component B-SHHSl

Manages cuπent user session

Contains System Preferences from database table T AF SYSTEMPREFERENCES

Contains security and flow control info from database tables T_AF_PAGESOFACTTVITY,

T_AF_AUTHDESTLNATIONPAGE

T_AF_AUTHSOURCEPAGE

T AF DESTLNATIONFORACTION

Contains current user's web browser information

These components are described in detailed in the following sub-portions of the description.

AFSession

The AFSession component maintains the user's session state information. To maintain the state information, this component holds references to activity components (logical units of work - application flow logic), business components (business logic required across activity components), user component (user information), tracking manager component (web page access security and web page flow control information), system preference component (system preference information) and event handler component (event handler) created during the user's session.

From the application developer's perspective, the state maintenance work performed by the AFSession component is transparent. The application developer leverages the session services through populating the database tables with the client specific information.

Methods The LAFSession, LAFEventBroadcaster and LAFContext interfaces define the access to the AFSession component. These interfaces support the following methods: t Description

Start session - Called by ASP (global.asa Session_OnStart ).

Stop session - Called by ASP (global.asa S ession OnS top) .

This method is called by ASP script logic at the start of each page. It is used to broadcast a pageStart event to all the listeners (activity components) that have registered as interested in pageStart events. It also stores this page as the current page and moves the existing current page into the last page (information held by the session's "tracking" object).

This method is called by ASP script logic at the end of each page. It is used to broadcast a pageEnd event to all the listeners (activity components) that have registered as interested in pageEnd events.

This method is called when the session is to be aborted. This method calls the abort method on all activity components known to session (held by the session's "activity context" object).

Sets the cuπent Active Server Page (held by the session's "tracking" object).

Returns the cuπent Active Server Page (held in the session's "tracking" object).

Returns the last Active Server Page accessed in the session (held in the session's "tracking" object).

Update the sessionld attribute.

Returns the cuπent session Id.

Sets the cuπent activity Page (held in the session's "tracking" object). <img file="WO0109792A2_D0048.tif" />

<img file="WO0109792A2_D0049.tif" />

AFSystemPreferences

The AFSystemPreferences component contains system preferences (held during the session). This component uses the ReTA persistence framework to read the system preferences from the database ("system preferences" table).

Methods

The LAFSystemPreferences interface defines the access to the AFSystemPreferences component. This interface supports the following methods: <img file="WO0109792A2_D0050.tif" /> DtMIBsEI Description

Returns the application's ASP root location (as defined in from "system preferences" table).

AFTrackingManager

The AFTrackingManager component provides page sequence security, dialogue flow and activity flow functionality for the session framework.

Page sequence security

The page sequence security is defined in the following tables:

Table "Authorized Destination Page" 1834:

Define for each page, the pages that are allowed to be accessed. If no authorized destination pages are defined, the page is authorized to access any page.

Column name Description

Unique id

Name of the current page w ffl m Page which is authorized to be access

Table "Authorized Source Page" 1836:

Define for each page, the pages that are allowed to access it. If no authorized source pages are defined, the page is authorized to be accessed by any page. <img file="WO0109792A2_D0051.tif" /><img file="WO0109792A2_D0052.tif" />

Dialogue flow

The dialogue flow is defined in the following table:

Table "Destination For Action " 1838: Define the action flow between the web pages (i.e., which ASP is open when a specified push button is clicked during a specified activity).

<img file="WO0109792A2_D0053.tif" />

Activity flow

The activity flow is defined in the following table:

Table "Page Of Activity" 1840:

Define the automated activity switching when the user jumps from one web page to another.

Column name Description <img file="WO0109792A2_D0054.tif" />

Methods

The LAFTrackingManager interface 1904 defines the access to the AFTrackingManager component. This interface supports the following methods: <img file="WO0109792A2_D0055.tif" /><img file="WO0109792A2_D0056.tif" />

AFBrowserlnfo

The AFBrowserlnfo component contains the user's browser information.

Methods

The LAFBrowserlnfo and LAFEditable interfaces define the access to the AFBrowserlnfo component. These interfaces support the following methods: <img file="WO0109792A2_D0057.tif" /><img file="WO0109792A2_D0058.tif" />

USER INTERFACE FRAMEWORK DESIGN

Figure 20 illustrates a method 2000 for generating a graphical user interface. A form is initially created in operation 2002. The form includes a plurality of attribute mles dictating a manner in which user interface objects are situated thereon. In operation 2004, a plurality of user interface objects are selected. A page is generated in operation 2006 with the selected user interface objects situated on the page in accordance with the attribute mles of the form. JavaScript actions are attached to the selected user interface objects in operation 2008. The JavaScript actions are capable of being executed upon detection of a user action involving one of the user interface objects.

The user interface objects may include one or more of the following: a push button, a text box, a text area, a radio button, a check box, a drop down, a blank item, a user interface list, and a static table. The user action may include at least one of clicking on one of the user interface objects, changing text in one of the interface objects, exiting a text box of one of the interface objects. Further, the user action involving one of the user interface objects may cause a predetermined event. Optionally, the page may be an HTML page. The following material provides a more detailed description of the above-described method.

This portion of the present description details the ReTA User Interface (UI) framework design from the perspective of the application developer. The role of this framework is to provide services that generate the HTML code for UI widgets and attach Javascript actions to UI widgets. The UI framework exposes these services through a set of Component Object Model (COM) objects. The application developer uses these UI COM objects and their services through scripting logic added to the application's Active Server Pages (ASP).

User Interface Framework

The User Interface framework provides components for generating HTML. An HTML page is generated from a combination of the various UI Components. Figure 20.1 shows the steps for generating a HTML page consisting of a form 2030 with a TextBox 2032, a DropDown list 2034 and a PushButton 2036.

The User Interface Framework provides the following services: <img file="WO0109792A2_D0059.tif" />

The User Interface Framework implements these services through the following COM objects:<img file="WO0109792A2_D0060.tif" /><img file="WO0109792A2_D0061.tif" />

These components are described in detail in the following sub-portions of the description.

AFForm

The AFForm component is used in conjunction with form element widgets to build complex user interfaces. Initially, the application creates an instance of the form component and sets its attributes. Following this activity, the application creates instances of the associated form element widgets and adds them to the form using the form's add method. As another service, the form component provides methods to help align all associated form element widgets properly on the page.

Methods

The LAFForm interface defines the access to the AFForm component. This interface supports the following methods, which the developer uses to create a form. <img file="WO0109792A2_D0062.tif" /><img file="WO0109792A2_D0063.tif" />

AFPushButton

The AFPushbutton component can only be used in conjunction with a AFForm component (the form's generate method iterates through the generate method for all form element widgets to build the necessary HTML code). An action object can be attached to a AFPushButton component. (Refer to AFHardCodedASP Action and AFJScriptAction for details).

Methods

The IAFPushbutton and LAFUIActionltem interfaces define the access to the AFPushbutton component. These interfaces support the following methods, which the developer uses to create a push button form element. <img file="WO0109792A2_D0064.tif" /><img file="WO0109792A2_D0065.tif" />

AFTextBox

The AFTextBox component can only be used in conjunction with a AFForm component (the form's generate method iterates through the generate method for all form element widgets to build the necessary HTML code). An action object can be attached to a AFTextBox component. (Refer to AFHardCodedASP Action and AFJScriptAction for details).

Methods

The IAFTextBox and LAFULActionltem interfaces define the access to the AFTextBox component. These interfaces support the following methods, which the developer uses to create a Text Box form element. <img file="WO0109792A2_D0066.tif" />

<img file="WO0109792A2_D0067.tif" />

116 AFTextArea

The AFTextArea component can only be used in conjunction with a AFForm component (the form's generate method iterates through the generate method for all form element widgets to build the necessary HTML code). An action object can be attached to a AFTextArea component. (Refer to AFHardCodedASP Action and AFJScriptAction for details).

Methods

The LAFTextArea and LAFULActionltem interfaces define the access to the AFTextArea component. These interfaces support the following methods, which the developer uses to create a Text Area form element. <img file="WO0109792A2_D0068.tif" />

<img file="WO0109792A2_D0069.tif" />

ŁFRadioButton The AFRadioButton component can only be used in conjunction with a AFForm component (the form's generate method iterates through the generate method for all form element widgets to build the necessary HTML code). An action object can be attached to a AFRadioButton component. (Refer to AFHardCodedASP Action and AFJScriptAction for details).

Radio buttons are used in groups. Because of the complexity of the client side script required in conjunction with the radio button component, the application developer must call the generateRadioButtonScript () method on the AFScriptgenerator object on the page wherever radio buttons are used. This method takes as inputs:

• The name of the form object to which the radio button has been added.

• The name of the radio button group within the form

• The default value the radio button group may pass to the page view if nothing is selected by the user. • The return value from this method is the generated HTML and Javascript which is written to the client browser within the &lt;HEAD&gt; &lt;/HEAD&gt; tag of the page.

Methods

The IAFRadioButton and LAFULActionltem interfaces define the access to the AFRadioButton component. These interfaces support the following methods, which the developer uses to create a Radio Button form element. <img file="WO0109792A2_D0070.tif" /><img file="WO0109792A2_D0071.tif" />

AFCheckBox

The AFCheckBox component can only be used in conjunction with a AFForm component (the form's generate method iterates through the generate method for all form element widgets to build the necessary HTML code). An action object can be attached to a AFCheckBox component. (Refer to AFHardCodedASP Action and AFJScriptAction for details).

Methods

The IAFCheckBox and LAFULActionltem interfaces define the access to the AFCheckBox component. These interfaces support the following methods, which the developer uses to create a Check Box form element. <img file="WO0109792A2_D0072.tif" />

AFDropDown

The AFDropDown component can only be used in conjunction with a AFForm component (the form's generate method iterates through the generate method for all form element widgets to build the necessary HTML code). An action object can be attached to a AFDropDown component. (Refer to AFHardCodedASPAction and AFJScriptAction for details).

Methods

The IAFDropDown and LAFULActionltem interfaces define the access to the AFDropDown component. These interfaces support the following methods, which the developer uses to create a Combo Box form element. <img file="WO0109792A2_D0073.tif" />

AFBlankltem

The AFBlankltem component can only be used in conjunction with a AFForm component (the form's generate method iterates through the generate method for all form element widgets to build the necessary HTML code).

Methods The LAFBlankltem interface defines the access to the AFBlankltem component. This interface supports the following methods, which the developer uses to create a blank item form element. <img file="WO0109792A2_D0074.tif" />

AFUIList

The AFUIList component creates a sophisticated DHTML based single-select list box form widget. The list box widget consists of a fixed headings row and a scrollable set of data rows. The list box widget supports data entry through data row level associated check boxes and text boxes. In addition, action objects can be attached to the list box and are generated in the same way as described for other form components. (Refer to AFHardCodedASPAction and AFJScriptAction for details).

The list box widget refreshes itself by passing (as parameters) the selected item and the state of all check boxes and all text boxes. The AFUIList view captures the values and updates the state of the list box to reflect the user choice.

Note: The sophisticated functionality provided by this widget requires DHTML support. As of this portion of the present descriptions release date (Phase 2), only Internet Explorer 4.0 provides the necessary DHTML services. Therefore, this component is not cross-browser compatible.

Methods

The LAFUIList interface defines the access to the AFUIList component. This interface supports the following methods, which the developer uses to create a single select list box. <img file="WO0109792A2_D0075.tif" /><img file="WO0109792A2_D0076.tif" />

AFThumbNailContainer

The AFThumbNailContainer component generates a set of thumbnail images. The thumbnails are used as iconic pushbuttons. The application developer defines the single click and double click action destinations in the ASP page by coding the JavaScript functions referenced by the AFThumbNailContainer "generate" method.

Methods

The IAFThumbNailContainer interface defines the access to the AFThumbNailContainer component. This interface supports the following methods, which the developer uses to create a Thumbnail container.

<img file="WO0109792A2_D0077.tif" />

AFStaticTable

The static table component creates a standard HTML table with the parameters set by the developer through scripting logic added to application's ASP.

Methods

The LAFStaticTable interface defines the access to the AFStaticTable component. This interface supports the following methods, which the developer uses to create a static HTML table. <img file="WO0109792A2_D0078.tif" /><img file="WO0109792A2_D0079.tif" />

AFHardCodedASPAction

The AFHardCodedASPAction component adds a user defined automatic navigation action to a UI component. The UI components that support this service include AFPushButton, AFTextBox, AFTextArea, AFRadioButton, AFCheckBox, AFDropDown and AFSelectedList. Attaching the navigation action to a UI item may automatically direct the user to the next page. The next page is identified by the flow control service of the session framework. This means that the developer does not have to specify the page to open. This service also ensures that all changes made to the open pages are capture before opening a new one. The navigation action is triggered when the user causes a defined event on the object. Defined events include clicking on a link or button and changing the text or exiting a text box. The Javascript events are onClick and OnChange.

The page that represents the target of the action must be entered into the database. The action logic may look to see which activity it belongs to and then look in the database to determine what page to show to the user. An example database entry in the T_AF_FWDestinationforaction table is: T AF FWDestinationforaction <img file="WO0109792A2_D0080.tif" />

The id field must be a unique number,

The current page is the page on which the action is being triggered.

The Action is the name of the UI item which is triggering the action,

The Activity is the activity in which the action is taking place.

The Destination Page is the page to which the user should be redirected as the outcome of the action.

Methods

The LAF Action and LAFHardCodedASP Action interface defines the access to the AFHardCodedASPAction component. These interfaces support the following methods, which the developer uses to create a navigational action.

Method Description

The target of the action may be on the same frame as that from which the action is triggered.

The target of the action may be on a new instance of the web browser.

The target of the action may be on the parent frame of the frame, which triggered the action.

Create HTML to call Javascript function ("String value") when the action is triggered.

Used to track frame location during action.

AFJScriptAction

The AFJscriptAction component adds a user defined action to a UI Component. The UI components that support this service include AFPushButton, AFTextBox, AFTextArea, AFRadioButton, AFCheckBox, AFDropDown and AFSelectedList. Attaching a Javascript action to a UI item may call a Javascript function when the action is triggered. Note: The application developer creates the called Javascript function on the coπect application's ASP. The Javascript action is triggered when the user causes a defined event on the object. Defined events include clicking on a link or button and changing the text or exiting a text box. The Javascript events are onClick and onChange.

Methods

The LAF Action interface defines the access to the AFJscript Action component. This interface supports the following methods, which the developer uses to create an action.

Kβrni Description

Create HTML to call Javascript function ("String value") when the action is triggered.

Create HTML to call Javascript function ("String value") when the action is triggered.

AFScriptGenerator

The AFScriptGenerator component creates the Javascript functions needed by the actions.

Methods

The LAFScriptGenerator interface defines the access to the AFScriptGenerator component. This interface supports the following methods, which the developer uses to generate the appropriate Javascript functions. <img file="WO0109792A2_D0081.tif" /><img file="WO0109792A2_D0082.tif" />

AFStyleSheet

The AFStyleSheet Component creates the Cascading Style Sheet text for the application.

Methods

The I AFStyleSheet interface defines the access to the AFStyleSheet component. This interface supports the following method, which the developer uses to generate the appropriate Cascading Style Sheet text.

HSH Description

Generate the Cascading Style Sheet text.

DEVELOPMENT ARCHITECTURE DESIGN

Figure 21 illustrates a method 2100 for software configuration management. First, in operation

2102, software configuration management units are identified. In operation 2104, software configuration management repositories and practices are established for storing work product related to the software configuration management units. A change control process is determined in operation 2106 for implementing change requests relating to the work product. Access to the work product is monitored in operation 2108 by a plurality of users and audits are performed to indicate whether the access to the work product by the users is authorized. Further, training requirements are calculated in operation 2110 by identifying a skill set required for the implementation of the change requests and determining a cuπent skill set. As an option, the software configuration management units may be identified based on configuration types, project baselines, and/or naming standards. The software configuration management units may also have characteristics including a name, a modification log, and a release affiliation. Further, the software configuration management practices may include backing up the repositories.

The change control process may include identifying users authorized to implement the change requests, defining criteria for implementing the change requests, allowing evaluation of the change requests by the users based on the criteria, and monitoring the implementation of the change request. The present invention may also optionally include the creation of a training schedule to fulfill the training requirements. The following material provides a more detailed description of the above-described method.

The ReTA Development Architecture Design includes a set of sub-components that represent all design aspects of the development architecture. The Development Architecture Design Deliverable is used to validate design of the development architecture against the requirements. After it is validated, it may be used as a basis for build and test of the architecture.

Development Architecture Component Design

Purpose

The ReTA Development Architecture Component Design is based on the LDEA framework 2130. See Figure 21.1. LDEA provides a development environment framework and associated guidelines that reduce the effort and costs involved with designing, implementing, and maintaining an integrated development environment. LDEA takes a holistic approach to the development environment by addressing all three Business Integration components: organization, processes, and tools. In order to accomplish this, several subcomponents 2132 are provided around a central system building 2134.

The puφose of the development environment is to support the tasks involved in the analysis, design, constmction, and maintenance of business systems, as well as the associated management processes. It is important to note that the environment should adequately support all the development tasks, not just the code/compile/test/debug cycle.

Configuration Management

The puφose of Software Configuration Management (SCM) 2106 is to establish and maintain the integrity of the components of an application throughout the project's life cycle.

This includes: • Comprehensively assessing and evaluating changes to a system after requirements have been agreed upon and commitments established.

• Ensuring that approved changes are communicated, updated, verified and implemented properly.

• Coordinate the project's day-to-day activities and avoid conflicting actions by controlling access to code and repositories.

The project manager is responsible for the completion of the Project Configuration Management Plan during Design — with the help of the project team. This may:

• Clarify roles/responsibilities for migrations so that they are understood early in the project lifecycle. See Figure 22, which illustrates the Configuration Management Life Cycle.

First, a project study 2200 is created. Development and testing stages 2202,2204 follow the study. Finally, the implementation stage is reached 2206.

• Increase visibility of non-application components (e.g. database, architecture) in Configuration Management to improve quality of delivered products. Many times these are the components that are missed during implementations.

The ReTA SCM Policy portion of the description can assist engagement executives in creating a project configuration management plan.

The following table provides a list of the active participants within the change control process. A person may have more than one role or responsibility depending on the size of the technical effort. Also note that the responsibilities are described here at a high level and are not intended to be all-inclusive. Most of the roles are would already exist on an engagement. However, there is one new role that is critical to the CM process, the Source Code Librarian. Description &amp; Responsibilities

Technical Manager Typically an IS department head with responsibility for the purchase and/or support of hardware and software. In configuration management, this role is more software oriented. Other responsibilities include:

Assign development and support staff to projects.

Review (accept/reject) technical approach proposed for projects.

Monitor development and support budgets and personnel - status of projects.

Network System This individual is responsible for the installation, maintenance and Administrator support of the Unix and Windows NT servers including operating system, file systems, and applications. Other responsibilities include:

Operating system installation, patch updates, migrations and compatibility with other applications.

Installation and support of proper backup/restore systems.

Installation and support of other peripherals required for installed (or to be installed) applications.

Proper portion of the present description of hardware configuration and setup.

Maintenance of Windows Domain users and Groups as well as other security issues.

<img file="WO0109792A2_D0083.tif" /><img file="WO0109792A2_D0084.tif" />Change Control

Description

Change requests as a consequence of changing requirements and changes requested due to nonconformity (or defects), either in the application software, or in the system software must be analyzed, authorized, scheduled, staffed, and tracked in a defined way. What, why, when, and who made a change must be tracked from the point of analysis to the reintroduction of the defective or changed component at the appropriate stage. Change control therefore governs what software component is changed, version controlled, and when it is re-migrated to a given development stage.

Configuration Management becomes more complex in a component-based development environment as the system is broken down to a greater level of granularity. For this reason, change control processes need to be clearly defined and communicated across the entire engagement team.

Tool Recommendation ReTA Change Tracking Database

The Change Tracking Database is a Microsoft Access tool. It provides basic functionality of entering, modifying and reporting of system change requests encountered throughout the entire project life cycle.

Issues Tracking Database

The Issues Tracking Database is a Microsoft Access tool that is ideal for small to medium sized projects. It provides basic functionality of entering, modifying and reporting of project issues encountered throughout the entire project life cycle.

Procedures/Standards

Figure 23 illustrates the change control 'pipeline' 2300 and each phase within the pipeline. The Change Control process can be divided into many different phases. They include:

Log Change Request The first phase 2302 of the change control process is to log a change request. Regardless of who initiates a change request and how the change request enters into the engagement work-in- progress pipeline each change request should be logged Change Tracking tool. IT personnel who log change requests should record as much information as possible.

Change Control Committee Review

During the second phase 2304, the Change Control Committee (CCC) meets regularly to review the change requests that have been logged to the Change Tracking tool in the past week. The committee also discusses the status of the changes scheduled for migration during the weekly migration windows, reviews the changes already moved to production, and sets the Staging Date for change requests.

Before each weekly meeting, the Change Control Committee facilitator may generate the following reports: • Report of the change requests that have been logged to the Change Tracking tool in the past week

• Implementation Report that list all changes scheduled to be implemented

During the meeting the CCC may: • Review the new change requests

• Discuss the cross-functional impacts

• Verify that the target implementation date is realistic

• Set the Staging Date

• Update the status of the change requests scheduled to be implemented that week during one of the change windows

• Evaluate the quality metrics of the changes that have been migrated to production and discuss any lessons learned

Statement of Work / Scope Definition Portion of the present description During the third phase 2306, depending on the Change Category (Project, Enhancement, or

Emergency), a Statement of Work or simple Scope Definition portion of the present description may or may not be required. These portions of the present descriptions both serve to define what the change request entails, and record what is agreed to by the change requester and IT. The Statement of Work, which is cuπently in use sometimes in FLP, is a detailed portion of the present description that describes the work that may be done for the change request. The Scope Definition portion of the present description is a simple portion of the present description of the scope of the change. It can be an email message, a faxed letter, or a brief Microsoft Word portion of the present description. The following table shows what is required:

Change Category Statement of Work Scope Definition Portion of the present description <img file="WO0109792A2_D0085.tif" />

Once the developer starts working on the Statement of Work or Scope Definition portion of the present description, the developer should set the status of the change request in the Change Tracking tool to "Assigned".

The Statement of Work / Scope Definition portion of the present description is sent to the change requester for sign-off. The sign-off needs to be checked-off on the Migration Checklist in the

Change Tracking Tool in order to migrate the change to production. This sign-off serves as a quality checkpoint that the work on the change request may meet the business needs of the change requester.

Analysis &amp; Design

This phase 2308 is required only for project change requests. For example, the developer may create technical analysis and design specifications portion of the present descriptions. Other impacted groups may create a technical impact statement.

Code &amp; Unit Test

In this phase 2310, the developer codes the change request and unit tests the code changes to ensure that it works as designed and that it meets the business needs.

The developer should set the status of the change request in the Change Tracking tool to

"Development". After the change has been coded and unit tested, the developer should fill in the Resolution field for the change request within the Change Tracking Database. The developer should also fill in the approximate number of hours it took to complete the change request in the Actual Hours field.

System Test

This phase 2312 is required for all project change requests and some enhancements. In this phase, the developer tests the change to ensure that the system's functionality works as designed. Furthermore, this test also ensures that the code change did not adversely affect other areas of the cuπent system. This may entail mnning some pre-defined System Test scripts. For certain change requests, it is important to test the code change against a large volume of data. This may check if the change may handle all the data in the production environment. For any change requests which may impact interfaces both in and out of the target application, it is necessary to test that all the interfaces still work coπectly. This may prevent a change request from adversely impacting other systems.

The developer should set the status of the change request in the Change Tracking tool to "Testing".

User Acceptance Test

In this phase 2314, the most appropriate person, whether it is the requester or a user who may be directly affected by the change, may assume the role of the test administrator. The administrator tests the change request to ensure that it meets the original business need. In some cases, the developer may actually mn the test plans that the test administrator creates, and the test administrator may validate the test results. Once the test administrator agrees that the change satisfies all the test criteria, the developer needs to check the user acceptance test sign-off box in the Change Tracking Tool.

The sign-off is needed to migrate the change to production. This sign-off serves as a final quality checkpoint that the work on the change request meets the business needs of the change requester.

Fill out Migration Form In this phase, the developer goes through a final process before submitting the change request to be moved to production. The developer should move all objects associated with the change request from the testing environment to the staging area.

In order to move the change to production, the developer needs to complete the Migration Checklist form on the Change Tracking Tool and inform Production Control 2316 by the Staging Date. This form contains all the information about the objects that need to be moved from the staging area into the production environment. This form is a streamlined checklist of all the things that the developers must do in order for Production Services personnel to move the objects to production. Whenever a sign-off checkbox is checked or unchecked, the cuπent user's LD and the cuπent date may be captured by the Change Tracking tool.

The following Migration Checklist items are required for the different change categories: <img file="WO0109792A2_D0086.tif" />The Ready to Migrate checkbox is used to summarize that all the required sign-offs have been obtained and that the code is ready to be migrated to production. Finally, the developer should set the status of the change request in the Change Tracking tool to "Migrate".

Move to Production

Once Production Services personnel examines a completed Migration Checklist form, they may verify that all objects to be moved into production are in order, and that the change can be moved on the migration night in phase 2318. They may also ensure that all relevant items on the Migration Checklist have been completed. This check serves as the final quality checkpoint before the change goes into production.

Production Services personnel may move all project and enhancement change requests to the Production environment during prescheduled outages or immediately in the case of an emergency fix. Production Services may then informing all system users what changes have been moved into production.

Production Services personnel should set the status of each migrated change request in the Change Tracking tool to "Production". They should also set the Actual Implementation Date to the date the change was moved to production.

Measure / Monitor Change in Production

Business users and developers should continue to actively monitor the change requests after it is migrated to production during phase 2320. If no problems develop in production due to the change request, the Change Control Committee may confirm that the team leader of the change request should set the status of the change request in the Change Tracking tool to "Closed". If problems do develop in production, the status should be set to "Re-Open". The developer is then re-assigned to fix the change request.

If the change request in production caused other problems to jobs in production, and a new fix is needed, the change request is reopened once again. If the change request caused problems in other jobs that requires modification to the other jobs, then a new change request is created, and the source of the new request is tracked back to the old request. The Change Tracking tool contains metrics to track the quality of the change request. The Change Control Committee may assign the Migration Metric and Production Metric values for each change request approximately 35 days after it was migrated into production. If problems occur during the migration of the change request, the Change Control Committee may assign a "Fail" for the Migration Metric. The Problem Description should then be completed to explain why this problem occuπed. The Lessons Learned should be filled with what lessons can be learned from the experience. If no problems occur, the Migration Metric may be assigned a "Pass".

If problems occur in production due to the change request, the Change Control Committee may assign a "Fail" for the Production Metric. The Problem Description and Lessons Learned fields should also be filled with the relevant information.

Below are the criteria for the Change Control Committee to use in deciding if a change request passed or failed the migration metric or the production metric. A change request may pass if it meets the following criteria.

Migration Metric Criteria

Flawless movement of all resources (Active Server Pages, MTS Components, Java Classes, Graphics, Data Model, etc.), from the staging environment to the production environment) is required. (I.e., resource movement must have no negative effects.)

During implementation activities there must be no unplanned, adverse effect on regularly scheduled batch or online processing, online availability feeds to other systems and reports.

Production Metric Criteria

Production online processing and production batch processing must not experience any release- related abends.

The production implementation may not cause problems, interruptions in service or failures in other areas within 35 days of the initial implementation date. Any release with is backed out due to quality or problems may fail this criterion. The change must be delivered when planned. A postponement due to external reasons may not cause the change to fail this criterion. Postponements due to quality or readiness of code must be communicated to the Change Control Committee, project team, and customers at least 3 days prior to the scheduled implementation date.

Migration Control

Description Migration Control tools control multiple versions of source code, data, and other items as they are changed, tested, and moved from one development environment into another, for example, from development to test and from test to production. The list below provides a list of the various environments and their specific puφose within the project lifecycle.

Environment Description

Build / This 'virtual' environment is configured to reside nearly entirely on

Component an individual developer workstation. Web and application services

Test are mnning locally for presentation and business logic. Architecture components are accessed via a mapped network drive. A shared RDBMS Server or a local, more lightweight version of the database can be used for database services. Different workstation configurations may exist for component or user interface developers. Both types of developers use a source code repository for check in/out of code during development. In the event that the required modifications affect both a user interface and server-side components, then both developers may share components and interfaces using drive mappings. As code changes are made a 'Unit' or Component test is performed to ensure that changes made in one area of the code do not have adverse affects on the rest of the component. When the build code is deemed fit for promotion, the source code is checked into the source code repository and the source code administrator is notified of the status. <img file="WO0109792A2_D0087.tif" /> Environment Description

Production This environment consists of key hardware and software components to support the business operational systems. Typically, only applications and components that have been thoroughly tested for functional and technical accuracy are moved into this environment.

With a ReTA/Microsoft-centric environment, a few key issues arise with respect to environment migration. These issues relate to the fact that the application is based on the use of Active Server Pages, Microsoft Transaction Server components and Java Classes.

Sequence of Events

To perform the code migration, certain steps should be followed to ensure that users that are cuπently in the application are not adversely affected. This can be accomplished by performing the migration in the following order:

Using the Internet Information Server administration utility, monitor the site's number of active users. A count of zero indicates that no clients are cuπently hitting the site. Shut down the web listener to prevent additional users from connecting to the site.

Within the MTS Administration tool, shut down all server processes. This cleans up an components that may still be awaiting garbage collection from the Java Virtual Machine.

If the component interfaces have not been modified, it is possible to copy the new version of the Java Classes directly to the new environment. If the interfaces have been changed, the MTS administrator may need to delete and recreate the individual components within MTS.

Copy any new web server files (ASP, HTML, graphics, etc..) to the target directories on the web server.

Restart the web listener to allow users access to the application.

Module Location

There are basically three types of modules that get migrated during a ReTA engagement. Web Server files, Application files and database objects. Web Server modules include Active Server Pages (ASP), static HTML portion of the present descriptions, graphics or images and JavaScript files. The ASP and HTML portion of the present descriptions may have security restrictions placed on them from within Microsoft Internet Information Server (US) and from the Windows NT Server. Security can be set to include individual user accounts, groups/roles, or no security.

Application Server - Two file types are migrated within application servers, COM Dynamic Link Library's and Java Classes. Both files are created during the application and architecture build processes. The COM DLL's require registration within MTS by inserting them into a MTS

Package. In the event that the Web and Application servers are two physically different machines, an export process is required between them to instmct the Web server where the business components physically reside. For more information on the registration and exporting processes refer to the MTS online help.

In the case of the Java Classes, they need to reside in a directory that is defined within the server's 'CLASSPATH' environment variable. For ReTA Phase 1 &amp; 2 development and testing all mntime files were located with C:\ReTA. Therefore the following classpath environment variable was defined on each developer's workstation: CLASSPATH=C:\WinNTVlava\Classes;C:\WinNT\Java\TmstLib;C:\ReTA\Architecture;C:\ReT

AVApplication

Database Server - These items include tables, views, sequences, triggers, stored procedures and functions, and user/schema information. These items are not necessarily particular to multi- tiered development. However, care should be taken to ensure that architecture tables and other objects are located separately from the application objects.

Security

Within the ReTA application model, security is enforced at the Web and Application Servers. In the case of Web server security, access to ASP and HTML files can be restricted using the

Access Control List security provided by Windows NT. Security on these objects can be set at the group (role) or individual user levels. A component within MTS utilizes role-based security to determine who may or may not have access to a specific COM component. A role is a symbolic name that defines a group of users for a package of components. Roles extend Windows NT security to allow a developer to build secured components in a distributed application.

For example, Figure 24 depicts the application of Roles 2400 within the Microsoft Transaction Server Management console 2402. The package labeled 'ReTA Applications' 2404 has a single role defined as being able to access it, 'ReTA User' 2406. Users that are members of the local 'ReTA Administrators' and 'ReTA User' Windows NT groups 2408,2410 are allowed to function in the ReTA User capacity defined for this package.

Due to the security options available at both the Web and Application server levels, care should be taken during code migration to ensure that security settings are consistent and applied coπectly to ensure accurate execution.

MTS Transactions

Within MTS, every component has a transaction attribute that can be set by the MTS administrator to indicate what level of participation a component has within a transaction. Care must be taken during MTS component migrations to ensure that the coπect transactional attributes are set within MTS.

The transaction attribute can have one of the following values:

• Requires a transaction. This value indicates that the component's objects must execute within the scope of a transaction. When a new object is created, its object context inherits the transaction from the context of the client. If the client does not have a transaction, MTS automatically creates a new transaction for the object.

• Requires a new transaction. This value indicates that the component's objects must execute within their own transactions. When a new object is created, MTS automatically creates a new transaction for the object, regardless of whether its client has a transaction.

• Supports transactions. This value indicates that the component's objects can execute within the scope of their client's transactions. When a new object is created, its object context inherits the transaction from the context of the client. If the client does not have a transaction, the new context is also created without one. • Does not support transactions. This value indicates that the component's objects do not mn within the scope of transactions. When a new object is created, its object context is created without a transaction, regardless of whether the client has a transaction.

Tool Recommendation

Many configuration management tools are available on the market today, some of which provide many features useful for code promotion and management.

During the ReTA Phase 1 engagement, Microsoft Visual SourceSafe was utilized for it's labeling and source code management capabilities. Additionally, the ReTA Change Tracker database could be utilized for source code migrations that required change management knowledge and approval. In the event that client requires the use of paper or email based migration control, the ReTA Migration Request template can be used.

Procedures/Standards

Processes

The processes that guide development within ReTA engagement environments are represented in Figure 25, which illustrates an environment migration process 2500. These processes include creating a new application 2502, modifying an existing application, and applying emergency bug fixes 2504. The solid lines represent stages required for new/modified application process.

Dashed lines show the path for emergency bug fixes. Note: The term application used here is broadly applied to any managed module or component.

Processes are defined by stages shown as individual boxes. Through these stages, applications are eventually (or quickly in the case of emergency bug fixes) promoted to production. Stages provide for initiating, managing, securing and coordinating changes to applications.

The stages for the projects were developed in conjunction with representatives from each development team. It is important to note that the development stages represent the lifecycle of an application, not data. Within each development stage, there can be multiple data sets. For example, within the system test stage, an application team might wish to mn several test cycles in parallel. In order to do that and keep the data consistent, a database for each cycle is required. The CM process may ensure application modules are promoted through the development stages in a consistent manner. It is up to each application team to decide how to use each stage. For example, the application testing team may want four databases within the system test stage for different types of tests, whereas the assembly testing team may only want two.

* - Stage is used to consolidate and verify vendor changes. Depending on the change, it may be migrated to Development or System Test 2506,2508 directly. The order may be dictated by project requirements.

A very important tenet of the CM process is that an application modification can only be in one stage at any point in time. Consider the example of module 1. Module 1 starts out in development. When the development team indicates, the Source Code Librarian moves module 1 into system test. As soon as that happens, no changes can be made to module 1. Only after modulel is promoted to production 2510 can modifications be made to the module (further enhancements, bug fixes, etc.). The puφose for this mle is to prevent the situation where one developer is modifying a module when that module needs to have a bug fix to continue testing. There is one exception to this mle, emergency fixes.

When the situation dictates an emergency fix, the module affected needs to be modified immediately. When this happens, the module in question should be fixed within the development stage. When the fix is made, the module may immediately be put back into production. However, the same change also needs to be applied/promoted to the module in system test stage. This may allow modules in system test to always be cuπent with what is in production.

The CM process depends on change control records (CCR) for tracking changes to the system. A change control record is created for every new module or modification. The CCR is used to coordinate migrations and communicate status for each module in the system. One may see the use of the CCR throughout every process description. The CCR processing system may be automated through Notes.

Major tasks and responsibilities define each stage of a process and are covered in the pages that follow. These tasks and responsibilities are not intended to be a development methodology. Any references to deliverables and/or portion of the present descriptions is informational only and provided to help anchor an already existing development methodology. However, specific deliverables and portion of the present descriptions required for the change management process are required and may be highlighted.

Development/Unit Test

Development team checks required application source code out of source code control. See Figure 26, which illustrates a Development/Unit test 2600 for existing applications. Note: In the event that this is a new application, the developer may use the appropriate template from source code control.

As needed, DBA 2602 checks required database source code out of source code control. Also as needed, DBA works with development team to approve and prepare modifications to development database. All work occurs on developer's workstation using local web and application server processes. Note: A shared web/application may be used for vendor staging.

Unit testing is ongoing during development. The development team checks modified application source code into source code control. The development team also fills in a change control record indicating which modules have changed. As needed, the DBA checks modified database source code into source code control. A source Code Librarian 2604 verifies/prepares necessary objects for building new applications. Unit test and development is completed. In some cases, a string test may be required. The system test team is notified, such as by e-mail.

Deliverables from this stage might include:

• Modified or new application • Modified or new database objects

• Unit test data and output

CM Deliverables from this stage include:

• A change control record with developer information filled in.

Assembly Test

With reference to Figure 27, an assembly test team 2700 reviews user requirements and prepares validation or test plan. Database modifications are fetched from source code control and applied to an assembly test environment 2702. The Source Code Librarian fetches new application, builds it and copies it into assembly test environment 2704. Validation or test plan is executed pass/fail/deviation. The assembly test team signs change control portion of the present description. Deliverables from this stage might include:

• Completed validation or test plan with pass/fail/deviation information.

CM Deliverables from this stage include:

• A change control record with assembly test information.

System Test System test team reviews user requirements and prepares validation or test plan. See Figure 28, which illustrates a system test 2800 for existing systems. Database modifications are fetched from source code control 2802 and applied to the system test environment 2804. The Source Code Librarian fetches the new application, builds it and copies it into the system test environment. A validation or test plan is executed pass/fail/deviation. The system test team 2806 signs the change control portion of the present description.

Deliverables from this stage might include:

• Completed validation or test plan with pass/fail/deviation information.

CM Deliverables from this stage include:

• A change control record with system test information.

Production

Figure 29 is a flowchart for production of existing applications. The change control record is forwarded to the production operations team 2900 responsible for scheduling changes to production. A promotion to production is scheduled on the production plan 2902. Database modifications are fetched from source code control 2904 and applied to the production environment 2906.

The Source Code Librarian fetches the new application, builds it and copies it into the production environment. The controlled change-tracking portion of the present description is signed and filed. Electronic copies of all portion of the present descriptions and portion of the present description can optionally be stored in source code control or other portion of the present description storage system. Deliverables from this stage might include:

• Application promoted to production.

CM Deliverables from this stage include:

• A complete change control record with production information.

Version Control

Description

Version Control tools control access to source code as it is developed and tested and allow multiple versions to be created, maintained, or retrieved. For maintenance management puφoses, it is desirable to designate one individual team member to function as the source control administrator. Duties for the source control manager would include the administration of source control users and projects, scheduling and performing periodic backups and applying labels to specific versions of the code (for migration puφoses).

Examples of architecture and application source code maintained within the version control process include: <img file="WO0109792A2_D0088.tif" /> Location Types

Database Server Database specifics (table, rollback segment and temporary space information)

Users, Roles

Tables, Indexes, Triggers

Procedures, Packages, Sequences

Tool Recommendation

Many configuration management tools are available on the market today, some of which provide test data management functionality.

During the ReTA Phase 1 engagement, two different tools where utilized and evaluated: Microsoft's Visual SourceSafe™ and Intersolve's PVCS Version Manager™. Both applications are relatively simple use and administer. Visual SourceSafe is prefened for small to medium sized engagements and PVCS Version Manager is prefened for large, enteφrise-scale development efforts. For a complete description of the configuration and usage of the Microsoft Visual SourceSafe application as it was utilized on the ReTA Phase 1 engagement, refer to Source Control.

Visual SourceSafe Visual SourceSafe from Microsoft ships with the Visual Studio suite and as such is tightly integrated with the Visual Integrated Development Environments. See Figure 30, which illustrates a frame 3000 of Visual Source Safe. Check in and check out functions 3002,3004 can be performed from with Visual Basic or Visual J++. Additionally, Rational Rose is also tightly integrated with SourceSafe.

Additionally, this product provides:

• Easy to use drag-and-drop for file check in and check out

• Historical reporting and impact analysis

• User and project level security • Archive and restore functionality

• Version 'Labeling' for source code migration

• Support for web based applications PVCS Version Manager

PVCS Version Manager from LNTERSOLV is the industry standard for organizing, managing and protecting your enteφrise software assets. Version Manager enables teams of any size, in any location, to coordinate concuπent development, with secure access and a complete audit trail. See Figure 31, which illustrates a frame 3100 of PVCS Version Manager I-Net Client.

PVCS VM Server extends the power of Version Manager to teams enteφrise-wide via the Internet and Intranets. An intuitive Web client lets users connect to a secure archive and work interactively, anywhere in the world, while sharing protected, centrally managed software.

Additional features include:

• I-NET client is simple and easy to use. It supports developers in many locations, working on many platforms

• Organizes and references all project components graphically with a flexible, project- oriented approach

• Use easy drag-and-drop to check files in and out of the system with the check in and check out buttons 3102,3104 • Graphically view project history and see file differences in side-by-side comparisons

• Branch and merge as needed, with automatic alerts of any conflicts

• Automate development processes with event triggers

• Set up projects quickly with online assistants for project configuration, security and customization

Procedures/Standards

Build &amp; Integration

Figure 32 is an illustration of a Build Source Control Model. During the Build phase of a ReTA engagement, the workstation 3200 of each individual developer should be configured to function independently of other workstations and servers 3202 (except for the development database 3204). This process may require developers to first get an updated version of the application source files in addition to those files be checked out for modifications. The benefits of this configuration are:

• Individual development changes do not effect other developers

• Easier debugging and testing • Different project team members may check out different versions and/or components of the application concuπently. Changes can then be merged later.

Assembly Test

Figure 33 illustrates an Assembly Test phase control model. During the Assembly Test phase of a ReTA engagement, the Source Control Administrator may be responsible for the mass checkout and build of the entire application or architecture. Test workstations 3300 may access a web the app server 3302, which is connected to the source code repository 3304 and the database server 3306.

To aid in this process, the use of 'Labels' within the source code repository is employed to identify specific versions of files and projects. (See Figure 34, which illustrates Microsoft Visual SourceSafe 'Labels' 3400). Labels allow for marking a specific set of files within the repository with a logical name and version. At a later point, it is possible to display the different labels and retrieve the desired version.

Environment Management

This portion of the description identifies the miscellaneous application and system-level services that do not deal with the human-computer interface, communication with other programs, or access to information. Environment Management Services identify each component used to perform the operating system services, system level services, application services, and mn-time services.

Systems Management

In order to maintain an effective and secure infrastmcture, System Management procedures are essential in the success of obtaining a stable environment. These systems require tools, utilities and processes that allow administrators to monitor mnning components and change their configuration. Systems Management involves all functions required for the day to day operation of the ReTA environment (e.g. event monitoring, failure control, monitoring, tape loading, etc.). Regardless of the changes taking place within the Net-Centric environment, Systems Management activities must take place in an on-going manner.

System Startup &amp; Shutdown

A comprehensive development environment rapidly becomes sufficiently complex that the startup and shutdown of the environment must be managed carefully, and preferably automated. This is key to ensuring the integrity of the environment. Startup may involve the carefully sequenced initialization of networking software, databases, web servers and more. Similarly, shutdown involves saving configuration changes as needed and gracefully taking down mnning software in the coπect sequence.

An Uninterrupted Power Supply (UPS) provides a server with power when the AC power fails or is marginal. The UPS may also shut the server down, in an orderly fashion, in the event of a power failure. The UPS may not shut down the server if the power failure is brief.

The Smart UPS 1400 should be configured with an interface to the server. The recommended interface is the serial port B (COM2) on most servers. PowerChute Plus 5.0 software from American Power Conversion is the recommended choice.

The basic puφose of PowerChute Plus is to safely shut down an operating system and server in the event of a power failure. To do this properly, PowerChute Plus needs the UPS to provide battery power to the system while PowerChute shuts down the system. This is where the coπect sequencing of Events becomes important. Clear and accessible portion of the present description of startup / shutdown procedures

Automated startup / shutdown process that rarely requires manual intervention A product that has remote power on reset capabilities

Backup and Restore The incremental value of the daily work performed on the development project is high. This investment must be protected from problems arising from hardware and software failure, and from eπoneous user actions and catastrophes such as fires or floods. The repositories and other development information must therefore be backed up regularly. Backup and restore procedures and tools must be tested to ensure that system components can be recovered as anticipated. The large volumes of complex data generally require automation of backups and restores.

The advent of Netcentric technologies has introduced an increase in media content that requires storage. The environment may support a high volume of media files, which must be considered in the backup/restore plans. Storage capacity planning should allow for the typically increased size of these file types.

As the amount of storage may grow significantly over time on a large project, the hardware requirements may increase. Sufficient room for growth should be planned when selecting the tools and hardware. Switching tools and hardware can be problematic due to lack of upward compatibility (DDS - DLT, various tools etc.).

The time required for backups must also be considered. Usually the number of hours without development per day decreases over time and if backups can only be performed when no user is logged in, this might become a problem. It is generally the case that the project may benefit from buying the fastest and largest backup hardware/software it can afford.

Storage Management

ReTA may implement an automated tape management system that provides location / retention special handling, file integrity and data protection.

Archiving Archiving can be particularly useful to safeguard information from previous versions or releases.

More generally, it is used to create a copy of information that is less time-critical than the cuπent environment at a given time. Archiving may be performed to a medium, which is different from the backup medium, and may involve other tools, which, for example, provide a higher compression ratio.

Performance Monitoring

Performance Management ensures that the required resources are available at all times throughout the distributed system to meet the agreed upon SLAs. This includes monitoring and management of end-to-end performance based on utilization, capacity, and overall performance statistics. If necessary, Performance Management can adjust the production environment to either enhance performance or rectify degraded performance.

Operating System

Windows NT may function as the ReTA Phase 1 Development Environment operating system, handling Environment System Services such as multi-tasking, paging, memory allocation, etc.

System Level Services

The Windows NT Domain Controller allows users and applications to perform system-level environment services such as a login/ logoff process for authentication to the operating system; enforced access control to system resources and executables; and access to the local or remote system's user or application profiles.

Application Services

The ReTA Phase 1 Frameworks may perform application Security Services, Eπor Handling/Logging Services, State Management Services and Help Services within the application.

State Management

State Management Services enable information to be passed or shared among windows and/or Web pages and/or across programs. In Netcentric environments, the HTTP protocol creates a potential need for implementing some form of Context Management Services (storing state information on the server). The HTTP protocol is a stateless protocol. Every connection is negotiated from scratch, not just at the page level but for every element on the page. The server does not maintain a session connection with the client nor save any information between client exchanges (i.e., web page submits or requests). Each HTTP exchange is a completely independent event. Therefore, information entered into one HTML form must be saved by the associated server application somewhere where it can be accessed by subsequent programs in a conversation Security Services

ReTA implements Application Security through the ReTA Session and Activity frameworks. The Session framework provides "Session level Page access authorization", "User identification" and "session timeout" services. The Activity framework provides "Activity level Page access authorization".

Eπor Handling/Logging Services

Eπor Handling Services support the handling of fatal and non- fatal hardware and software eπors for an application. An eπor handling architecture takes care of presenting the user with an understandable explanation of what has happened and coordinating with other services to ensure that transactions and data are restored to a consistent state.

Logging Services support the logging of informational, error, and warning messages. Logging Services record application and user activities in enough detail to satisfy any audit trail requirements or to assist the systems support team in recreating the sequence of events that led to an eπor.

Runtime Services

The ReTA Phase 1 Development Environment may use the Microsoft Transaction Server and the Microsoft Java Virtual Machine as a Run-Time Environment System Service. This affords a layer of abstraction between the applications and the underlying operating system.

Problem Management

Problem Management tools help track each system investigation request - from detection and portion of the present description to resolution (for example, Problem Tracking, Impact Analysis, Statistical Analysis). Several problem management software packages are available from a variety of vendors.

Tool Recommendation SIR Workbench The SLR Workbench is another Microsoft Access tool that was developed for small to medium sized projects. It provides basic functionality of entering, modifying and reporting of architecture and application problems encountered during the testing and release phases of the project life cycle.

Visual SourceSafe

Visual SourceSafe (VSS) from Microsoft ships with the Visual Studio suite and as such is tightly integrated with the Visual Integrated Development Environments. One of the features provided by VSS is the ability to search through the source code for given text strings. This is useful for performing impact analysis.

Security Management

Security Management tools provide the components that make up the security layer of the final system, and may provide required security controls to the development environment. While some of these tools may be considered as nothing more than security-specific Packaged

Components, many are an integral part of the development environment toolset.

Database

Development Database security may be minimal. Database User LDs may be setup to grant user- level security. The engagement Database Administrator (DBA) may have a logon to allow for full permissions. Otherwise, a Developer LD may allow read/write access and a Core User LD may allow for read access only.

Network A Windows NT Group created specifically for the engagement may protect the Development shared file folder and subsequent sub-folders (ex 'ReTAArch'). Project members individual network accounts may be added to the Domain Group ensuring access. Local network administrators may be responsible for the creation and maintenance of individual and group account information.

Application Server

The application server has two forms of security: Static security and dynamic (context dependent) security. A Windows NT group may be created for each Role in the completed application (e.g. Customer, Manager). Microsoft Transaction Server's integrated Windows NT security allows the developer to determine the security rights for each component.

The dynamic, context dependent security is implemented by the developer using the Event Handler framework for the logging and display of eπors to the user.

Web Server

The web server has static security for each page and security to maintain control of the flow between pages. The static security uses the Windows NT group for each user role to restrict access to each page. For the flow control, the developer uses the Session framework to restrict the ordering of page requests. The allowed ordering of pages are entered into the Session database tables.

Systems Building

System Building tools comprise the core of the development architecture and are used to design, build, and test the system.

Analysis &amp; Design

The BI Methodology has several application development routes that apply to different development scenarios. Routes cuπently exist in the methodology for custom and packaged application development. Component development is among several routes to be developed. Until the component development route is completed, component-based projects should be planned using a combination of BI Methodology and ODM task packages.

In general, BI Methodology should be used for all tasks that are independent of a specific technology. For example, tasks related to business modeling, user interface design, training development, package selection, and product testing should all be taken from BI Methodology rather than ODM. These technology-independent tasks typically occur early (business modeling, solution strategy, and requirements gathering) and late (product testing through deployment) in the project.

ODM content should be used for all tasks that are related to component and object development. In addition, ODM is the primary source for those tasks related to obtaining characteristics associated with component- and object-based development (such as flexibility and reuse). When using ODM task packages, take care to ensure that one consider how they link with the other elements of business integration (such as human performance).

Data Modeling

Description

Data Modeling tools provide a graphical depiction of the logical data requirements for the system. These tools usually support diagramming entities, relationships, and attributes of the business being modeled on an Entity-Relationship Diagram (ERD). Several techniques have evolved to support different methodologies (e.g., Chen, Gane &amp; Sarson, and LDEF).

As systems are often built on top of legacy databases, some data modeling tools allow generation of an object model from the legacy database data model (DDL). By understanding the E-R diagram represented by the database, it is easier to create an efficient persistence framework, which isolates business components from a direct access to relational databases. Caution is required, however, as the resulting model is at best only partial, as an object model has dynamic aspects to it as well as static relationships, and may not coπectly reflect the analysis performed in the problem domain.

When a component or object-based approach is used, data modeling is not performed. Rather, the object model represents both the data and the behavior associated with an object. In most systems, relational databases are used and the object model must be mapped to the data model. Standard mechanisms for mapping objects exist.

Tool recommendation

Visual Studio

Microsoft's Visual Studio 6.0 includes a database diagram tool that helps developers visualize stmctures of tables and relationships within a relational database. See Figure 35, which illustrates a Database Diagram 3500 within Visual Studio 3502. Using this project within Visual Studio it is possible to, for example:

• Connect to existing Oracle 7.33+ or SQL Server 6.5+ databases.

• View, print and modify existing database objects including table attributes and properties, views 3504, columns, indexes, relationships, procedures 3506 and functions 3508.

• Create new database objects. • Generate SQL scripts for schema creation and update.

• Version control schema information using Visual SourceSafe.

Visual Studio

Additionally, Rational Software's Rational Rose 98 provides Oracleδ data modeling functionality including schema analysis, SQL/DDL generation, reporting and editing. For a complete description of the product and its features visit the Rational Rose Website at www.rational.com.

Performance Modeling / Management

Description

The performance of a system must be analyzed as early as possible in the development process. Performance modeling tools support the analysis of performance over the network. A simple spreadsheet may be suitable in some well-known and understood environments, but dedicated performance modeling tools should be considered on any project with high transaction volumes or complex distributed architectures involving several platforms.

In the case of Internet-based applications, as the Internet is not a controlled environment, performance modeling is limited to those components within the domain of the controlled environment (i.e. up to the Internet Service Provider). However, in the case of intranet-based systems, where the environment is controlled from end-to-end, performance modeling may be performed across the entire system.

Performance modeling for components involves the analysis of the projected level of interaction between components and the level of network traffic generated by this interaction. It is important for performance reasons that communication between components is minimized, especially if these components are distributed.

Tool recommendation Visual Quantify Tivoli Sniffer Basic Application Expert

Object Modeling

Description

An object model usually contains the following deliverables: Class Diagram (1 per functional area or 1 per component) Class Definition (1 per class) Class Interaction or Sequence Diagram (1 or more per scenario / workflow)

Class State Transition Diagram (1 per Class with complex state)

Tools such as MS Word, MS PowerPoint, ABC Flowchart (MicroGrafix), may be used to produce these deliverables. See Figure 36 illustrating Object Modeling 3600 within Rational Rose 3602. Specific modeling tools do exist, however, and provide advantages such as cross referencing (for example, are all the methods used in the Interaction diagrams described in the class definitions?), automatic propagation of changes to other diagrams, generation of reports, and generation of skeleton code. However, some tools have problems with:

• Usability and stability • Single users or small numbers of concuπent users

• Proprietary repositories (usually file-based, rather than DB-based)

• Support of extensions / customizations

As well as providing the usual editing and graphical functionality, a good modeling tool should: • Interface with a repository (to support versioning)

• Support multiple users

• Generate code from the design

The industry standard to represent the object model is UML notation (adopted by OMG).

Tool recommendation Rational Rose 98 Visio 5.0

Visual Modeler 2.0 (Only valid for VB and VC++) Component Modeling

Description

Component modeling can mean either designing components from scratch, or customizing and integrating packaged software. No specific component modeling tools exist, and current object modeling tools only provide limited support for components (e.g. for packaging related classes together). Class packages can be used to separate the object models for different components, with a separate class package(s) for the component model. This approach, however, is not enforced by cuπent modeling tools, and requires project naming and structuring standards.

When component modeling is being performed using existing packaged software, some form of reverse engineering or importing is required from the modeling tool to capture the existing design.

During component design, the partitioned component model is designed, which defines physical interfaces and locations for components. It is important for performance reasons that communication between components is minimized, especially if they are distributed.

Tool recommendation

Rational Rose 98

Visio 5.0

Visual Modeler 2.0 (Only valid for VB and VC++)

Application Logic Design

Description Application Logic Design tools graphically depicts an application. These tools include application stmcture, module descriptions, and distribution of functions across client/server nodes. A variety of tools and techniques can be used for Application Logic Design. Examples are stmcture charts, procedure diagrams (module action diagrams), and graphics packages to illustrate distribution of functions across client and server.

Application Logic Design functionality is also provided by a number of Integrated Development

Environments (LDE).

With component-based development, Application Logic Design is performed through object and component modeling. The functionality is captured in use cases, scenarios, work flows and/or operations diagrams along with interaction diagrams/sequence diagrams. These are usually produced using MS Word, MS PowerPoint, ABC Flowcharter (Micrografix), or an object modeling tool.

Tool recommendation Rational Rose 98

Visio 5.0

Database Design

Description

Database design tools provide a graphical depiction of the database design for the system. They enable the developer to illustrate the tables, file stmctures, etc. that may be physically implemented from the logical data requirements. The tools also represent data elements, indexing, and foreign keys.

Many data design tools integrate data modeling, database design, and database constmction. An integrated tool may typically generate the first-cut database design from the data model, and may generate the database definition from the database design.

With an object-based or component-based solution, the data-modeling task changes. In most cases, relational databases are still used, even where there are no dependencies on legacy systems. As there is an 'impedance mis-match' between an object model and a data model, a mapping activity must be undertaken. There are standard mechanisms for doing this. There are also tools on the market which allow the mapping of classes to relational tables, and which generate any necessary code to perform the database operations.

There is a tendency (especially when dealing with legacy systems) to treat data models and object models the same. It is important to recognize that at best, the data model represents only the static part of the object model and does not contain any of the transient or dynamic aspects. The physical data model may also change significantly (for DB optimization), further confusing the issue.

There can be performance problems with objects mapped to a relational database. In a worst case scenario, an object can be spread across many tables, with a single select/insert for each table, and as each object is loaded one by one, the performance becomes very poor. Some tools provide lazy initialization (only loading the parts as they are needed) and caching (minimizing DB hits).

The current trend seems to be for object-relational databases, with vendors such as Oracle adding object features to their core products. Although the support provided at the moment is limited, it is likely that in future versions Java or C++ classes may be able to interface directly.

Tool recommendation

Rational Rose 98 (Only valid for Oracle 8) ERwin

Presentation Design

Description

Presentation design tools provide a graphical depiction of the presentation layer of the application. Tools in this category include window editors, report editors, and dialog flow (navigation) editors. Window editors enable the developer to design the windows for the application using standard GUI components. Report editors enable the developer to design the report layout interactively. Placing literals and application data on the layout without specifying implementation details such as page breaks. The majority of these tools generate the associated application code required to display these components in the target system. Using the dialog flow (navigation) editors, the developer graphically depicts the flow of the windows or screens. The Control-Action-Response (CAR) diagram is a commonly used technique for specifying the design of GUI windows.

The majority of Netcentric systems use Web browsers to provide a common cross-platform user interface. Presentation design for this type of environment therefore entails the generation of HTML pages, often with additional components (JavaScript, 3rd party ActiveX controls, Plug- ins) providing enhanced functionality or media content. Many tools are cuπently available for designing and creating web content, although HTML remains the common denominator, at the very least as a placeholder for the content.

In the case of systems published on the Internet, defining the target audience is less straightforward than in traditional systems, but equally important. Having a good understanding of the intended audience may be a big advantage when thinking about user interaction with the system, and therefore, the presentation layer of the system.

Within a ReTA based application, three types of web pages that are available include:

<img file="WO0109792A2_D0089.tif" />

Tool recommendation

Microsoft Visual Studio 6.0

Rational Rose 98

Visio 5.0

Visual Modeler 2.0 (Only valid for VB and VC++) Packaged Component Integration

Description

Packaged components are generally thought of as third party applications or services that provide ready-made business logic that is customizable and reusable. Additionally, legacy applications can be included in these discussions when there is a desire to reuse portions of or an entire preexisting application. One of the benefits of component-based systems is the ability to separate the component interfaces from their implementation. This simple feature can help enormously with access to both third party components and legacy applications. The concept of putting an object or component interface on a non-object piece of software is called 'wrapping.'

There are several arguments for putting a wrapper around an third party application or legacy system instead of custom building or replacing the functionality that they provide:

• The wrapped component may provide functionality that requires deep technical expertise or knowledge to develop, (e.g. hardware drivers, EDI applications)

• The provided functionality may only be temporary. With a wrapper in place, the underlying implementation may change without affecting the consuming application.

• The wrapped component can now be reused within additional applications without additional effort.

• Wrapping can take considerably less time and effort than building the third party component or legacy application over again. The more complex the application being wrapped, the greater the cost savings in time and effort.

• Within wrapped components, it is possible to consolidate several existing applications into a single new service, (e.g. customer details from a ERP package as well as from the new system)

Procedures/Standards

Pure Component Integration Component standards are maturing, particularly in eCommerce Applications. Although plug and play is not yet a reality, more application and ISV vendors are developing component based solutions for the eCommerce market place. Generally, this is the simplest form of integration if leading-edge eCommerce architectures are being deployed.

Care should be taken to allow for the migration from one vendor to another. To allow for this, the application developer should investigate encapsulating the component within an application wrapper.

Wrapped Component Integration

Many of today's vendors provide ActiveX or Java classes that provide a direct component interface into their application or services. Some vendors such as SAP expose component interfaces which can be accessed by ORBs e.g. Microsoft's DCOM connector. The underlying architecture however is not component-based. This is not a problem providing the package provides scalable and robust application execution.

Another example is the use of Microsoft's COM Transaction Integrator 3700 and the Microsoft SNA Server for NT 3702. These products allow for the wrapping of CICS transactions in COM component stubs 3704 that can be invoked from MTS components. See Figure 37, which illustrates directly calling a wrapped CICS component 3706.

Batch and Indirect Integration This process of integration relies on the use of Message Oriented Middleware (MOM) to provide asynchronous messaging to and from the packaged application. This can be accomplished using Microsoft's Message Queue (MSMQ) 3800, IBM's MQ/Series 3802 and Level 8's Falcon Bridge 3804 (to provide MSMQ to MQ/Series communication). See Figure 38, which illustrates indirectly calling a wrapped CICS component 3806.

Data Integration

This is the most common form of integration but restrictive because it involves development of duplicated business logic, risks breaking application integrity and causes maintenance overheads. Constmction

Constmction tools and processes are used to program or build the application: client and server source code, windows, reports, and database. ReTA based development should use a base set of naming and coding standards.

Tool recommendation Visual Studio 6.0 Rational Rose 98

Test

Testing applications (client/server or NetCentric) remains a complex task because of the large number of integrated components involved (i.e., multi-platform clients, multi-platform servers, multi-tiered applications, communications, distributed processing, and data). The large number of components result in a large number and variety of testing tools.

Test Data Management

Description

Members of the technology infrastmcture and data architecture teams are often the ones who create and maintain the common test data. This requires full-time personnel, especially when a large number of test databases must be kept in synchronization. Many of the automated testing tools available on the market today provide test data management functionality.

At a minimum, vendor or custom applications and processes should be in place to perform the following:

• Database Schema Export &amp; Import

• Individual or Bulk Table Deletion and Population

• Data Refresh/Restore Additional functionality may include data generation or conversion, versioning and validation.

Tool Recommendation

Many testing tools are available on the market today, some of which provide test data management functionality.

Procedures / Standards

The ReTA Component Test Workbook Plan-Prep provides the mechanism for maintaining component test data required during test execution. When creating the test data, all attempts should be made to make the test data reusable.

Test Data Manipulation

Description There are a few avenues for the manipulation of test data. When considering this function during the component and assembly testing phases consider the following:

• Create test data if the physical data model is stable.

• Use the existing application if it can create valid data.

• Convert production data if the Data Conversion Application and the production data are reliable.

Tool Recommendation

If possible, leverage any existing data manipulations that were included with the database suite. Many database vendors provide data management and manipulation applications with their database systems. Additionally, many development packages, including Microsoft Visual

Studio™, provide database access and manipulation functionality.

For data generation, PLATINUM TESTBytes™ is a test data generation tool that connects to your database to create test data for your relational databases. With point-and-click action, one can specify the type of data needed. TESTBytes automatically generates up to millions of rows of meaningful test data, eliminating days or weeks of time-consuming effort and reducing costs.

Procedures / Standards

For data conversion, the best approach is to: • If data is going to be shared with an existing application, attempts should be made to reuse test data from the legacy system.

• Use the existing data store capabilities to extract or massage the data into a format that is easily integrated into the new application. • Create one-time extract and formatting applications to extract the legacy data, perform formatting and business operations, and import the newly modified data into the new data store.

The ReTA Component Test Workbook Plan-Prep provides the mechanism for maintaining component test data required during test execution. When creating the test data, all attempts should be made to make the test data reusable.

Test Planning

Description

The test planning function during a ReTA engagement provides an opportunity to define the approaches, tools, environments and process to test the application and its individual components for functional and technical validation. This process is typically assigned to someone with experience in application development using similar technologies as those to be used on the new system.

Tool Recommendation

The ReTA Component Test Workbook Plan-Prep provides the mechanism for maintaining and communicating component test information. Component test planning information such as component test cycles and component test conditions are included. Both worksheets are to be completed during the design phase by the designer.

Test Execution

Description

If testing environments have been created, application testing scenarios and scripts should be created to evaluate the application functions as designed. Actual results are compared against expected results portion of the present description with the test conditions. The use of automated testing tools is essential for fast, accurate regression and performance testing. Ensure the tool used for automated testing is easily configured. Also, ensure the scripts can be quickly updated to allow for user interface changes.

Tool Recommendation

Component Test Workbook

The ReTA Component Test Workbook Plan-Prep provides the mechanism for maintaining and communicating component test information. Component test planning information such as component test cycles and component test conditions are included. Both worksheets are to be completed during the design phase by the designer.

Automated Testing Tool

There are many automated, web-based testing tools on the market today. Many tools provide record and playback scripting functionality. See Figure 39 which illustrates RSW eTest Automated Testing Tool 3900. Recommended features include:

• Auto record and playback of test scripts

• Data driven testing

• Easy test modification (many tools have proprietary scripting languages)

• Cross-browser support • Multi-user simulation for load &amp; performance testing

• Test summaries and reporting

Procedures /Standards

In addition to the test planning elements of the CT workbook, component test execution worksheets are also included: component test script, test data, and expected &amp; actual results worksheets. These worksheets are to be completed by the developer during the build phase. These scripts may be used by the developer/tester to execute the individual component tests. In theory, since the steps of the component test are portion of the present description, any developer or tester should be able to execute the test by simply following the steps outlined in the test script.

Performance Management

Description Performance Management tools support application performance testing. These tools monitor the real-time execution and performance of software. They help to maximize transactions and response time to the end user. They are also useful in identifying potential bottlenecks or processing anomalies.

Procedures / Standards

During the automated test execution process, the testing tool may automatically verify the cuπent state of the system (i.e. actual results) against the expected state of the system (i.e. expected results) for each test case defined in the test script. Execution status may be reported through the reporting function of the toolset. In the case of performance or lead testing, the testing tool may provide a summary report including graphic illustrations describing the overall performance of the system.

Test Results Comparison

Description

Whether using automated or manual testing processes, after the completion of each testing cycle it should be clear as to what defects still exist within the system. By comparing actual results with expected results, the application tester and developer can quickly detect design and development eπors within the system.

Tool Recommendation

The ReTA Component Test Plan-Prep Workbook provides the mechanism for maintaining expected and actual results. The Expected and Actual Results worksheet outlines the expected result for each condition and lists the actual result encountered during the test execution.

Procedures /Standards

During the automated test execution process, the testing tool may automatically verify the cuπent state of the system (i.e. actual results) against the expected state of the system (i.e. expected results) for each test case defined in the test script. Execution status may be reported through the reporting function of the toolset. Test Coverage Measurement

Description

Test Coverage Measurement tools are used to analyze which parts of each module are used during the test. Coverage analyzing tools are active during program operation and provide comprehensive information about how many times each logic path within the program is run. This Test Management and Quality Management tool ensures that all components of an application are tested, and its use is a vital and often overlooked component of the test process.

Tool Recommendation

Rational's Visual PureCoverage™ is an easy-to-use code-coverage analysis tool that automatically pinpoints areas of code that code that have and have not been exercised during testing. This greatly reduces the amount of time and effort required to test an entire application and its components, increases the effectiveness of testing efforts by providing insight into overall program execution, and helps ensure greater reliability for the entire program, not just part of it.

Procedures / Standards

Test coverage measurement ensures is used to ensure that the entire application or system is completely tested. A manual approach can be applied to ensure that every path of logic within the application is completely tested. To reduce the test preparation time, an automated testing tool that provides this functionality should be leveraged.

SLR Management

Description

SLR Management Tools help track each system investigation request from problem detection through portion of the present description resolution.

Tool Recommendation

SLR Management Tools help track each system investigation request from problem detection through portion of the present description resolution. During the testing phases of the engagement, it may be desirable to reuse the SLR tools and processes developed for and used for overall problem tracking SLR Workbench

The SLR Workbench is a Microsoft Access based tool that has been used on various component and client/server engagements. It provides basic functionality of entering, modifying and reporting of architecture and application problems encountered during the testing phases of the project life cycle.

Procedures / Standards

For a full description of the tool and its use, refer to the SLR Workbench.

Development Architecture Physical Model

Puφose

The ReTA Development Architecture Physical Model portion of the description shows the actual components comprising the Development Architecture and their relative location and interfaces. Additionally, the model depicts the platforms on which the components may reside as well as the distribution across the environment. The components in the Physical Model may support a portion of a function or more than one function from the functional model.

Physical Configuration

Figure 40 is an illustration that describes the physical configuration necessary for ReTA development. The development environment was composed of the following hardware and software configurations: <img file="WO0109792A2_D0090.tif" /><img file="WO0109792A2_D0091.tif" />

<img file="WO0109792A2_D0092.tif" />

Build Model

Figure 41 illustrates the application &amp; architecture configuration for a typical ReTA Build environment 4100. Each development workstation 4102 should be configured to provide systems management, configuration management and systems building support. In this model, all architecture and application components &amp; services reside on the developer workstation. This allows the developer to design, build, debug and test independently of other developers.

Assembly Test Model

Figure 42 illustrates the application &amp; architecture configuration for a typical ReTA Build environment 4200. In this model, the testing workstation 4202 is configured to provide presentation services by way of an HTML 3.2 &amp; JavaScript 1.2 compatible web browser. The web/application server 4204 is configured with the cuπent assembly test versions of ReTA application and architecture components. Security Management Architecture

Overview

The ReTA Security Management Architecture includes security issues, concerns and recommendations associated with Net-Centric Computing. The Security Management Architecture deliverable is used to illustrate the potential security implications. The ReTA Security Management Architecture portion of the present description is divided into three main portions in order to encompass security requirements for Development, Execution and Operation Architecture.

Development Architecture Security Management

Preserving security of information as it travels across the Internet, or even your own intranet, has become increasingly complex. The Internet is a public resource accessible worldwide, and is built on a foundation of inherently insecure technologies. Information which is available across the Internet is becoming more and more sensitive as business continue to deploy to the Internet. Implementing effective security in our new Net Centric computing environments presents some challenges without a doubt, but not insurmountable ones. By designing security into your Net Centric solution, and implementing the appropriate application, infrastmcture, and procedural controls, security can be appropriately aligned with business risk. See Figure 43, which illustrates an LDEA Framework 4300 with components in scope ReTA Phase 1.

Everyone today is talking about Net Centric security. Keeping up with all of the security issues sunounding Net Centric technologies is more than a full time job, it has become a full time obsession. When designing a Net Centric solution, security is always at the forefront of everyone's mind, but what are the important things to consider? How do I know that I've addressed all the appropriate questions? How may my solution affect the security of my computing environment? How may that security impact my business? This paper may answer these questions, providing an overview of "things to consider" when designing a Net Centric solution. It may not attempt to provide detailed technical solutions, but it may navigate one to the right path to find that information. Impacts

Security Impacts

There is no question that the trend toward Net Centric computing may impact the traditional computing environment. Systems are much more distributed, and applications are being used by a larger number of people to reach new objectives every day. Along with all of these changes come significant security impacts. So what is it about Net Centric computing that can lead to security problems?

First of all, the Internet is a public resource. Traditionally our computer systems were only used or accessible by a small audience which we knew and could control. Now our computer environment is linked to the Internet, which is accessible to virtually anyone who has the time and the money to invest. While most of these people have good intentions when it comes to using your resources, some have an evil puφose. Threats can come from many sources: teenage hackers, spies from other companies, even curious people who inadvertently cause damage. The public nature of the Internet also increases the ability of these malicious individuals to collaborate and recruit others, thus strengthening their cause. The Internet contains a wide variety of information that people are interested in, from public information resources to sensitive customer databases.

In addition to the very lure of interesting information on the Internet, there are vulnerabilities inherent to Internet technologies which can make that information more easily compromised. In fact, the original intent of the Internet was to share information, not to be used as a business tool. Security weaknesses are widespread and present in nearly all Internet related technologies. The very communication protocol used, TCP/LP, was designed with few provisions to protect the security of the data packet.

Of course, security problems weren't created with the Internet; many of our standalone computer systems have the same types of security exposures. However, the global nature of the Internet now transfers these insecure services rapidly around the world. Weaknesses that before could only have been exploited by a small number of users with access to the system, can now be exploited by virtually anyone. These breaches are also now publicized to the entire Internet community. For example, many high profile web pages have recently been attacked, including NASA, the Department of Justice, and the CIA. Although these attacks were limited to vandalizing their web pages, (as far as we know), the publicity generated from the attacks has raised questions about the security of their systems in general. Internet access not only made these attacks possible, it also publicized the attack around the world.

This rapid transfer of information raises an issue regarding the dynamic nature of today's environment. The Net Centric environment includes traditional long term users of systems, as well as one time users who require instant logons and immediate connections. Security may stand in the way of business objectives if it is not flexible and dynamic enough to adapt to ever- changing business and technology requirements. In addition, new threats and risks evolve quickly in the Net Centric environment, and security programs may become ineffective and obsolete if not reviewed and updated regularly.

The Internet also brings with it a whole new set of legal issues, and topping the list are potential privacy implications. Businesses can now track your every movement on the Internet, from your email and LP addresses, to each site you surfed to and which ad one clicked. Does this constitute an invasion of your privacy? One may have freely given other businesses sensitive information aboutonerself, such as one's credit card number or one's social security number. To what lengths must that business go to in order to protect that information? If and when that information is compromised, who is liable? What is the penalty for breaking into a computer to which one is not granted access? What if one just looks around and does not cause any damage? These questions are just beginning to be addressed as cases are introduced in court and legislation is passed in Congress. But we are a long way from finding all the answers.

All of these security concerns have been widely publicized in the media, to the extent that the public now perceives security as a major issue on the Internet. These concerns may have the effect of impeding the success of an Internet solution, or even delaying a business decision to deploy to the Internet. Even as new technology emerges to solve many Internet related security problems, public opinion, legitimate or not, may still impact the success of any Internet solution.

Application Impacts

There are obviously a myriad of security implications from the move towards Net Centric computing. The Internet, and the growth of local intranets, has made our computing environment look much different today than it did five years ago. So what does this mean? When designing a business solution in this new environment, security implications have to be considered at every step of the process. Application design presents a specific set of security related challenges.

Application Design

The underlying theme in application design, from a security perspective, is to design in security from the beginning. Talk to Information Security representatives, and even internal auditors early on, and get their approval for your design. This can save retrofitting costs in order to achieve an adequate level of security, and may also end up giving one a more secure solution by integrating security right into the design of the application.

Once one is considering security, what is the best way to design it into your application? Even the most pompous security expert should recognize that your primary goal is not to build an application with really good security, it is to build an application that achieves a specific business goal. The challenge is to integrate security into that business goal so that it may not impede efficiency. Often security is tacked on a the last minute and impedes performance in the application, such that users may bypass security if possible, and curse it if not possible.

The next step is to consider the basic parameters of your application and how security applies to each of them.

Who needs access to the application, i.e. what is your user group? Is it all Internet users or some authorized subset? Does one only have one type of user or are multiple levels of authorization required?

Where may your application may be accessed from, the Internet or your intranet? How much control do one has over the security of that location and PC?

What is the confidentiality of the information your application may be transmitting or accessing?

What implications would there be if that information fell into the wrong hands? Once these questions have been answered one can begin to choose the appropriate tools or mechanisms to provide an adequate level of protection. When designing your application, consider implementing the minimum level of functionality and authority required to meet your business goal. This is often contradictory to basic instinct when designing a new solution, but consider the potential implications. If your application does not need to allow users to execute arbitrary operating system commands, don't let it. If your application does not need to mn as root or supervisor, don't let it. Designing for minimum functionality may obviously be a tradeoff between business and security benefits, but in general, it is better meet the level of authority required, not exceed it.

Security Integration

When designing security into your application, remember that one may not have to re-invent the proverbial wheel. Most information security groups may have coφorate security strategies with which one can integrate. For example, an enteφrise wide authentication scheme may be in use, with which one can integrate for remote access. Or there may be a single sign-on product with which your application may need to be compatible. Even if there is not a coφorate security strategy in place today, consider the direction that the company is moving toward, and provide for future integration if possible.

Auditing and Logging

Application auditing and logging is often overlooked because it is less than glamorous, but it does provide security administrators with a cmcial tool for monitoring use of an application. Good logs should be searchable for known or suspected patterns of abuse, and should be protected from alteration. Logs can monitor a virtual myriad of data, including access times, user LDs, locations from where the application was accessed, actions the user performed, and whether or not those actions were successfully completed.

Web Browser Security

While web browsers may not be exactly part of your application design, they are intimately related to many of the design decisions one may make, such as the programming tools one uses and the format your user interfaces take. The application programming tools portion of the description, above, discussed some possible ways a Web browser can exploit application security flaws. There are also design anomalies within the Web browsers themselves which can be exploited. Microsoft has fixed many of these flaws in their newest release of Internet Explorer, but their older versions are still vulnerable. This type of problem demonstrates that when considering integration with the major commercial web browsers, it is important to monitor news releases for recent security flaws. One may want to consider requiring your users to use the latest, most secure version of their Web browser if possible.

Infrastmcture Impacts

Today's Net Centric computing infrastmcture requires a complex mix of operating systems, web servers, database servers, firewalls, management tools, routers, and underlying network components. Each different component of this infrastmcture has specific security considerations which need to be addressed. These requirements are always growing and changing, as are the solutions which can be implemented. When designing this complex infrastmcture, similar to designing an application, security should be considered early on in the process.

Operating System Security

It is cmcial to choose an operating system (OS) which can provide adequate security; and once chosen it is just as important to configure that OS in a secure manner. Any OS must address the same basic security questions, such as restricting permissions for what each user can access, limiting what actions each user can perform, providing monitoring and logging of user access, and restricting what services are available. Windows NT is without exception.

NT has been publicly available for over three years now, and while security issues may have appeared, fresh out of the box NT is a very secure OS. But there are still steps to take to improve this security. Configure your OS securely from the start, implement tools where appropriate, and continue to monitor the bulletin boards and vendor announcements for problems as they come up.

Web Server Security

Many of the OS security guidelines apply to web servers as well. Regardless of your choice of web server, it is important to configure that server securely. The server should be set to mn under an ID which is used only by that web server, and never as root. Directory permissions should be assigned according to a need to know philosophy, and your portion of the present description root (where published information is stored) should be different from your server root (where server binaries and configuration files are stored.)

In addition to these somewhat generic operating system security tips, there are several features which are specific to a web server which could create security exposures. In general, if one doesn't need a feature, don't turn it on; and if one does need a feature, make sure the potential security risks are understood. Server side includes allow HTML authors to place commands inside their portion of the present descriptions that cause output to be modified whenever that portion of the present description is accessed by a user. Hackers can take advantage of server side includes if they are able to place arbitrary HTML statements on your server and then execute them.

Legacy System Integration

In order to t ly take advantage of the power of Net Centric computing, new technologies need to be mixed and integrated with existing systems. More sophisticated intranets and extranets often require on line transactions or database inquiries of legacy environments which may not have the level of granular control required for secure access. In some cases, it may be possible to minor the information from an existing platform to a more securable web server or database. This may protect the integrity of your sensitive systems while still providing the access for your on-line transactions. If a minor system is not possible, a thorough audit should be performed of the security of your legacy system, to ensure that one is providing access to only those resources which are allowed.

Network Security

Now one has chosen your access control mechanisms, configured your OS, and it's time to connect to your network. This action may strike fear into the heart of many network and system administrators, because this may create one more way network security can be compromised.

Contrary to popular belief, it is possible to establish and maintain effective network security. The first step is to understand what all of your network components are, and how they are connected. By examining your network topology, one can determine where all of your access points are, and (hopefully) the way that access to them is controlled. If remote access directly into your network is required, the use of your modems must be appropriately restricted. Don't rely on knowledge of the phone number or a single static password as effective security controls.

In addition to identifying one's access points, one should examine the path that one's traffic follows, and determine if that path is vulnerable to snooping and attack. One of the more infamous hacker gangs, the Masters of Deception, once infiltrated a major telecommunication provider's data network, and had access to the coφorate secrets of hundreds of companies as information was sent across the lines. Even if your data is just traveling over internal links, a network management station could still be monitoring traffic, or a sniffer could illicitly be installed anywhere along the line. There are two major security controls that mitigate these risks: firewalls to restrict who can access your secure network, and encryption to protect your data as it's sent over an insecure network.

Firewalls

Firewalls are often thought of as THE answer to network security. There is a common misconception that purchasing and installing the "best" firewall available may automatically protect your network from the Internet. This is not necessarily tme. In fact there are many factors to consider when choosing a firewall, and when placing and configuring that firewall in your environment. First of all, consider the type of network connection your are trying to protect.

Firewalls are not only used to separate your intranet from the Internet, they can also be used to segregate a particularly sensitive or particularly insecure area of your intranet from the rest of your network. Depending on the services one wants to provide your users and what risk one is willing to accept, your choice of the "best" firewall implementation may change.

There are many different components of the firewall architecture to consider. Packet Filtering Systems selectively route packets between internal and external hosts by either the type of packet, the originating host address, or the target host address. Packet filtering is typically implemented on a specific type of router called a screening router.

Proxy Services are specialized applications or server programs that mn on a firewall host, which take users' requests for Internet services (such as ftp and telnet) and forward them, as appropriate according to the site's security policy, to the actual services. The proxies provide replacement connections and act as gateways to the services. For this reason, proxies are sometimes known as Application Level Gateways.

A Bastion Host is typically a dual-homed gateway with one interface on the internal network and one on the external network. It can be used to mn proxy services or perform stateful packet inspection. The bastion host typically acts as the main point of contact for incoming connections from the outside world, including email, ftp and telnet requests, and DNS queries about the site.

A Perimeter Network or DMZ refers to a small network between your internal network and the Internet which provides an extra layer of security. Any publicly available resources one provides, such as a Web server or an ftp server, may typically be located in the DMZ, and restricted from one's internal network by a firewall machine or bastion host.

There are many commercially available firewall products that provide some or all of these features. Which product or firewall configuration is right for one may depend on what one's network looks like, what one is trying to protect, and what your users require.

Event Monitoring

Before an incident can be responded to, it must first be detected. In the Net Centric environment, your firewall, routers, web servers, database servers, applications, and network management tools must be monitored to ensure they are working conectly and no violations have occuned. Monitoring packages can be configured to take different actions on a series of specified events, such as sending an email message if a log fills up, flashing an icon on a system administrator's screen if someone's user LD is disabled, or paging a network administrator if a link to the ISP goes down. Once this initial notification takes place, there should be escalation procedures to decide whom to notify next. For example, if the link to the ISP goes down, how long does one wait before notifying one's manager? one's users? In addition, not all monitoring needs to be reactive. There are proactive monitoring tools available which can detect patterns of abuse or failure which may lead to larger problems, and can help one detect those problems before they affect your users.

Backup and Recovery People kick over servers, accidentally delete files, and spill coffee on machines. For these reasons and a host of others, Net Centric resources must be backed up in a manner so that they can be recovered. This does not mean dumping a bunch of files onto data tapes and stacking them in a comer of the server room. An effective backup and recovery strategy should address how backups may be taken, the media on which they may be stored, the location where they may be stored, and the frequency with which they may be taken. Backups should also be periodically tested to make sure that they are recoverable, for example to make sure the backup tape drive is still working. When designing your backup strategy one should also consider the specific types of applications, databases, and hardware which are in use in your environment. For example an Oracle database may probably not be recoverable from a .tar file. In addition to software resources, consider what would happen if your router or your ISP link were to go down. It may be necessary to maintain a backup link to a secondary service provider in the event that your ISP goes down for an extended period of time.

Execution Architecture Security Management

The Execution Architecture Security focuses on Authorization, Encryption and Authentication in order to securely support applications and ensure data integrity throughout the life cycle of a single transaction. The ReTA Effort chose the Netcentric Architecture Framework (NCAF) to identify the appropriate components to focus on within the Execution Architecture. See Figure

44 which illustrates a NCAF Framework 4400 with the shaded components 4402 in scope for Phase 1.

Authentication

Regardless of the operating system that one is using, access control is a major security concern. NT authenticate users by their knowledge of an ID and password that can be used multiple times however, all passwords are vulnerable in some manner. The advent of sniffing technologies allows passwords to be monitored and read over the network. Even if passwords are encrypted as they are sent, a keystroke capturing program could be installed at the client PC and used to capture passwords before they are encrypted. Perhaps advanced client side security can mitigate this threat as well, but even with the highest technology solution, a user could write his password down and stick it to the side of his PC, thereby defeating all of the technology just implemented. The solution to this problem is some type of two factor authentication, meaning that users are authenticated with something they have, and something they know. The "something they know" can still be a password, and the "something they have" can range from the high end being a one time password generator, to the low end being an LD file stored on the user's PC or on a disk. In choosing an appropriate solution, one should consider ease of management and ease of distribution, the required strength of the solution, and integration into your environment. There are several examples of technologies which can meet your requirements, including the use of one-time passwords, time based passwords, or challenge response schemes. Once chosen and implemented, a secure authentication mechanism can be incoφorated with both your operating system and your application to remove the risks associated with static passwords. Some authorization options are depicted in this Authentication Matrix: <img file="WO0109792A2_D0093.tif" />

<img file="WO0109792A2_D0094.tif" />

<img file="WO0109792A2_D0095.tif" />

Encryption

In Net Centric computing it is likely that eventually your data may pass through a network that is not secure, where your data can be snooped or even changed. In order to guarantee confidentiality over any insecure network, including the Internet, some type of encryption must be used. Encryption may ensure that data cannot be read by anyone other than the secure target server, and that the data being transfened has not been altered. Today there are so many different strategies for implementing encryption, it is often difficult to choose which scheme is most appropriate. The specific encryption strategy chosen may rely on a number of factors.

What information exactly needs to be encrypted? If one is mnning a smart store over the Internet, maybe one only needs to encrypt the single piece of data that has the customer's credit card information. If one is allowing their system administrators to dial into their network via the Internet, one may probably want to encrypt the whole session.

How many users are there? If one want to just encrypt data between a few users and one's system, a private or secret key encryption scheme may be appropriate. If one is in a multi-user environment one may probably want to consider public key encryption, and the key management strategies that go along with it.

What does one's computing environment look like? If your applications or operating systems provide native encryption, these may be the easiest and most secure to implement.

Based on your answers to these questions, there are a number on encryption solutions available for implementation. If one is mnning a Netscape web server, one may want to consider Secure Sockets Layer, or SSL, which provides data encryption, server authentication, message integrity, and optional client authentication for a TCP/IP connection. Another WWW security solution is

Secure Hypertext Transfer Protocol (S-HTTP), which is a security-enhanced version of HTTP, developed by Enteφrise Integration Technologies (EIT). S-HTTP supports end-to-end secure transactions by incoφorating cryptographic enhancements to messaging at the application level. Pretty Good Privacy, or PGP, is a common encryption solution for electronic mail.

PGP may both authenticate the sender of the message, and encrypt the contents of the message through the use of a public key/private key pair. In electronic commerce solutions, the Secure Electronic Transactions (SET) specification which is being jointly developed by Visa and MasterCard may be considered. SET may require authentication of all parties involved with a credit card transaction through the use of digital signatures and certificates, and may use a separate encryption handshake in order to guarantee both confidentiality and integrity. Other encryption solutions include Point to Point Tunneling Protocol (PPTP), Private Communication Protocol (PCT), or the use of CryptoAPI. Some available encryption options are depicted in the following Encryption Matrix: <img file="WO0109792A2_D0096.tif" /><img file="WO0109792A2_D0097.tif" />

<img file="WO0109792A2_D0098.tif" />

<img file="WO0109792A2_D0099.tif" />

Authorization

When a user requests access to network resources, the Authorization service determines if the user has the appropriate permissions and either allows or disallows the access. (This occurs after the user has been properly authenticated.)

The following are examples of ways to implement Authorization services:

Network Operating Systems - Authorization services are bundled with all network operating systems in order to control user access to network resources.

Servers, Applications, and Databases - Authorization can occur locally on a server to limit access to specific system resources or files. Applications and databases can also authorize users for specific levels of access within their control. (This functionality is within the Environment Services grouping in the execution architecture.) Firewall Services protect sensitive resources and information attached to an intxxnet network from unauthorized access by enforcing an access control policy.

Recommendation ReTA may utilize all Windows NT -based resources, including those accessed using a Web browser, are represented as objects that can be accessed only by authorized Windows NT-based users. Access may be controlled through an Access Control List (ACL).

Operations Architecture Security Management

The Operations Architecture is a combination of tools, support services, procedures, and controls required to keep a production system up and mnning efficiently. Unlike the Execution and Development Architectures, its primary users are the system administrators and the production support personnel.

All components of the Operations Architecture are integral to the successful management of a distributed environment. Any processes, procedures, or tools developed or chosen as an operational management solution for a specific operational area must be able to integrate with any existing or planned process, procedure, tool solutions for other Operations Architecture areas. See Figure 45 which illustrates a MODEnc Framework 4500 with an event processing component 4502 and an event and data generation component 4504.

Execution Architecture Design

Overview

The Netcentric Architecture Framework (NCAF) identifies the mn-time services required by Netcentric applications. The ReTA design effort used this framework to define the ReTA Execution Architecture requirements. Taken in the NCAF context, this portion of the present description describes the ReTA Execution Architecture implementation (through custom and/or vendor components) of the required mn-time services. The NCAF categorizes the runtime services into the following logical areas (see Figure 46 which illustrates the NCAF Framework 4600):

• Presentation Services 4602

• Information Services 4604

• Communication Services 4606

• Communication Fabric Services 4608

• Transaction Services 4610

• Environment Services 4612

• Base Services 4614

• Business Logic 4616

Execution Architecture Component Design

Puφose

The Execution Architecture Component Design portion of the description describes the ReTA implementation of the NCAF defined run-time services. This portion of the description also maps the ReTA application architecture frameworks into the appropriate NCAF service component descriptions.

The ReTA Application Architecture comprises the following frameworks:

Framework Services

Session Security

User identification

Page access authorization - Session scope

Automatic abort - timeout

Customized information delivery

Customized user interface

Customized application access

Manage user session

Inform user on session status

Abort session

Flow control

Page to open on action

Pages of activity

Maintain context

Activity context

Business Object context - shared among activities

Message Broadcast

Register listener

Broadcast Message to registered listeners

Encryption

Encode Database User Name and Password

Decode Database User Name and Password

Activity Provide a logical unit of work

Microsoft Transaction Server transaction principles

Maintain context

Business Object context

UI context - List boxes

Sub-activity context

Security

Page access authorization - Activity scope

Validation

Pre-conditions

Post-conditions

Sub-Activity - Smallest grained business logic

Execute business logic

View - mapping between a user interface and a business object

Capture user entry

Display value entered

Persistence Database Connection

Uncouple database connection from application

Database mapping

Map an object to a database table

Object query

Trigger queries on objects

Easily iterate through the results

Record locking

Optimistic locking

Pessimistic locking

Event Register event

Handler Create event

Maintain event reference

Process event

Information

Warning

Logical Unit of Work

Fatal

Display events

Translate event

Inform user

Persist event

Log event to database

User Interface Generate UI Items

Form

Push Button

Text Box (single-line entry field)

Text Area (multi-line entry field)

Radio Button group

Check Box

Drop Down List Box

Blank Item

Static Table

Single-Select List Box

Generate UI actions

JavaScript - action shell

JavaScript - data type validation

JavaScript - data range validation

JavaScript - automatic navigation action

Generate Page Format

Cascading Style Sheet

Form (grid layout for form elements) Codes Table Retrieve from Codes Table Retrieve single decode value Retrieve all decode values Maintain Codes Table Update single Code/Decode Update all Codes/Decodes Set Table Name Add new Code/Decode Remove Code/Decode Add Table Remove Table

Base Services

Base Services provide server-based support for delivering applications to a wide variety of users over the Internet, intranet, and extranet.

Web Server Services

Description Enables organizations to manage and publish information and deploy Netcentric applications over the Internet and Intranet environments. These services support the following: managing portion of the present descriptions in multiple formats, handling of client requests for HTML pages, processing server-side scripts, and caching web pages to improve performance.

ReTA implementation

ReTA implements web server services through Microsoft's Internet Information Server 4.0 (LIS). US provides the following services:

• Process requests for static and dynamic web pages and graphics.

• Implement appropriate security and authentication to public and private areas of a web site.

• Execute application specific Active Server Pages.

• Implement web activity tracking and reporting.

• Implement application state and management capability. ReTA uses the ILS Session object to hold references to architecture and application components during the user session.

Communication Services

Network services provided by the Communications Services layer are grouped into four major categories of functionality: Virtual Resource, Directory, Messaging, and Security services. The Virtual Resources Component is not implemented by ReTA Phase 1.

Directory Services

A full-featured Directory Service organizes, categorizes and names networked resources in order to provide a comprehensive picture of clients, servers, users, applications and other resources.

The service typically includes a database of objects, representing all nodes and resources on a network. The database manages relationships between users and networks, network devices, network applications, and information on the network. The Directory service performs the following functions: • Stores information about network resources and users and tracks relationships

• Organizes resource access information in order to aid resources in locating and accessing other resources throughout the network

• Provides location transparency, since resources are accessed through a directory rather than based on their physical location • Converts between logical resource names and physical resource addresses

• Interacts with Security services such as authentication and authorization track identities and permissions

• Provides single network logon to file and print resources; can provide single network logon for network applications that are integrated with the Directory service • Distributes directory information throughout the enteφrise (for reliability and location- independent access)

• Synchronizes multiple directory databases • Enables access to heterogeneous systems (integration of various network operating systems, platforms, etc.)

Domain Services

Description

A network domain is a set of network nodes under common control (i.e., common security and logins, unified addressing, coordinated management, etc.). Domain services manage these types of activities for the network nodes in a domain. Domain services may be limited in their ability to support heterogeneous systems and in the ability to scale to support the enteφrise.

ReTA implementation

ReTA implements domain services through Microsoft's NT 4.0 Server.

Name Services

Description

The Name service creates a logical "pronounceable" name in place of a binary machine number. These services could be used by other communications services such as File Transfer, Message Services, and Terminal Services. A Name service can be implemented on its own, or as part of a full-featured Directory service.

ReTA implementation

ReTA implements name services through Microsoft's NT 4.0 Server. Messaging Services (Core) Broadly defined, Messaging services enable information or commands to be sent between two or more recipients. Recipients may be computers, people, or processes within a computer. Core Messaging services are categorized by the characteristics of the information being transfened: File Transfer RPC Message-Oriented Middleware - Not in scope for ReTA Phase 1

Streaming - Not in scope for ReTA Phase 1

File Transfer

Description

File Transfer services enable the sending and receiving of files or other large blocks of data between two resources. In addition to basic file transport, features for security, guaranteed delivery, sending and tracking sets of files, and enor logging may be needed if a more robust file transfer architecture is required.

ReTA implementation

ReTA implements file transfer services through Microsoft's Internet Information Server 4.0 (LIS) using the HyperText Transfer Protocol (HTTP). Within a Web-based environment, Web servers transfer HTML pages to clients using HTTP. HTTP can be thought of as a lightweight file transfer protocol optimized for transferring small files. HTTP reduces the inefficiencies of the FTP protocol. HTTP runs on top of TCP/IP and was developed specifically for the transmission of hypertext between client and server.

RPC (Remote Procedure Calls)

Description

RPCs (Remote Procedure Calls) are a type of protocol by which an application sends a request to a remote system to execute a designated procedure using the supplied arguments and return the result. RPCs emulate the function call mechanisms found in procedural languages. This means that control is passed from the main logic of a program to the called function, with control returning to the main program once the called function completes its task.

ReTA implementation ReTA implements RPC services through Microsoft's COM/DCOM mechanism and the Internet

Information Server 4.0 (IIS) using HTTP.

Messaging Services (Specialized) Specialized Messaging services extend the Core Messaging services to provide additional functionality, including:

Provides messaging among specialized systems by drawing upon basic messaging capabilities Defines specialized message layouts Defines specialized inter-system protocols

Suggests ways in which messaging draws upon directory and security services in order to deliver a complete messaging environment

Database Access

Description

Database Messaging services (also known as Database Access Middleware) provide connectivity for clients to access databases throughout the enteφrise. Database messaging software draws upon basic inter-process messaging capabilities (e.g., RPCs) in order to support database connectivity.

ReTA implementation

ReTA implements Database Messaging services through Microsoft's Open Database Connectivity (ODBC) mechanism. ReTA abstracts database connection from the application developer through the Microsoft Transaction Server (MTS) 2.0 connection pooling mechanism.

Object Messaging

Description Object Messaging enables objects to transparently make requests of and receive responses from other objects located locally or remotely. Objects communicate through an Object Request Broker (ORB). An ORB enables client objects to access server objects either locally or remotely over a network and invoke operations (i.e. functions and methods) on them. ORBs typically provide interoperability between heterogeneous client and server environments: across languages and/or operating systems and/or network protocols.

ReTA implementation

ReTA implements Object Messaging services through Microsoft's COM/DCOM mechanism. Security Services

Communications Security services control access to network-attached resources. Combining network Security services with security services in other parts of the system architecture (e.g., application and database layers) results in robust security.

Authentication

Description Authentication services verify network access requests by validating that users are who they claim to be. For secure systems, one or more authentication mechanisms can be used to validate authorized users and to verify to which functions and data they have access.

ReTA implementation ReTA implements Authentication services through Microsoft's NT 4.0 Server (and LIS).

Authorization

Description Authorization services determine if users have appropriate permissions and either allows or disallows the access.

ReTA implementation

ReTA implements Authorization services through Microsoft's NT 4.0 Server (and LIS). ReTA also supports application defined "required workflow sequence" web page access authorization through the ReTA Session framework.

Encryption

Description

Encryption services encrypt data prior to network transfer to prevent unauthorized interception. Encryption has two main components: the encryption algorithm, which is the series of steps that is performed to transform the original data; and the key, which is used by the algorithm in some way to encrypt the message. Typically, the algorithm is widely known, while the key is kept secret. There are several types of encryption in use today, including:

Secret key cryptography - uses one key (the secret key) both to encrypt the message on one side and to decrypt the message on the other side. Public key cryptography - uses two keys, the public key and the private key. The public key and private key are mathematically related so that a message encrypted with the recipient's public key may be decrypted with the recipient's private key. Therefore, the public key can be widely published, while the private key is kept secret.

ReTA implementation

ReTA implements Encryption services through the Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) mechanism. ReTA also implements encryption for the User LD and User Password used by the ODBC mechanism through the ReTA Session framework.

Environment Services

Environment Services provide miscellaneous application and system level services that do not deal directly with managing the user-interface, communicating to other programs, or accessing data. Sub-components covered during the Phase 1 of ReTA include: Application Services, Component Framework, Operating System, Runtime Services, and System Services.

Application Services

Application Services are miscellaneous services which applications can use for common functions. These common functions can apply to one application or can be used across applications. They include: Application Security Services, Enor Handling/Logging Services,

State Management Services, Help Services, and Other Common Services.

Application Security

Description

Besides system level security such as logging into the network, there are additional security services associated with specific applications. These include:

User Access Services - set of common functions that limit application access to specific users within a company or external customers. Data Access Services - set of common functions that limit access to specific data within an application to specific users or user types (e.g., secretary, manager). Function Access Services - set of common functions that limit access to specific functions within an application to specific users or user types (e.g., secretary, manager).

ReTA implementation

ReTA implements Application Security through the ReTA Session and Activity frameworks. The Session framework provides "Session level Page access authorization", "User identification" and "session timeout" services. The Activity framework provides "Activity level Page access authorization".

Codes Table Services

Description Codes Table Services enable applications to utilize externally stored parameters and validation mles. For example, an application may be designed to retrieve the tax rate for the State of Illinois. When the user enters "Illinois" on the screen, the application first validates the user's entry by checking for its existence on the "State Tax Table", and then retrieves the tax rate for Illinois. Note that codes tables provide an additional degree of flexibility. If the tax rates changes, the data simply needs to be updated; no application logic needs to be modified.

ReTA implementation

ReTA implements Codes Table Services through the ReTA Codes Table framework.

Enor Handling/Logging

Description

Eπor Handling Services support the handling of fatal and non- fatal hardware and software eπors for an application. An eπor handling architecture takes care of presenting the user with an understandable explanation of what has happened and coordinating with other services to ensure that transactions and data are restored to a consistent state.

Logging Services support the logging of informational, eπor, and warning messages. Logging Services record application and user activities in enough detail to satisfy any audit trail requirements or to assist the systems support team in recreating the sequence of events that led to an enor.

ReTA implementation ReTA implements Eπor Handling/Logging Services through the ReTA Event Handler and

Persistence frameworks.

Other Common Services

Description

Catchall category for additional reusable routines useful across a set of applications (e.g., Date Routines, Time Zone Conversions, Field Validation Routines).

ReTA implementation ReTA implements client side Field Validation Services through the ReTA UI framework.

State Management

Description State Management Services enable information to be passed or shared among windows and/or

Web pages and/or across programs. In Netcentric environments, the HTTP protocol creates a potential need for implementing some form of Context Management Services (storing state information on the server). The HTTP protocol is a stateless protocol. Every connection is negotiated from scratch, not just at the page level but for every element on the page. The server does not maintain a session connection with the client nor save any information between client exchanges (i.e., web page submits or requests). Each HTTP exchange is a completely independent event. Therefore, information entered into one HTML form must be saved by the associated server application somewhere where it can be accessed by subsequent programs in a conversation.

ReTA implementation

ReTA implements State Management Services through Microsoft's IIS Session component and the ReTA Session, Activity and UI frameworks. Component Framework

Description

Component Framework Services provide an infrastmcture for building components so that they can communicate within an application and across applications, on the same machine or on multiple machines across a network, to work together. COM/DCOM and CORBA described in Communication Services are the two leading component industry standards. These standards define how components should be built and how they should communicate.

Object Request Broker (ORB) services, based on COM/DCOM and CORBA, focus on how components communicate. Component Framework Services, also based on CORBA and COM/DCOM, focus on how components should be built.

ReTA implementation ReTA implements Component Framework Services through the ReTA Activity framework.

Operating System

Description Operating System Services are the underlying services such as multi-tasking, paging, memory allocation, etc., typically provided by today's modem operating systems. Where necessary, an additional layer or Application Programming Interface (API) may be provided to gain either operating system independence or a higher level of abstraction for application programmers.

ReTA implementation

ReTA implements Operating System Services through the NT 4.0 operating system.

Runtime Services

Runtime services convert non-compiled computer languages into machine code during the execution of a program. They include: Language Inteφreter Service and Virtual Machine Service.

Language Inteφreter Description

Language Inteφreter Services decompose a 4th generation and/or a scripting languages into machine code (executable code) at runtime.

ReTA implementation

ReTA implements Language Inteφreter Services through NT server 4.0 and ILS 4.0.

Virtual Machine

Description

Typically, a Virtual Machine is implemented in software on top of an operating system, and is used to n applications. The Virtual Machine provides a layer of abstraction between the applications and the underlying operating system and is often used to support operating system independence.

ReTA implementation

ReTA implements Virtual Machine Services through NT 4.0 Virtual Machine component.

System Services

Services which applications can use to perform system-level functions. These services include: System Security Services, Profile Management Services, Task and Memory Management Services, and Environment Verification Services.

Environment Verification

Description Environment Verification Services ensure functionality by monitoring, identifying and validating environment integrity prior and during program execution, (e.g., free disk space, monitor resolution, conect version). These services are invoked when an application begins processing or when a component is called. Applications can use these services to verify that the coπect versions of required Execution Architecture components and other application components are available.

Profile Management

Description

Profile Management Services are used to access and update local or remote system, user, or application profiles. User profiles, for example, can be used to store a variety of information such as the user's language and color preferences to basic job function information which may be used by Integrated Performance Support or Workflow Services.

ReTA implementation

ReTA implements Profile Management Services through ReTA Session framework.

System Security

Description

System Security Services allow applications to interact with the operating system's native security mechanism. The basic services include the ability to login, logoff, authenticate to the operating system, and enforce access control to system resources and executables.

Task &amp; Memory Management

Description

Task &amp; Memory Management Services allow applications and/or other events to control individual computer tasks or processes, and manage memory. They provide services for scheduling, starting, stopping, and restarting both client and server tasks (e.g., software agents).

ReTA implementation

ReTA implements Task &amp; Memory Management Services through MTS 2.0.

Information Services Information Services manage electronic data assets and enable applications to access and manipulate data stored locally or remotely in portion of the present descriptions or databases. They minimize an application's dependence on the physical storage and location within the network. Information Services can be grouped into two categories: Database Services, and Portion of the present description Services. Portion of the present description Services may not be covered during ReTA Phase 1.

Database Services

Database Services are responsible for providing access to a local or a remote database, maintaining integrity of the data within the database and supporting the ability to store data on either a single physical platform, or in some cases across multiple platforms. Database Services include: Access Services, Indexing Services and Security Services.

Access

Description

Access Services enable an application to retrieve data from a database as well as manipulate (insert, update, delete) data in a database. This can be done through the following: Standards Based Stmctured Query Language (SQL) API

SQL Gateways Distributed Relational Data Access (DRDA)

ReTA implementation ReTA implements Database Access Services through the ReTA Persistence framework, which utilizes the Standards Based SQL API approach through ODBC.

Indexing

Description

Indexing Services provide a mechanism for speeding up data retrieval. In relational databases one or more fields can be used to construct the index. So when a user searches for a specific record, rather than scanning the whole table sequentially the index is used to find the location of that record faster. ReTA implementation

ReTA implements Database Indexing Services through the Database Management System (either

Oracle or SQL Server).

Security

Description

Security Services enforce access control to ensure that records are only visible or editable by authorized people for approved puφoses. Most database management systems provide access control at the database, table, or row level as well as concunency control.

ReTA implementation

ReTA implements Database Security Services through the Database Management System (either Oracle or SQL Server).

Presentation Services

Presentation Services enable an application to manage the human-computer interface. This includes capturing user actions and generating resulting events, presenting data to the user, and assisting in the management of the dialog flow of processing. Typically, Presentation Services are only required by client workstations. Sub-components covered during the Phase 1 of ReTA include: Window System, Desktop Manager, Form, Web Browser, Report &amp; Print, and Direct Manipulation.

Desktop Manager

Description

Desktop Manager emulates the idea of a physical desktop allowing one to place portion of the present descriptions on the desktop, launch applications by clicking on a graphical icon, or discard files by dragging them onto a picture of a waste basket.

ReTA implementation

ReTA implements Desktop Manager Services through the NT 4.0 operating system. Direct Manipulation

Description Direct Manipulation Services enable applications to provide a direct manipulation interface

(often called "drag &amp; drop").

ReTA implementation

ReTA implements Desktop Manager Services through the NT 4.0 operating system.

Form

Description

Form Services enable applications to use fields to display and collect data. Form Services provide support for: Display, Mapping Support, and Field Interaction Management.

ReTA implementation

ReTA implements Form Services through the NT 4.0 operating system.

Report &amp; Print

Description

Report and Print Services support the creation and on-screen previewing of paper or photographic portion of the present descriptions which contain screen data, application data, graphics or images.

ReTA implementation

ReTA implements Report and Print Services through the NT 4.0 operating system.

Web Browser

Web Browser Services allow users to view and interact with applications and portion of the present descriptions made up of varying data types, such as text, graphics, and audio. These services also provide support for navigation within and across portion of the present descriptions no matter where they are located, through the use of links embedded into the portion of the present description content. Web Browser Services retain the link connection, i.e., portion of the present description physical location, and mask the complexities of that connection from the user. Web Browser services can be further subdivided into: Browser Extension, Form, and User Navigation.

Browser Extension

Description Browser Extension Services provide support for executing different types of applications from within a Browser. These applications provide functionality that extend Browser capabilities. The key Browser Extensions are:

Plug-in - a plug-in is a software program that is specifically written to be executed within a browser for the puφose of providing additional functionality that is not natively supported by the browser, such as viewing and playing unique data or media types.

Helper Application/Viewer - is a software program that is launched from a browser for the puφose of providing additional functionality to the browser.

ActiveX control - is also a program that can be mn within a browser, from an application independent of a browser, or on its own.

ReTA implementation

ReTA supports Browser Extensions through Netscape Navigator and Intemet Explorer.

Form

Description

Like Form Services outside the Web Browser, Form Services within the Web Browser enable applications to use fields to display and collect data. The only difference is the technology used to develop the Forms. The most common type of Forms within a browser are Hypertext Markup Language (HTML) Forms. The HTML standard includes tags for informing a compliant browser that the bracketed information is to be displayed as an editable field, a radio button, or other form-type control. Cunently, HTML browsers support only the most mdimentary forms - basically providing the presentation and collection of data without validation or mapping support. When implementing Forms with HTML, additional services may be required such as client side scripting (e.g., VB Script, JavaScript).

ReTA implementation ReTA implements Form Services through the NT 4.0 operating system, Internet Explorer 4.0 and

Netscape Navigator 4.0. ReTA supports creating the form objects and the JavaScripts used by the browsers with the ReTA UI framework.

User Navigation

Description

User Navigation Services within the Web Browser provide a user with a way to access or navigate between functions within or across applications. These User Navigation Services can be subdivided into three categories: Hyperlink - the hyperlink mechanism is not constrained to a menu, but can be used anywhere within a page or portion of the present description to provide the user with navigation options.

Customized Menu - a menu bar with associated pull-down menus or context-sensitive pop-up menus.

Virtual Reality - A virtual reality or a virtual environment interface takes the idea of an image map to the next level by creating a 3-dimensional (3-D) environment for the user to walk around in.

ReTA implementation

ReTA implements the Hyperlink functionality of web browser Navigation Services through the ReTA UI framework.

Window System Description

Typically part of the operating system, the Window System Services provide the base functionality for creating and managing a graphical user interface (GUI) — detecting user actions, managing windows on the display, and displaying information in windows.

ReTA implementation

ReTA implements Window System Services through the NT 4.0 operating system. Transaction Services

A transaction is a unit of work that has the following (ACLD) characteristics: A transaction is atomic; if interrupted by failure, all effects are undone (rolled back).

A transaction produces consistent results; the effects of a transaction preserve invariant properties.

A transaction is isolated; its intermediate states are not visible to other transactions. Transactions appear to execute serially, even if they are performed concuπently. A transaction is durable; the effects of a completed transaction are persistent; they are never lost

(except in a catastrophic failure).

A transaction can be terminated in one of two ways: the transaction is either committed or rolled back. When a transaction is committed, all changes made by the associated requests are made permanent. When a transaction is rolled back, all changes made by the associated requests are undone.

Transaction Services provide the transaction integrity mechanism for the application. This allows all data activities within a single business event to be grouped as a single, logical unit of work.

Transaction Monitor

Description

The Transaction Monitor Services are the primary interface through which applications invoke Transaction Services and receive status and eπor information. Transaction Monitor Services, in conjunction with Information Access and Communication Services provide for load balancing across processors or machines and location transparency for distributed transaction processing.

ReTA implementation ReTA implements Transaction Monitor Services through MTS 2.0. ReTA uses the Activity framework to define a transaction.

Resource Management Description

A Resource Manager provides for concunency control and integrity for a singular data resource (e.g., a database or a file system). Integrity is guaranteed by ensuring that an update is completed coπectly and entirely or not at all. Resource Management Services use locking, commit, and rollback services, and are integrated with Transaction Management Services.

ReTA implementation

ReTA implements Resource Manager Services through MTS 2.0.

Transaction Management

Description

Transaction Management Services coordinate transactions across one or more resource managers either on a single machine or multiple machines within the network. Transaction Management Services ensure that all resources for a transaction are updated, or in the case of an update failure on any one resource, all updates are rolled back.

ReTA implementation

ReTA implements Transaction Management Services through Microsoft's Distributed Transaction Manager and MTS 2.0.

Transaction Partitioning

Description Transaction Partitioning Services provide support for mapping a single logical transaction in an application into the required multiple physical transactions. For example, in a package or legacy rich environment, the single logical transaction of changing a customer address may require the partitioning and coordination of several physical transactions to multiple application systems or databases. Transaction Partitioning Services provide the application with a simple single transaction view.

ReTA implementation

ReTA implements Transaction Partitioning Services through Microsoft's Distributed Transaction

Manager and MTS 2.0. Business Logic

The execution architecture services are all generalized services designed to support the applications Business Logic. Normally, how Business Logic is to be organized is not within the scope of the execution architecture. However, the ReTA Application Frameworks extend the services of the execution architecture to support the "Interface Controller Model" (ICM) pattern approach to packaging the Business Logic as components.

Business Logic is the core of any application, providing the expression of business mles and procedures (e.g., the steps and mles that govern how a sales order is fulfilled). As such, the Business Logic includes the control stmcture that specifies the flow for processing business events and user requests. In a ReTA application, the Application Frameworks define a stmctured approach to the concepts of Interface, Application Logic, and Data Abstraction.

Interface logic inteφrets and maps the actions of users into business logic processing activities. With the assistance of Presentation Services, Interface logic provides the linkage that allows users to control the flow of processing within the application. ReTA implements this service through the UI and Activity Frameworks.

Application Logic is the expression of business mles and procedures (e.g., the steps and mles that govern how a sales order is fulfilled). As such, the Application Logic includes the control structure that specifies the flow for processing for business events and user requests. The isolation of control logic facilitates change and adaptability of the application to changing business processing flows. ReTA implements this service through the Activity Framework.

Information Access Services isolate the Business Logic from the technical specifics of how information is stored (e.g., location transparency, RDBMS syntax, etc.). Data Abstraction provides the application with a more logical view of information, further insulating the application from physical information storage considerations. ReTA implements this service through the Persistence Framework. The ReTA Application Frameworks provides services that encourage and support the thin-client model. Also, the Frameworks shield business logic developers from the details and complexity of architecture services (e.g., information services, component services) and other business logic.

Execution Architecture Physical Model

Puφose

The ReTA Execution Architecture Physical Model portion of the description shows the actual components comprising the Execution Architecture and their relative location and interfaces. Additionally, the model depicts the platforms on which the components may reside as well as the distribution across the environment. The components in the Physical Model may support a portion of a function or more than one function from the functional model.

Physical Configuration

The content for this portion of the description is defined in the Technology Infrastmcture Procurement List portion of the present description.

Physical Model

Figure 47 illustrates the components that comprise the ReTA execution architecture 4700 and their physical location. In particular, the components are grouped through their association with the client 4702, network 4704, web server 4706, application server 4708, and database server

4710.

Operations Architecture Design

Overview

The Operations Architecture is a combination of tools, support services, procedures, and controls required to keep a production system up and mnning efficiently. Unlike the Execution and Development Architectures, its primary users are the system administrators and the production support personnel. With reference to Figure 48, all components of the Operations Architecture 4800 are integral to the successful management of a distributed environment. Any processes, procedures, or tools developed or chosen as an operational management solution for a specific operational area must be able to integrate with any existing or planned process, procedure, tool solutions for other Operations Architecture areas.

Operations Architecture Component Design

Physical Environment 4802

Implementing - Initial Installation

Description Initial Installation prepares the physical location for the rollout of a new site or service, pre- assembles the equipment (hardware and software) based on developed specifications, installs the equipment and tests that the equipment is fully functional prior to allowing the users to utilize the system in a production environment.

Precise build procedures must be delivered early enough to drive Release Testing, Procurement, and rollout plans. For large multi site installations that require significant rollout of new hardware, optimization of the configuration tasks (hardware and software) can be achieved through the use of a central staging facility.

Planning Considerations The deployment of the physical environment must be scheduled as early as possible, and detailed communication regarding the technology infrastmcture deployment plan should be distributed regularly to key stakeholders.

Where a pilot implementation has taken place previously, or is in progress, the experiences from this activity need to be incoφorated into the deployment plans. The puφose of a pilot implementation essentially is to minimize the risks of full implementation. Any experiences from the pilot should be identified and plans to avoid trouble, or accelerate progress, should be included within the deployment work plan. Ensure that the organizational functions are ready for the change. Functions of the organization may need to be ready for the technology infrastmcture change before it is deployed. These functions include:

Help Desk

Support Systems System Maintenance Operations

The organizations supporting these functions need to understand how their support roles may change, and what new demands the technology infrastmcture may place upon them. Ensuring that these areas are comfortable supporting the new infrastmcture, and that they are able to troubleshoot problems is critical to the overall support and success of the business capability.

Event / Data Management

Event /Data management is the process of receiving and classifying events. An event is a change in the state of a network component. There are two types of events - solicited and unsolicited. A solicited event results from the direct (synchronous) polling of a network component 4900 by a network management station 4902 as represented in Figure 49.

An unsolicited event occurs when a network component 5000 sends (asynchronously) data to the network management station 5002 as represented in Figure 50.

Once the event is received, the management station classifies the event. If it is classified as a fault, it would then be passed to the fault management facility. Otherwise it is classified as a normal event and is logged for historical trending puφoses.

Event Processing

Event processing manipulates the raw data obtained in the event/data generation layer into a more workable form. This layer performs functions such as event filtering, alert generation, event conelation, event collection and logging, and automated trouble ticket generation. Event processing routes the processed information on to either the presentation or management applications layers. Again it is important to consider the interface of the event processing component with the other components of the operational architecture.

Event Management in a Net-Centric Environment

The MODEnc project has further defined Net-Centric Computing as the standards and considerations involved with Internet/Intranet/Extranet environments.

When using the Internet-based net-centric model 5100, as shown, for example, in Figure 51, Internet standards such as TCP/LP, HTML and CGI are used to publish, interact, and transact with data/content on the public Internet 5102. Typically, a firewall 5104 is implemented to secure a service provider's internal resources 5106 from the public Internet. A service provider locates Internet-based resources outside of the firewall and may provide controlled access from the web to internal information through mechanisms such as CGI 5108. Access to Internet resources may be through web browsers as depicted or via other mechanisms such as e-mail or ftp.

When using the Intranet-based net-centric model 5200 as illustrated in Figure 52, Internet standards are used within the confines of a private network to implement publish-, interact-, and transact-based applications. Browsers 5202 are used to access HTML pages or other services located and controlled through internal web servers 5204.

When using the Extranet-based net-centric model 5300, as illustrated in Figure 53 companies share computing resources by connecting over the Internet 5302 or Virtual Private Network (VPN). Each company typically shields its internal networks from the public Internet via firewalls 5304,5306 and provides controlled access through the firewalls to its partner's resources.

When performing the Event Management function in a net-centric environment, the following factors should be considered:

• Lack of event management on the Internet

• New events

• Integration with other system management tools

• Centralized event polling issues • Intra-application events should be analyzed

• SNMP difficulties in managing net-centric environments

Lack of Event Management on the Internet [Internet, Extranet]

Net-centric service providers must consider that the Internet provides few event management services. Though a service provider's systems that reside outside the firewall may host SNMP and/or other event management agents, public Internet hosts cuπently may not provide event management data to a 3^rd party service provider.

New Events [Internet, Intranet, Extranet]

New event metrics such as metrics related to an Internet connection may be required to get an accurate overall picture of the net-centric environment health. The emerging thin client architecture may also require new event categories.

Integration with other System Management Tools [Intemet, Intranet, Extranet]

Events generated by net-centric management tools may need to integrate with other system management applications.

Centralized Event Polling Issues [Internet, Intranet, Extranet]

Management of a net-centric environment relies more heavily on remote sites generating and queuing their own event management information. The reason for this is if there is a network failure, a centralized polling approach to event management may not be able to assess the health of nodes behind a broken network link. Remote nodes must generation their own events, queue them in case of failure, and resends the queued events upon reestablishment of network connections

Intra-application events should be analyzed [Intemet, Intranet, Extranet]

Service Providers should monitor not only what pages/interfaces that users are accessing, but what they are doing within each page/interface to maximize the marketing value of usage data. This can also provide valuable input to application design teams in making application refinements.

SNMP in a Net-Centric Environment [Internet, Intranet, Extranet]

Since SNMP traps may have to traverse multiple networks, and MLBs may need to send management information to multiple stakeholders, managing events across net-centric environments can be difficult. An Internet Service Provider (ISP) may have to consider clever filtering to ensure that the right traps get to the right users.

Presentation

The presentation component provides the interface between the manager(s) of the system and management data generated by the system. Data can be manipulated for various forms of output. By integrating the operational architecture it is possible to reduce the number of front-end interfaces required. Commonly, the presentation component uses a GUI front-end interface. This component is also responsible for real-time and historical report generation.

Management Applications

Management applications are those tools which are used to manage the system. Most of the MODE functions tie directly into this component. The management applications component ties in directly with the integration platform component as the management applications tools must comply with the standards set by the integration platform. Management applications receive data from the event/data generation, event processing, and repositories components and then send data to the presentation or repositories components. Management applications tools include capacity planning tools, performance management tools, license management tools, remote management tools, systems monitoring tools, scheduling tools, help desk tools, etc.. Some Enteφrise Management tools even poll the event/data generators for information but these options may impact network performance. Web Server management has been introduced as part of the management operations framework. As Coφorate Internets and Extranets implement Web based software products to sell and advertise business services, conesponding administrative, security, event notification and performance requirements must be performed similarly for the companies web based system. The two critical path issues are security management and network management.

Security Management

Security Management controls both physical and logical security for a Net-Centric environment. Due to the nature of the environment, security may need to be managed either centrally, remotely or through a combination of the two methods.

Security Management also handles the logging of proper and illegal access, provides a way to audit security information, rectify security breaches and address unauthorized use of the system.

Network Mangement

Network &amp; Systems Management Planning is responsible for the planning activities involved in mnning the day-to-day operations and maintenance of the production systems Capacity Planning Performance Planning

Repositories

Repositories contain all the management data generated or used during the management process. This includes historical data, capacity data, performance data, problem knowledge bases, asset databases, solution sets, and management information bases (MLBs). The repositories component interacts with the management applications, integration platform, supporting infrastmcture, and presentation components. Again it is important to make sure that the other components of the operational architecture are compatible with the database tools.

Backup / Restore Archiving

Integration Platform The integration platform provides a common platform for the operational architecture. At the lowest level this means deciding on common standards, interfaces, massage formats, and file logging forms to be used with all the management tools. Products like Tivoli Management Environment, require the use of a separate integration platform component into which the management applications are connected. Many third party vendors insist that they provide solutions which incoφorate the event/data generation, event processing, repositories, and presentation components of the MAP operational architecture. It must be noted however that some of these total solution providers may sell a proprietary based solution, at best, and/or may include customized Application Programming Interfaces (API) or Software Development Kit capabilities in order to completely integrate your non-proprietary network.

Lastly, some environments use a home grown integration platform. The choice of integration platforms depends upon its ability to integrate with the execution and development environments.

Supporting Infrastmcture

The supporting infrastmcture is the subset of operating systems, utilities, languages, and protocols used to support the management of the system. The supporting infrastmcture is most often determined by the execution and development environments and the business applications on the system. It is necessary to ensure that the other components of the operational architecture are compatible with the existing supporting infrastmcture.

Managing Hardware

Managing hardware is all hardware directly used to manage the environment. This includes all staging components. These components are devoted to systems management functions. Examples of managing hardware include management servers, management controllers, management consoles, probes, and sniffers. One significant component in the hardware monitoring arena is Firewall access control policy management. Firewalls are regularly used for network based security management. It is typically a system or group of systems that enforce access control between two or more networks and/or perform network data packet filtering. Usually packet filtering router hardware and application gateways are used to block unauthorized LP packets and enforce proxy defined user commands. Management Tool Selection

It is important to note that there may be requirements which cannot be met by any tools. In this case, in-house development may be an alternative. This approach is likely to be more expensive, however, and more difficult to support the long term, and thus should usually be avoided if possible. Were possible, the tool with the best fit should be purchased, and customized to meet the necessary requirements. Some additional considerations are outlined below:

Central vs. Distributed Control

Platform Constraints

Integration with other Functions

Anticipated Volume of Data &amp; Transaction Throughput

Number of Users for the Tool Level of Support Required

INSTALLATION

Oracle Database Installation

Overview Assumptions

This portion of the present description assumes: That the target hardware configuration for the database server meets the specified requirements for the software being installed.

Embodiments mentioned within this portion of the present description may not be cunent as of the time of this reading. Care should be taken to ensure that the latest embodiments are used and that individual installation processes are reviewed to ensure that any changes are followed. Individuals performing this installation have experience in relational database concepts, tools, administration and performance tuning.

Database Model Users and Schemas

The following table provides a list of the user accounts, roles and schemas used during ReTA Phase 1 development. <img file="WO0109792A2_D0100.tif" />

Architecture Tables

The ReTA Phase 1 Architecture Frameworks require the tables and relationships illustrated in

Figure 54. Among these tables are user identification tables 5400, user preference tables 5402, and event log tables 5404.

Application Tables

Figure 55 illustrates tables and relationships required for the ReTA Phase 1 validation application. Among these are customer information tables 5500 and feedback tables 5502. Installation Process

Oracle Configuration

The following steps describe the process of installing and configuring a database for use during ReTA development and testing.

Step Step Description EHSI<img file="WO0109792A2_D0101.tif" /><img file="WO0109792A2_D0102.tif" />

<img file="WO0109792A2_D0103.tif" />

Application &amp; Architecture Database Objects The following steps describe the process of creating user and schema accounts for use by the ReTA Phase 1 architecture and application services. <img file="WO0109792A2_D0104.tif" />

<img file="WO0109792A2_D0105.tif" />

Technology Infrastructure Procurement List

Puφose

This portion outlines the minimum required hardware and software specifications for Phase 1 &amp; 2 of the Resources eCommerce Technical Architecture (ReTA) initiative. It should be noted that the actual configurations, tools and configurations may very depending on application and client requirements. Environment Physical Components

Development Environment

Figure 56 illustrates the physical configuration of a possible ReTA-engagement development environment 5600. A developer workstation 5602 is connected to a file server 5604 and an architecture database 5606.

Assembly/Product/Performance Testing Environments

Figure 57 illustrates the physical configuration of possible ReTA-based Assembly, Product and Performance testing environments 5700. A web and application server 5702 is connected to a testing client 5704 and a database server 5706.

Production Environment

Because of the nature of netcentric applications, there are many possible physical configurations available for the production environment. The following illustrations provide views of two possible configurations. The main difference between the two is the separation of the web and application servers from one physical server into two separate physical boxes.

Later phases may add additional components, such as search servers, transient data servers and batch servers. Figure 58 illustrates Separate Web and Application Servers 5800,5802 between an unsecured network 5804 and a secured network 5806. Figure 59 illustrates a Single Web and Application Server 5900 between an unsecured network 5902 and a secured network 5904.

Development Environment Specifications

It is assumed that during the development phases of the engagement, developers may perform much of the application build and test on their individual machines. As such, each developer may have their own web client, web server and app server mnning on their machine. A shared database(s) may provide development and testing relational database services needed in support of the architecture frameworks.

Name Qty Hardware Software <img file="WO0109792A2_D0106.tif" />

Assembly, Product and Performance Testing Environment Specifications

The following table provides basic requirements for the hardware/software needed for the Assembly, Product and Performance testing phases of a ReTA engagement. The testing environment(s) should be configured to match as closely to that of the production system as possible. Note that the specifications for each of these environments are the same. However, typical projects may want to establish separate environments to house each phase of testing to ensure contained and controlled results, and allow for parallel testing efforts.

**Note that the recommendations on hardware attributes are greatly effected by functionality and complexity of the application, and may need to be analyzed against specific client needs. <img file="WO0109792A2_D0107.tif" />

Production Environment Specifications

The following table provides basic requirements for the hardware/software needed for a possible

Production environment of a ReTA engagement. ** Note that the recommendations on hardware attributes are greatly effected by functionality and complexity of the application, and may need to be analyzed against specific client needs.<img file="WO0109792A2_D0108.tif" />

Site Server Installation

Overview This portion of the present description describes installation procedures for Microsoft SiteServer 3.0 (Commerce Edition) and the relevant configuration required to create a ReTA eCommerce application.

Site Server Installation

The following portion of the description describes the pre-installation suggestions and the installation steps required for setup and configuring Site Server 3.0 Commerce Edition.

Pre-installation Suggestions

Do not install Site Server on a Backup Domain Controller.

Do not install Exchange Server on a Site Server. Both products are resource intensive.

Do not install Proxy Server on a Site Server. Do not install Site Server on a Clustered NT System (MSCS). One can install Site Server onto a

Windows Load Balancing Service (WLBS).

Remove Content Analyzer from Visual Studio.

Only install Site Server on a NTFS Drive.

Disable or Remove all Anti Vims software during entire install process. Do not change ANY setting in IIS before installing Site Server (On a clean/new install).

Have at least one gig free of disk space.

Verify that virtual memory is set to at least 128MB during the install process.

Give your account administrative privileges on the local machine.

Installation Order for Site Server (This installation used with Oracle database).

Install Windows NT 4.0 Server or Windows NT Server 4.0 Enteφrise Edition. Install Windows NT Service Pack 3. Install Internet Explorer 4.01 SP1 (choose standard install). Install Windows NT Option Pack

Install Index Server and the SMTP Server components.

Make sure to configure MTS for local (not remote) administration.

Install Visual Studio 97 or Visual Studio 6 &lt;optional&gt; - Do not install Visual Studio Analyzer

Component. Create a System DSN to point to the database that may contain the sample tables. Install Site Server - Do not create new membership instances before installing Commerce Edition.

Install Site Server Commerce Edition (do not overwrite data in database during commerce server setup).

Select your DSN created earlier to create the sample database tables. Install Visual Studio 97 SP3 Or Visual Studio 6 SP2 &lt; if Visual Studio is installed &gt;. Install Windows Service Pack 4 (do not install MDAC if prompted, this may be done in the next step). Install MDAC 2.0 SP1.

Add the MaxBlock registry setting for MDAC. Install Site Server 3.0 SP2.

Site Server Configuration Information Using ReTA Frameworks This portion of the description details the settings that must be in place to use Site Server's

Personalization and Membership Services, along with instmctions on how to setup a sample site to be used in conjunction with the ReTA Frameworks.

Site Server Commerce Settings

After installing Site Server Commerce Edition v3.0 start the Site Server Admin Console and perform the following tasks:

Expand the Personalization and Membership folder. Expand the computer name - i.e. "ZLMMERD3".

Right click on the Commerce Membership Server (Membership Authentication) folder and select properties.

On the "Authentication Service" tab note the TCP Port number.

Figure 60 illustrates a Commerce Membership Server [Membership Authentication] properties view 6000 which receives the computer name 6002, user name 6004, and password 6006.

Right click on the Membership Directory Manager 6100 and select properties. Figure 61 illustrates a Membership Directory Manager Properties Dialog 6102. Make sure the Port number 6104 here matches the one from step # 4.

Site Server Commerce Sample Site Setup Instmctions

To setup sample commerce site perform the following steps.

Right click on Default Web Site 6200 in Internet Information Server 6202, select Task 6204- Membership Server Mapping 6206...

Figure 62 is an illustration of a Membership Server Mapping Property.

Select Intranet [Windows NT Authentication] Membership option.

Next create the sample site.

Right click on the "Computer name" under the Commerce Host Administration folder (Refer to

Figure 62 - Computer Name is "ZLMMERD3" 6208).

Select New - Commerce Site Foundation.

Create New Site Foundation Wizard 6300 appears. Figure 63 is an illustration of a Create New Site Foundation Wizard. Select to create site on "Site Server Commerce Membership Samples

Web Site" option 6302.

Follow steps in the wizard.

After Site has been created, right click on Default Web Site in Internet Information Server, select Task - Membership Server Mapping...

Change the Membership Server Mapping back to "Commerce Membership Server".

Site Server Commerce Site Sample - Setup

We may create the ReTA Application site under the "Member" directory in Windows Explorer

(this may enable the use of the HTML Forms login that uses the Personalization and Membership Services to verify authentication to the site), this may be the site that was created through the Wizard. For example we created a site and the shortname was "cm" 6400. (Figure 64). Therefore our web application started under the "Member" directory 6402 of "cm".

Figure 64 illustrates the web application 6404 being placed under the "Member" directory of "cm" in Windows Explorer.

Place the Formslogin.asp, veriφwd.asp, and welcome_new.asp pages at the same level as the global.asa file. (These files one can copy from the Sample Site called "Trey Research").

Starting up ReTA Framework Components Properly

We do not want to start the ReTA Framework components unless the user has authenticated properly.

strUsemame = Request("Username") strPassword = Request("Password")

On Eπor Resume Next y = x.VerifyCredentials(strUsemame, strPassword, strUrl)

checkPassword = x.VerifyPassword(strUsername, strPassword)

This line of code may verify that the user has authenticated with a proper usemame and password.

On Eπor Resume Next

ChkMemUserGULD = ChkUserObject.Get("GULD")

if Eπ.Number o 0 then IsEπor = Tme else

IsEπor = False end if if checkPassword = 1 then REM

'Create Event Handler that may be used in this function and in the Session Stop function

Set myEventCollection = Server.CreateObject("EventHandler.AFEventCollection")

Set Session("AFEventCollection")=myEventCollection

theCuπentPage = Request.ServerVariables("SCRJPT_NAME")

'Create the ReTA AFSession Component

Set Session(" AFSession") = Server.CreateObject("Session.AFSession")

'create ReTA AFUser object - either the UserSS or UserDB Component

SiteServer=true 'change this to tme for the SiteServer version if (SiteServer=tme) then

Set user - Server.CreateObject("UserSS.AFUserSS") else Set user - Server.CreateObject("UserDB.AFUserDB") end if theEπor=user . init()

'Start the Session theEπor=Session(" AFSession"). start(myEventCollection)

'Add the User component to the Session. theEπor=Session(" AFSession"). setAFUser(user)

'get The EventHandler Component from the Session and add it to the ASP session so that other pages can reference it.

Set Session("AFEventHandler")=Session("AFSession").getEventHandler(myEventCollection) 'Process any enors on this page. The return code is the severity of the Eπor

theSeverity=Session("AFEventHandler").process(theCuπentPage,myEventCollection) 'if the Severity is greater than 1 then redirect to the Enor Page if (theSeverity &gt;1) then

response.Redirect("/asp/ExamplePages/asp/frameworks/EnorHandler.asp") end if

'test if we are starting the application at the conect point. If not it is probably because 'the Session timed-out and so display the timeout message

if theCuπentPage = "/asp/veriφwd.asp" then

'do nothing else response.Redirect("/asp/ExamplePages/timeout.htm") end if

end if

Here are some of the basic technologies utilized by Site Server Membership, including directory services, Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP), and Active Directory Service Interfaces (ADSI). A general knowledge of these technologies is important as one builds your Membership site.

Directory Services and the Membership Directory

A directory service is a database that stores organizational data and is highly optimized for database lookups (reads). Directory services provide an index of users and network resources. Site Server 3.0 contains Microsoft's most recent directory service, the Membership Directory. It is the central repository for user data, including member accounts, permissions, and site resources. All directory services use LDAP as their communicating protocol. In the future Microsoft Windows® 2000 Server may implement the much-talked-about Active Directory, which may take the Membership Directory to the next level. The Active Directory may also be responsible for storing all the information needed for the Windows NT domain architecture.

Lightweight Directory Access Protocol

Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP) is the underlying protocol used by Site Server Membership to communicate with the Membership Directory. LDAP was designed to be the standard Internet protocol for accessing directory services. LDAP ns on TCP/IP networks and is independent of platform, allowing directory-based information to be shared across operating systems. Site Server Membership implements an LDAP service for reading and writing information to the Membership Directory database.

Active Directory Service Interfaces

As stated previously, the Membership Directory must be accessed using the LDAP protocol. Rather than making raw LDAP calls to the Membership Directory, Site Server Membership uses Active Directory Service Interfaces, better known as ADSI. ADSI provides a common standard interface to multiple directory services (through ADSI providers) and communicates with the directory services using LDAP. ADSI makes life easier by allowing the developer to write code to one API while working with multiple directory services.

Active User Object

Site Server provides the Active User Object (AUO) as a single component that aggregates all of a user's attributes from multiple Active Directory Service (ADS) providers. The primary provider is always the Membership Directory. The AUO is a COM object called member ship. user objects. It uses ADSI to retrieve a user's information from the Membership Directory and greatly simplifies the code a developer writes by automatically binding to the cunent user's information in the Membership Directory. The binding occurs when the component is created, but requires that the Web site be mapped to a Membership Server and that the user is authenticated. Membership Directory Authentication

Authentication Choices

When one sets up a Membership Directory for a Web site, one must choose the type of authentication to be used. Membership may be set up to use Windows NT accounts (Windows NT Authentication) or accounts that reside solely in the Membership Directory database (Membership Authentication). Windows NT Authentication is most useful for intranet sites where one wish to leverage existing accounts and use the Windows NT Security Accounts Manager (SAM) for authentication. However, Membership Authentication is a good choice for Internet sites, especially sites in which the number of users may increase dramatically over time. As your user base grows, it is much easier to administer your accounts and privileges using Membership Authentication.

Since Integrated Direct Channel (LDC) uses Membership Authentication for the puφoses mentioned above, further detail into that authentication method is discussed below:

Membership Server Mapping

It is important to note that Membership Authentication maps Membership groups to proxy

Windows NT group accounts to determine a member's security permissions. One still has the benefit of the strong security of Windows NT and can administer security permissions for a Membership group by assigning permissions (ACLs) to the proxy account. For every group in the Membership Directory, Membership creates a conesponding Windows NT group called Site_directoryname_groupname, where directoryname is the name of the Membership Directory and groupname is the name of the Membership group.

Membership Authentication Configuration Options

Under Membership Authentication, there are also several options for configuration. There are four Security Support Providers available: 1) Automatic Cookie Authentication, 2) HTML Forms Authentication, 3) Distributed Password Authentication (DPA), and 4) Clear Text/Basic Authentication. At all four of these levels, there is an Allow Anonymous option, which allows unrecognized users to access the site as a generic account called IUSR_[server_«α/ne]. 1. Automatic Cookie Authentication This method provides us with a quiet and discreet authentication method for both anonymous users and registered members. Cookie authentication issues two cookies - SITESERVER and MEMUSER - to store information on the user's computer. When this option is selected, the

ISAPI (Internet Server Application Program Interface) filter (which was installed by the mapping of the Membership Server) parses the headers of the client and looks for the two cookies. There are three possibilities. If the cookies exist then the information found therein is used to authenticate and bind to a member. If the cookies are invalid then the member is redirected to an ASP page in the _mem_bin virtual directory. If the cookies don't exist then the ISAPI filter creates and binds to a new member in the Membership Directory, in the ou=AnonymousUsers container. Once bound to this user, two cookies are written to the browser. These two new cookies SITESERVER and MEMUSER may be used in future sessions to identify the member uniquely.

2. HTML Forms Authentication

To provide a more secure (but equally simple) form of authentication, we can use HTML Forms Authentication. This method of authentication uses HTTP's POST method to send the user's credentials to an ASP page, which handles the submission. The ASP page then makes use of a special COM object - the VerifUsr object - to verify the user's credentials. HTML Forms

Authentication also makes use of the ISAPI Membership Authentication filter. When a user makes a call to a page that uses HTML Forms Authentication, ISAPI traps that call and redirects to a special ASP page called FormsLogin.asp. This page is provided in the _mem_user virtual directory of the web application. FormsLogin.asp is nothing more than an asp page with form elements for user login name and password. Upon submission, the page redirects with the form elements to veriφwd.asp, which contains the script to verify a user's credentials. If the user is authenticated, the user is taken to the page s/he was trying to access and issues a FormsAuth cookie in addition to the SITESERVER and MEMUSER cookies.

3. Distributed Password Authentication (DPA)

DPA works for Membership authentication in much the same way as Challenge/Response works for Windows NT Authentication. For DPA, users are authenticated against the Membership Directory (rather than the Windows NT SAM database). Moreover, since the usemame and password are never sent across the wire, DPA is very secure. Unfortunately, it's only possible for Windows Internet Explorer clients to use DPA where usemames and passwords are hashed with a challenge sent by the server.

4. Clear Text / Basic Authentication When we select Basic Authentication, we authenticate any user that requests a resource against the credentials stored in the Membership Directory. We can specify extra information with the user, from which to authenticate users. But here lies a difference between Basic Authentication under Windows NT authentication and Basic Authentication under Membership Authentication: in the former case this extra information is in the form of a domain, and in the latter case the information represents sub-containers in the directory. The Clear Text/Basic Authentication method is supported by a number of applications, including Netscpape, and most clients should be able to use it.

Other Considerations DPA and Clear Text / Basic Authentication can be selected simultaneously. In this case, the server may first attempt to issue a DPA authentication challenge. If (and only if) the client cannot inteφret the challenge, the server may offer the Clear Text/Basic Authentication request.

LDC and Membership Authentication The Integrated Direct team used HTML Forms Authentication with anonymous support under certain circumstances for a few reasons. First of all, this authentication method provides an html interface as opposed to a pop up dialog box. This gives the application a more consistent look and feel since the FormLogin.asp page is customizable with graphics and layout. HTML Forms Authentication is also has no compatibility issues that DPA or Clear Text / Basic Authentication methods may have. It is simply an html page, which posts form elements to another asp page, which contains authentication methods. Finally, HTML Forms Authentication issues one session essential cookie, the FormsAuth cookie. The use of one cookie makes user administration issues, such as session time and logout, simpler.

DEVELOPERS WORKSTATION INSTALLATION PROCESS

Description

This portion of the description provides the steps necessary to configure a workstation for use doing application or architecture development on a ReTA engagement. Assumptions

This portion of the present description assumes:

That the target hardware configuration for the workstation meets the specified requirements for the software being installed.

Embodiments mentioned within this portion of the present description may not cuπent as of the time of this reading. Care should be taken to ensure that the latest embodiments are used and that individual installation processes are reviewed to ensure that any changes are followed. Individuals performing this installation have experience in Microsoft platforms and tools, and are familiar within web-based application development.

Development Environment

Figure 65 depicts a typical ReTA engagement development environment 6500, including a file server 6502, developer workstation 6504, a build and unit test DB server 6506, an assembly test web and application server 6508, and an assembly test DB server 6510.

Installation Process

This is the script for the preparation of the mn-time environment for the application and web server. It is applicable to a computer mnning Windows NT Workstation 4.0.

Install/Configure Web and Application Server Components

Step Step Description E <img file="WO0109792A2_D0109.tif" />

<img file="WO0109792A2_D0110.tif" />

Install/Configure Database Connectivity<img file="WO0109792A2_D0111.tif" />

<img file="WO0109792A2_D0112.tif" /> Step Description <img file="WO0109792A2_D0113.tif" />

Configure Java Runtime Components<img file="WO0109792A2_D0114.tif" /><img file="WO0109792A2_D0115.tif" />

Install and Configure Development Software

Step Step Description Emm

<img file="WO0109792A2_D0116.tif" /><img file="WO0109792A2_D0117.tif" />

WEB &amp; APPLICATION SERVER ENVIRONMENT

Overview

Description

This portion of the description provides the steps necessary to configure a Microsoft Internet Information Server (IIS) web server and an application using Microsoft Transaction Server for use on a ReTA engagement.

Assumptions

This portion of the present description assumes: That the target hardware configuration for both the web and application server meets the specified requirements for the software being installed.

Embodiments mentioned within this portion of the present description may not be cuπent as of the time of this reading. Care should be taken to ensure that the latest embodiments are used and that individual installation processes are reviewed to ensure that any changes are followed. Individuals performing this installation have experience in Microsoft platforms and tools, and are familiar within web-based application development.

Physical Configuration

Figure 66 illustrates the development environment configuration for a ReTA Phase 1 engagement. A developer workstation 6600, a database server 6602, and a web and application server 6604 are connected together.

Installation Process

This is the script for the preparation of the run-time environment for the application and web server. It is applicable to a computer mnning Windows NT Server 4.0 Enteφrise Edition.

Install/Configure Web and Application Server Components <img file="WO0109792A2_D0118.tif" />

<img file="WO0109792A2_D0119.tif" />

Install/Configure Database Connectivity<img file="WO0109792A2_D0120.tif" />

<img file="WO0109792A2_D0121.tif" /> Step Description EΠ BI <img file="WO0109792A2_D0122.tif" />

Configure Java Runtime Components <img file="WO0109792A2_D0123.tif" /><img file="WO0109792A2_D0124.tif" />

IF using this machine for development: Install and Configure Development Software

Step Step Description Emm

<img file="WO0109792A2_D0125.tif" /><img file="WO0109792A2_D0126.tif" />

STANDARDS

Objectives

Purpose

The puφose of this guide is to provide a reasonable set of coding standards and recommendations for producing stmctured, reliable and maintainable portion of the present descriptions in the HyperText Markup Language (HTML) on the World Wide Web.

This guide is intended for programmers who are at least familiar with the basics of the HTML. Accordingly, no attempt is made to explain HTML concepts such as frames and tables. Scope

These standards are intended to be independent of any particular hardware, operating system, or development tool. Due to the nature of the Internet, platform independent code is imperative.

This guide covers standards for HTML 2.0 and does not cover standards for HTML 3.2. This embodiment can be assumed to be "safe" for all Web browsers. However, HTML 3.0 and 3.0+ offer an extensive aπay of non-standard elements which enhances the presentation of a Web page. This guide may include tables and frames which are not fully supported by all browsers. Thus, when implementing tables or frames, it is important to consider your target audience and the type of browsers they may be using to surf the Internet.

There are a variety of tools to aid the authoring process of HTML. A HTML editing tool like WebEdit or a HTML template like Internet Assistant may not be consistent with our standards and guidelines. Projects using these HTML editors and converters are subject to the proprietary standards of their respective software applications. Convention

In this guide, standards are presented as follows: * Text for mle or standard here.

The statement of one or more standards is usually followed by a discussion of the standard(s). Such a discussion may include justifications for using the particular mle, common alternatives, other supplementary information, or even situations where the standard may not apply.

Program Organization

Source Code

* Organize source code as follows: file comment block &lt;HTML&gt;

&lt;HEAD&gt; &lt;TITLE&gt; &lt;/TITLE&gt; &lt;/HEAD&gt; &lt;BODY&gt; insert body text

&lt;/BODY&gt;

&lt;/HTML&gt;

Defining a standard source file layout makes it easier to understand and maintain code written by other programmers.

File Names

HTML files adhere to the same naming and directory standards set forth by the Internet Center of Excellence (ICE). For more information, refer to the ICE portion of the present description on file naming and directory standards.

Programming Styles

HTML Tags

* All HTML tags and attributes should be capitalized.

HTML is not case sensitive, however, to preserve readability, it is important to adhere to uppercase lettering for HTML tags.

However, some HTML editors, such as Microsoft FrontPage, generate lower-case HTML tages. Since more HTML editing may probably be done through similar tools, it does not make sense to have to go back through the code and make any changes. For this situation, simply adopt the format that your HTML tool generates, and make it consistent throughout your project. * All open tags must be terminated by an end tag.

Excluding tags such as &lt;LI&gt;, &lt;HR&gt;, &lt;BR&gt;, &lt;LMG&gt;, &lt;META&gt;, &lt;BASE&gt; and &lt;P&gt;, it is important to close a HTML tag with a &lt;/(tag name)&gt;. For example, an open HTML tag is &lt;HTML&gt; and a closed HTML tag is &lt; HTML&gt;. Failure to close a HTML tag may cause undefined behavior with the appearance of the HTML page. * Do not skip levels of headings.

Headings should be not more than one level below the preceding heading level. For example, &lt;H3&gt; should not follow &lt;H1&gt;.

* Use underline for hypertext links only. Adhere to this standard to eliminate any confusion between a hypertext link and a text underlined for emphasis. To emphasize text, use the following tabs: &lt;EM&gt; for emphasis in italics, &lt;STRONG&gt; for text emphasis, &lt;B&gt; for bold and &lt;I&gt; for italics.

* Employ the logical styles rather than physical styles. Not all browsers are capable of displaying italics &lt;I&gt; or the boldface &lt;B&gt; tag. Physical styles indicate the specific appearance of individual words or sentences and include such tags as &lt;B&gt; for bold text, &lt;I&gt; for italic text, and &lt;TT&gt; typewriter text, e.g., fixed-width font. The following is a list of logical styles tags:

&lt;CITE&gt; for citation (e.g., HTML Coding Standards). Typically displayed in italics. &lt;CODE&gt; for computer code (e.g., Enter &lt;stdio.h&gt; header file). Typically displayed in a fixed- width font.

&lt;DFN&gt; for definition (e.g., Guru means god-like). Typically displayed in italics.

&lt;EM&gt; for emphasis (e.g., It is advisable that one uses this than typing italics within a tag).

Typically displayed in italics. &lt;KBD&gt; for user keyboard entry (e.g., Enter passwd). Typically displayed in a fixed-width font.

&lt;SAMP&gt; for a sequence of literal characters (e.g., Segmentation fault: Core dumped). Typically displayed in a fixed-width font.

&lt;STRONG&gt; for strong emphasis (e.g., NOTE: This is a reminder). Typically displayed in bold.

&lt;VAR&gt; for a variable (e.g., rm filename deletes the file). Typically displayed in italics. * The use of &lt;P&gt; should be avoided directly before any other element which already implies a paragraph break.

The &lt;P&gt; element should not be placed before the headings, HR, ADDRESS, BLOCKQUOTE, or

PRE.

It should also not be placed immediately before a list element of any stripe. That is, a &lt;P&gt; should not be used to mark the end-of-text for &lt;LI&gt;, &lt;DT&gt; or &lt;DD&gt;. These elements already imply paragraph breaks.

* Investigate the possibility for using server-side includes for repeated blocks of HTML, such as footers and headers. The server-side include tag allows one to keep one copy of a footer or header. Updating this one copy may update all portion of the present descriptions that reference it.

Investigate the Client's use of the &lt;META&gt; tag, which is used to help with searches and portion of the present description information. The &lt;META&gt; tag provides a way to store information about the portion of the present description that is not available elsewhere in the portion of the present description. For example, the META tag can contain catalog, author, or index information that various search engines can use.

An example might be: &lt;HEAD&gt;

&lt;META NAME="keywords" CONTENT- 'HTML portion of the present description reference Netscape"&gt; &lt;/HEAD&gt;

This portion of the present description is indexed under the terms "HTML", "portion of the present description", "reference", and "Netscape". HTML Tag Parameters

* Include HEIGHT and WLDTH attributes in all LMG tags. Adhering to this standard may eliminate the problem when using JavaScript code in HTML portion of the present descriptions with LMG tags. Without the HEIGHT and WLDTH parameters in LMG tags, JavaScript event handlers are ignored on subsequent form elements and also images are not displayed on screen. As good practice, it is recommended to include all parameters in their appropriate HTML tags. * Include alternate text for images.

Some Web browsers cannot display images and some Web users may not want to use image loading even if their software can display images because they are have a slow connection. For these browsers and users, the ALT attribute specifies the text to be displayed instead of the image. For example, &lt;LMG SRC="aclogo.gif ' ALT- ' Andersen Consulting logo"&gt;. If a Web browser cannot display aclogo.gif or a Web user wishes not to view the logo, the text "Company

Logo" may be displayed to screen instead.

* Indicate a specific font size rather than incrementing it with the ±.

Be careful when using the ± in the SIZE attribute in the FONT tags. Some Web users reconfigure the font sizes in their Web browsers and the consequences of using the ± may have an adverse effect on the text.

* Always have &lt;NO FRAMES&gt; tags following the &lt;FRAMESET&gt; tag.

Not all Web browsers are "frame-capable." Those "frame-capable" browsers may see the frames layout and others may view an alternate or a normal page without frames. The code for the page without frames is bounded by the open and closed NO FRAMES tag set and includes the open and closed BODY tags and all code therein. For example:

&lt;FRAMESET COLS="80%,20%"&gt; &lt;FRAME NAME="columnl" SCROLLLNG="no" NORESIZE SRC="coll.html"&gt;

&lt;FRAME NAME="column2" SCROLLING="yes" NORESIZE SRC="col2.html"&gt; &lt;/FRAMESET&gt; &lt;NO FRAMES&gt; &lt;BODY&gt; body text

&lt;/BODY&gt; &lt;/NO FRAMES&gt;

Path Names

In general, use relative links when referencing internal files.

There are exceptions to this standard and a uniform scheme should be determined prior to HTML development.

In general, it is easier to move a group of portion of the present descriptions to another location because the relative path names may still be valid. Also, relative paths are more efficient to connect to the server. An example of a relative path to a file "california.html" located in the subdirectory "unitedstates" would be:

&lt;A HREF="unitedstates/califomia.html"&gt;Califomia&lt;/A&gt;. Absolute pathnames link to portion of the present descriptions that are not directly related and require the complete Uniform Resource Locator (URL) of the file.

An example of an absolute path to a file "mteverest.html" in the subdirectory "nepal" on another server "Hiking Expeditions" would be:

&lt;A HREF="www.hiking.com/nepal/mteverest.html"&gt;Trekking on Mt.Everest&lt;/A&gt;.

When making a directory reference, it is important to make sure to have a trailing slash on the

URL.

For example, &lt;A HREF= "http://www.ac. com/news/"&gt;&lt;/A&gt; is conect, while &lt;A HREF=

"http://www.ac. com/news"&gt;&lt;/A&gt; is not. Formatting

General

Consistent use of a suitable formatting style makes HTML portion of the present descriptions much easier to read, comprehend, and maintain. Choosing a reasonable style and using it consistently is more important than the details of the style itself.

Screen Resolution

* All HTML files should be designed to fit on a 640x480 screen.

This standard is set forth for consideration of most display monitors, especially laptop users who have screen resolution of 640x480 only.

* Indent HTML tags when creating tables, frames, and lists.

Consistent use of a suitable formatting style makes programs much easier to read, comprehend and maintain. An example of this is as follows:

&lt;TABLE BORDER=0 CELLSPACLNG=0 CELLPADDLNG=0&gt;

&lt;TH&gt;Sample Heading&lt;/TH&gt; &lt;TR&gt; &lt;TD&gt;Row 1 Column 1&lt;/TD&gt; &lt;TD&gt;Row 1 Column 2&lt;/TD&gt; &lt;TD&gt;Row 1 Column 3&lt;/TD&gt;

&lt;/TR&gt; &lt;TR&gt; &lt;TD&gt;Row 2 Column 1&lt;/TD&gt; &lt;TD&gt;Row 2 Column 2&lt;/TD&gt; &lt;TD&gt;Row 2 Column 3&lt;/TD&gt;

&lt;/TR&gt; &lt;/TABLE&gt;

An example of formatting an unnumbered list is as follows: &lt;UL TYPE="square"&gt; &lt;LI&gt;Alligator &lt;LI&gt;Bear &lt;LI&gt;Cat

&lt;UL&gt;

&lt;LI&gt;Siamese Cats &lt;LI&gt;Persian Cats &lt;LI&gt;Tabby Cats &lt;/UL&gt;

&lt;LI&gt;Deer &lt;/UL&gt;

As one may notice, no closing LI tag is needed. The same format above would apply for numbered, i.e., &lt;OL&gt; and definition lists, i.e., &lt;DL&gt;.

Portion of the present description (comments)

General

Include comments in code as it is being written and update them accordingly. Remember that bad comments are worse than no comments at all!

Comments are also convenient for commenting out several adjacent lines of code for debugging puφoses.

Inline Comments

* Insert portion of the present description information at the top of each HTML file in comment tags. All HTML files should begin with the following information:

&lt;!— Portion of the present description name: --&gt;

&lt;!— Description: — &gt;

&lt;!-- Last modified on: — &gt;

* Comments should begin with &lt;!-- and closed with — &gt;.

* include comments in places where the code is unclear and/or nonportable. * Place comments above the appropriate tag/link.

* Indent inline block comments to the same level as the code they describe.

* Do not include comments for actions that can be stated in the language itself. Good inline comments are brief and to the point; the author should assume that the reader is reasonably competent. * Date Created and Date Modifications should be in the format of "January 10, 1996", not

"01/10/96".

This is because, for some audiences, especially those from Europe, "01/10/96" means "October 01, 1996".

* Portion of the present description modifications in comment tags. If we are maintaining portion of the present descriptions on a long-term basis, not just for development, the following standard should be used to maintain HTML source. Add notation to portion of the present description header.

Initialize and date the beginning and ending of modification if multiple lines. Example of this is: &lt;!— January 10, 1996 STP: Begin modified table entries --&gt; table...

If single line modification, only mark line above.

Common Mistakes

This portion of the description lists a few of the most common mistakes made by HTML designers, experienced as well as beginners. They are as follows: Remember to close HTML tags.

Remember to close all attribute tags with a quote. For example, linking to Andersen Consulting's Web site may look like: &lt;A HREF- 'http://www.ac.com"&gt;. However, people may inadvertently leave off the close quote and instead type: &lt;A HREF="http://www.ac.com&gt;. Be sure all HTML files contain the main opening and closing tags in their respective order as follows: &lt;HTML&gt; &lt;HEAD&gt;

&lt;TITLE&gt; &lt;/TITLE&gt; &lt;/HEAD&gt; &lt;BODY&gt;

&lt;/BODY&gt; &lt;/HTML&gt;

Test all hyperlinks after completion of a HTML file.

A character reference and an entity reference are ways to represent information that might otherwise be inteφreted as a markup tag.

For example: &amp;lt; represents &lt; symbol; &amp;gt; represents &gt; symbol; &amp;quot; represents " mark; &amp;amp; represents &amp; symbol.

The most common eπors in the use of entity references are leaving off the trailing semicolon and adding unnecessary spaces before and/or after the entity/character reference.

Java Programming Standard

Introduction

This portion of the present description describes the Programming Standard for Java in the

Telebank project. It covers typical programming standard material, including the following: Program organization

Naming standards

Code layout

Comments

In addition, it covers the following material: Coding priorities

Programming style

Eπor handling

Debugging and testing The puφose of this portion of the present description is to help ensure a uniformly high source code quality. The rules and guiding principles have been chosen to support this goal. In cases with more than one acceptable alternative, one alternative has been chosen (more or less arbitrarily) rather than leaving it up to the individual programmer. The puφose of this is to ensure consistency in the source code. Note: Some of the rules are beneficial only if applied consistently. Apply them!

Coding Priorities

This portion of the description defines coding (and, to some extent, design) priorities on the various platforms. The first table defines the meaning of each priority item; the second table specifies their ranking on the three platforms.

Use these tables as a guide for resolving design and implementation issues.

In some cases, coding priorities are clearly opposed to one another. As an example, consider a choice of sorting algorithms. For simplicity and safety, there is nothing to beat the bubble sort — it is simple enough that one can code it from scratch each time one needs it and still be fairly confident that it works conectly the first time. The problem is, the bubble sort is slow. Just about any other sorting algorithm may be faster; it may also be complex enough that one may need to crack a book to implement it. In addition, one may have to test more thoroughly to be confident that the code works conectly.

In other cases, coding priorities work together. Small often equals fast, for example.

Definitions of Priority Items <img file="WO0109792A2_D0127.tif" /><img file="WO0109792A2_D0128.tif" /> Portability The code is reusable across platforms. Coding for portability typically entails such things as:

Using a cross-platform library

Using a subset of a language or library that is common and consistent across platforms

Isolating platform dependencies

In the specific case of Java, we need to accommodate differences between

Java VM implementations, differences between library implementations and differences between host GUIs.

Java as a totally portable programming environment is a myth. One consequence is that we must test on a number of platforms— different hardware platforms, different operating systems and different Web browsers.

Priority Rankings

These rankings are specific to the Telebank project. <img file="WO0109792A2_D0129.tif" />

Program Organization

Module Organization

The term module in this context refers to a source file. A source file should contain one public class; it may contain additional non-public classes. The elements of a module should be in the following order: Package name Import section Class definition(s). Class header

Constants (final class variables): public, protected, private Public static inner classes Protected inner classes, static or otherwise Private inner classes, static or otherwise Class variables (private only)

Fields (instance variables) (private only) Constructors

Other methods.

When ordering methods, ignore visibility specifiers (public, protected, private) and follow these guidelines instead: Keep related methods together

When overriding superclass functions, keep them in the same order as in the superclass, and preferably together.

The class should end with the unitTest, getExpectedResult and main methods.

Module Header

The module header consists of the package name and the import section. In addition, there should be a comment at the top with SourceSafe keywords. With these in place, we can see at a glance what this file is about:

/ *

* $Archive : $ * $Revision: $

* $Date: $

* $Author: $ */

In the import section, list each imported module explicitly. Example: <img file="WO0109792A2_D0130.tif" />

Neither of these conventions is consistently maintainable, so don't put a lot of work into verifying that all listed modules are used. Likewise, don't spend time converting existing modules from one format to the other.

Code Layout A good layout strategy should accurately and consistently represent the logical stmcture of the code, it should make the code readable, and it should be easy to maintain. The rules in this portion of the description are designed to meet those criteria.

Class Headers

Write class headers on a single line if there is room for it. If not, break the line before extends and implements. Indent succeeding lines.

If the class header is on a single line, put the opening brace at the end of that line.

If the class header needs multiple lines, put the opening brace left aligned on a line by itself.

Method Headers

Write method headers on a single line if there is room for it. If not, break the line immediately after the opening parenthesis. This leaves all the parameters on the same line.

If there still isn't enough room, put each parameter on its own line.

If the method header is on a single line, put the opening brace at the end of that line.

If the method header needs multiple lines, put the opening brace left aligned on a line by itself. Indentation

Indentation is three (3) spaces. Actually, indentation is one tab, which should be set to display as three spaces.

Use tabs for indentation only. Any white space after the indentation level should be actual spaces, so that the formatting may be reasonable no matter how many spaces a tab equals. White Space in the Code

Whitespacedoes,ingeneral,enhancereadability.

Add one space in the following places: between operators after comma in method declarations and invocations after semicolons in f or-loops after opening parentheses before closing parentheses after opening square bracket (index operator) before closing square bracket before and after the assignment operator

No space in the following places: Between a method name and the opening parenthesis

Between opening and closing parentheses in a function declaration or invocation with an empty parameter list

Between opening and closing square brackets in an anay declaration where the number of elements is not specified This example illustrates the above mles:

IF ( I MYCOMBOVALID ) { myAccounts . removeAll ( ) ; for ( int iAccount = 0; iAccount &lt; accountList . size ( ) ; ++iAccount

) { MYACCOUNTS . ADD I TE ( ACCOUNTLIST . GET ( IACCOUNT ) . TOSTRING ( ) ) ;

} final String strAccount = Context anager . query ( SOME_ID ); int nlndex = getAccountIndex ( strAccount ); myAccounts . select ( Math.max( 0, nlndex ) ); myComboValid = true;

}

private String myTitles [] = null; // array of strings myClient .height = size. height - mylnsets.top - mylnsets .bottom - myTitie. height ;

public String getItern ( int nRow, int nColumn ) { return (String) myVlist [ nColumn ] .elementAt( nRow ); }

Use blank lines to separate "paragraphs" of related code lines. Indentation hints for the Visual Studio Editor

Ctrl+Shift+8 toggles visibility of tabs and spaces.

To indent or outdent sections of code, select the code (at least one complete line) and use tab for indent, Shift-Tab for outdent.

To auto-format sections of code, select the code and hit Alt+F8.

Alt+Enter in the source window brings up the source file property dialog, which allows one to set indentation levels on a file-by-file basis. This is useful for viewing sample code, which is often formatted weirdly.

To set the number of spaces displayed per tab, select the Editor tab on the dialog box served up by the Tools, Options command:

Braces and Line Breaks

Always use (curly) braces, even for blocks with only one statement. This removes one common source of bugs and eases maintenance:

Figure 67 illustrates an interface 6700 associated with the ability of inserting or removing statements within a block without worrying about adding or removing braces. One never has a problem matching else clauses to if clauses.

Example:

Right Wrong

IF ( NBOTTOM &lt; NINDEX ) { if ( nBottom &lt; nlndex )

MYTOPROW = NINDEX - ROWS ( ) + 1; myTopRow = nlndex - rows ( ) +

} ELSE IF ( NINDEX &lt; MYTOPROW ⁾ { 1;

MYTOPROW = NINDEX; else if ( nlndex &lt; myTopRow )

} myTopRow = nlndex;

This mle applies to the following constmcts: for, while and do-while loops if-else statements try, catch and finally clauses synchronized blocks. Note that the opening brace is at the end of the first line, even for class and method definitions.

The only exception is if the expression needs to be broken; in that case, readability is best served by putting the opening brace on the next line.

Aligning Assignment Statements

Align the = of related assignment statements. This sets them off as a group and shows clearly that they are related.

Do not align the = of unrelated statements. Such alignment gives an enoneous impression of relatedness.

Example:

Right Wrong nPanel idth = 90 ; NPANELWIDTH = 90 ; nPanelHeight = 30 ; NPANELHEIGHT = 30 ;

NSELECTEDINDEX = = 0 ; nSelectedlndex = 0 ; NLASTINDEX = 12 ; nLastlndex = 12 ;

Line Lengths and Line Breaks

One statement per line. Try to keep line lengths below 80 characters. This mle is not absolute; it is better to have a 90- character line than to break a statement.

If one must break a line, indent the continuation line(s).

If one must break a line, make it obvious by ending the first line with something that needs a continuation: Break assignments after the assignment operator.

Break arithmetic and logical expressions after an operator.

Break the line to emphasize major sub-expressions.

Break method invocations after the opening parenthesis. If the parameter list still won't fit, break between each parameter or between each logical group of parameters if this seems better. Break method declarations the same way, and put the opening brace on the next line, ^indented.

If one need to break conditional expressions (e.g., in if or while-statements), follow rules 1 and 2 above, and put the opening brace on the next line, ««indented. Using extra variables top hold partial (intermediate) expressions can help one avoid line breaks and at the same time improve readability by making the code self-portion of the present descriptioning. This is ajudgement call; the following example goes too far, perhaps, but does at least illustrate the point:

Original condition

IF ( LCLICKTIME - MYPREVIOUSCLK &lt; DOUBLECLICK_TIME &amp;&amp; MYSELECTION = = NROWCLICKED )

}

Possible rewrite

FINAL LONG LCLICKlNTERVAL = LCLICKTIME - MYPREVIOUSCLK ;

FINAL BOOLEAN BDOUBLECLICK = ( LCLICKlNTERVAL &lt; DOUBLECLICK_TIME ) ;

FINAL BOOLEAN BCLICKSAMEROW = ( MYSELECTION == NROWCLICKED ) ;

IF ( BDOUBLECLICK &amp;&amp; BCLICKSAMEROW ) {

}

Switch/case Layout

Align each cases with the switch. Additional indenting of the cases does not contribute measurably to display the logical stmcture of the program, and leads to excessive indentation. Indent the statements that belong to a switch, one statement to a line.

In the case of large, repetitive lists of cases, it may be better to do a table layout as follows: switch ( some_value ) { case easel: bla_bla [ 0 ] = valuel; break; case case2 : bla_bla [ 0 ] = value2 ; break; case case3 : bla bla [ 0 ] = value3 ; break;

}

Consider, though: In cases where this looks good, perhaps a totally table-driven solution would be a better solution.

Anonymous Classes An anonymous class is a particular form of inner classes; an innovation of Java 1.1. It is a curious enough constmct that we supply two examples of how to format it. If one uses a class more than once, assign an instance to a variable:

ACTIONLISTENER ACTIONLISTENER = NEW ACTIONLISTENER ( ) {

public void processActionEvent ( ActionEvent e ) {

}^;

myComboBox.addActionListener ( actionListener ); myButton . addActionListener ( actionListener );

More often than not, the anonymous class is a listener designed to handle events from one specific widget only. In this case, define and instantiate the class directly in the code, as follows: MYCOMBOBOX.ADDACTIONLISTENER ( NEW ACTIONLISTENER ( ) {

public void processActionEvent ( ActionEvent e ) {

} } );

Naming Conventions

Package Names

Package names are always in lower case. To ensure global uniqueness, package names are prefixed with no . dnb . tb.

File Names

Path: The path follows the package name. If a file is part of the package no . dnb . tb . client, and one is using C : \Data\Telebank as your root directory, the path to the file is: C : \Data\Telebank\no\dnb\tb\client Note lower-case names of intermediate directories. The name of the file must be the same as the name of the public class defined in the file (with exactly the same case), with the extension . j ava. Thus, the class Kontoutskrif t in package no . dnb . tb . c 1 i ent . f unc resides here: C : \Data\Telebank\no\dnb\tb\client\func\Kontoutskrift . j ava

Classes

Use proper case for all class names, with first character upper case. Separate multi-word class names using capitalization with no leading underscore. Architectural classes have English names; functional classes have Norwegian names (?)

Examples:

class FunctionPanel ... class Kontoutskrift ...

A Note on Proper Case Identifiers

To create a proper case identifier, write down the identifier as normal words, e.g., "get customer name". Next, capitalize each word except possibly the first, which is only capitalized for classes: "get Customer Name". Finally, concatenate the words into a single word: getCustomerName. Note that compound word usage differs across languages. If the above example were in

Norwegian, the name should be hentKundenavn, not hentKundeNavn!

Methods

Method names are in proper case, with initial lower-case letter. If possible, constmct method names that follow the action-object paradigm, i.e., getAccount, printAll. Prefer getsize ( ) to si ze ( ) ; this is consistent with changes to Java in JDK 1.1.

Method names do not use any hungarian prefixes to indicate return type. Return type can often be indicated by an object name in the method name, i.e., getAccountList. Methods are called in the context of their class. Accordingly, it is not necessary to repeat the class name in method names. If the class Customer has a method to retrieve the customer's name, name this method getName rather than getCustomerName. When users of the class invoke this method, they write something like customer . getName ( ) , which is preferable to customer . getCustomerName ( ) . Fields

A field is a non-static member variable, sometimes called an instance variable.

All field names start with the characters "my", followed by a mixed-case identifier. This is standard practice in Java programming, and reminiscent of the C++ convention of prefixing member variables with "m_".

Since the "my" convention is not easily combined with hungarian prefixes, try to make the type obvious in the variable name.

Examples:

private Dimension mySize ; private Account myAccount ;

Class Variables

A class variable is a static member variable.

All class variables start with the characters "the", followed by a mixed-case identifier. Since this convention is not easily combined with hungarian prefixes, try to make the type obvious in the variable name.

Examples:

private static AccountList theAccountList ;

Local Variables

Local variables use hungarian prefix conventions. The following prefixes are used:

Prefix Data tvpe Examples <img file="WO0109792A2_D0131.tif" />Although this table may get additional entries over time, most objects do not have defined prefixes and never may. A reasonable name is often the same as the class name, but with lowercase first character, e.g.:

Account account = getContext () .getCustomer () .getAccount 0 ;

Constants

Constants are "static f inal" members of classes. Java has adopted the C convention for #def ined constants and uses upper-case names. Examples:

public static f inal int DEFAULT_COLOR = Color . black ; private static final String DEFAULT_SERVER = " \\LF3DEV01" ; Javadoc comments are required for public, protected and package constants.

Exceptions

Exception names follow class naming conventions, with the additional requirement that the name end in Exception.

Programming Style

This portion of the description covers layout conventions and coding principles.

Visibility (Scope)

As a general mle, scope should be as nanow as possible.

All fields and class variables should be private.

If one absolutely needs outside access to such fields, use access methods, e.g.: CLASS PERSON { private String myName ;

public void setName ( Sring strName ) { MYNAME = STRNAME ; } public String getName) { RETURN MYNAME ;

}

}

Be aware, however, that a proliferation of access methods conflict with the principles of good object-oriented design. Even though access is controlled, the implementation (in particular the data type) is fairly exposed; this creates a coupling between object definition and object use that may be tighter than necessary.

Try to think of objects in terms of their behavior rather than the data fields they contain. In the example above, ask yourself what one would like that Person object to be able to do, and provide methods for that instead.

Code Granularity (Method Size)

A reasonable line count for a method depends on its complexity. A module that consists of sequential statements can be longer than a method containing complex conditials and loops. If the sequential code is repetitive, such as an index -by-index anay initialization, the method may be as long as it takes. (One should, however, think twice about your design. Perhaps there are better ways of doing it?)

A method should preferably do one single thing, and the method name should reflect this accurately. If it does more, ensure that this is reflected in the method name. If this leads to an ugly method name, reconsider the stmcture of your code. If one had a function named initPanel anagerAndReadAccountList, the code would probably benefit from a split into methods named initPanel anager and readAccountList.

Variables

Use only one variable declaration per line. This increases readability and eases maintainability: <img file="WO0109792A2_D0132.tif" /> PRIVATE INT MY IDTH = 150 ; private int my idth = 150 , PRIVATE INT MYHEIGHT = 50 ; myHeight = 50 ;

All fields and class variables should be private.

Initialization

All variables, including fields and class variables, should be initialized at the point of declaration if possible. Even though all Java declarations have default initialization values (0, null, false), spell this out explicitly.

Java allows initialization of anays using the same syntax as C and C++, by enclosing a comma- delimited set of values in braces. A comma after the final value is permissible: use this facility, as it makes for easier maintenance — it is easier to add additional values to or remove values from the end of the list.

Java 1.1 allows initializer blocks among the declarations. An initializer block is a section of code enclosed in braces. There are two kinds of initializer blocks: static and instance.

Static initializer blocks are executed the first time a class is instantiated. During static initialization (class initialization), things happen in the following order:

Class initialization of the superclass is performed, unless it has been done earlier.

Static variables are initialized and static initializer blocks are executed. This happens in the order they are listed, from top to bottom. Instance variables, instance initializer blocks and methods don't figure into this.

Note that static and instance initializer blocks are allowed in Java 1.1. Static initializer blocks are executed in order when the class is first instantiated; instance initializer blocks are executed in order after the superclass constmctor runs, but before the class constmctor runs.

Instance initializer blocks are executed whenever a class is instantiated. During object initialization (instance initialization), things happen in the following order: If this is the first time the class is instantiated, all the class (static) initialization takes place.

We enter a constmctor. If we have not specified a constmctor, a default constmctor with no arguments is supplied automatically by the compiler. The superclass constmctor is called. If your constmctor does not explicitly invoke a superclass constmctor, the default (argument-less) superclass constmctor is called anyway.

All instance variables are initialized and instance initializer blocks are executed. This happens in the order they are listed, from top to bottom. Class variables, class initializer blocks and methods don't figure into this.

Use initializer blocks to perform any initialization that can't be performed by direct variable initialization; put each initializer block immediately following the variable in question. In the examples below, note that the anay can be initialized without using an initializer block, while the vector object requires one because of the calls to the addElement method.

Examples:

private Vector myListof Something = new Vector ( ) ; { // Instance initializer block myListof Something . addElement ( someObj ect ) ; myListof Something . addElement ( anotherObj ect ) }

private static int [] anMultipliers = { 5 , 4 , 3 , 2 , 7 , 6 , 5 , 4 , 3 , 2 ,

} ;

private static MyClass theMyClass = new MyClass (); static { // Static initializer block theMyClass .setValue ( someValue ); }

Variable Usage

Always use a variable for a single purpose. At times it is tempting to reuse an existing variable; avoid this temptation: int i ;

for ( i = 0 ; i _&lt; myAccountList . size ( ) ; + + i ) {

}

// Swap elements : i = someArray [ 0 ] ; someArray [ 0 ] = someArray [ 1 ] ; someArray [ 1 ] = i ;

The two uses of i above have nothing to do with one another. Creating unique variables for each purpose makes your code more readable.

Straight-line Code

Straight-line code divides into two categories:

A sequence of statements that must be in a specific order In this case, there are dependencies between statements; one statement must be executed before another for the program logic to work coπectly. Here are a few simple guidelines:

Organize the code so that the dependencies are obvious.

Name methods so that dependencies are obvious at their point of call.

Use method parameters or return values to make dependencies obvious. Portion of the present description unclear dependencies.

A sequence of statements whose order doesn't matter

In this case, the program may work conectly no matter what the order of statements. Organize the statements so that readers need not skip around to find needed information:

Keep related statements together

Localize references to variables, i.e., declare and initialize variables as close as possible to where they are used.

Conditionals Complex conditions can be hard to read and understand. One way to alleviate this is by using extra boolean variables. In the first fragment below, the meaning of the test is not obvious; in the second, it is crystal clear: <img file="WO0109792A2_D0133.tif" />

This approach both simplifies and portion of the present descriptions complex expressions, making them easier to program without enors and easier to maintain.

Never use &gt; or &gt;= in comparisons. Instead, switch the operators around and use &lt; or &lt;=. In this way the smaller number is always on the left-hand side, a practice that has been shown to be more readable when applied consistently.

If in doubt about operator precedence, don't look it up; use parentheses instead. They may not be needed, but they cost nothing, and save code readers from looking up the same thing.

If one codes a chain of if -then statements, code the most common cases first.

Strive to minimize the number of branches in your code. Whenever one finds himself or herself dealing with a special case, take a moment to consider if it is possible to handle the problem in a more general fashion. Linear code is far easier to test.

Make conditional blocks of code short enough to view all at once. Around 30 lines is enough. Limit nesting to three levels.

Compare boolean values to true or false implicitly, not explicitly:

Right Wrong

IF ( BVALID ) { if ( bValid = = true ) {

} } if ( IbValid ) { if ( bValid = = false ) {

} }

Loops

Prefer a for loop whenever possible. The advantages of the for loop is that it collects the loop control in a single place, and that it allows one to declare a loop control variable that is not accessible outside the loop. Example:

for ( int i = 0 ; i &lt; vector . size ( ) ; ++i ) {

}

Never modify the loop control variable inside the for loop. If this becomes necessary, use a while loop instead. Consider the example above: If the purpose of the loop were to delete selected items from the vector, a for loop would be inappropriate since one wouldn't increment the loop control variable consistently:

<img file="WO0109792A2_D0134.tif" /> INT I ITEM = 0 ;

WHILE ( I ITEM &lt; VECTOR . S IZE O ) {

MYCLASS ITEM = (MYCLASS ) VECTOR . ELEMENTAT ( I ITEM ) /

IF ( ITEM . ISDELETABLE O ) {

VECTOR . REMOVEELEMENTAT ( I ITEM ) ;

} ELSE {

+ + I ITEM ; } }

Prefer loops that test exit conditions at the top or the bottom. If this cannot be easily accomplished, rewrite the loop as a while ( true ) 'infinite' loop with a test in the middle. If possible, use only a single break statement to exit the loop.

If possible, make loops short enough to view all at once. This is especially important if the loop body is complex. If the loop code grows beyond about 30 lines, consider restructuring the code.

Limit nesting to three levels.

Switches

Never let flow control "fall through" from one case label to the next by omitting the break statement. If you feel an urge to do this because of common code, consider factoring out the common code in a new helper method.

Exceptions

Type Conversions Notes on Specific Keywords and Constmcts final

The final keyword is a relative of the C++ keyword const (though not the same). Apply it to classes, methods and all kinds of variables:

A final class may not be subclassed. A final method may not be overridden.

A final variable may never be changed. Using final on a class or method may have an optimization effect as well. The compiler may be able to perform inlining or compile-time linking instead of dynamic linking at mn-time. For this reason, apply final to all classes and methods that are not intended to be subclassed or overridden. (This is not to say that all non-final classes or methods are subclassed or overridden.)

Likewise, all variables (including function parameters) that can be final should be final. In the case of constants, this may allow inlining by the compiler, and it is in any case an excellent portion of the present description tool. return A method that returns a value should have a single return statement at the end of the method.

If compliance with mle 1 makes your code needlessly complex put your single return statement elsewhere.

If compliance with mle 2 makes your code needlessly complex use multiple return statements.

One is, in other words, free to do as one likes. The overall goal is readability. If one breaks mle 1, make sure that: the stmcture of your method is obvious, and that the return statements are clearly visible, perhaps by setting them off with a blank line above and below, or an obscene end-line comment.

If one does feel an urge to break these mles, take a minute to consider if an alternative design might be possible, perhaps by offloading some of the methods work on helper methods. transient

This keyword is applied to data elements that should not be serialized. Consider the Customer class as an example: it has a private member of type Thread that is used for background downloading of the customer's account list. A thread is not serializable, so the Thread member is declared transient.

Constructors

There should normally be only one "main" constmctor in a class. Additional convenience constmctors may be defined, but they should be implemented in terms of the main constmctor.

The point of this is to avoid duplicate code:

^■Main" Constructor public MultiLineLabel ( String strLabel, int nMarginWidth, int nMarginHeight, int nTex lignment , int nFixedSize )

{ breakLabel ( strLabel ) ; myMarginWidth = nMarginWidth; myMarginHeight = nMarginHeight; myText lignment = nTextAlignment ; myFixedWidth = nFixedSize;

}

Wrong convenience constructor (repeats code from above) public MultiLineLabel ( String strLabel )

{ breakLabel ( strLabel ) ; myMarginWidth = 0 ; myMarginHeight = 0 ; myTextAlignment = LEFT; myFixedWidth = 0 ;

}

Correct convenience constructor

PUBLIC MULTILINELABEL ( STRING STRLABEL ) {

THIS ( STRLABEL , 0 , 0 , LEFT , 0 ) ;

}

Threads

Debugging and profiling can be made significantly more effective by naming all threads explicitly. Therefore, make sure always to use the Thread constmctors that take a name parameter, e.g. use Thread (String name) instead of Thread ( ) .

Portion of the present description (Comments) JavaDoc

Use javadoc comments for all classes, methods and constants.

As a general mle, member variables (fields) are private, and don't need javadoc comments. If public or protected fields are required for some particular reason, these must be javaportion of the present descriptioned.

Macros to insert skeleton comment blocks may be provided.

Class Headers j * *

* class description

*

* ©author your name (your company)

* ©author another name (his or her company)

* ©author

* ©version $Revision $

* ©see some other class

* ©see */

Use a short form of company name, such as AC or DnB.

Method Headers

* Validates user id and password; returns a Context structure

* This is a synchronous service. *

* ©param strUserld User id

* ©param strPassword Password

* ©return A Context structure if logon succeeds, else null

* ©see no . dnb . tb . types . Context

* ©see no . dnb . tb . interfaces . Isession

* ©exception java .rmi .RemoteException if the connection fails

*/ public Context getContext ( String strUserld, String strPassword ) throws java. rmi .RemoteException

}

Note that the ©excep ion tag requires an explanation after the exception name!

SourceSafe Fields

The SourceSafe $Revision $ keyword is used in the ©version field.

Comments in the Code

Use //-style comments rather than /* . . . */ comments in the code. This allows one to comment out large blocks of code using /* . . . */. (If comments nested this would not be a problem. They don't, however.)

Add a blank line before any stand-alone comment line. If the comment is extensive or important, add a blank line below as well.

Indent the comment with its conesponding code.

Comments should clarify the intent of the code, not repeat the code in a more verbose way. Aim for a higher level of abstraction than the code itself. Focus on the why rather than the how; the how should be obvious from the code.

1 = 0 ; // SET I TO 0

WHILE ( I &lt; VECTOR.SIZEO ) { // LOOP OVER VECTOR

ELEMENTS

CMBNAMES . ADD ( VECTOR . ELEMENTAT ( I ) ) ; // ADD ELEMENT TO COMBOBOX

++I; // INCREMENT I } II ADD ALL THE ELEMENTS TO THE COMBO BOX:

I = = 0;

WHILE ( I &lt; VECTOR.SIZEO ⁾ {

CMBNAMES ( VECTOR . ELEMENTAT ( I ) ) /

++I;

}

If the code is not obvious, your first course of action should be to restmcture the code to make it obvious. If this is not possible, portion of the present description the how, by all means. End-line comments should apply to a single line only. Comments that apply to more than one line should be above the code.

Working comments:

Insert comments containing the words TODO as a reminder to yourself or others that something remains to be done, or that there is an unresolved issue.

Error Handling

Java's method of choice for handling enor conditions is exception handling. Exception handling allows one to keep the sequential flow of the functional code separate from the enor handling. This leads to less complex code.

Error Handling on the Server

Signaling Errors to the Client

Whenever an enor occurs in a remote method invocation, this may normally be signaled to the client by throwing an exception. Technical eπors are always signaled by an exception; functional enors may be returned in the form of objects if that is more convenient.

Logging

Logging to the NT event log is done through the EπorLog class. Error Handling on the Client

Logging

The context manager allows logging from the client to the server. This is done through the ContextManager.safeLog* family of methods.

Reporting Errors

Eπor reporting on the client is done by publishing an ERROR, e.g.: try {

. . . something . . .

} catch ( SomeException e ) {

ContextManager .publish ( ContextManager .ERROR, e ) ;

}

The context manager may take care of informing the user, if necessary; a special message panel may be created for this purpose. Application code may not normally have to deal directly with enor reporting.

When an enor occurs on the server (during a remote method invocation), the server throws an exception. In the case of data downloads (Kontoutskrift, etc.) this is handled uniformly in the download threads. In the case of tmly synchronous calls, the functional code must handle the exception as shown in the example above.

Debugging and Testing

This portion of the description describes how one can code to ease debugging and testing. The actual processes of debugging and testing are described elsewhere.

Debugging Pure debug code can be enclosed in special comment delimiters that may be stripped off in a release build. A debug block starts with // { {DEBUG and ends with // } } DEBUG, the only difference being direction of the braces. The class no . dnb . ar ch . ut i 1 . Debug contains methods useful for debugging; in particular, it holds trace and assert methods.

Unit Testing

The main Method

Java allows any class to define a main function, even though the class may not be intended to be an application's entry point. This feature can be used for unit testing of classes. For example, the AccountNumber class might provide the following main function to exercise the class: //{{UNITTEST public static void main( String [] args ) {

AccountNumber account = new AccountNumber ( "42600505380" ) ; System. out .println ( "account = \"" + account + "\"; isValid = " + account . isValid ( ) ); account = new AccountNumber ( "42600505381" ) ; System.out .println ( "account = \"" + account + "\"; isValid = " + account . isValid () );

}

//} }UNITTEST

Note that the above method may never be called except in explicit unit testing. It does, however, bloat the code needlessly. To enable us to strip it out for a release build, pure unit test code should be enclosed in special comment delimiters. A unit test block starts with // { {UNITTEST and ends with // } } UNITTEST, the only difference being direction of the braces.

Specific Unit Testing Methods

In some cases, unit testing can be completely or partially automated. The requirement is that the test produces text, and that this text can be reliably compared to another text, the expected result. To build automated unit testing into a class, define two static methods as follows: public static void unitTest ( PrintWriter ps ) ;

This method exercises the class, printing its output on ps. public static String getExpectedResult () ;

This method should return a (hard-coded!) string.

The automated testing loops through all classes and compares the output from the unitTest method with the string returned from getExpectedResult. This setup is intended to simplify regression testing. There are limitations: this method cannot test interaction with widgets, for example, nor can it handle dynamic results. (An output such as today's date can't be hard-coded into getExpectedResults. Using method invocations in getExpectedResults would defeat the whole purpose of the test, as we might well be comparing garbage to identical garbage.)

The following example shows how this framework might be applied to the Account class. Note that the main function in this case merely invokes the unitTest function.

public class Account . . . { // { {UNITTEST public static void unitTest ( PrintWriter ps ) { try {

Account account = new Account ( "42600505380 " , " Konrad Kunde " , CHECKING ) ; ps . println ( "account = \ " " + account + " \ " " ) _;

// Next statement trows exception due to illegal account # account = new Account ( "42600505381 " , "John Doe " , CHECKING

) ;

} catch ( java. text .ParseException e ) { ps .println ( e ) ; } public static String getExpectedResult ( ) { return

"account = \"4260.05.05380 (L0NN) Konrad Kunde\"\n" + "java. text . ParseException: Illegal account number\n"; } public static void main( String args[] ) {

Debug. race ( Debug .unitTest ( "no .dnb . tb. types .Account" ) );

}

/ / } } UNITTEST }

In addition to the possibilities for automating regression testing, this approach has the benefit that the code, the test conditions and the expected results are close together and easy to keep synchronized.

Further Reading

Core Java, Gary Cornell/Cay S. Horstmann [The SunSoft Press 1996]

Covers Java 1.02. Good introduction to Java.

Java in a Nutshell, David Flanagan [O'Reilly 1997] Covers Java 1.1; includes examples. Strong coverage of inner classes.

Writing Solid Code, Steve Maguire [Microsoft Press 1993]

Debugging techniques and attitudes.

Code Complete, Steve McConnel [Microsoft Press 1993]

Detailed coverage of software constmction techniques. Design Patterns: Elements of Reusable Object-Oriented Software,

Gamma, Helm, Johnson, Vlissides [Addison-Wesley 1995]

Practical guide to object-oriented design and programming.

PROJECT STANDARDS

Application Development Standards and Procedures

The ReTA Application Development Standards and Procedures portion of the description consists of the standards, mles, and guidelines to be followed during the application development process for programming and portion of the present descriptioning programs. This portion of the present description is not meant to be a training manual. Rather, it is a reference for the standards set by the development architecture.

Use of Application Development Standards and Procedures to provide a consistent way of designing, portion of the present descriptioning, programming, etc. over the different areas of work, such as user interface design, and data design.

Build Process

Editing Source Code

To enter and edit source code for a ReTA Application, the standard tool is Microsoft Visual J++ 6.0. This Development Environment allows the user to edit and create Java source files, LDL source files, and Active Server Pages.

Editing Java source files are done by opening the Java project which contains the desired source file to be edited. Locate the Java source file in the project and enter the necessary changes. Once changes have been made the file must be saved.

Editing LDL (Interface Definition Language) files are opened up individually in the Microsoft

Visual Studio J++ 6.0 Development Environment. The file is opened and changes are made, once changes are made the file is saved.

Editing ASP (Active Server Pages) files are done by opening up the file in Microsoft Visual Studio J++ 6.0 Development Environment. The file is opened and changes are made, once changes are made the file is saved.

Compiling VJ++ Projects/IDL

To compile the Microsoft Visual J++ Projects and build COM components in ReTA there are steps that must be followed.

Generate the Type Libraries.

Use the midl.exe command line tool is used to generate the type libraries. Generate the stubs from the Type Libraries.

Use thejavatlb.exe to generate the stubs from the .tlb files. javatlb Id . /p Activity /p:b- AFActivity.tlb

Use thejavaguid.exe to generate the guid's for the stubs.

javaguid CodesTable\CAFCTRetrieval.class CodesTable\IAFCTRetrieval. class

Compile the Microsoft Visual J++ Project.

Figure 68 shows a Visual J++ Build Environment 6800. To begin a build, the Build button 6802 is selected and Build 6804 is selected from the conesponding menu.

Generate the DLL 's.

Use the exegen.exe command line utility.

Source Code Debugging

ReTA developers have the ability to debug the Architecture files, Business Objects, Application files, and Active Server Pages.

Debugging Architecture or Application files

To debug Architecture or Application Java source code, the developer may open up the Microsoft Visual J ++ 6.0 project that contains that Java source file. Select the Debug menu and then the processes option, set a breakpoint where the code is suspect and attach to the "MTX" process. For help on how to attach to a process refer to the Microsoft Visual J++ help.

Figure 69 shows an interface 6900 for attaching to the MTS Process for debugging. Processes 6902 and their coπesponding titles 6904 are shown.

Debugging Active Server Pages To debug an Active Server Page (assuming the ASP page is written in VBScript) the developer may code in the key word "stop" where the developer would like to start the debugging. The developer can then step into the ASP code, this applies to the global.asa file as well. For more information regarding debugging Active Server Pages, refer to the Visual Studio online help.

Figure 70 shows an interface 7000 for debugging an Active Server Page (example global.asa file 7002).

Unit Testing Business Objects

For a ReTA developer to perform a unit test on a Business Object, the developer may code a "main" method on the Java source file. This may allow the developer to call the various methods of the Business Object and inspect the results to ensure the object is working properly. The developer may invoke the main method from the command line using the Java command line utility "Jview.exe." public static void main(String[] args)

{ if (args[0].equals("l")) { JUnitOfWork connection^null; try

{

//Create the Domain

JDomain myDomain=new JDomain(AFConstants.getAFProsisInterfaceDSNLabel(),AFPersistableObj.getApplicationDatab aseUsemame(),AFPersistableObj.getApplicationDatabasePassword());

//Create a connection connection = (JUnitOfWork)myDomain.newConnection();

//create an extent for the class we wish to persist.

JExtent extent = (JExtent)new JExtent("BObjects.RetaCustomer");

System.out.println (" Domain and Extent Created Success "); // Create our Customer Object System.out.println (" Create Customer "); RetaCustomer theObj=new RetaCustomer(); theObj. setSsn(l 23456789); theObj. setName("Esch Raphael"); theObj .setLevel("Partner"); theObj. setAge(99);

System.out.println (" Going to update record "); extent.update(theObj .connection);

System.out.println (" Done OK. "); connection.closeQ;

Code Generation using Rational Rose

The Rational Rose modeling tool allows developers to define and communicate software architecture, resulting in: Accelerated development, by improved communication among various team members

Improved quality, by mapping business processes to software architecture, and Increased visibility and predictability, by making critical design decisions explicit visually.

Rational Rose has the ability to generate Java Class files and within these files javadoc comments are generated along with rose comments.

Figure 71 illustrates an exemplary frame 7100 of Rose generated java file and javadoc comments 7102.

STANDARDS

Naming Standards

Folder/Directory Internet Information Server WWWRoot Folder

The naming standard for ReTA web-based applications.

C:\taetPub\wwwroot\ReTAApplication\XXXName

In LIS 4.0 a virtual directory is defined to point to the preceding path. The properties on the directory allow execute and basic authentication permissions. For each separate application there may be a global.asa file which may reside in the "root" folder of the application.

Files

Naming conventions used and recommended.

File Type Naming Standard <img file="WO0109792A2_D0135.tif" /><img file="WO0109792A2_D0136.tif" /> File Type Naming Standard Comments <img file="WO0109792A2_D0137.tif" />

Application Files Business Object BORetaCustomer.java OR BORetaCustomer.idl Business Object Class Factory BOCustomerLookupFactory .java

Activity

ACLCustomerLookup.java OR ACLCustomerLookup.idl

Sub-Activity

SACLCustDetailCommit.java OR SACLCustDetailCommit.idl Architecture Files <img file="WO0109792A2_D0138.tif" />

<img file="WO0109792A2_D0139.tif" />

Proposed Convention

Interfaces for architecture components that do not include any "coclass" statements are prefixed with an "I".

IAFSEEventListener.idl

All architecture components may use the component name as the filename for the LDL. For example, if the component name is AFSESystemPreferences the LDL filename may be:

AFSESystemPreferences. idl

All Java packages may have a conesponding LDL file. For example EventHandler may have an

LDL with this name, within this LDL may be all the associated coclass 's that make up the package.

EventHandler.idl - &lt;EventHandler - name of java package &gt;

Example of - coclasses defined within "EventHandler.idl"

[ uuid(F9205423-38B6-l ldl-A328-0060080FBDF2), helpstringC'XXEventHandler Class"), JAVACLASS("EventHandler.XXEventHandler"), PROGLD("EventHandler.XXEventHandler"), TRANSACTION_SUPPORTED ] coclass CXXEventHandler

{

[default] interface IXXEventHandler;

}; [ uuid(C82965 A3-6 A3B- 11 d 1 -A3 A9-0060080FBDF2), helpstringC'AFEventCollection Class"), JAVACLASSC'EventHandler.AFEventCollection"), PROGLD("EventHandler.AFEventCollection"), TRANS ACTION_SUPPORTED

] coclass CXXEventCollection

{

[default] interface LXXEventCollection; };

Version Control Process

Coding Standards

Active Server Pages

Delimiters

ASP delimiters (&lt;%'s and %&gt;'s) are placed in the very left hand margin, not in the middle of lines (unless 1. One uses the "&lt;%= variable %&gt;" format or unless 2. This way, all the code can be included on one line, in which case one still puts the "&lt;%"on the left margin). This improved code readability and made it easier to determine where ASP code blocks began and HTML ended, and vice versa. Option Explicit

If using VBScript within the Active Server Page, the keywords "Option Explicit" should appear at the beginning of every script block. Enabling Option Explicit may cause the scripting engine to fault when it encounters an undeclared variable (a variable is declared with the Dim statement). VBScript is not a compiled language, and the mntime inteφreter does very little to catch your programming enors. Therefore using Option Explicit should be absolutely mandatory.

Variable Declaration

If using VBScript within the Active Server Page, put multiple Dims on a single line for faster execution (verified by Microsoft) i.e. do this:

Dim a, b, c ...instead of this:

Dim a

Dim b Dim c

Error Handling

Cunently, it is required to invoke the EventHandler.process method passing in the ReTA EventCollection after every application Activity or architecture Session call. In the event that an eπor did occur during the prior application call, the EventHandler may process the eπor information and issue a HTTP Redirect to direct the client browser to the enor page.

Local Functions

Where Active Server Functions are embedded within a page they should be placed at the start of the page after the standard HTML header. Functions themselves should be written to the standard for the language in which they are written, VB Script or JavaScript within &lt;% %&gt; quotes. ASP Architecture Header

On any Active Server Page using the ReTA Architecuture there are some necessary statements needed at the beginning of each ASP page. Each page must include a "#Include" statement. This may bring in the architecture header file, which contains common variable definitions and architecture initialization statements.

To include the header file, add the following statement at the top of the Active Server Page. &lt;% Option Explicit %&gt;

&lt;!~ -&gt;

&lt;!-- All asp pages must include the Include file — &gt;

Variable Naming Conventions

<img file="WO0109792A2_D0140.tif" />

Control Naming Conventions <img file="WO0109792A2_D0141.tif" /><img file="WO0109792A2_D0142.tif" />

Create Server Side Variable Sparingly

Developers should ensure that variables declared in the Active Server Page are reused if at all possible to try and reduce the memory demands on the web server. An example would be the use of an 'en' variable to capture the return code from all MTS component calls.

Comments

While the use of comments within an Active Server Page are useful for describing the logical flow of the application, ovemse should be avoided as comments are evaluated during execution and can hinder overall performance. Comments should be used sparingly and only to describe code that is difficult to understand or follow otherwise.

HTML

HTML guidelines are necessary so each HTML programmer on the project can share in a common effort to establish best practice across the whole of the project. By moving beyond the HTML 2.0 Specification, the application can support Java, frames, and tables, among other added features.

File names may be composed of a single lower-case meaningful word that reflects the file's contents ( i.e. financial.htm). Since different platforms handle capitalization differently, we may avoid capital letters to avoid any possible conflicts. All file names should end with ".htm". The ".html" ending leads to problems when porting to a machine that only recognizes three character file identifiers. Most importantly, files should be saved within the appropriate folder upon creation (i.e. financial/financial.htm). Names should easily convey the functionality or dialog that it belongs to.

Page Title It is cmcial that users recognize that they are on a ReTA page, especially if they have accessed the site via a search engine (in this case, they would not have the "natural or the normal entry page" introduction to the site). The user would need to access the welcome page to the application. The title of the page should reflect the application name "/" activity name.

Data Validation Header File

Every static HTML page or every top frame page must include the ReTA Data Validation JavaScript file if they are going to create Form elements that utilize the UI Framework client-side validation functions. Adding the following code after the &lt;HEAD&gt; tag may include this file and bring it down to the browser level. Note that this only needs to done once in the event of a HTML Frame based application.

&lt;Scriρt Src = "/ReTAScripts/retaDataValidation.js" Type = "Text/JavaScript"&gt;

Image File Names

Image file names may be composed of a single lower-case word that consists of a two letter initial that stands for the activity they belong to ( i.e. clwarning_icon.gif). Since different platforms handle capitalization differently, we may avoid capital letters to avoid any possible conflicts. Most importantly, files should be saved within the appropriate folder upon creation (i.e. financial/images/txdollarsign.gif).

Image ALT Tag

Always use the ALT tag with images, in case the site is accessed by a browser with limited support for browsers (or a user who stops the page download before it is complete). &lt;LMG SRC = "/App/Lmages/imgStart.gif ' ALT = "[ReTA Start Application] "&gt;

META Tag Name

The &lt;META&gt; tag provides a way to store information about the portion of the present description that is not available elsewhere in the portion of the present description. For example, the META tag can contain catalog, author, or index information that various search engines can use.

This example illustrates a portion of the present description that is indexed under the terms

"ReTA", the activity of the page is "ACLCustomerLookup", and the subactivity is "

SAReviewAllCustomers ".

&lt;HEAD&gt;

&lt;META NAME="keywords" CONTENT="ReTA ACLCustomerLookup

SAReviewAllCustomers"&gt;

&lt;/HEAD&gt;

Alternate text for images

Some Web browsers cannot display images and some Web users may not want to use image loading even if their software can display images because they are have a slow connection. For these browsers and users, the ALT attribute specifies the text to be displayed instead of the image. For example, &lt;LMG SRC=" aclogo.gif ALT- ' Andersen Consulting logo"&gt;. If a Web browser cannot not display aclogo.gif or a Web user wishes not to view the logo, the text "Company logo" may be displayed to screen instead.

Comments

While the use of comments within an HTML portion of the present description are useful for describing the logical flow of the application, overuse should be avoided as comments are evaluated during execution and can hinder overall performance. Comments should be sparingly used and only to describe code that is difficult to understand or follow otherwise.

Comments for HTML code should conform to the following guidelines: Introduce code with the following comments:

&lt;!~Filepath: /Application/html/appStart.htm

&lt;! —Created By: Jane Doe &lt;! -Modified By: John Doe

&lt;! -Modification Date: 1/1/99

&lt;!— Revision #: 1.1

Limit comments for describing complex statements that are not easily followed. Eliminate all comments promoting the HTML code generating application (i.e. &lt; — ! This page generated by Front Page — &gt;). Screen Resolution

All HTML files should be viewable at resolutions of 800 x 600 and above. This standard allows for a range of screen resolutions to ensure that all users may be able to view the pages. However pages should be tested at screen resolutions of 640 x 480 and 1024 x 768 pixels in order to ensure that layout and presentation do not deteriorate at different resolutions. At 640 x 480 the appearance of scroll bars is acceptable, as this resolution is not directly supported by the applications being developed.

Graphics Sizes

Explicitly define the height and width of images used in pages. When this definition does not take place, browsers size the images themselves, which slows down the painting process. Browsers that do not have support for the WLDTH and HEIGHT attributes to the LMG tag may simply ignore them and lay out the portion of the present description normally. &lt;LMG SRC = "iso-ne.gif ' WLDTH=413 HEIGHT=356&gt;

JavaScript

JavaScript provides a powerful tool for the creation of client side functionality. It suffers however from limited eπor handling capabilities and problems of compatibility between web browsers. JavaScript should be used only where the required client side functionality cannot be implemented in HTML and should be kept as simple and concise as possible. Completed JavaScript should be tested in as wide a variety of browsers as possible, especially Internet

Explorer. (V4+) and Netscape Navigator (4+) as scripts which function cleanly in one browser may throw exceptions in another.

Variable Declaration

When declaring variables in JavaScript, one may declare multiple variables on a single line or one may declare variables on a separate line. One may also initialize a variable to a value in your declaration, var a, b, c, d, e; var sum; var message = "hello";