JP2006277403A - Integrated system - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an application cooperation system allowing easy acquisition of a cooperation state between applications. <P>SOLUTION: A cooperating API managed by an integrated database used in common by a plurality of applications is produced and is defined. The cooperating API is classified into a head API writing data in the integrated database and a use API reading the data from the integrated database, and is managed. The application uses the cooperating API when performing cooperation processing with another application. Inside a program of the application, the cooperating API is called, and the cooperation processing with the other application is performed. Because the cooperating API records a log every time it is used, cooperation relation of the application can be automatically investigated by use of the log. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an integrated system that uses a plurality of applications in cooperation.

  There is an integrated system that efficiently cooperates with multiple different applications. In an integrated system, a plurality of applications share data stored in one integrated database, and a certain application reads data from the integrated database, processes the data, and then writes the data to the integrated database. Applications exchange data with each other via an integrated database and cooperate to execute one task. The linkage method is to create a linkage interface program between applications that want to link (between an application that wants some data A and an application that has data A), and execute the data within each application. I have to.

  Therefore, in order to grasp the linkage state, it is necessary to analyze and investigate how linkages are made based on the design documents at the time of individual linkages. If there is no error in the design document when the inter-application collaboration is constructed or the design document itself does not exist, it is necessary to analyze the collaboration program.

The conventional linkage system as described above has the following problems.
(1) When modifying or changing a certain application, it is not possible to know exactly which application is linked with the application.
(2) When an application is changed, the range of influence is unknown.
(3) An enormous amount of time and cost is required to grasp the cooperative relationship.
(4) System expansion and change cannot be performed flexibly and speedily.

  Accordingly, it is desired to establish a mechanism for quickly and accurately inspecting how the application and data being linked are linked (which application is related to which application). In addition, it is also desirable to grasp the cooperation data items between applications and grasp the cooperation usage frequency (load) state.

  The subject of this invention is providing the application cooperation system which can grasp | ascertain easily the cooperation state between applications.

  The integrated system of the present invention is a method for linking applications in an integrated system in which a plurality of applications use a database data provided in common to perform linkage processing, and has a format defined for the plurality of applications. When providing a linkage interface between applications and recording an interface that records how each application is used each time it is executed by the application, and when performing linkage processing, the application is connected to other applications to be linked. A corresponding interface means is executed, and a computer is realized with a cooperation method characterized by acquiring a cooperation state between applications from a recorded log.

  ADVANTAGE OF THE INVENTION According to this invention, the application cooperation system which can grasp | ascertain the cooperation state between applications easily can be constructed | assembled.

In the embodiment of the present invention, the following is realized.
(1) Data is not exchanged directly between applications to be linked, but via an intermediate integrated database API (Application Program Interface).
(2) Integrated management of all APIs used for inter-application linkage. In order to grasp which API is being used by which application, a mechanism for discharging the usage log from the API in a timely manner is provided, and the log is aggregated and analyzed to automatically create an accurate linkage diagram in real time.

  In other words, the linked applications are not directly linked (direct data exchange) but linked via an API that is centrally managed by the integrated database. A mechanism for tracking which application is using the API is provided. Also, by analyzing / aggregating the API usage history table, a linkage diagram between applications is automatically created (application linkage diagram). By using the application linkage diagram, it is possible to understand which applications are linked to each other and what data items are exchanged at what frequency (load).

With the above,
(1) Even if there is no person in charge of designing and developing an application linkage system, the application linkage status of the entire system can be accurately grasped.
(2) The system can be expanded and changed without risk (large research man-hours, psychological concerns, etc.) and can be flexibly handled.
(3) It is not limited to grasping the application linkage state, and it is possible to trace and grasp how the application is used.
(4) The usage trend of the entire system can be analyzed.
It has the effect.

FIG. 1 is a diagram for explaining the configuration and operation of an embodiment of the present invention.
First, as shown in 1), an application name registered in the API of the embodiment of the present invention and an application identification table for registering the identification name are provided. Next, a cooperation API management table 11 is provided to manage application cooperation APIs. The cooperation API management table 11 includes a main API that supplies data to the integrated database and a use API that acquires data from the integrated database. The main API receives data by input from the user and the like and inputs it into the integrated database. For example, as described in the cooperation API management table 11, the employee capture API (Ai) captures employee information and is used by the application (personnel salary application) indicated by the identification name A Employee information is entered into the integrated database (indicated by i in Ai). On the other hand, the use API is an interface for reading out the data of the application that generates the data to be used from the integrated database. For example, the employee reference API (Ao) is created by the personnel salary application indicated by the identification name A. Data is read from the integrated database (indicated by o in Ao).

  In the cooperation API management table 11, as described above, Bi inputs (i) the data for the accounting application of the identification name B to the integrated database, and Ci is the data for the sales application of the identification name C. To the integrated database (i), Bo reads the data of the accounting application with the identification name B from the integrated database (o), Co reads the data of the sales application with the identification name C from the integrated database (o), ABo indicates an interface for reading data of the personnel salary application and the accounting application from the integrated database.

  As shown in 3), on the application side using the API, the API managed by the cooperation API management table, which is created as a common interface between different applications, is called and used for Call. At this time, in the API call statement, the argument format is common, and the passed data, the identification name (D, E, F) of the application using the data, and the return value res are used as arguments.

  The API used in the embodiment of the present invention is created to output a log each time it is executed. As shown in 4), an API USE history table 12 is provided, and each time each API is executed, the execution date and time, the executed API name, the called application identification name, and the execution result as a return value are logged. To be recorded. Using this API USE history table 12, the inter-application linkage diagram shown in 6) is generated. In this case, an inter-application cooperation diagram is automatically generated using a special application that generates an inter-application cooperation diagram. Since the API USE history table 12 is recorded, it is possible to easily understand the usage relationship between applications and to automatically detect the linkage state.

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a use procedure of the embodiment of the present invention.
When using the embodiment of the present invention, there are a pre-setting / preparation stage and an API use stage. In the pre-setting / preparation stage, an API is created. Specifically, the application to be linked is registered. Then, APIs are classified into main APIs and usage APIs, and API names to be created are defined. The API is managed so that the type and the main API used by the used API can be understood. The name of the main API is configured so that the application identification name and the main API type (i) can be known. The name of the usage API is such that the main data information and the type (o) of the usage API are known. Then, at the stage of using the API, the application identification name that calls the API is set and called.

FIG. 3 is a processing flow of the embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 3A shows API execution and API USE history table creation processing. In step S10, execution of the application is started. In step S11, an API for application cooperation is called and executed. In step S12, it is determined whether the API processing result is NG or OK. If it is NG, information is written in the error log table and the process is terminated. If OK, application type information is acquired in step S13, API name information is analyzed in step S14, and API USE history is created in step S15. API USE history is a log of how the API is used, and is stored in the API USE history table.

  In FIG. 3B, an inter-application cooperation diagram is created using the API USE history table. In step S21, the application identification table is referred to, and in step S22, the API USE history table is referenced and analyzed. In step S23, a list of related applications is created. In step S24, an inter-application cooperation diagram is created.

4 and 5 are diagrams for explaining a method for grasping the linkage state between applications using the linkage diagram between applications.
FIG. 4 shows an inter-application linkage diagram in which icons indicating the respective applications are connected by lines. According to such a figure, it is possible to easily grasp which application is affected when a certain application is corrected. In addition, as a method of providing information on the cooperation status, it is conceivable to present information in text as shown on the right of FIG. 4 when a cooperation line is selected and instructed with a mouse or the like. The information presented in this text is information acquired from the API USE history table.

  Further, FIG. 5 shows a diagram visually showing the load state due to cooperation. It is only necessary to enable the display of FIG. 5 by switching the display mode of FIG. Each link load status is displayed as the total number of accesses and data capacity. For example, the number of accesses may be expressed in a ratio of 1 to 10. The amount of data can be indicated by the thickness and color of the line. The detailed information can be referred to by selecting and instructing each line.

  By using such a display, it is possible to grasp the cooperation state of the application without omission, and it is possible to grasp the range of influence when the application is corrected. In addition, by grasping the overall usage frequency, the necessity for maintenance / maintenance and improvement can be grasped in advance.

  Further, in the integrated database, the amount of data is considered to be enormous, and it may be inconvenient if all is managed by one database. In this case, it is convenient if the database can be separated.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart of database separation processing.
In FIG. 6A, in step S30, the cooperation line is dragged in the above-described inter-application cooperation diagram. In step S31, it is determined whether the drag destination is on an existing database. If the determination in step S31 is No, the database information to be created is input in step S32, the database name is checked for duplication in step S33, and if the database name is duplicated in step S34, Returning to step S32, if there is no overlap, the process proceeds to step S37. If the determination in step S31 is Yes, a table name duplication check is performed in step S35. In step S36, duplication is determined. If there is no duplication, the process proceeds to step S37. Returns to step S30.

  In step S37, a linkage line is created with the system dragged in the new area creation area. The new area creation area is a place where an application linkage system to be separated on the inter-application linkage diagram is dragged and taken when a system composed of linkage of a certain application is separated from an existing integrated database system. In step S38, a new table for storing data is created, and in step S39, the connection destination of the dragged inter-application cooperation system is changed to the newly created table.

  FIG. 6B shows details of the table name duplication check process of FIG. In step S40, API management information is acquired, and in step S41, it is checked whether or not the same table name exists in the creation target database.

  FIG. 6C shows details of the table creation processing of FIG. In step S42, API management information is acquired, and in step S43, a table is created on the creation target database.

7 and 8 are diagrams for explaining how the database is separated.
As shown in FIG. 7, the cooperation system of applications A and E is dragged to a location other than the existing database (1). When dragging is released, the database information input screen is displayed, and the database server IP and database name are entered. Then, a new database is created in addition to the existing database. After the separation, the data used in the cooperation process between the applications A and E is stored in a new database instead of the existing integrated database.

  As shown in FIG. 8, when the linkage system of applications A and E is dragged onto another database, data used in the linkage processing between applications A and E is stored on a new other database. .

It is a figure explaining the structure and operation | movement of embodiment of this invention. It is a figure explaining the utilization procedure of embodiment of this invention. It is a processing flow of embodiment of this invention. It is FIG. (1) explaining the grasping | ascertainment method of the cooperation state between applications using the application cooperation figure. It is FIG. (2) explaining the grasping | ascertainment method of the cooperation state between applications using an application cooperation figure. It is a flowchart of a database separation process. It is FIG. (1) explaining the mode of database separation. It is FIG. (2) explaining the mode of database isolation | separation.

Explanation of symbols

10 Application identification table 11 API management table for cooperation 12 API USE history table

Claims (5)

A method of linking applications in an integrated system in which a plurality of applications perform linkage processing using data in a database provided in common.
Provide an interface between applications in a prescribed format for a plurality of applications, and provide an interface means for recording which application is used by each application each time it is executed by the application.
When performing linkage processing, the application executes interface means corresponding to the other application to be linked,
A program for causing a computer to realize a linkage method characterized by acquiring a linkage state between applications from a recorded log.   The interface unit is classified into an input interface for inputting a processing result of a cooperation destination application to the database and an output interface for reading data from the database for inputting to the cooperation destination application. Item 1. The program according to item 1.   The program according to claim 1, wherein the linkage relationship of the application is expressed in a diagram.   The program according to claim 3, wherein a processing load due to application cooperation is expressed in a diagram.   4. The data used for the cooperation system of the application is stored in a database different from the database by dragging the cooperation system of the application on the diagram expressing the cooperation relationship. Program.