JP2009176310A - Information processing method and apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a means capable of guaranteeing the integrity of a transaction required for the operation of a plurality of XML web services. <P>SOLUTION: A coordinate server 3, which receives the provision of information from a plurality of agent servers 4a, 4b and 4c having the information relating to the XML web services usable on the Internet, includes: a means for generating a return SQL or parameter for canceling a series of processings when calling the respective XML web services to a plurality of service information provision parts 4a, 4b and 4c; and a means for canceling a series of processings by the return SQL or parameter when one of the XML web services cannot be executed. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2009,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an information processing method and apparatus for realizing an XML Web service that manages the entire processing of a plurality of XML Web services as one transaction and guarantees integrity.

  As a means for constructing a computer system for business use in a company or the like, a host-centralized system that performs all processing with a large general-purpose machine has been the mainstream, but recent high performance of personal computers (PCs) and workstations. -Due to the price reduction, client / server systems (hereinafter referred to as “C / S system”) that operate in cooperation with a server by providing a part of functions to a client PC have become mainstream.

  Since the C / S system uses open system technology, it has the great advantage that it can be constructed with very little initial investment compared to the host centralized system, which was a specification unique to each manufacturer. Although it seemed to be replaced, it has been found that the total cost (TCO) including the maintenance cost is not so different from that of the host-intensive type because the software must be installed on the client side.

  In order to solve the problem of the increase in TCO of the C / S system, recently, a three-layer model using an Internet browser mounted as a standard in an operation system (OS) has been proposed. This is suitable for browsing (browsing) as it is called a “browser”, but is not suitable for a main input such as a business processing system, and it is a standard format such as form printing. It is not suitable for printing purposes. Moreover, since it is assumed that the network is connected, it has not yet been completely replaced with a host centralized system or C / S system as a corporate information system because it cannot be used in an environment where it cannot connect to the Internet.

  In the future, with the development of distributed environments, it is required to guarantee the integrity of distributed processing across multiple servers. To do this, if any process cannot be executed due to a communication error or server down, a server that can perform an alternative process is searched for and executed, or an already executed process (for example, an XML Web service described later) ), It is necessary to perform a complicated process of determining whether the process itself was not performed by performing a cancel process.

  Here, the XML Web service is a service provided by a computer system, for example, as shown in Patent Document 1 below, and is a new data format language for describing data handled on the Internet, XML ( eXtensible Markup Language). According to XML, a unique meaning of “tag” can be defined for the described information, so that the operation from the program is easy, and the LOG or dynamic screen of the XML Web service is rendered. XML is used as the description language.

  With the spread of the Internet in recent years, merchandise can be purchased 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, regardless of location, but the current Web site is just an existing commercial system deployed on the Internet as it is. In other words, most Web sites are currently designed to be distributed to people. For this reason, for example, when making arrangements necessary for travel and business trips using the Internet, it is necessary to make reservations for airline tickets and boarding tickets by accessing websites of transportation agencies such as airlines and railways, and hotel It is normal to go to the site and make a reservation. Here, if the hotel is full, the customer himself / herself plays the role of a travel agent, such as searching for another hotel, and the convenience of the customer has not been pursued.

As described above, the target of the current website is basically a human being. However, when a “next-generation website” using an XML web service is constructed in the future, the websites, that is, computers, are autonomously combined. By performing the linkage process, it is possible to provide a one-stop service to the customer, and it is expected that the convenience of the customer will be improved.

  On the other hand, a technique called “transaction” is known in which a plurality of related processes are grouped as one processing unit. This is used to manage a series of operations as a single process as a whole, such as a deposit / withdrawal process in a computer system of a financial institution, for example. The process managed as this transaction must be guaranteed to be either “all successful” or “all failed”. For example, when the fund transfer system is processed by a computer, the withdrawal process and the deposit process are required to be either “both successful” or “both failed”. This is because if the withdrawal is successful and the deposit fails, the withdrawn funds will float in the air. In such a case, it is `` transaction processing '' to manage withdrawals and deposits together as one transaction, if one fails, the other fails, and when both succeed, the whole is evaluated as successful It is.

  Applying this concept, a plurality of related XML Web services as a whole as a single process is called a “multiple XML Web service transaction”.

JP 2004-295898 A

  In the conventional technique, a technique for realizing a transaction that guarantees integrity across a plurality of XML Web services has not been established. For this reason, no means is provided that can guarantee a plurality of XML Web services as one transaction.

  An object of the present invention is to provide a means that can guarantee the integrity of transactions necessary for the operation of a plurality of XML Web services, which is the basis for the construction of a system that solves the problems of the prior art.

  The present invention provides an information processing method and apparatus that regards invocation and execution processing of a plurality of XML Web services as one transaction and guarantees the integrity of the transaction.

  The information processing method according to the present invention is a “return” issued at the time of cancellation when the XML Web service is executed in the information processing method that integrates and provides a plurality of XML Web services that can be used on the Internet. If the processing of any of the XML Web services is unsuccessful and there is no other alternative service, the recorded return SQL or parameter is used. And canceling the transaction itself.

  The information processing apparatus according to the present invention is an information processing apparatus that integrates and provides a plurality of XML Web services that can be used on the Internet to the user. When calling an XML Web service, a means for generating a return SQL or parameter for canceling a series of processing, and when any XML Web service is not executable and there is no other service as an alternative And means for canceling the series of processes according to the return SQL or parameter.

  The method of the present invention is an information processing method for providing a user with a plurality of XML Web services that can be used on the Internet, and when executing the XML Web service, a “return” SQL or The method includes a step of generating and storing a parameter, and a step of canceling the transaction itself by using a recorded return SQL or parameter when a “return” occurs.

  An apparatus according to the present invention is an information processing apparatus that receives information from a plurality of service information providing units having information related to an XML Web service that can be used on the Internet. When calling an XML Web service, a means for generating a return SQL or parameter for canceling a series of processing, and when any XML Web service is not executable, canceling the series of processing by the return SQL or parameter Means.

  As described above, according to the present invention, a “return” SQL (Structured Query) issued at the time of cancellation when an XML Web service is executed in preparation for cancellation of any XML Web service. Language) and parameters are automatically generated and saved. When a “return” occurs, the transaction itself can be canceled by using the recorded return SQL and parameters, and the integrity of the entire process is guaranteed.

  Here, in many cases, SQL is used as a standard language for creating, changing, and deleting data such as reservation information and customer information stored in an RDB (relational database). By providing a port for accepting commands written in SQL on the provider side, it is possible to freely operate data stored in the database.

  Also, if SQL is used, data can be manipulated freely, but if a malicious user issues a SQL command, the data will be altered or deleted, so SQL calls are not allowed. Cases are also envisaged. Therefore, when calling an XML Web service, it is possible to call with parameters such as 1 for reservation and 0 for cancellation instead of SQL.

  According to the present invention, in a plurality of XML Web services, when the execution of all the XML Web services is OK, it is returned as a success to the caller. On the other hand, if any one of the XML Web services results in an error, It is assumed that the cancellation processing is performed on the successful XML Web service and there is no transaction itself. By constructing such a transaction environment, it is possible to cope with a situation in which execution of the XML Web service fails due to a communication error on the Internet.

  By realizing a plurality of XML Web services as one transaction as described above, it is possible to realize a one-stop service for the customer, and the customer can enjoy various benefits. In addition, various uses such as a new business form mediated by a plurality of XML Web services are expected. Further, in a computer system using the Internet, which is inferior in safety and quality as compared with a dedicated line as a communication line, IP-VPN, wide area LAN or the like, the present invention guarantees the completeness of the entire processing.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to realize a one-stop service for customers by providing a mechanism in which each Web site cooperates independently. According to the mechanism, for example, when a customer accesses a travel agency website and gives vague information such as when, for what purpose and where he wants to go, it is necessary according to the customer's hobbies and preferences. It becomes possible to access a Web site and perform reservation processing. Even when the seats are full or full, it is possible to search for another Web site and offer an alternative, which greatly improves convenience for the user.

1 is a configuration diagram of a multiple XML Web service providing system to which the technology of the present invention is applied. FIG. The figure which shows that a client engine is downloaded from a coordination server to each client terminal. The figure which shows the server engine which performs a web service process according to the process request from a client terminal, and answers a result. The figure which shows each client terminal and coordinate server which communicate via a network. Explanatory drawing when accessing each Web site from the user terminal via the Internet and making a reservation. The block diagram of the system by which the coordination server provided with the server engine plays the role of a travel agency. The block diagram of the system which mediates a several different XML Web service as a travel agency. The block diagram of the system which performs a cancellation process by the result of a reservation process. The flowchart which shows the process sequence of the several XML Web service by a coordination server and an agent server. The figure which shows the example of Web service transaction LOG. The block diagram of the system which performs the reservation service from a travel agency to a hotel and each transportation system. The figure which shows the example of the content displayed on the screen of a user terminal by a reservation service process. The figure which shows the signal processing procedure by a high-speed communication component.

  FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a configuration example of a system that provides a plurality of XML Web services to which the technology of the present invention is applied.

  This system is connected from a client terminal (PC) 1 on the user side using this service via a network (for example, the Internet) 2 and a server (hereinafter referred to as “coordinate server”) 3 that mediates a plurality of XML Web services; It is composed of a plurality of servers (hereinafter referred to as “agent servers”) 4a, 4b, 4c.

  The client terminal 1 includes a client engine, and each server includes a server engine. These two types of engines are made up of computer programs and stored in a client terminal or a computer constituting each server.

  The program provides a service to the user by combining various elements. Therefore, by preparing these elements, prescribing the basic functions of each element in advance, and arranging a mechanism (engine) to make those elements function, the operation equivalent to the current program is realized. It is possible to do.

  Any programming language for producing the engine itself may be used, and XSL (eXtensible Stylesheet Language) is used to make the XML data defining the settings correspond to the language of the engine, thereby absorbing differences in the use of the programming language. Thus, if only an engine and XSL are created for each programming language, this mechanism can be realized in any environment.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the server engine executes a Web service process on the server in response to a processing request from the client terminal 1, and replies with the result. As a result, an XML Web service that realizes distributed processing by autonomously exchanging processing performed by a computer other than the client terminal is dynamically generated, and a processing environment that maintains consistency with a plurality of XML Web services ( Transaction environment).

  The client engine greatly improves the GUI environment, which is unsatisfactory with conventional Web applications, and lacks expressive power. Specifically, it has the following functions.

  A normal client screen is generally a compiled screen, that is, a static screen. However, in the above client engine, event processing and the like are all described in a tag language called XML from the screen configuration information, and the server side The screen configuration information described in XML is received from the XML Web service by the XML Web service executed in, and the contents are interpreted and dynamically drawn on the screen. Therefore, while the screen is very flexible and expressive, the amount of XML information exchanged is considerable.

  The client engine describes everything from screen configuration information to event processing in a tag language called XML. From the definition information, the display position (X, Y coordinates) and basic information of each element (part) on the screen display Dynamic display state is reproduced dynamically. Further, the operation method and procedure are acquired from definition information using XML and operated. This changes the programming work itself. In other words, the programmer can shift the focus of thinking to the appearance and behavior of the program rather than writing the program code, and a new program can be created.

  As shown in FIG. 3, the client engine is downloaded from the coordinate server 3 to a plurality of client terminals 1a, 1b, 1c,.

Therefore, as shown in FIG. 4, the following operation is performed between the coordinate server 3 and the various client terminals 1a, 1b, 1c.
(1) Client engine transmission from distribution server 3 (distribution)
(2) Client application generation at client terminal 1 (3) Web service (reservation etc.) request from client terminal 1 (4) Web service call and execution from coordinate server 3 to agent server 4 (5) Web from agent server 4 Send the service execution processing result to the client side.

  The system shown in FIG. 1 uses a server engine to construct a mechanism that guarantees the integrity of a plurality of XML Web services. That is, an agent server called XML Web service that moves autonomously is arranged on each Web site in order to realize a one-stop service for customers by a plurality of Web service transactions, and the agent confirms vacant seats and performs reservation processing. And a mechanism for supervising each agent.

For example, considering the situation of making a business trip from the region to Tokyo in 2 days and 1 night, it is necessary to secure transportation and secure accommodation, at least one of which could not be secured. In this case, it will not be established as a business trip arrangement. In order to complete this processing with a computer without human intervention, the following mechanism is required.
(1) A function for coordinating XML Web services provided on Web sites (airlines, hotels, etc.).
(2) In order to avoid making reservations that do not exist on each Web site, as well as providing reservations to customers in a complete state, if any of the reservations are not established, the reservation process itself is performed. A mechanism for providing completeness to the entire transaction by not having.

  In the system of FIG. 1, for example, when a general user makes necessary arrangements for a trip or a business trip, as shown in FIG. 5, the user himself / herself from a terminal 11 such as a mobile phone or a personal computer via the Internet 12 In order to eliminate the trouble of making reservations by accessing Web sites 13a, 13b, 13c, such as transportation facilities such as railroads, hotels, inns, and sightseeing spot facilities, etc. to be accommodated, as shown in FIG. Can be used as a system that plays the role of a travel agency. In the system configuration of FIG. 6, the agent servers 4a, 4b, and 4c of FIG. 1 are installed in the business operators that operate the Web sites 13a, 13b, and 13c.

  An XML Web service as a travel agent is considered to mediate a plurality of different XML Web services. In this case, as shown in FIG. 7, the system provides a coordination server 3 that mediates a reservation service in response to a reservation request from the user terminal 11, a hotel reservation, a rental car reservation, an airline ticket reservation, and other reservation services. The agent server 4a, 4b, 4c, 4d, and the Internet (not shown) that connects between the user terminal 11 and the coordinate server 3, and between the coordinate server 3 and each agent server 4a, 4b, 4c, 4d, respectively. The The coordinate server 3 includes a memory 31 for writing the change contents in XML.

  In this system, when the coordinating server 3 receives a reservation request from the user terminal 11, it sends a reservation request to the agent server 4a, 4b, 4c or 4d that executes the reservation service corresponding to the reservation request, and the agent server returns a reservation OK response. In response, a response is sent to the user terminal 11. In response to a reservation request from the user terminal 11, the server is locked so as not to receive the reservation request until all the reservation processes related to the request are completed. However, in the XML Web service as a travel agent, it is difficult to lock the computer resources of the server until all the processes are completed as in the conventional transaction (computer process).

  Therefore, when the result of any of the reservation processes is “NG” (for example, when the transportation facility desired by the user is full), even if searching for an alternative measure, the process itself is performed by performing the following cancel process. If you didn't, you can guarantee transaction integrity. That is, as shown in FIG. 8, the coordination server 3 activates the travel agency XML Web service in response to a reservation request from the user terminal 11, and sends a reservation request to the agent servers 4a, 4b, 4c, and 4d. Call the XML Web service required for At this time, a return logic (“Return” SQL) for cancel processing is automatically generated and stored in the memory 31 as a LOG. Then, the execution results in each agent server are totaled and determined, and if all the reservation processes are OK (success), the transaction ends and an OK response is sent to the user terminal 11. On the other hand, if any of the processes is NG (unsuccessful), the XML Web service cancel process is performed, and it is determined that the successful XML Web service has not been executed. Then, a reservation failure response is sent to the user terminal 11.

  FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing a processing procedure of a plurality of XML Web services by the coordinate server and the agent server.

  First, the coordinating server checks whether there is a reservation request (ST1), and when there is a reservation request, calls the XML Web service to determine the type (range) of the service corresponding to the reservation request (ST2). At the same time, a “return” SQL message or parameter is automatically generated and stored in the memory 31 (ST3).

  For example, in the case of an SQL message, the delete statement is inserted if it is an insert statement, and the original data is returned if it is an update statement. Therefore, the current data is acquired by select, and an update statement for "return" is automatically generated and stored as LOG To do. A specific example of the “return” SQL will be described later.

  On the other hand, in the case of parameter passing, a “return” parameter for cancel processing is acquired from the executed XML Web service and stored as LOG.

  Next, the XML Web service in the range determined above is called (ST4). That is, a reservation request is transmitted to the agent server that executes the XML Web service.

  Each agent server executes a predetermined XML Web service (reservation) process in response to the received reservation request (ST11), and transmits the processing result to the coordinate server (ST12).

  The coordinate server stores the received service processing result in the memory (ST5), and determines whether all the processing results are OK (ST6). If the result is “Yes”, a result notification of “reservation success” is transmitted to the user terminal that has sent the reservation request (ST7), and the service is terminated.

  On the other hand, if the determination result of ST6 is “No”, that is, if any of the plurality of XML Web services is NG, it is checked whether there is an alternative, that is, whether other services can be reserved (ST8), and “Yes” If there is, the alternative XML Web service is called (ST9). That is, a reservation request is transmitted to the agent server that executes the XML Web service.

  The agent server executes the alternative service (reservation) process in response to the received reservation request (ST13), and transmits the processing result to the coordinate server (ST14).

  The coordinate server stores the received alternative service processing result in the memory (ST5), and repeats the following procedure. If “No” is determined in the determination of ST8, that is, there is no alternative, it is determined that a successful XML Web service has not been executed using the “return” SQL message or parameter stored in the memory 31. A cancel call command is sent to each agent server (ST10).

  Each agent server executes XML Web service (cancel) processing in response to the cancel call command (ST15), and transmits the processing result to the coordinate server (ST16).

  The coordinate server transmits a notification of “reservation unsuccessful” to the user terminal that has sent the reservation request (ST7), and the service ends.

  Here, the SQL automatically generated by the server as described above will be described.

(1) SQL (INSERT) to add a record:
For example, if “INSERT item name A (unique key), item name B, item name C, item name D FROM TABLE name”, the return SQL is as follows:
DELETE FROM TABLE name WHERE item name A = 'delete key'
Is automatically generated. In the cancel process, this SQL is executed.

(2) SQL (UPDATE) for changing a record:
For example, issue SQL to change B, C, D like “UPDATE TABLE name SET item name B = change value, item name C = change value, item name D = change value WHERE item name A = change key” When trying to
SELECT * FROM TABLE name WHERE Item name = Change key SQL is issued, and item information before change is acquired in advance. And
“UPDATE TABLE name SET item name B = change value, item name C = change value, item name D = change value WHERE item name A = change key”
Is automatically generated. If “return” occurs, this SQL is executed.

As an example, consider a case where a new hotel reservation is desired. The SQL in that case is
“INSERT reservation number, name, date of stay, number of nights, room type, FROM reservation table”.

At the same time as issuing this reservation SQL, as a return SQL that cancels the reservation itself,
"DELETE FROM reservation table WHERE reservation number = reservation number"
Is automatically generated and stored in the LOG.

Later, if there is a change in the reservation details at the hotel,
“SELECT * FROM reservation table WHERE reservation number = reservation number”
The item information before the change is acquired in advance. And
“UPDATE reservation table SET name = name (before change), stay date = night (before change), nights = night (before change), room type = room type (before change) WHERE reservation number = reservation number (unique) Key)"
Is issued and stored in the LOG.

  When “return” occurs, it is possible to return to the data before update by executing the above SQL.

  FIG. 10 shows an example of the web service transaction LOG. The LOG itself is described in XML and is in a form that can be easily handled by a program. Of course, a data format other than XML can be described.

  As shown in the figure, the transaction unit is a transaction, and a unique number is assigned as the “transaction name” (second line). The XML Web service name called in the transaction is described (line 3), and the automatically generated SQL or parameter and execution result are described (line 4-5). If there are other XML Web services that have been called, they are described in the same manner (from the sixth line).

  The server engine issues a cancel process while referring to the LOG when canceling, while recording the execution status of a plurality of XML Web services as needed. This implements transaction processing that ensures the integrity of the execution of multiple XML Web services.

According to the above system, as shown in FIG. 11, a coordinate server is installed in the travel agency 21, and agent servers are installed in the hotel 22, the railway company 23, and the airline 24 that accept reservations. A service is provided to make reservations for hotels and transportation facilities from agents. This is performed, for example, as follows in accordance with the processing procedure of FIG.
(1) A reservation request is sent from the travel agency 21 server to the hotel 22 server.
(2) When the reservation is successful, the hotel 22 sends an OK response to the travel agency 21.
(3) A reservation ticket reservation request is sent from the travel agency 21 server to the railway company 23 server.
(4) When the reservation is successful, the railway company 23 sends an OK response to the travel agency 21.
(5) A seat reservation request is sent from the server of the travel agency 21 to the server of the airline 24.
(6) If the seat cannot be taken, an NG response is sent from the airline 24 to the travel agency 21.
(7) In this case, a cancellation request is sent from the server of the travel agency 21 to the server of the hotel 22 as a compensation transaction.
(8) At the same time, a cancellation request is sent from the travel agency 21 server to the railway company 23 server.

  As described above, according to the reservation request from the user, the reservation service is executed, and when there is no reservation that meets the request, an alternative is presented. At the time and when processing results are answered, the following display is made.

  For example, if the user wants to make a business trip from Kanazawa to Tokyo / Akasaka for one night, as shown in FIG. 12, the departure date, arrival time, return date, departure time, departure location, destination, transportation, accommodation from the user terminal When the desired conditions of the desired place and expense are entered, the contents of the reservation request are displayed as shown on the screen on the left side of FIG. With this content, a reservation request is transmitted to the coordination server, and if the condition is a match (reservation OK) by processing at the agent server that provides the desired reservation service, the result of the reservation process is displayed on the upper right screen of FIG. If the condition is not met (for example, the return flight reservation is NG), an alternative to the NG reservation with the OK reservation is shown in the lower right screen of FIG. Is displayed. This allows the user to select an alternative immediately.

  Finally, in the system of FIG. 1, means for speeding up communication between a client terminal that communicates via a network and a server that provides an XML Web service (referred to as a “high-speed communication component”) It is provided in each server. The high-speed communication component has a function of compressing, dividing, and transmitting files and data necessary for executing an XML Web service, and a function of executing XML Web service processing by combining and decompressing divided files received from others. Consists of software with

  As shown in FIG. 13, each server or client terminal uses this high-speed communication component to (1) compress the XML Web service calling procedure, (2) divide, and (3) simultaneously divide each piece of information into the network. Send through. When (4) divided information is received from another server via the network, (5) they are combined, (6) decompressed, and an XML Web service process is executed.

  According to the high-speed communication component, a large number of requests can be processed efficiently, which greatly contributes to the improvement of the level of the XML Web service.

  As described above, the system for providing a service as a travel agency has been described as an embodiment of the present invention. However, the present invention is not limited to this and can be applied to a system that provides a plurality of XML Web services.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Client terminal 2 Network 3 Coordinate server 4 Agent server 11 User terminal 12 Internet 13 Web site 21 Travel agency 22 Hotel 23 Railway company 24 Airline

Claims (2)

In an information processing method for providing a user by integrating a plurality of XML Web services available on the Internet,
Generating and storing a “return” SQL or parameter to be issued at the time of cancellation when the XML Web service is executed;
If the processing of any of the XML Web services is unsuccessful and there is no other service as an alternative, using the recorded return SQL or parameter, canceling the transaction itself. Method. An information processing apparatus that provides a user by integrating a plurality of XML Web services that can be used on the Internet,
Means for generating a return SQL or a parameter for canceling a series of processing when calling each XML Web service to the plurality of service information providing units;
An information processing apparatus comprising: means for canceling the series of processes by the return SQL or parameter when any XML Web service is not executable and there is no other service as an alternative.

Images