EP1559258A2

EP1559258A2 - Multistage network computer architecture, with user-centered remote operating system

Info

Publication number: EP1559258A2
Application number: EP03780236A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Jean Levy Dreyfus; Didier 105 the Street Willesborough LEVY; Haim Mamou; Marc La Closerie des Valences SACCHETTI
Original assignee: Online & Groupware
Current assignee: Online & Groupware
Priority date: 2002-10-25
Filing date: 2003-10-27
Publication date: 2005-08-03
Also published as: US20060167829A1; AU2003288332A8; WO2004040873A3; WO2004040873A2; AU2003288332A1

Abstract

The invention concerns a multistage network computer architecture designed to enable access to a personal resource environment via a network such as Internet, from various access points to different types of client stations. It comprises: a standard relational database server stage including a database manager for executing on request all operations on the database data, said database containing both, in a manner particular to each user, data and documents, by constituting the user organized and unique storage space, and the database manager including remote operating system functional capabilities related to said storage space; a communication stage over the network including a communication server and a client software for jointly communicating in a standard format of the network; and an intermediate software layer server stage connected both to the database server stage and to the communication stage, and including a plurality of servlets, in response to requests from the communication stage, for bringing about the execution, by the database manager, functional capabilities of said remote operating system.

Description

"COMPUTER ARCHITECTURE IN A MULTI-STAGE NETWORK, WITH A USER-CENTERED REMOTE OPERATING SYSTEM"

The present invention relates generally to integrated data processing systems in a network environment.

State of the art

Originally, a multi-user data processing architecture was implemented in a central architecture - Mainframe + passive terminals - to carry out the heavy processing of the company - calculation, classification and extraction of data - instead of men.

Gradually the evolution of technical architectures - minicomputers, microcomputers, Client / server software and ERP - have made it possible to flesh out and strengthen the application solutions to allow companies to manage their critical missions - manage accounts, produce, communicate etc. , by reducing the involvement and individual know-how of users.

Appeared about twenty years ago and widespread on personal computers (PC) in the 90s, the graphical interface, by masking the complex language of data processing, in a pictorial representation of personal office, allowed the user to perform complex office automation and activity monitoring tasks independently.

Applications - word processing, spreadsheet, contact management, calendar management, etc. - were developed to make the PC the tool of personal productivity in the company replacing the traditional resources of the office (typewriter, biller etc.).

Originally capable only of asynchronous communication (printed documents, exchange of files on magnetic media), the PC was subsequently equipped with applications - network protocols, messaging, groupware, security, - developed to organize navigation and transfers. data over a network. Companies have thus set up network architectures - local and wide - making it possible to execute on the PC the tasks which were initially devolved to the passive terminal, then to concentrate in central computers, the data processed on the workstations Then "client / server" architectures have developed. In this mode, processing is carried out by the client workstation (the PC), which supposes that this workstation is sufficiently powerful, is equipped with the right version of the operating system, or is configured correctly to allow the execution of each application. and that the user is competent. For correct execution, it is therefore necessary to bring together the right hardware, the right software and finally the right know-how of the user.

It has been noted on this subject that:

- if one of these factors is missing, the information system is very weak - slowness, loss of information, digital divide. - the network operating cost is very high because it requires very cumbersome administration, consequent security management (antivirus, backups and burglar-resistant surveillance) and hardware and software updates according to the evolution of publishers on all work stations.

- last but not least, if the user is far from his personalized workstation, he is no longer in a position to perform the tasks for which the information system was designed.

In this regard, there are certainly emulation techniques, which however add additional costs and heaviness to the network architecture.

With the deployment of the universal Internet network, which works similarly on different hardware platforms, and associated standard browsers, network communication has become much simpler.

There are thus applications allowing to navigate on all types of PC, but also on all kinds of other equipment (telephones, personal digital assistants - PDAs, automobile dashboards, decoders and digital televisions). Internet browsing retrieves, by simple selection of a link, information on a remote server and displays it in the form of screens or pages containing new links responsive to user requests.

The server addressing mode is simplified and uses a double naming system (digital IP addresses and mnemonic addresses by domain name).

For a correct execution, it is enough to have a browser connected to the Internet (no matter where you are) and minimal user know-how. Anyone who has already carried out a research, placed a scholarship order or ordered any goods or trips online has the minimum skills required.

Indeed, on this occasion, by filling in the headings in a form and submitting them by a click, the user will have launched the execution of software in a server of which he does not know everything (where he is, what are the systems of operation and applications etc.), and will have obtained the result requested from the service.

This provision of online services has enabled industry in the sector such as Microsoft, Oracle, Sun Microsystems, to anticipate the coming advent of an all-Internet IT model. However, this model is slow to materialize because to date the access point, that is to say the browser, remains an application of a local PC, which brings the following limitations:

The Navigator is not the single point of access to all online services (messaging, for example, is most often organized in a stand-alone and separate application);

• PC personal productivity software does not use the browser as an access point, and the user therefore bears all the responsibility for naming and classifying the data that he produces locally or that he retrieves via the network; “The browser behaves according to the operating system of the local computer - the behavior of browsers therefore differs significantly from machine to the other to the point that even the services developed in Java language - whose original ambition was to be universal -, must be differentiated according to the browser and the machine on which they are run.

To date, the services commonly available on the Internet are of the following type: • informational (search engine, news and information aggregation) application (transaction with a remote electronic transaction server, access to client / server applications) enterprise by emulation or using Internet protocols). These services are not really interactive, because they involve a publication mechanism, which is generally managed by a specialist, the webmaster. Thus, information from a user can only be used by other users if it is entered in a form or from a utility provided for this task, or failing that if the webmaster filters it and reinserts it by publication, which makes it difficult to set up a collaborative activity in real time.

A new type of service, the Web service, should soon develop. Unlike the current transactions which are pre-configured in the e-business site to which the user accesses by personal navigation, the Web service will execute a specialized tailor-made transaction (for example, search independently among all the companies, timetables and best prices for a Paris-Tokyo plane ticket) from a request made in a search engine for web services (typically a directory created with a UDDI meta-service). The new all-Internet architecture announced will only be able to be deployed effectively once:

- access to the Internet will be sufficiently permanent, reliable and rapid (it should be noted in this regard that the operational IP protocol on the Internet is also, on a private network, a particularly economical solution for deployment on a local network). - the browser is the access point to a service (portal) through which the user can launch all information processing, whether using an application or an online service or operating a business software (CAD, PAO etc.) installed on the dedicated workstation. - that the user can really find thanks to the portal service all his usual working environment, on any microcomputer (PC) at the office, in customers, on the move, at home - or any other terminal provided that he be equipped with a browser.

- that the services evolve to provide total interactivity allowing collaboration in real time (in other words, that the user can insert his own information in the remote server and that it becomes immediately searchable and usable by other operators without the intervention of a system administrator).

- finally, that the procedures for connectivity to Web Services are designed to be simple, powerful and universal without requiring elaborate know-how (like a search engine).

Summary of the invention

An object of the present invention is to propose in a simple, economical and reliable manner, a transactional access point protocol for transmitting, organizing, storing, retrieving and distributing all of the computer data so as to make an all-Internet architecture operational. according to the above criteria. More particularly, the invention proposes a new server software infrastructure, which replaces the operating system and the software usually installed on a local computer and delivers to the end user, for his personal needs as in the professional context, all the Personal productivity, file and content management, information sharing and third-party relationship management, in the form of integrated and organized services, available on any terminal with Internet access at using a standard browser (computer, personal digital assistant, mobile phone, interactive television or game console connected to the Internet, etc.).

More specifically, the invention proposes a software infrastructure optimized for such an “all Internet” architecture, which transparently manages the personal and collaborative digital organization in real time, of each identified user connected from any fixed or mobile terminal ( light client). The invention thus proposes, according to a first aspect, a computer architecture in a multi-stage network intended to allow access to a personal resource environment via a network such as the Internet, from various access points corresponding to different types. of client workstations, characterized in that it includes:

a standard relational database server stage comprising a database manager capable of executing on request all operations on the data of the database, said database containing both, in a manner specific to each user, data and documents, constituting the user's organized and unique storage space,

- a communication stage on the network comprising a communication server and client software capable of communicating together in a standard network format, and - an intermediate software layer server stage connected on the one hand to the server stage databases and secondly on the communication stage, and comprising a set of servlets capable, in response to requests from the communication stage, to execute procedures corresponding to types of operations predefined in the database manager, with different servlets corresponding to different types of client workstations.

According to a second aspect, the invention proposes a computer architecture in a multistage network intended to allow access to a personal resource environment via a network such as the Internet, from various access points corresponding to different types. of client workstations, characterized in that it includes: a standard relational database server stage comprising a database manager capable of executing on request all operations on the data of the database, said database containing both, in a manner specific to each user, data and documents, constituting the organized and unique storage space of the user, and the database manager comprising remote operating system functionalities in relation to said storage space.

a communication stage on the network comprising a communication server and client software capable of communicating together in a standard network format, and

an intermediate software layer server stage connected on the one hand to the database server stage and on the other hand to the communication stage, and comprising a set of suitable servlets, in response to requests in from the communication stage, to cause the execution, by the database manager, of functions of said remote operating system.

Client software is typically a standard Internet browser. Preferably, the communication stage defines two distinct communication channels on the one hand for graphical interface information specific to each type of client station and on the other hand for data or documents to the client station or from from the client station.

According to another preferred aspect, said user storage space contains, within the database, all of the files executable by standard applications at the database server level or at the client station level, and data from the user. Thus, according to the invention, a server shelters a database as well as all the logic of the operating system of the client workstation, which makes it possible to manage in a transparent manner, as of their generation, classification, saving, selection and the linking of data.

Thus the user of the service, exploits the information concerning him at the appropriate time and automatically capitalizes it without ever worrying about having to organize it. The server facilitates the operations of the user and controls the processing of the data that he manipulates, from his connection and throughout the session.

The use of the system according to the invention requires very little user know-how, unlike what is required of the user by the current architecture, which adds up personal workstations - "heavy" client workstations and complex - in an erratic and weakly administered network structure.

By rendering directly into a web page, in a structured manner and with the required processing power and security, the elements of the central relational database, the approach of the present invention frees the user from the responsibility of organizing digitally information and allows it to be effective everywhere and all the time, even and especially away from any dedicated personal computer, because access and functionality will be identical from any workstation.

The present invention has many applications.

First, for individuals, families and micro-businesses: the system simplifies and democratizes the interactive use of the Internet, because it transparently federates the operation of applications (ASP) and Web services, controls the storage and extraction of data in a server, and requires only few resources on the client computer.

The system is advantageously offered in OEM to operators and manufacturers to facilitate the development of their web platforms for integrated services for individuals.

The platform is thus capable of delivering, in a personal portal easy to use, even without learning, from any station, at home or outside, a bouquet of essential services to the individual, the family group and / or at the micro-enterprise. These services can include:

- secure electronic cabinet service with authorization management containing individual and family information: email messages sent and received, address books, photos, various documents, bank accounts, favorite sites, etc. ;

- intelligent search engine allowing to find any information contained in the cabinet according to a multi-criteria search; - service for reading, writing and sending emails (email client similar to the known application "Outlook Express" - Registered trademark);

- word processing, photo viewing, family budget management services, all these services being organized to automatically record, classify and retrieve information in the cupboard;

- SMS, Chat (instant messaging), videophone services;

- information presentation services resulting from searches or aggregation of Internet documents.

- secure payment service pre-configured with recording of the transaction in the electronic cabinet, etc.

- counter service (Minitel - Trademark type) for access to online services on sites known to the user and on Web services.

- one-to-one correspondence between each individual and his digital universe, made possible on the one hand thanks to the independence of the user vis-à-vis the physical possession of a personal storage space (typically a disc on a computer in which store its information in files), and on the other hand thanks to the identification and authentication of the user by the server and not by the client station which the user uses. From there, the invention can easily find its place for aid systems for developing countries. The benefits of the invention in the general public are numerous:

• it simplifies the life of the user, who does not need to know or master the operating system, the file classification tree, or install applications, moreover he has no security concerns (viruses - data loss). • the platform is available from various communicating equipment such as a PC, a communicating personal digital assistant, a digital television, a GPRS / i ode mobile telephone, etc. The nature and presentation of the services are then adapted to the terminal used in a manner known per se), but the data used are the same, namely extracted from the subscriber's personal electronic cabinet. • a simple decoder - cable, satellite or digital terrestrial television (TNT), with modem for the transmission of information - equipped with a Web browser and a Java virtual machine allows access from a television to all services such as makes a PC, and there is no need to equip the decoder with heavy resources (hard disk, RAM, disk drives) to run applications, for storage of files and data and for installation new software; in addition, it will not be necessary to update the decoder with each new generation of processor, operating system and software; in addition, the user's account can be accessed later from a PC browser, for example to edit images and view them later or in another location on a television.

• each user is identified by the server, whatever their connection terminal (PC, decoder, GPRS, etc.), it is easy to manage authentication controls allowing online payments without risk (the data circulating between the browser and server being encrypted and secure by default).

• finally, by locating on the operator's server all the digital intelligence of the system, it becomes possible to discriminate access to services and therefore to bill them gradually and automatically.

Secondly for business, administration and the local community: by establishing real interactivity on the Internet and creating a secure and intelligent virtual office capable of coordinating, facilitating and organizing the personal productivity of employees, by sharing information and monitoring relationships with third parties (customers - suppliers - administration, etc.), the invention makes it possible to organize and manage collaboration as a critical mission of the company.

It thus allows the company, and more generally any professional, administrative or associative organization, to centralize on its server - dedicated or hosted - the easy (and inexpensive) integration of the following tasks and functionalities (without limitation) : • management of directories and access authorizations (single registration);

• user virtual desktop via a simple browser (thin client); • centralized storage disk with search engine on all criteria;

• customer relationship management (CRM) and third parties, sales force automation (SFA);

• organization and collaboration in a working group (groupware) and agenda tracking (timeflow);

• electronic secretariat and document management (Electronic Document Management or EDM);

• launch and management of all business applications (EAI);

• internal and instant messaging (Chat - IRC) hosted on the enterprise server;

• automation of e-mails, linked to Customer and Project contexts;

• working group either on a local and / or extended network

• replicated management of nomadic workstations working offline

• access and data security, redundant backups. The benefits of the present invention in the context of professional use are numerous.

Firstly, by a set of online services which integrates the entire digital organization of the company, the system of the invention brings to the company the simplification of its organization and its procedures, even for remote employees, which in itself is a very significant source of savings and allows a rapid return on investment.

Secondly, its implementation is very simple in so far as the invention can be in the form of a software brick to be installed on a Server (such as an "Internet Appliance" in Linux or a server under Windows 2000) physically installed in the company or hosted by a service provider. The installation of the service can be extremely fast, the necessary settings being then carried out via the IP protocol from any thin client workstation.

Thirdly, the invention offers an economical solution insofar as it does not require the acquisition of new hardware or software on the client workstation, nor of a remote emulation server (such as Citrix or Microsoft TSE). Fourthly, the invention allows a progressive adaptation, smoothly and without disruption insofar as the server part can connect to the pre-existing data sources of the company (Exchange, Domino, LDAP, Management under RDBMS, etc. .) allowing a progressive implementation and deployment compatible with the preservation of existing data, databases, document models, procedures and organizational charts.

Fifth, the invention offers a tailor-made and extensible solution for the company. It easily supports large workgroups, by deploying them on the appropriate servers and RDBMS. Sixth, the integration, administration and customization of a system according to the invention are easy: maintenance is limited to a single server (no intervention on client workstations), and the administrator's work is greatly facilitated, allowing him to focus on the integration and creation of tailor-made queries intended to optimize the activity of the service. Seventh, the invention offers an excellent level of security, since all transactions can be executed in a VPN (virtual private network) by a server protected by “firewall” and antivirus. In addition, the data passing through the

Web are advantageously compressed and secured by SSL or other protocol.

Eighth, authorization management provides effective anti-intrusion control, but above all the system of the present invention, unlike conventional GroupWare applications, prevents the user from organizing the data in a personal tree structure, and avoids alteration or destruction of the company's data structure.

Finally, the invention proposes a system which adapts to the specific needs and models of the company, by making it possible to discriminate the rights of the entrants and to deliver on the client station accesses - in Extranet or Intranet - differentiated having pages ( including HTML) containing specific and different services depending on the connected user.

It is thus possible to offer either only a visualization of the results of XML requests, or the possibility of using only part of the services. For example, an end customer of the company with Extranet access can, by the same system, access only internal messaging (Memo Express - see below) and instant messaging (IsW Chat - see below) services to get in touch with the Hot Line technician; in addition, all transactions will be reported automatically in this customer's file. The present invention can be implemented either by a conventional server application, or even by an encapsulable server application which allows publishers, network operators, etc., efficiently, economically and immediately available, to market a new personalized offer with integrated services of the invention using a simple browser. Other advantages of the system of the invention over the state of the art appear in the table in annex B attached.

Brief description of the drawings

Other aspects, aims and advantages of the present invention will appear better on reading the following detailed description of a preferred embodiment thereof, given by way of non-limiting example and made with reference to the accompanying drawings, on which ones :

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of the infrastructure and of the functions of a system according to the invention, and

Figure 2 is a block diagram of the general architecture of the system according to the invention.

Detailed description of a preferred embodiment

Referring first to Figure 1, there is shown in the upper part a choice of communicating data processing equipment (client equipment), and in particular a GPRS or UMTS mobile phone 10, a network terminal 12, a PC-type desktop or laptop computer 14, personal digital assistant 16 or even smart TV 18. Any of these devices, using a software browser 20 (for example, on a desktop or laptop PC, a market browser such as "Internet Explorer" (Trademark), with a Java virtual machine (registered trademark)), can communicate with a “personal portal” 40 via a secure link 30 based on a unique identifier protected by password and on encryption.

This portal 40 cooperates functionally with an integrated set of service applications 50 (virtual office management, collaboration via Intranet, communication, messaging including e-mail, document management, relations with third parties, etc. - see detailed description more away), which also has the ability to launch resident applications on client equipment. All 50 ^s' based on a relational database management system 60 containing directory data, contacts (third), email, stocks, calendars, projects, executable files given applications (preferably in the form of large binary objects (BLOB for “Binary Large Object” in English terminology) etc., so as to provide the user, at the level of a single interface, access to the various services to view, create, modify, sort, etc. these various types of data and documents.

The personal portal 40 and the associated secure link 30 are implemented by a Web server 100 communicating by Extranet with a software module 110 for syndication and aggregation of content which itself accesses the Internet. This web server houses the pages (HTML, XML, etc.) that will be offered to the user, as well as a set of applets or Javascripts adapted in particular to the type of client equipment from which the user connects to the portal. . The portal 40 also allows the user to use specific business applications 120, themselves based on an ad hoc system 200 capable of executing these applications and all related applications such as directory of LDAP type, Web services. , etc. The database 60 of the system of the invention communicates with the system 200 by means of all appropriate tools 210 such as ebXML, EAI, LDAP gateway, ERP connectors, etc. In addition, the database management system 60 can communicate with Web services 220 by interfaces 230 based in particular on the Java J2EE platform, the SOAP protocol, a CA interface or even UDDI-type meta-services, etc. The architecture of the system is illustrated in Figure 2.

Client equipment 10 to 18 is illustrated on the right.

They communicate with the Web server 100 according to a transactional access point (TAP) via the Internet 90. The server 100 contains the pages set up by the editor of the integrated services of the invention. This server is functionally connected to a communication module 300 constituted by a set of “servlets” produced on a J2EE type platform allowing the server 100 to communicate with the database management system 400 grouping together the elements 60, 200, 210 and 230 in Figure 1.

Such a system is capable of making available to each user, according to their rights and authorizations in a work group to which they belong, or according to the subscription subscribed, from any client terminal having a simple web browser, a plurality of integrated services, delivered by the server.

The various integrated services will now be detailed.

Single Sign On Express

To access the service of his company, or to which he is subscribed, the user must enter his username, password and the domain to which he belongs. Depending on their rights, they will see a web page displaying their updated personal virtual desktop; the system is designed as a collaborative intranet server, but it can also be programmed for extranet services so as to display screens with restricted functionality for users not belonging to the intranet working group (customers, suppliers, subcontractors, etc.) or for ASP applications.

Personalized virtual Desktop By default, the system's user side desktop hides the browser interface so that the user can operate the services even if they have no computer skills. The desktop displays the user's agenda for the day, as well as the actions and projects to follow during the day. It allows access to all services with a simple click of the mouse.

Directory Manager

This service automates the import, export, creation and research of data of various types in a system of directories specific to the company. These directories are custom-configured by the service administrator. They contain information relating to all third parties who are in contact with the company. The categories of third parties are obviously first and foremost customers and prospects, but also employees (including service users), suppliers, subcontractors, advisers, administrations, etc. The directories serve as a basis for Customer Relationship Management, have powerful search tools and automate links with all the other tables in the database (contact table, project table, document table, email table, action table and sub - custom files).

Project Manager

This service automatically and transparently collects all information related to a project - reports, comments, chances of closing the deal, estimated budget, documents sent and received - including scanned documents -, incoming and outgoing emails, actions related to this project, etc. A project is automatically linked to a third party concerned, to a user responsible for the project, to a catalog of type of activity, to the schedule of company projects, and to sub-files containing information exchanged with other applications. of the company. The user can carry out multi-criteria searches in the projects and carry out all the necessary classifications, sorts and reports at the appropriate time. Document Manager

This service organizes, stores and retrieves documents in the context of projects. It allows to re-import any document produced offline and to insert it into the database so that it can be integrated into project monitoring. It automatically and transparently manages the creation, naming and storage of new company documents.

This service downloads the document model from the invention server, launches the locally installed application, merges (for example in MS Word or Excel - registered trademarks) and names the new document created while respecting the rules of the database. . Once the user has finished working on the document, it is automatically uploaded to the server and deleted from the local machine.

The documents are linked by the database to third party recipients, projects, sending users, type of document, chronology. We can carry out multi-criteria searches in documents and carry out all the necessary classifications, sorts and reports at the right time from any position.

Task Manager This service automatically and transparently links tasks and things to do to customer relations and workgroup operations. For example, a task can send an SMS type minimessage to the user's mobile phone. Delayed tasks (time and duration) are displayed in the user's calendar. Tasks are linked to projects, users (such as the requester or operator of the action), third parties and contacts. The tasks can be searched according to all the desired criteria. Today's tasks are visible from the user's home page.

Diary Manager This service offers diaries and schedules (personal or group) which can be displayed by day, by week or by month. Reading the time slots is made easier by color diagrams. Calendars are linked to users and tasks. The user's agenda for the day is presented on the home page.

Memo Express

This service provides the company with asynchronous private messaging and a phone book. It allows us to limit unnecessary and insecure emails between members of a workgroup and to speed up the processing of messages related to customer relations. A Memo-express action being of a particular type, it is therefore totally connected to his project, his contact and his third party. As soon as the memo is sent, it appears on the user's home page and can be displayed on the screen (provided the recipient is logged in).

Email-Express

This service allows the user to receive and send emails from any computer (as a “Web-mail” service would do). This service also allows the user to read only the headers of emails without having to download them in full, and to select those he wishes to read; this avoids the inconvenience of "spam" (advertising emails that clutter mailboxes) and the arrival of viruses by allowing the deletion of suspicious and / or unnecessary messages.

Finally, each email received or sent is automatically linked to the project, to the file, and to the third party concerned, in the database. This avoids the sending of Compliant Copies for information, which have the effect of saturating the mailboxes of each member of the working group and of mobilizing them to keep abreast of useless information at the time of reading and lost when they are useful; emails are linked to projects, users (whether they are senders or recipients), third parties and contacts. Obviously, the service allows all multi-criteria searches in the email history of all actors (according to hierarchical rights).

Search Express This service is available, according to the hierarchical rights, in most of the pages. It allows requests to be made on the fly in the database, on a word or a character string or from requests predefined by the company.

The SQL search engine is able to find all information from any criterion of any table in the company's database (and from an LDAP server or a Domino Notes type database (Brand Filed) or other if an appropriate gateway is established).

Report Express This service offers all kinds of solutions, preferably according to the standard

XML (For “eXtended Markup Language”) to meet the demand of companies for custom reporting. The report thus obtained can be displayed in the form of an HTML page, or else viewed automatically using an application such as MS Excel (registered trademark) run on the local computer. It can also be saved as a CSV text file for later use.

Personal Notepad

This service offers the user a completely private and personal notebook, which can contain their email signatures, private or other reminders, etc. This notebook can contain text, data in HTML format, etc.

Wizards

This service offers all kinds of utilities dedicated to carrying out marketing studies, sales and statistics. Dashboard Administration

This service is a very easy-to-use online functionality which offers the administrator of the company's database very powerful tools for controlling and managing the parameters of the database of the system of the invention as well as user rights. It requires a good knowledge of the database but does not require any training in the field of programming.

Info Service this peπnet service, in particular at the request of managers, sending information in "push" mode from the server to users; rotating information banners (Reuter - Trademark type) are displayed on the user's virtual desktop. Click on them to display their content (in HTML format); at this precise moment, the server records that the information has indeed been brought to the attention of the user (this may if necessary no longer be necessarily displayed during subsequent sessions); an information note will cease to be disseminated according to the validity date which has been assigned to it by its issuer; all information broadcasts are recorded in the database. They can therefore be the subject of requests like any other type of document.

Cat

It is an instant messaging service (IRC) similar to the external services offered by operators such as AOL, ICQ or Yahoo, but completely independent of these; this chat service is closely linked to the system database; it allows connected users to chat with each other.

An application of this Chat service is to constitute an intelligent Knowledge Management tool which makes it possible to store all of the conversations at the heart of the database, to index the content and to find precise information there through the Search Express aforementioned. Another feature is to automatically copy / paste the content of a chat session in an associated project and therefore the client account to which this session and this project relate.

One can also advantageously provide a voice chat service between the members of a working group, which constitutes a real intercom for online audio conferencing provided that the terminal on which the user connects is equipped with appropriate resources. With high speeds, we can also provide a videoconferencing service.

In summary, the present invention defines a universal transactional access point which allows a separation between the content (that is to say the information that interests the user) and the usual containers (that is to say the files that hide them), and allows fluidity of information circuits from end to end.

An analogy can be made with the field of telephony, where whatever the user interface (digital keyboard, keypad, dial, payphone), the system delivers the same type of service (generally connect another phone by a link analog and / or digital) without the user having to organize the location of the called station or the content so that it can be used at the end of the line - even for data transit - modulation and demodulation being organized by the system.

The system of the invention can be fully compatible with existing operating systems and does not involve the acquisition of new technology on the client side.

An example of practical application of the invention will be given below, accompanied by a more detailed technical description of the system of the invention.

Application example

We will now describe the application of the invention to an information and organization system, for collaborative work and monitoring of customer relations intended in particular for SMEs. A - General description

1. Presentation

Like Integrated Management Software, which is reserved by its very high acquisition and implementation costs for Large Companies, the invention offers VSEs / SMEs easy integration of the following tasks and functions:

Customer relationship management (CRM) and project monitoring Directory management and agenda monitoring ("timeflow" in English terminology) Workgroup organization (synergware or "groupware" in English terminology) Procedure management and resources (“workflow” in English terminology) Launch and management of all business applications (EAI) Electronic Secretariat and Document Management (CED) Internal (CTI) and external (e-mail) messaging in the context of Integration projects data to and from data warehouses ("data mining" in English terminology)

The system offers a 360 ° view of each third party that concerns the company, whether it is a customer, employee, supplier, resource, event management, project, etc.

The system presents in real time, according to access authorizations, the complete situation of the third party (projects and actions to come, current and expired, reservation, orders, fax, letters, quotes, marketing messages, invoices, follow-up of calls telephone, after-sales service requests, complaints, follow-up of emails, etc.). The system database is designed as an application integration base and not as a management integrated, it is therefore particularly easy to set up in the company allowing recovery in a few days, where ERP requires months of work, existing data, databases, document templates, procedures and organizational charts.

The system includes a tool for creating office documents (word processing, spreadsheets and other documents from Windows compatible applications). The user no longer has to worry about where he saves his files or even the name he would give them.

The system also provides users with their personal and group diaries, an internal messaging system (express memo) and manages all electronic messaging (sending, receiving and classifying emails in the context of projects in the database) .

Two complementary working modes are offered to the user:

on a local network on a workstation in your company, - on a portable computer (mobile workstations that have a small on-board database that can be synchronized by replication).

The system allows user access from an Internet browser, that is to say, not requiring the installation on a dedicated station of a thick client software package.

The implementation is based on the development of a thin client capable of connecting via the IP protocol to the database.

2. description of the extended 2-storey architecture The constraint of cooperating with thin client workstations operating in a conventional 3-stage architecture on a common database with heavy client workstations makes the task delicate.

The invention is based on an architecture close to the two-stage client server architecture, but adapted to the Internet, so that the migration of the code is simple and rapid.

On this principle, all SQL requests from the system to the database are stored in the Java iSJS server and identified by a name. The treatments are transcribed in scripting language.

The graphical interface of the system is made in HTML. In this way, without having to analyze each page and without having to understand the use of the database before starting development, we can implement the software in Intranet version by translation: only change the language and the method d access to the database.

Thus, we keep a two-stage architecture to simplify the migration but we integrate all the advantages of a three-stage architecture to reduce maintenance and increase performance.

The first stage (the application and processing part) is made up of the Web server (containing the HTML pages and data processing script) and the user's Web browser.

The second stage is composed of the database server and the server layer

Java iSJS. The first integrated development consists in being able to divide this second stage: the database server and the iSJS server can be installed on different servers. The iSJS server takes on the one hand the role of controller and network traffic regulator, and secondly the gateway role between corporate databases and the Internet.

3. Operation of the thin client

At the request of the user, the browser must first display the graphical interface and load the processing scripts. You also need to recover the necessary data.

These two processes are actually independent: for example, if the user wants to display its agenda for the week 2 so that ^it shows that of week 10, it is not necessary to reload the interface and scripting.

Such an operation which seems natural in a local network application is conventionally forgotten in the design of Web applications where the browser systematically refers to the Web server to respond to the user. This observation led to dividing the data flow from the server to the client in two parts: client-server communication for the data and client-server communication for the graphical interface and the processing.

a) Communication between the client and the database server

To control this process, an applet (Java Client designated by iSJC) makes it possible to communicate as efficiently as possible with the iSJS server.

Data transfer between the database and the iSJS server is fast, but query execution consumes a lot of resources.

The data transfer between the iSJS server and the iSJC client is more or less rapid (depending on the Internet connection mode and the size of the data). To optimize this part, caches added on the iSJS server and on the iSJC client make it possible to limit the operations of transfer and interrogation of the database.

The iSJC client also groups requests in batch processing which can be sent in the background. Finally, all the data transmitted between the iSJS server and the iSJC client are advantageously compressed in ZIP or other format (and on customer request, can be subject to SSL or other type encryption).

b) Communication between the client and the Web server

The recovery of the graphical interface and scripts is fully supported by the browser: this operation is fast. We also use the browser cache which keeps on the client's hard drive everything that has been downloaded: each page (and the corresponding script) is therefore only downloaded during the first call. Finally, the processing runs quickly on the client computer (Windows PC computers are largely powerful enough).

In Figure XX is given an illustration of the operation of the application. The iSJS server and the iSJC client run in parallel in their context (respectively the web server and the web browser).

4. Benefits of this architecture

While not a pure three-story architecture, this form of development brings the following advantages:

- It is no longer necessary to maintain multiple versions and consequently to update client workstations. Updating the Web server updates all applications when they are accessed by client computers. While a thick client application requires a specific installation set for each version of Windows, and heavy development with an installation tool like InstallShield, the system with thin client does not require any installation.

The most powerful computers act as a server, and client computers only need a web browser and word processing or spreadsheet applications, etc. (typically Word and Excel or higher, if the company uses these office software).

B - The choice of tools

1. The server operating system:

Two solutions currently share the market:

Microsoft's solution with Windows 2000 Server Linux / UNIX type solutions.

The two offers are not really opposite, they are rather complementary: Windows 2000 is widely present in SMEs and local networks while Linux or UNIX solutions are very widespread on the net because they are less expensive and deemed more stable.

Developments were made under Windows in order to offer this solution as a priority to the majority of users.

2. The database server

For reasons of ease and lightness of implementation in the various universes (W2000 and linux), which allows easy installation of a complete nomad application (client-Web server and data server) single-user can work offline, development was performed on the Sybase SQLAnywhere Studio tool. However, most publishers offer database servers suitable for Internet applications. Also, SYBASE, ORACLE, MICROSOFT SQL, INTERBASE, POSTGRESQL and MYSQL servers are advantageously taken into account.

The Sybase SQLAnywhere Studio server is an object-oriented relational database server, it therefore integrates a Java virtual machine and the possibility of storing Java classes and procedures in SQLJ format. It also offers the possibility of storing Java classes in relational data tables; thus, access to data from a Java program is simplified. JDBC, OLE-DB drivers are also available.

3. The language used for Server development

The three main server-side languages commonly found are

Java Script / VB Script embedded in ASP pages hosted on a Microsoft Internet Information Server. - The PHP scripting language.

The Java language, in the form of servlets and JSP pages (Java Server Pages).

ASP technology has two drawbacks with regard to the invention:

a) it can only run on a Windows server, b) it suffers from poor performance when accessing databases: if the scripting languages are perfectly suited for use on a thin client (due to their portability and their simplicity in particular), this choice is not wise on the server side. PLIP scripts represent an interesting solution in the sense that they can be executed by a large number of WEB servers. However, like all scripts, their execution is slow and unsuitable for scaling up.

JSP and Servlets open server-side development to the full power of the JAVA language: portability, numerous libraries (packages), real object-oriented language. Their execution is also faster.

This is why the latter solution was chosen for the implementation of the system.

4. The WEB server

The APACHE web server is by far the most used on the Internet, it works on both Linux and Windows. Its administration is simple and identical on the two platforms: it is therefore very simple to distribute the server. Another significant point is that it is integrated with many Java development tools; this therefore also simplifies the preparation of the development machine.

5. The language used for Client development

- for the graphical interface

It is produced in HTML, standard on the Web.

-for event management:

To stay as universal as possible and as close as possible to the code written on the server (in Java language), the Java Script language is preferred. It is supported by a large number of browsers (Internet Explorer and Netscape in particular). -for communication between the client and the iSJS server

Only Java applets can fulfill this role because they are particularly suited to developments on the Internet. The iSJC client is written in the same language as the server. In order to simplify its use from the scripting language, function libraries have been developed which are used in all pages.

6. Development tools

- for the graphical interface and scripts

Two tools are preferably used: DreamWeaver and Visual Studio. The first is used to generate the graphical interfaces because it allows you to simply view the result as it will appear on the users' screen. Visual Studio, on the other hand, is used to generate event scripts and to integrate the necessary applets into web pages.

- for Java client programs

The applets must be developed and compiled specifically for Internet Explorer, so it is particularly recommended to use a Microsoft development tool to perform this task. Visual J ++ was used.

- for the development of the Java server

Sun Forte For Java was used. The latter includes the APACHE web server, a CVS client, an HTML page editor (static or dynamic) and of course, a very efficient Java class editor with code writing help. 7. Definition of the necessary configuration on the client

As each browser must currently have a specific version of the software, the system has been developed for the most common browser: Microsoft Internet Explorer. It is also the one that offers the greatest wealth of performance for developers. The client workstation is therefore under the Microsoft Windows operating system.

C - Server development

The goal was ultimately to develop a web application in the same way as one would develop an application in a two-stage client / server architecture. To do this, we distinguish three servers: the database server, - The WEB server (containing HTML pages, event management scripts and a downloadable iSJC). iSJS (set of servlets and Java class containing SQL queries) and the algorithm for connection with clients.

iSJS is a set of servlets which wait for client connections via the web server and which has 'jobs' which it is able to execute as procedures in order to return the result to clients.

Its architecture is fully extensible, this means that new jobs and new servlets can be created to meet specific needs allowing iSJS to serve as a platform for EAI (Inter-Application Communication).

1. presentation of SERVLETS SWServlet: this servlet forms the basis of the iSJS Java server; it manages the connections to the database and certain parameters which allow it to connect to the Internet (to a mail server for example).

SWDatabaseServlet is a servlet responsible for processing requests from clients who require access to the database. Each request may require the execution of one or more tasks ("jobs"). The result is returned to customers in a standard Java format (SSL encryption on request and ZIP compression).

SWXMLServlet is a SWDatabaseServlet that returns data to clients in universal XML format. The latter is used when generating Word and Excel documents. The principle of generation of these documents will be detailed later.

SWFileScrvlet simulates a file server in the database (it uses system tables capable of storing binary data). It is this servlet which is used to store Word documents and Excel in particular (this servlet takes the principles of 1TFS from Oracle).

SWWAPServlet: this SERVLET gives access to the database from WAP mobiles via an interface in WML format.

SWSignlnServlet: this last servlet is an administration tool which allows to register new users. It is especially used to create test users to make presentations online. In Figure 4 is given a presentation of the class diagram which illustrates the software architecture of the iSJS server

2. job presentation

As we have seen, jobs are the equivalent of procedures that run on the server at the request of the client. Each job does a specific job: check the user's emails, download a file from the database or even execute SQL queries. For a job to be recognized and executable by the IsJS server, it must implement the SWJob interface. When a client station requests the execution of a job, it communicates to the iSJS server its name (the name of the Java class) and a list of parameters (the name of the downloaded file or the SQL query to be executed for example).

The class diagram in Figure 5 but presents the most important jobs of the application:

SWUserldentificationJob allows you to control the user upon connection. SWMailJob is used to manage users' emails and accounts.

D - Customer development

1. The iSJC applet

This class is used in all web pages since the Java event handling script code. It has many methods that each allow you to invoke jobs on iSJS. It can manage the group sending of jobs so as to optimize the number of back-and-forth between the client and the server. This class is an essential building block of the proposed architecture: it allows Java script code of a two-stage client server architecture to run on the Internet in a powerful and reliable manner. The JClient class represents the iSJC applet, it exposes the methods necessary for invoking jobs (a getFile job for example allows you to download a file stored in the database).

The iSJC client has a reference to 4 objects:

- DocumentManager allows you to open a file by running the associated Windows program (Run Word to open a reference document FAX1245.DOC for example).

- SWBuffer represents the client cache, the data from the server is stored there and retrieved from Java script code.

Each requested job is stored in a Batch object which can be requested to be executed as part of a transaction. the iSJS server returns the result in a BatchResult object.

The iSJS server and the iSJC client communicate as follows: the iSJC client establishes a batch which can be sent asynchronously or synchronously. This batch is studied and executed on the iSJS server as part of a transaction or not. It then returns a BatchResult object that contains all the batch success or error codes for each job.

Generally speaking, SWBuffer makes it possible to store data when navigating from one page to another. It is also used to extend the Java script language and to use the power of classic Java classes.

Figure 6 illustrates the class diagram showing the system database. E - Generating documents

One of the advantages of the system is to generate, merge, save, classify and find the documents of the company.

1. The standard documents

All documents automatically generated by the system from 4 parts: The Word or Excel document model: it includes the layout of generic data.

The logo of ^the company that is saved separately and inserted the document before printing and then deleted before backup in the database. The merge fields which indicate the location where it will be necessary to merge the data extracted from the database (name and address of the contact for example). - The macro-instruction developed in the Visual Basic For Application language which allows to retrieve data from the database to merge it into the document.

2. Generating a new document

Documents are created within the framework of Projects: the user works on a customer file and in a project concerning this file.

The user selects a standard document from a list (commercial proposal for example). The iSJC client downloads the model, the company logo and opens it in Word or Excel (provided that the client computer has it).

When it is opened, the macro of the model is executed and connects to the z ^' SJS server (more precisely the SWXMLServlet servlet) and requests a predefined export of the database in XML format. It then merges the dominated XML to the model document, and the document is numbered and temporarily saved locally.

When you leave the HTML page of the project, the list of all the documents created during the working session is proposed. You can save the documents you want to keep on the server.

F - The advantages

The development carried out to execute the invention (namely the iSJS server and iSJC client couple), proves to be an excellent tool for bringing two-tier client server applications to the Web.

A company that masters one or more specific client / server applications can convert them to an Intranet application in three simple steps:

Generate the graphical interface in HTML format (depending on the development tools, this creation can be done by simple conversion). Extract the SQL queries from the application and store them in the iSJS server.

- Develop event management scripts in Java Script.

The benefits brought by the invention are convincing: stability, performance, deployment, accessibility and economy.

We find the advantages of N-stages client server applications: the application is accessible on the Intranet and on the Internet from a simple Web browser. Its deployment is simplified (installation of a single server machine). The communication protocol used between the iSJC client and the iSJS server is optimized; in addition, the iSJS server is robust, it supports a large number of simultaneous accesses. The graphical interface in HTML format is very light and customizable by simply changing the style sheets.

The system's mail client offers the power of free "Webmails" like Hotmail and Yahoo! without forcing the user to leave his work environment.

The user, or the company administrator, sets up the list of mail accounts in the system; he can then ask to check the arrival of new emails on all addresses or only some. The user can also consult the headers and the size of the emails without downloading them, so he can decide to delete suspicious messages (spam, virus) without reading them. Finally, when he sends or receives an email, the user files it, not only in his personal mailbox, but also in the project and the third party file to which he is attached.

A chat module can be added to the system. A user then has three means of communication at his disposal:

1. Mail, recommended for contacting third parties (customers or prospects for example). 2. The Memo Express which constitutes an asynchronous internal messaging system between users. 3. The chat which allows direct communication with other users of the company connected simultaneously to the server. The domices thus exchanged are saved in the database and will authorize relevant multicriteria searches (Knowledge Management).

Advantageously, the system also offers WAP access: this access mode is a bonus even if it is true that WAP has not yet been very successful. It is likely that the experience acquired in WML development will accelerate the development of a GPRS interface. G - Developments

The system database manager can be chosen to take advantage of recent developments in database servers (stored procedures, referential integrity, etc.), and to be easily integrated into EAI platforms.

The management of data access rights, the personalization of the graphical interface for each user and the management of different languages (with corresponding date format and numeric separator) can be refined as desired.

Note: all brand names cited in this memo are registered trademarks of their respective owners

Claims

1. IT architecture in a multi-stage network intended to allow access to a personal resource environment via a network such as the Internet, from various access points corresponding to different types of client workstations, characterized in that 'she understands :

- a communication stage on the network comprising a communication server and client software capable of communicating together in a standard network format, and - an intermediate software layer server stage connected on the one hand to the server stage databases and secondly to the communication stage, and having a set of servlets capable, in response to requests from ^the communication stage, to execute procedures corresponding to types of predefined operations in the database manager, with different servlets corresponding to different types of client workstations.

2. Architecture according to claim 1, characterized in that the client software is a standard Internet browser.

3. Architecture according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the communication stage defines two distinct communication channels on the one hand for graphical interface information specific to each type of client station and on the other hand for or documents to the client station or from the client station.

4. Architecture according to one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that said user storage space contains, within the database all the files, executable by standard applications at the basic server level of data or at the client station level, and user data.

5. IT architecture in a multistage network intended to allow access to a personal resource environment via a network such as the Internet, from various access points corresponding to different types of client workstations, characterized in that '' it comprises: - a standard relational database server stage comprising a database manager capable of executing on request all operations on the data in the database, said database containing both, in a clean manner to each user, data and documents, constituting the organized and unique storage space of the user, and the database manager containing remote operating system functionalities in relation to said storage space.

- a communication stage on the network comprising a communication server and client software capable of communicating together in a standard network format, and - an intermediate software layer server stage connected on the one hand to the server stage databases and on the other hand on the communication stage, and comprising a set of servlets able, in response to requests from the communication stage, to cause the execution, by the database manager , of functionalities of said remote operating system.

6. Architecture according to claim 5, characterized in that the client software is a standard Internet browser.

7. Architecture according to claim 5 or 6, characterized in that the communication stage defines two distinct communication channels on the one hand for graphical interface information specific to each type of client station and on the other hand for data or documents to the client station or from the client station.

8. Architecture according to one of claims 5 to 7, characterized in that said user storage space contains, within the database all the files, executable by standard applications at the basic server level of data or at the client station level, and user data.