EP1687925A2 - Systeme et procede pour representation hierarchique d'articles de configuration - Google Patents

Systeme et procede pour representation hierarchique d'articles de configuration

Info

Publication number
EP1687925A2
EP1687925A2 EP04811538A EP04811538A EP1687925A2 EP 1687925 A2 EP1687925 A2 EP 1687925A2 EP 04811538 A EP04811538 A EP 04811538A EP 04811538 A EP04811538 A EP 04811538A EP 1687925 A2 EP1687925 A2 EP 1687925A2
Authority
EP
European Patent Office
Prior art keywords
configuration
level
management system
configuration items
items
Prior art date
Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
Withdrawn
Application number
EP04811538A
Other languages
German (de)
English (en)
Inventor
Brett Watson-Luke
Current Assignee (The listed assignees may be inaccurate. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation or warranty as to the accuracy of the list.)
Intec Telecom Systems Ltd
Original Assignee
WATSON LUKE BRETT
Watson-Luke Brett
Intec Telecom Systems Ltd
Priority date (The priority date is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the date listed.)
Filing date
Publication date
Priority claimed from US10/723,612 external-priority patent/US20050114692A1/en
Priority claimed from US10/723,246 external-priority patent/US20050114642A1/en
Priority claimed from US10/723,582 external-priority patent/US20050114240A1/en
Priority claimed from US10/723,581 external-priority patent/US20050114479A1/en
Priority claimed from US10/723,243 external-priority patent/US20050114851A1/en
Application filed by WATSON LUKE BRETT, Watson-Luke Brett, Intec Telecom Systems Ltd filed Critical WATSON LUKE BRETT
Publication of EP1687925A2 publication Critical patent/EP1687925A2/fr
Withdrawn legal-status Critical Current

Links

Classifications

    • G—PHYSICS
    • G06—COMPUTING; CALCULATING OR COUNTING
    • G06F—ELECTRIC DIGITAL DATA PROCESSING
    • G06F8/00—Arrangements for software engineering
    • G06F8/70—Software maintenance or management
    • G06F8/71—Version control; Configuration management

Definitions

  • BACKGROUND Telecommunications providers offer a wide variety of products and services to their continuously expanding consumer bases.
  • many telecommunications providers employ Operations Support Systems (OSS) to track resource provisioning, convergent billing, customer management information, and other telecommunication-related information.
  • the OSS typically includes a number of separate databases for storing the information related to resource provisioning, convergent billing, etc.
  • One disadvantage of some OSS is that several different databases have to be updated when new products and services are offered. For example, when a new wireless Internet plan is offered, both the convergent billing and customer management information databases must be updated.
  • Another disadvantage of many OSS is that some OSS do not offer relatively fast and easy-to-use tools for changing information across numerous OSS databases.
  • Figure 1 illustrates an exemplary computer system used in conjunction with certain embodiments of the invention
  • Figure 2 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration management system, according to exemplary embodiments of the invention
  • Figure 3 is a block diagram illustrating a more detailed view of the configuration server and other configuration management system components, according to exemplary embodiments of the invention
  • Figure 4 is a screenshot of the graphical user interface presented by the graphical tools .user interface unit, according to exemplary embodiments of the invention - >
  • Figure 5 is a flow diagram illustrating operations for processing graphical user interface commands in a configuration management system, according to exemplary embodiments of the invention
  • Figure 6 is a flow diagram illustrating a operations for modifying configuration in response to commands received through a graphical user interface, according to exemplary the embodiments of the invention
  • Figure 7 is a flow diagram illustrating operations for generating a low-level configuration items from high-level configuration items, according
  • the present invention can include any variety of combinations and/or integrations of the embodiments described herein.
  • the phrase "exemplary embodiment" means that the embodiment being referred to serves as an example or illustration.
  • block diagrams illustrate exemplary embodiments of the invention.
  • flow diagrams illustrate operations of the exemplary embodiments of the invention. The operations of the flow diagrams will be described with reference to the exemplary embodiments shown in the block diagrams. However, it should be understood .that the operations, of the flow diagrams could be performed by, embodiments of the - invention other than those discussed with reference to the block diagrams, and embodiments discussed with references to the block diagrams could perform operations different than those discussed with reference to the flow diagrams.
  • FIG. 1 illustrates an exemplary computer system used in conjunction with certain embodiments of the invention.
  • computer system 100 comprises processor(s) 102.
  • the computer system 100 also includes a memory unit 130, processor bus 122, and Input/Output controller hub (ICH) 124.
  • the processor(s) 102, memory unit 130, and ICH 124 are coupled to the processor bus 122.
  • the processor(s) 102 may comprise any suitable processor architecture.
  • the computer system 100 may comprise one, two, three, or more processors, any of which may execute a set of instructions in accordance with embodiments of the present invention.
  • the memory unit 130 includes a configuration tools interface, which is described in greater detail below (see Figures 2 and 3).
  • the memory unit 130 stores data and/or instructions, and may comprise any suitable memory, such as a dynamic random access memory (DRAM), for example.
  • the computer system 100 also includes IDE drive(s) 108 and/or other suitable storage devices.
  • a graphics controller 104 controls the display of information on a display device 106, according to embodiments of the invention.
  • the input/output controller hub (ICH) 124 provides an interface to I/O devices or peripheral components for the computer system 100.
  • the ICH 124 may comprise any suitable interface controller to provide for any suitable communication link to the processors).102, memory, unit 130 and/or to any. suitable device or component in communication with the ICH 124.
  • the ICH 124 provides suitable arbitration and buffering for each interface.
  • the ICH 124 provides an interface to one or more suitable integrated drive electronics (IDE) drives 108, such as a hard disk drive (HDD) or compact disc read only memory (CD ROM) drive, or to suitable universal serial bus (USB) devices through one or more USB ports 110.
  • IDE integrated drive electronics
  • the ICH 124 also provides an interface to a keyboard 112, a mouse 114, a CD-ROM drive 118, one or more suitable devices through one or more firewire ports 116.
  • the ICH 124 also provides a network interface 120 though which the computer system 100 can communicate with other computers and/or devices.
  • the computer system 100 includes a machine-readable medium that stores a set of instructions (e.g., software) embodying any one, or all, of the methodologies for dynamically loading object modules described herein.
  • software can reside, completely or at least partially, within memory unit 130 and/or within the processor(s) 102.
  • System Level Overview This section provides a system level overview of exemplary embodiments of the invention.
  • Figure 2 shows a block diagram of a system for managing configuration. Operations of the components of Figure 2 are described in the following sections.
  • Figure 2 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration management system used in conjunction with an operations support system, according to exemplary embodiments of the invention.
  • an operations support system generally refers to a system for performing management, inventory, engineering, planning, and repair functions for communications service providers and their networks.
  • the configuration management system 200 includes an
  • Extensible Markup Language repository (shown as XML repository 202), which includes XML schemata 204. for representing configuration and an XML file-based representation ••• of configuration 206.
  • configuration is a set of one or more configuration items.
  • configuration items are data that change the operations or behavior of the one or more components of the configuration management system 200 (e.g., the convergent billing database 220, customer management database 226, OSS 318).
  • the configuration items are represented in any suitable fashion (e.g., the configuration items can be represented in any suitable markup language).
  • the XML repository 202 is connected to version control tools 208, configuration tools user interface 210, and additional tools and scripts for manipulating configuration 212.
  • the configuration tools user interface 210 is connected to the version control tools 208, a version control server 214, and a configuration server 216.
  • the version control tools 208 is connected with the version control server 214, which is connected to a version control repository 212.
  • the configuration server 216 is connected to a configuration server database 224, a convergent billing unit 218, and a customer management unit 226.
  • the convergent billing unit 218 is connected to a convergent billing database 220, while the customer management unit 226 is connected to a customer management database 228.
  • the configuration server database 224, convergent billing unit 218, and customer management unit 226 are OSSs.
  • the configuration server 216 can be connected to additional components, such as a provisioning management unit and a provisioning management database.
  • additional components can be added after the configuration management system 200 has been deployed in the field.
  • the version control tools 208, version control server 214, and version control repository 212 are used for tracking version information associated with configuration stored in the system's various storage units (e.g., the XML repository 202, convergent billing database 220, customer management database 228, etc.).
  • These components include basic tools for committing changes to configuration, viewing differences between configuration versions, and grouping configuration items based on version.
  • low-level representations of configuration are stored in the convergent billing database 220, the customer management database 228, and configuration server 216.
  • low-level configuration representations include relational database representations (i.e., configuration are represented as a number of related tables and data fields) of the configuration.
  • the low-level configuration is represented in XML.
  • other embodiments call for other suitable low-level persistent representations of the configuration.
  • the low-level configuration stored in the configuration server 216 provides an XML representation of OSS-specific configuration. Having ah XML representation allows third parties to maintain the configuration items of the configuration management system 200.
  • the configuration server 224 and the XML repository 202 store high-level representations (also referred to as file-based representations) of the configuration.
  • the high-level representations of the configuration can be used for updating configuration stored in the various databases (e.g., the convergent billing database 220 and the customer management database 228), as described in greater detail below (see exemplary implementation section).
  • the high-level representations of the configuration include XML representations of configuration.
  • the high-level XML configuration allows third parties to restructure the low-level XML configuration, so its format is not specific any OSS. Additionally, the high-level configuration is relatively more user-friendly because it abstracts many details present in the low-level configuration.
  • the high-level representations include other suitable representations of the configuration (e.g., other markup language representations of the configuration).
  • the XML schemata 204 define the structure and content of the high-level configuration representation.
  • Various components of the configuration management system 200 e.g., the configuration tools user interface 210) use information contained within the XML schemata 204 when reading and processing configuration.
  • the configuration tools user interface unit 210 uses the XML schemata 204 and the XML file-based representation of configuration 206 for processing configuration.
  • the configuration tools user interface unit 210 presents various user interface components based on the XML schemata 204 and the high-level representations of configuration, as described in greater detail throughout this description.. . . .
  • the convergent billing unit 218 and the convergent billing database 220 store and process configuration used in executing a convergent billing system.
  • the customer management unit 226 and the customer management database 228 store and process configuration used in executing a customer management system.
  • These OSSs can also perform billing and customer functions.
  • Figure 3 is a block diagram illustrating a more detailed view of the configuration server and other configuration management system components, according to exemplary embodiments of the invention.
  • the configuration management system 200 includes a configuration tools user interface unit 210, which is connected to a configuration server 216.
  • the configuration tools user interface unit 210 includes a search and differences modules 324
  • the configuration server includes business process session modules 302, which provide an interface to the configuration tools user interface unit 210.
  • the business process session modules 302 are connected to entity modules 304, configuration publisher modules 306, validation modules 308, generation modules 310, and JMS modules 320.
  • the JMS modules 320 are connected to a messaging system unit 322.
  • the configuration publisher modules are connected to the customer management database 226, convergent billing database 220, and other OSS components 318.
  • the generation modules are connected to configuration generators 312, which include a customer management configuration generator 314 and a convergent billing configuration generators 316.
  • the configuration generators 304 are connected to the configuration server database 224.
  • the business process session modules 302 provide a business process interface to the configuration tools 210.
  • the business process session modules 302 coordinates completion of the operations.
  • the entity modules 304 represent persistent information stored in a database.
  • the entity modules 304 include configuration items, status records, audit records, system settings, charge records, configuration item references, and other information about .the configuration management system 200.
  • the configuration publisher modules 306 import configuration into the configuration server: 216 from ,the convergent billing database 220 and the other OSS components 318.
  • the configuration publisher modules 306 also export configuration from the configuration server 216 to the convergent billing database 220, customer management database 226, and other OSS components 318.
  • the configuration publisher modules 306 also provide support for validating configuration updates. These validations are different from validation is provided by the validation modules 308, as the configuration publisher modules 306 can examine existing configuration in the OSS determine whether changes are acceptable.
  • discrepancies may occur between the configuration stored in the configuration server 216 and configuration stored in the customer management database 226, convergent billing database 220, and configuration server database 224. Such discrepancies may be caused by system failure or premature system shutdowns.
  • the configuration publisher modules 306 record details about the configuration stored in the configuration server, enabling it to determine and correct to discrepancies.
  • the JMS modules 320 inform systems connected to the configuration server 216 (e.g., configuration tools user interface unit 210) when configuration items are modified.
  • the JMS module 320 employs a publisher subscribe model to notify systems about configuration changes.
  • the JMS module reads and writes messages to/from a topic, which provides the ability to filter notifications. As a result, one notification is available to multiple systems and the systems receive only those notifications that are pertinent to themselves.
  • the JMS module can send messages sent to a topic to other messaging systems via a bridge, shown as a connection between the JMS module 320 and messaging system unit 322.
  • the JMS module 320 supports message persistence, which means that messages are persistently stored until the message consumer has processed the message.
  • the components e.g., the entity modules 304, configuration publisher modules 306, etc.
  • the components can be integrated or divided, forrning a lesser or greater number of components.
  • the components can include queues, stacks, and/or other data structures necessary for performing the functionality described herein.
  • the components units can be logically/communicatively coupled using any suitable . ' communication method (message passing, parameter passing, signals, etc.).
  • the components can be connected according to any suitable interconnection architecture (fully connected, hypercube, etc.). Any of the components used in conjunction with embodiments of the invention can include machine-readable media for performing operations described herein.
  • Machine-readable media includes any mechanism that provides (i.e., stores and/or transmits) information in a form readable by a machine (e.g., a computer).
  • a machine-readable medium includes read only memory (ROM), random access memory (RAM), magnetic disk storage media, optical storage media, flash memory devices, electrical, optical, acoustical or other forms of propagated signals (e.g., carrier waves, infrared signals, digital signals, etc.), etc.
  • the components can be other types of logic (e.g., digital logic) for executing the operations for hierarchically representing configuration described herein.
  • Exemplary Implementation Figure 4 is a screenshot of the graphical user interface presented by the graphical tools user interface unit, according to exemplary embodiments of the invention.
  • the screenshot includes a set of GUI components 400.
  • the GUI components 400 include a title bar 402, which is located at the top edge of the GUI components 400.
  • the title bar 402 displays an application program name and other application program information.
  • the title bar 402 also includes mirrimize, maximize, and exit buttons, which are displayed in the upper right corner of the GUI components 400.
  • the GUI components 400 include system icons 404, toolbars 410, status bar 406, and repository icons 408.
  • a source editor window 416 is shown adjacent to the hierarchy window 412, while a taskbar 416 a shown adjacent to the source editor window 414.
  • the GUI components 400 also include a hierarchy window 414, which displays a hierarchical view of various configuration items stored within the configuration management system 200.
  • the hierarchy window 414 includes configuration item icons '•412.
  • the highest level of the hierarchy is a configuration server, ' while configuration items are show at intermediate levels of the hierarchy.
  • configuration items are shown as folders in the hierarchy.
  • Configuration item attributes are at a hierarchy level below the configuration items.
  • configuration attributes include references to other configuration items.
  • Figure 4 describes a screenshot and hierarchy view of configuration items presented by the configuration tools interface unit 210
  • Figures 5-7 describe operations for processing GUI commands vis-a-vis stored configuration.
  • Figures 5-7 describe operations for presenting configuration items in a well-organized easy-to- understand hierarchy.
  • Figures 5-7 describe operations for receiving and processing GUI commands (e.g., move, copy, paste, delete, search, etc.) associated with configuration items shown in the hierarchy. The operations make changes to the actual configuration items (stored in databases) based on the GUI commands.
  • Figure 5 is a flow diagram illustrating operations for processing graphical user interface commands in a configuration management system, according to exemplary embodiments of the invention. The flow diagram 500 will be described with reference to the exemplary configuration management system shown in Figures 2 and 3. The flow diagram 500 commences at block 502. At block 502, lists of configuration item icons and repository icons are determined.
  • the configuration tools user interface unit 210 determines a list of configuration item icons and a list of repository icons, ha one embodiment, the configuration tools user interface unit 210 determines the lists of configuration item icons and repository icons based on the configuration stored in the configuration server database 224. In one embodiment, the configuration is based on low-level configuration imported from the convergent billing database 220 and the customer management database 226. For example, the configuration tools user interface unit 210 adds a configuration item icon to the list for each configuration item stored in the configuration server. In one embodiment, the configuration tools user interface unit 210 determines the list of configuration item icons based on configuration stored in the convergent billing database 220 and/pr.the customer management database 228. In one embodiment, the; configuration icons are named.
  • a user can change the configuration icon names.
  • the flow continues at block 504.
  • the repository icons and configuration item icons are presented in a hierarchy view.
  • the configuration tools user interface unit 210 presents the repository icons and configuration item icons in a hierarchy view.
  • the configuration tools user interface unit 210 presents the repository icons 408 and the configuration item icons 412 in a hierarchy window 414.
  • repository icons are presented at the highest hierarchy level, while configuration items are presented at the intermediate hierarchy level.
  • Configuration item attributes are presented at a hierarchy level below the configuration items.
  • the hierarchy view is presented by itself in a window. In an alternative embodiment, the hierarchy is presented in a window along with other icons.
  • a user can customize the hierarchy structure.
  • the flow continues at block 506.
  • a graphical user interface (GUI) command associated with one or more configuration icons is received.
  • the configuration tools user interface unit 210 receives a GUI command associated with one or more configuration icons.
  • the GUI command is associated with a mouse click and an icon, while in alternative embodiments, the GUI command is associated with input from other input sources (e.g., touchscreen, trackball, voice-recognition software, etc.).
  • the GUI command is a mouse click associated with one or more , configuration item icons or menu items.
  • the GUI command represents a user mouse clicking on one or more configuration item icons or menu items.
  • the menu items include a delete item, copy item, search item, and difference item.
  • the delete item is associated with a delete command, which deletes a configuration item associated with a selected configuration item icon.
  • the copy item is associated with a copy command, which copies a configuration item associated with a selected configuration item icon.
  • the search item is associated with a search command, which searches the various databases for configuration items (e.g., a folder of configuration items).
  • the difference-item is associated with a difference command, which * presents differences between configuration items associated with selected configuration item icons.
  • the GUI command is amove command, which moves configuration item icons about the hierarchy, while also moving configuration items ' to different repositories in the configuration management system 200.
  • the configuration management system 200 executes the commands associated with the menu items, it performs operations on configuration items stored throughout the configuration management system 200 and graphically presents the results, as described below (see discussion of block 514).
  • the GUI command is a mouse click associated with one or more configuration item icons or menu items. For example, a GUI command occurs when a user moves the mouse pointer over an icon representing a configuration item and presses a mouse button.
  • GUI commands can be implemented as a drag-and-drop commands.
  • Dragging occurs when a user holds down a mouse button while moving the mouse pointer to another place on the screen (e.g., another location in the hierarchy), where a selected configuration item icon moves along with the mouse pointer. Dropping occurs when the user releases the mouse button, thus placing the selected configuration item icon at the other screen location.
  • configuration items can be created, deleted, and modified using drag-and-drop GUI commands implemented in a drag-and-drop fashion.
  • block 508 it is determined whether the GUI command is a command to delete, move, or copy configuration items of the hierarchy.
  • the configuration tools user interface unit 210 determines whether the GUI command is a command to delete, move, or copy configuration items associated with the configuration item icons presented in the hierarchy.
  • a request is made to change the configuration items according to the command.
  • the configuration tools user interface unit 210 requests that the configuration server 216 change the configuration items according to the command.
  • the configuration tools user interface unit 210 requests that the configuration server 216 perform operations for creating configuration items in the various databases (e.g., customer management database 26, convergent billing database 220, etc.) according to a GUI command.
  • the configuration tools user interface unit 210 requests that the configuration server 216 create copies of configuration items stored in the convergent billing database 220.
  • the request is transmitted to the business process session modules 302 of the configuration server 216. Operations for carrying out the request are described in greater detail below, in the discussion of Figure 6. From block 510, the flow continues at block 512. At block 512, it is determined whether the request was successfully performed. For example, the configuration tools user interface unit 210 determines whether the configuration server 216 successfully performed the request. In one embodiment, the configuration server sends an acknowledgement to the configuration tools user interface unit 210 to indicate that the request was successfully performed. If the request were successfully performed, the flow continues at block 514. At block 514, the presentation of the configuration item icons is modified to reflect the changes. For example, the configuration tools user interface unit 210 modifies the presentation of the configuration item icons to reflect changes to the associated configuration items.
  • the configuration tools user interface unit 210 deletes the associated configuration item icon from the hierarchy view. From block 514, the flow ends. As shown in block 516, it is determined whether the command is a command to display differences between configuration items or search for configuration items. For example, the configuration tools user interface unit 210 determines whether the command is a command to display differences between configuration items or search for configuration items. If the command is not a command to display differences between ' configuration items or search for configuration items, the flow ends. Otherwise, the flow continues at block 518. At block 518, the command is performed for the configuration items. For example, the configuration tools user interface unit 210 performs the search or differences command.
  • the search and differences modules 324 performs operations for executing the command. In one embodiment, for a difference command, the search and differences modules 224 determines the differences between two configuration items and returns the results. For example, in one embodiment, the search and differences modules 324 inspects high-level representations of the configuration items for differences. That is, the search and differences module 328 compares attributes between high-level representations of configuration items (e.g., configuration item representations stored in the configuration server database 224). In one embodiment, for a search command, the search and differences modules 324 searche low-level representations of configuration items for a particular configuration item. Alternatively, in another embodiment, the search and differences modules 324 searche high-level representations of configuration items for a particular configuration item. The flow continues at block 520.
  • the results of the command operations are received.
  • the configuration tools user interface unit 210 receives the results of the search or difference command from the search and differences modules 324.
  • the flow continues at block 522.
  • the results are presented.
  • the configuration tools user interface unit 210 presents the results of the search or difference command.
  • the configuration tools user interface unit 210 presents the results of a search command as a list of repositories in which the configuration item is stored.
  • the configuration tools user interface unit 210 if the search is for a configuration item attribute, the configuration tools user interface unit 210 presents the configuration items and their associated attributes, hi one embodiment, the lists are presented in a hierarchy view. In alternative embodiments, the lists are presented in any suitable fashion.
  • Figure 6 is a flow diagram illustrating a operations for modifying configuration in response to commands received through a graphical user interface, according to exemplary embodiments of the invention.
  • the flow diagram 600 will be described with reference to the exemplary embodiments shown in Figure 3.
  • the flow diagram 600 commences at block 602. At block 602, a request to change low-level configuration items is received.
  • the business process session modules 302 receive a request to change low-level configuration items.
  • the business process session modules 302 coordinate the completion of the request.
  • the flow continues at block 604.
  • changes to the low-level configuration items are validated.
  • the configuration publisher modules 306 validate changes to the. low-level configuration items.
  • the configuration publisher modules 306 determine whether the requested changes are acceptable. That is, the configuration publisher modules 306 determine whether the requested changes are defined for the selective configuration items.
  • high-level configuration items are modified to reflect the change request.
  • the entity modules 304 modify the high-level configuration items to reflect the change request.
  • the entity modules 304 modify, create, and or delete high-level configuration items to reflect the change request.
  • the flow continues at block 608.
  • a record of the changes including a start time and a user supplied description, is created.
  • the entity modules 304 creates a record of the changes, where the record includes a start time and the user supplied description.
  • the start time is taken relative to a system clock.
  • the user supplied description is received through the graphical user interface and saved to explain reasons why a user has created, modified, or deleted configuration items.
  • the flow continues at block 610.
  • a block 610 changes to the high-level and low-level configuration items are validated to ensure that constraints are met.
  • the validation modules 308 validate changes to the high-level and low-level configuration items to ensure that constraints are met.
  • configuration item changes are validated using three types of validation: 1) XML validation - XML validation validates the syntax of XML code; 2) Structure of validation - structure of validation determines whether the
  • XML code structure complies with the structure of the XML schema; and 3) Reference validation - reference validation determines whether references made to other configuration items are valid.
  • the flow continues at block 612. As shown in block 612, it is determined whether the validations were successful. If the validations were successful, the flow continues at block 614. Otherwise, the flow ends.
  • the changes are committed. For example, and one embodiment, the entity modules 304 commit the changes to the appropriate database.
  • the flow continues at block 616.
  • low-level configuration items are generated from the high-level configuration items. For example, the generation modules generate low-level configuration items based on updated (e.g., created, modified, etc.) high-level configuration items.
  • the low-level configuration items that were generated from the high-level configuration items are validated.
  • the configuration publisher modules 306 validate the low-level configuration items that were generated from the high-level configuration items.
  • the configuration publisher modules 306 provide different validations then those provided by the validation modules 308, as the configuration publisher modules 308 can examine existing configuration items of a database (e.g., customer management database 226, convergent billing database .220, etc.) to determine whether changes are acceptable..
  • the low-level configuration items are validated.
  • the validation modules 308 validate the low-level configuration items.
  • the flow continues at block 624.
  • the business process session modules 302 determine whether the validation was successful.. If the validation were successful, the flow continues at block 628. Otherwise, the flow ends.
  • the configuration item changes are exported.
  • the configuration publisher modules 306 export the configuration item changes to the appropriate databases (e.g., OSS 318, customer management database 226, etc.).
  • the flow continues at block 630.
  • status information including the OSS identifier for each modified configuration item, is provided.
  • the configuration publisher modules provide status information, which includes an OSS identifier for each configuration item updated in the OSS.
  • this information is written to the database along with the changes to the configuration items. From block 630, the flow ends.
  • Figure 7 describes in greater detail the operations for generating low-level configuration items from high-level configuration items (see block 616 of Figure 6).
  • changes are made to high-level configuration items. These changes include operations such as additions, updates, and deletions.
  • the changes must be reflected in the corresponding low-level configuration XML, which in turn can then be exported directly to the OSS 318, customer management database 226, and/or convergent billing database 220.
  • Figure 7 is a flow diagram illustrating operations for generating low-level configuration items from high-level configuration items, according to exemplary embodiments of the invention.
  • the flow diagram 700 will be described with reference to the exemplary configuration management system shown in Figure 3.
  • the flow commences at block 702.
  • high-level XML configuration items are modified to form a set of - modified configuration items.
  • the configuration generators 312 modify Jiigh-level XML configuration items to form a set of modified configuration-items.
  • the configuration generators 312 modify the high-level configuration items when creating, modifying, or deleting configuration items stored in an OSS.
  • each modified configuration item is distributed.
  • the configuration generators 312 distributed the configuration items to the customer management configuration generator 314 and the convergent billing configuration generator 316.
  • each configuration generator will process only those modified configuration items that it is designed to handle.
  • the customer management configuration generator 314 processes customer management related configuration items, while ignoring convergent billing configuration items.
  • the flow continues at block 706.
  • the high-level modified configuration items are transformed into one or more low-level configuration items by applying stylesheets.
  • the customer management configuration generator 314 and the convergent billing configuration generator 316 apply stylesheets to the high-level modified configuration items to transform them into one or more low-level configuration items.
  • each generator has a stylesheet associated with it.
  • the stylesheets are stored in the configuration server repository.
  • a generation process is invoked as each modified configuration item is received by the appropriate configuration generator. This process applies the stylesheet to the high-level configuration item, transforming it into one or more low-level configuration items.
  • the stylesheets conform to the XSL stylesheet language of XML.
  • the XSL stylesheet allows for transformation of XML documents into other formats, such as HTML, or into other XML documents.
  • XSL consists of three parts: 1) XSLT- a language for transforming XML documents; 2) XPath -a language for addressing elements of XML document; 3) XSL Formatting Objects-a vocabulary for formatting XML documents. .
  • the output-.of the generation process is one or more low-level * XML documents, each containing a low-level configuration item.
  • some high-level configuration item elements such as name and description, can be directly copied from a low-levd XML document, most elements need more processing- before they can be represented as low-level configuration items.
  • the additional processing includes adding information to the low-level configuration elements.
  • the newly generated low-level configuration items are compared with the low-level configuration items previously produced for those items. For example, the configuration generators 312 compares the newly generated low-level configuration items with low-level configuration items previously produced for those configuration items.
  • this comparison is used in determining whether configuration items should be created, modified, or deleted. For example, if revision 1 of configuration item A generates configuration items X, Y, and Z. A is then updated and revision 2 generates configuration items Q, Y', and Z. As a result, Q is created, X is deleted, Y is modified to be Y', and Z is left unmodified.
  • the flow continues at block 710. As shown in block 710, based on the comparison, configuration items are created, modified, or deleted as needed. For example, and one embodiment, the configuration generators 312 creates new items, modifies existing items, and/or deletes items that are not needed, based on the comparison (performed at block 708). From block 710, the flow ends.

Landscapes

  • Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
  • Software Systems (AREA)
  • General Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
  • Theoretical Computer Science (AREA)
  • Computer Security & Cryptography (AREA)
  • Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
  • General Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
  • Information Retrieval, Db Structures And Fs Structures Therefor (AREA)
  • Stored Programmes (AREA)
  • User Interface Of Digital Computer (AREA)
  • Machine Translation (AREA)
  • Digital Computer Display Output (AREA)

Abstract

L'invention concerne un système et un procédé destinés à représenter hiérarchiquement des articles de configuration. Dans un mode de réalisation, le procédé consiste à recevoir une demande visant à modifier un ou plusieurs articles de configuration, cette demande étant associée à une commande de GUI de manipulation directe. Les articles de configuration sont associés à des icônes d'articles de configuration. Ces articles de configuration sont stockés dans un référentiel de système de gestion de configuration. Le procédé consiste en outre à modifier le ou les articles de configuration, cette modification consistant à modifier les représentations de niveau élevé dudit ou desdits articles de configuration. De plus, ce procédé consiste à générer des représentations de bas niveau du ou des articles de configuration et à exporter les représentations de bas niveau vers une base de données.
EP04811538A 2003-11-26 2004-11-19 Systeme et procede pour representation hierarchique d'articles de configuration Withdrawn EP1687925A2 (fr)

Applications Claiming Priority (7)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
US52533103P 2003-11-26 2003-11-26
US10/723,612 US20050114692A1 (en) 2003-11-26 2003-11-26 Systems, methods and software to configure and support a telecommunications system
US10/723,246 US20050114642A1 (en) 2003-11-26 2003-11-26 System and method for managing OSS component configuration
US10/723,582 US20050114240A1 (en) 2003-11-26 2003-11-26 Bidirectional interfaces for configuring OSS components
US10/723,581 US20050114479A1 (en) 2003-11-26 2003-11-26 System and method for hierarchically representing configuration items
US10/723,243 US20050114851A1 (en) 2003-11-26 2003-11-26 System and method for configuring a graphical user interface based on data type
PCT/US2004/038835 WO2005055491A2 (fr) 2003-11-26 2004-11-19 Systeme et procede pour representation hierarchique d'articles de configuration

Publications (1)

Publication Number Publication Date
EP1687925A2 true EP1687925A2 (fr) 2006-08-09

Family

ID=34658299

Family Applications (5)

Application Number Title Priority Date Filing Date
EP04811475A Withdrawn EP1687731A2 (fr) 2003-11-26 2004-11-19 Systeme et procede de gestion de la configuration de composants de systemes de support d'operations
EP04811659A Withdrawn EP1687691A2 (fr) 2003-11-26 2004-11-19 Systemes, procedes et logiciel pour configurer et gerer un systeme de telecommunication
EP04811538A Withdrawn EP1687925A2 (fr) 2003-11-26 2004-11-19 Systeme et procede pour representation hierarchique d'articles de configuration
EP04811768A Withdrawn EP1716493A2 (fr) 2003-11-26 2004-11-19 Interfaces bidirectionnelles permettant de configurer des composants de systemes de soutien a l'exploitation (oss)
EP04811745A Withdrawn EP1706805A2 (fr) 2003-11-26 2004-11-19 Systeme et procede de configuration d'une interface utilisateur graphique en fonction d'un type de donnees

Family Applications Before (2)

Application Number Title Priority Date Filing Date
EP04811475A Withdrawn EP1687731A2 (fr) 2003-11-26 2004-11-19 Systeme et procede de gestion de la configuration de composants de systemes de support d'operations
EP04811659A Withdrawn EP1687691A2 (fr) 2003-11-26 2004-11-19 Systemes, procedes et logiciel pour configurer et gerer un systeme de telecommunication

Family Applications After (2)

Application Number Title Priority Date Filing Date
EP04811768A Withdrawn EP1716493A2 (fr) 2003-11-26 2004-11-19 Interfaces bidirectionnelles permettant de configurer des composants de systemes de soutien a l'exploitation (oss)
EP04811745A Withdrawn EP1706805A2 (fr) 2003-11-26 2004-11-19 Systeme et procede de configuration d'une interface utilisateur graphique en fonction d'un type de donnees

Country Status (2)

Country Link
EP (5) EP1687731A2 (fr)
WO (5) WO2005054987A2 (fr)

Families Citing this family (10)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
GB9603582D0 (en) 1996-02-20 1996-04-17 Hewlett Packard Co Method of accessing service resource items that are for use in a telecommunications system
US7240068B2 (en) * 2002-09-06 2007-07-03 Truetel Communications, Inc. Service logic execution environment (SLEE) that is running on a device, supporting a plurality of services and that is compliant with a telecommunications computing standard for SLEES
US7803203B2 (en) * 2005-09-26 2010-09-28 Cabot Microelectronics Corporation Compositions and methods for CMP of semiconductor materials
US9122719B2 (en) * 2006-04-28 2015-09-01 Bmc Software, Inc. Database application federation
US8238538B2 (en) 2009-05-28 2012-08-07 Comcast Cable Communications, Llc Stateful home phone service
US8671036B2 (en) * 2009-11-06 2014-03-11 Microsoft Corporation User interface for defining account dimension combinations
US11436197B2 (en) * 2020-07-29 2022-09-06 Zixcorp Systems, Inc. Asynchronous method for provisioning a service using file distribution technology
US11611473B2 (en) 2014-01-14 2023-03-21 Zixcorp Systems, Inc. Provisioning a service using file distribution technology
US9531589B2 (en) 2014-05-30 2016-12-27 Cisco Technology, Inc. Automating monitoring using configuration event triggers in a network environment
CN113656347B (zh) * 2021-08-17 2023-12-05 成都统信软件技术有限公司 文件目录导出方法、文件目录导入方法及计算设备

Family Cites Families (18)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US5175800A (en) * 1987-03-23 1992-12-29 Case Group Plc Expert and data base system and method for communications network
US5103421A (en) * 1988-11-29 1992-04-07 Massachusetts Institute Of Technology Process and apparatus for designing a system made of components
US5579384A (en) * 1995-02-17 1996-11-26 Bellsouth Corporation Telecommunications network service central management system interfacing with protocol specific regional stations providing services to subscribers
US5805602A (en) * 1995-09-25 1998-09-08 Bell Atlantic Network Services, Inc. Network monitoring system for cell delay variation
US6154738A (en) * 1998-03-27 2000-11-28 Call; Charles Gainor Methods and apparatus for disseminating product information via the internet using universal product codes
US6772396B1 (en) * 1999-10-07 2004-08-03 Microsoft Corporation Content distribution system for network environments
US6449624B1 (en) * 1999-10-18 2002-09-10 Fisher-Rosemount Systems, Inc. Version control and audit trail in a process control system
US7150037B2 (en) * 2001-03-21 2006-12-12 Intelliden, Inc. Network configuration manager
US6889172B2 (en) * 2001-08-15 2005-05-03 National Instruments Corporation Network-based system for configuring a measurement system using software programs generated based on a user specification
US20040205562A1 (en) * 2001-12-27 2004-10-14 G.E. Information Services, Inc. System and method for transforming documents to and from an XML format
US20030158919A1 (en) * 2002-02-20 2003-08-21 Sun Microsystems, Inc., A Delaware Corporation Method for deploying version control system server software having remote access capability
US7082460B2 (en) * 2002-04-19 2006-07-25 Axeda Corporation Configuring a network gateway
US20050089027A1 (en) * 2002-06-18 2005-04-28 Colton John R. Intelligent optical data switching system
US8073935B2 (en) * 2002-07-25 2011-12-06 Oracle America, Inc. Pluggable semantic verification and validation of configuration data
US7124145B2 (en) * 2003-03-27 2006-10-17 Millennium It (Usa) Inc. System and method for dynamic business logic rule integration
US7398307B2 (en) * 2003-04-30 2008-07-08 Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P. Method and system for managing a network
US7444376B2 (en) * 2003-05-22 2008-10-28 Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P. Techniques for creating an activation solution for providing commercial network services
US20050091346A1 (en) * 2003-10-23 2005-04-28 Brijesh Krishnaswami Settings management infrastructure

Non-Patent Citations (1)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Title
See references of WO2005055491A3 *

Also Published As

Publication number Publication date
WO2005054988A3 (fr) 2007-06-07
EP1716493A2 (fr) 2006-11-02
WO2005054989A3 (fr) 2006-05-11
WO2005054987A3 (fr) 2007-07-19
WO2005055561A3 (fr) 2006-03-09
EP1706805A2 (fr) 2006-10-04
WO2005054989A2 (fr) 2005-06-16
EP1687691A2 (fr) 2006-08-09
WO2005055561A2 (fr) 2005-06-16
WO2005054987A2 (fr) 2005-06-16
WO2005054988A2 (fr) 2005-06-16
EP1687731A2 (fr) 2006-08-09
WO2005055491A3 (fr) 2006-12-07
WO2005055491A2 (fr) 2005-06-16

Similar Documents

Publication Publication Date Title
US20050114479A1 (en) System and method for hierarchically representing configuration items
US9483257B2 (en) Universal and adaptive software development platform for data-driven applications
US7493594B2 (en) System and method for designing component based applications
US8392875B2 (en) Content management framework for use with a system for application development
US9448860B2 (en) Method and architecture for providing data-change alerts to external applications via a push service
US5301270A (en) Computer-assisted software engineering system for cooperative processing environments
US7165073B2 (en) Dynamic, hierarchical data exchange system
US7725501B1 (en) System and method for rapid database application deployment and use
US10109027B1 (en) Database access and community electronic medical records system
CN1604031B (zh) 用类属用户接口模板创建对应用的用户接口的方法和系统
US20020055939A1 (en) System for a configurable open database connectivity conduit
US6507833B1 (en) Method and apparatus for dynamically rendering components at run time
JP2008536210A (ja) モバイルデータシステム用モジュールアプリケーション
JP2008512794A (ja) オブジェクト処理グラフアプリケーション開発システム
US20050114361A1 (en) Method and apparatus for integrating data repositories and frameworks
US20060129974A1 (en) Service meta model for an enterprise service architecture
US8027997B2 (en) System and article of manufacture for defining and generating a viewtype for a base model
US20080263142A1 (en) Meta Data Driven User Interface System and Method
US20090319958A1 (en) Machine Readable Design Description for Function-Based Services
US20050086201A1 (en) Converting user interface panels
US8095571B2 (en) Partitioning modeling platform data
EP1687925A2 (fr) Systeme et procede pour representation hierarchique d'articles de configuration
US6493704B1 (en) Method and apparatus for using metadata to dynamically generate a display page to solicit input from a user
US20080263018A1 (en) Method and System for Mapping Business Objects to Relational Database Tables
US8495104B2 (en) Database child object wizard

Legal Events

Date Code Title Description
PUAI Public reference made under article 153(3) epc to a published international application that has entered the european phase

Free format text: ORIGINAL CODE: 0009012

17P Request for examination filed

Effective date: 20060526

AK Designated contracting states

Kind code of ref document: A2

Designated state(s): AT BE BG CH CY CZ DE DK EE ES FI FR GB GR HU IE IS IT LI LU MC NL PL PT RO SE SI SK TR

AX Request for extension of the european patent

Extension state: AL HR LT LV MK YU

RAP1 Party data changed (applicant data changed or rights of an application transferred)

Owner name: INTEC TELECOM SYSTEMS PLC

PUAK Availability of information related to the publication of the international search report

Free format text: ORIGINAL CODE: 0009015

RIC1 Information provided on ipc code assigned before grant

Ipc: G06F 3/00 20060101ALI20061212BHEP

Ipc: G06F 15/177 20060101AFI20061212BHEP

DAX Request for extension of the european patent (deleted)
STAA Information on the status of an ep patent application or granted ep patent

Free format text: STATUS: THE APPLICATION HAS BEEN WITHDRAWN

18W Application withdrawn

Effective date: 20080423