JP3422361B2 - Software component linkage method - Google Patents

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a software component cooperation method for realizing cooperation of a plurality of software components when a business application (application program) is composed of a plurality of software components.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Generally, a software component has a plurality of types of interfaces for holding data therein and receiving messages from other software components. The data includes not only the state of the data itself but also the name of the data, structural information, and the like. The interface is the name of the operation (interface type), the information given to the operation,
It is composed of information obtained from the operation result. The name of the operation can be any name. In addition, the information given to the operation and the information obtained from the result of the operation include
It can have any type.

Here, the "cooperation between software components" in a business application composed of a plurality of software components is realized by exchanging access messages via the interface of the software components.

In the conventional software component linking method, in order to link software components, it is necessary for each software component to have information about an arbitrary interface (an interface that is not standardized), and software components that are frequently changed. The target of cooperation (software component of the access message destination) was specified by the name. In addition, linkage information indicating the interface type and linkage target (information for linking software components)
Was described as a program in the software component.

That is, in the conventional software component cooperation method, in order to realize cooperation between software components,
It was necessary to know the name of the software component (software component name) and the information indicating the interface defined by an arbitrary operation name in each software component. Then, as described above, such information is described as a program in the software component. In business application development, this information is often changed. Therefore, every time the interface is changed, the software component needs to correct the cooperation information between the software components according to the content of the change.
Here, in the case of constructing a small-scale business application, even if the interface is changed, the range of influence is relatively narrow and the correction is easy. However, in the case of building a medium- or large-scale business application, the impact range may become huge if the interface is changed.
That is, as the number of software components increases, the range of influence between the linked software components may increase. Also, the larger the number of software components, the larger the range of influence on the software components linked with them may be.

When developing a business application composed of a plurality of software components, the frequency of changing the data held by the software component (business data etc.) is relatively low, but the interface of the software component is changed. Additions often occur due to functional changes and extensions of business applications.

[0007]

Given the existence of the conventional software component cooperation method as described above, when a plurality of software components are combined to develop a business application, the following problems occur. was there.

The first problem arises when developing individual software components. When a certain software component performs processing in cooperation with another software component, interface information for operating the other software component (information regarding an arbitrary interface unique to each software component) is required. However, since software components are generally developed in parallel, it is inefficient to proceed with the development of software components after waiting for the interface for operating other software components to be established, resulting in poor productivity. Lower.

The second problem occurs when the software components are combined. In general, at the time of combination, it was revealed that the functions of individual software components were not created according to specifications,
The interface of software components is often changed. In particular, when software components are mounted on a statically linked programming language (compiled programming language), relinking work is required every time the interface is changed. In the case of a large-scale business application, relinking work is often done on a daily or hourly basis, and this work time is a major factor that deteriorates productivity in business application development. Conversely, in the related art, when linking software components, it is necessary that all the cooperation information is definitely described in the software components.

The third problem occurs during maintenance of the business application (maintenance process). When a software component is implemented on a statically linked programming language, the software component that forms part of the business application can be replaced (replaced) according to the occurrence of a defect or function change in the software component. You will need it. In such a case, on the premise of the cooperation of the software components in the conventional technique, only the modification of the range in which the interface of each software component is not changed can be performed (the cooperation information exists in the compiled code. I can't do that).

As described above, in the conventional software component linking method, information about an arbitrary interface (an interface that is not standardized) is required to realize the linking between software components, and the software that is frequently changed is required. Since the target of linkage is specified by the component name and the linkage information is described as a program in the software component, there is a problem in that each process of development / combination / maintenance of the business application causes trouble.

In view of the above points, the object of the present invention is to realize the following contents a to c, and to improve efficiency and productivity in each process of business application development, combination, and maintenance. It is to provide a software component cooperation method.

A. The interface of the software component is standardized, and all the software components implement the standardized interface (standardized interface).

B. Linkage between software components is performed by specifying the name of business data (including usage conditions) whose specification change frequency is low in the business application, rather than specifying the cooperation target by the software component name.

C. Linkage information between software components is not written as a program but is made into a database and can be changed without compilation.

[0016]

The software component linkage method of the present invention is a software component linkage method that realizes linkage of a plurality of software components that make up a business application. An access message receiving means in each software component that receives an access message having a combination of a condition and a standardized interface type, a standardized interface is implemented, and a business data name and a usage condition and a standardized interface type are combined. Implements access message sending means in each software component that sends an access message to the software component cooperation module and an arbitrary interface in each software component, and executes processing related to internal operation based on the access message. The data access means in each software component, the access message execution control means in each software component for associating the standardized interface with an arbitrary interface in each software component, and the linkage information stored in the database ( For example, a linkage information storage device that stores linkage information that is a database including a combination of business data names, usage conditions, stylized interface types, and collaboration destination software component names) and a stylized interface are installed, The access message receiving means in the software component cooperation module for receiving the access message having the combination of the business data name and the usage condition and the standardized interface type from the software component, and the software based on the cooperation information in the cooperation information storage device. (A) A destination switching means in the software component cooperation module that determines the destination software component of the access message received by the access message receiving means in the component cooperation module, and a standardized interface are implemented, and the business data name and usage conditions And an access message transmission means in the software component cooperation module for transmitting an access message having a combination of the standardized interface type to the transmission destination software component determined by the transmission destination switching means.

Further, the software component cooperation method of the present invention is a software component cooperation method for realizing cooperation of a plurality of software components constituting a business application, by implementing a standardized interface, and a business data name, usage condition and standardization. In each software component that implements an access message receiving unit in each software component that receives an access message having a combination with an interface type and an arbitrary interface in each software component, and that executes a process related to an internal operation based on the access message. Each software component that implements the data access means and the standardized interface and transmits the access message having the combination of the business data name and the usage condition and the standardized interface type to the destination software component. And the access message transmission means,
Access message execution control means in each software component for associating the standardized interface with an arbitrary interface in each software component, and cooperation information stored in a database (for example, business data name, usage condition, standardized interface). The cooperation information storage device that stores the cooperation information (which is a database that includes the combination of the type and the cooperation destination software component name) and the cooperation information stored in the cooperation information storage device that is incorporated in each software component. It is also possible to adopt a configuration having a transmission destination switching means in the software component cooperation module for determining the transmission destination software component of the access message transmitted by the access message transmission means based on the above.

As patent publications relating to the prior art for the present invention, Japanese Patent Laid-Open Nos. 9-128226, 10-214196, and 3-266064 are available.
Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. Hei 4-241023, Unexamined Japanese Patent Publication Hei 8-6
777 and JP-A-8-249290. The differences between the techniques described in these publications and the present invention will be described below.

(1) Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 9-128226 The technique described in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 9-128226 (software component registration device) uses a virtual component that does not have a processing procedure to operate in an operating environment. It is a technology that allows software components to be dynamically registered when the program creation tool is executed, regardless of the situation.

The software component registration device described in this publication has the following problems.

The first problem is that when the interface of the software component to be combined is changed, the virtual component must be created again and the component must be registered. Therefore, in the related art, when the interface of the software component is changed and the virtual component is created, the real part of the program is dynamically regenerated in another process when the virtual component is registered, so that the execution efficiency is deteriorated. turn into.

The second problem is that a virtual part corresponding to the registered software part is required. As described in the first problem, since the interface of the virtual component is closely dependent on the interface of the software component, it is affected by the change of the interface of the software component. This effect affects other software components that work together.

On the other hand, in the case of the present invention, since the interface of the software component has the business data name (including the usage condition) and the standardized interface type, it is not necessary to create the virtual component. It does not affect other software components.

(2) Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 10-214196 The technique (software cooperative processing device) described in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 10-214196 described above has different event-driven paradigms depending on the event conversion device called a message gateway. It is a technology that realizes cooperation between software components that hold the.

The purpose of the software cooperation processing device described in this publication is to realize cooperation between software components having an event-driven paradigm, and cooperation between software components having an event-driven paradigm. There was a problem that it could not be applied to linkage of other software components.

On the other hand, in the case of the present invention, it does not matter whether the execution format of the software component operates in the event-driven paradigm, but it is a software component created by the compilation method of the prior art. However, if the interface is in a format that can be understood by the module that cooperates with the software components, the dependency between the software components can be reduced and the components can be linked.

(3) Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. H3-266064 In the technique (program construction method and apparatus therefor) described in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. H3-266064, the cooperation information between software components is the interface of the software components. It is composed of specifications and cooperation specifications of software components. This cooperation information is necessary at the time of developing the software component and at the time of executing the application, and it is necessary that the names of the software components to be coordinated are the same, and the “impact of other software components” in the present invention. It is not possible to realize the effect that "development of each software component can be carried out individually without receiving the information".

On the other hand, in the present invention, the cooperation information between the software components is not the software component name but the information about the business data. Therefore, when developing software components or executing business applications,
There is no need to know the name of the software component to be linked,
It is possible to realize the above effects.

(4) Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. Hei 4-241023 The technique (program synthesizing apparatus) described in the above Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. Hei 4-241023 converts the interface between the program parts into means of the coupling means of the interface specification. It is adapted by associating with the data of the data type conversion rules of the rules and interface specifications. At this time, an intermediary program generation unit for generating an intermediary program from the conversion rule of the interface is required, and the intermediary program needs to be synthesized (compiled / linked) with other software components by the component synthesis unit.

On the other hand, in the present invention, the interface between the software parts is adapted by the cooperation information in the cooperation information storage device. At this time, defining the stylized interface simplifies the definition of cooperation information. As described above, according to the present invention, since the cooperation information is simple, the cooperation information can be dynamically and efficiently processed. Therefore, unlike the related art, compile / link is not required.

(5) Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 8-6777: The technique described in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 8-6777 (development system and method of information control system) includes a business type model and a business input / output model. The purpose is to develop a system with standardized software components based on the standardized processing model in a standardized procedure, and it is not specified how the software components cooperate with each other.

On the other hand, according to the present invention, even if the same stylized interface type is given to the same cooperation destination software component (access message transmission destination software component), different internal operations (the types of data to be processed are the same). However, the contents of data are different operations), and the internal operation can be changed at the time of execution. In addition, by standardizing the interface, software components depend on data that is more stable than operations, so that each software component can be independently developed and combined easily. In this respect, the present invention is different from the related art.

(6) Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 8-249290 A technique (distributed system) described in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 8-249290 discloses a service agent for performing cooperative processing between application programs in the distributed system. By providing a module in a format independent of the application program, adding a cooperation interface for cooperation processing to the application program body, and executing the usage procedure held by the service agent by the cooperation interface, Coordination processing is being performed. In this technology, when the function of the application program is changed, the method of calling the application program from the service agent can be arbitrarily described. Therefore, it is necessary to make a dedicated description for each application program. It is necessary to pay close attention to the consistency with.

On the other hand, in the present invention, even if the software components to be linked are expanded, the interface for realizing the linkage between the software components has the most stable business data (including the usage condition) in the business application and its Since the stylized operation and the result are performed on the business data, the influence on other software components is very small, and the effect that “software component replacement can be performed easily and widely” is obtained. In this respect,
The present invention is superior to the related art.

[0035]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Next, the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

(1) First Embodiment FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a software component cooperation system according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

The software component linkage method according to the present embodiment includes a plurality of software components (software component 10, software component 20, etc.) to be linked.
And a software component cooperation module 30 and a cooperation information storage device 40. Note that the data component device (a specialized module for handling data used in the process of processing of the software component 10 and the software component 20) will be referred to in a specific operation description described later.

The software component 10 includes access message receiving means 11 and access message transmitting means 12
And an access message execution control means 13 and a data access means 14.

The access message receiving means 11 implements a standardized interface and receives an access message having a combination of a business data name and a usage condition and a standardized interface type.

The access message transmitting means 12 implements the standardized interface, and transmits the access message having the combination of the business data name and the usage condition and the standardized interface type to the software component cooperation module 30.
Send to.

The access message execution control means 13 is
The standardized interface and the arbitrary interface in the software component 10 (the interface corresponding to the internal operation handled by the data access means 14 and the interface implemented by the conventional method) are associated with each other.

The data access means 14 implements an arbitrary interface in the software component 10 (an interface having an arbitrary operation name inside the software component 10) and executes a process relating to an internal operation based on an access message.

The software component 20 has the same configuration as that of the software component 10 (each means indicated by the reference numerals 21 to 24 corresponds to each means indicated by the reference numerals 11 to 14). Incidentally, the other software components also have the same configuration as the software component 10.

The software component cooperation module 30
In order to realize the cooperation of a plurality of software components (the software component 10 and the software component 20 in this embodiment), the access message receiving means 31, the transmission destination switching means 32, and the access message transmitting means 3
And 3 are included.

The access message receiving means 31 mounts a standardized interface, and receives an access message having a combination of a business data name and a usage condition and a standardized interface type from each software component.

The destination switching means 32 determines (determines) the destination software component of the access message received by the access message receiving means 31 based on the cooperation information in the cooperation information storage device 40.

The access message transmitting means 33 is provided with a standardized interface, and an access message having a combination of a business data name and a usage condition and a standardized interface type is sent to the destination software component determined by the destination switching means 32. Send.

The cooperation information storage device 40 stores cooperation information between software components in the form of a database. This linkage information is a combination of business data name, usage conditions, stylized interface type, linkage destination software component name (name of the software component that is the destination of the access message), and internal operation name (internal operation name is mandatory information. Not) (see FIG. 4). The cooperation information may be in the form of a database and can contribute to the "determination of the destination software component" by the destination switching means 32, and the data format (data structure) thereof is not limited to the above.

As described above, the present invention has a configuration in which the software components in the prior art are wrapped in the standardized interface. With such a configuration, even if the interface implemented by the conventional method is changed, the interface of each access message execution control means (access message execution control means 13, access message execution control means 23, etc.) The correspondence may be changed, and the change does not affect the outside of each software component.

FIG. 2 is a flow chart showing the processing of the software component cooperation method according to this embodiment. This process
An access message transmission step 201 to the software component cooperation module, a transmission destination software component determination step 202, a transmission destination software component access message transmission step 203, an access message reception step 204, an internal operation determination step 205,
Step 206 for sending access message corresponding to internal operation
And internal processing execution step 207.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a specific example of the standardized interface type in the software component cooperation method according to the present embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a specific example of the cooperation information in the cooperation information storage device 40.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a specific example of the interface correspondence information set in the access message execution control means 13 in the software component 10.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a specific example of the interface correspondence information set in the access message execution control means 23 in the software component 20.

Next, the operation of the software component linking method according to the present embodiment having the above configuration will be described.

Here, the access message sent from the software component 10 is sent to the software component 20 via the software component cooperation module 30, and the software component 20 performs processing (internal processing) based on the message. The operation up to is described (see the arrow in FIG. 1 and FIG. 2). Processing in the opposite direction to the above (from software component 20 to software component 1
It goes without saying that the processing regarding the transmission of the access message to 0) can be performed.

The access message transmitting means 12 in the software component 10 sends the access message from the software component 10 to the software component 20 to the software cooperation module 30 by the standardized interface (in the form of information including the standardized interface type). It is transmitted (step 201).

The access message receiving means 31 in the software component cooperation module 30 receives the access message by the stylized interface.

The transmission destination switching means 32 receives the access message from the access message receiving means 31, reads the cooperation information from the message cooperation information storage device 40, and based on the cooperation information, the transmission destination software part of the access message (the concerned The destination of the access message, that is, the software component of the cooperation destination) is determined (specified) (step 202). As described above, in the present invention, the transmission destination software component (cooperation destination software component) is determined based on the business data name and the usage condition, which are information that is less frequently changed. Note that here, the destination software component is the software component 20.

The access message transmitting means 33 transmits the access message to the destination software component (software component 20) determined in step 202 by the stylized interface (step 20).
3).

The access message receiving means 21 in the software component 20 receives the access message sent from the software component cooperation module 30 by the stylized interface (step 204).

The access message execution control means 23 is
Based on the content of the access message and its own interface correspondence information, the internal operation (internal operation defined in the software component 20) corresponding to the access message is determined (step 205). Then, the access message corresponding to the internal operation is sent to the data access means 24 by an arbitrary interface (an unstylized interface) in the software component 20 (step 206). Depending on the content of the internal operation, an access message may be sent to another software component.

The data access means 24 executes step 20.
The access message sent in 6 is received by an arbitrary interface (the interface implemented by the conventional method), and the internal processing of the software component 20 corresponding to the access message (processing related to the internal operation determined in step 205) is performed. Execute (step 207).

The specific operation of the software component cooperation system according to this embodiment will be described below using a specific example.

Here, in the computer system to which the software component cooperation method according to the present embodiment is applied, each stylized interface type (name of a stylized operation common to a plurality of software components) as shown in FIG. Etc.) are defined.

Further, it is assumed that the cooperation information as shown in FIG. 4 is stored in the cooperation information storage device 40. For convenience of explanation, the software component names are indicated by the reference numerals ("software component 10" and "software component 20") in FIG.

Further, it is assumed that the interface correspondence information as shown in FIG. 5 is set in the access message execution control means 13 in the software component 10.

Similarly, it is assumed that the interface correspondence information as shown in FIG. 6 is set in the access message execution control means 23 in the software component 20.

The stylized interface defined as shown in FIG.
0 and the software component cooperation module 30 and the cooperation information storage device 40 stores the cooperation information as shown in FIG. 4, the specific cooperation between the software component 10 and the software component 20 is as follows. Like

First, consider the operation in the case where the software component 10 sends to the software component 20 an access message corresponding to the internal operation name (contents of the internal operation) "refer to the lecture content of this term". In this case, the following processings a to f are performed.

A. The software component 10 sends an access message having a stylized interface type of “reference” to the software component cooperation module 30 together with a business data name of “lecture” and a usage condition of “this term”.

B. Software component cooperation module 30
Searches for the cooperation information shown in FIG. 4 in the cooperation information storage device 40 based on the information “lecture”, “this term”, and “reference”, and specifies the software component 20 as the destination software component.

C. Software component cooperation module 30
Is a software component 2 that is a destination software component
An access message having a stylized interface type of “reference” is sent to 0 with a business data name of “lecture” and a usage condition of “this term”.

D. The software component 20 receives the access message. At this time, the access message execution control means 23 determines that the business data name is “lecture”,
Since the usage condition is "this term" and the standardized interface type is "reference", "Refer to the content of this term"
Is sent to the data access means 24.

E. The data access means 24 in the software component 20 executes an internal process of “referring to the lecture contents of this term” to acquire the business data “lecture”. The execution processing result is “lecture” data. This execution processing result is stored in the data component device (see FIG. 1) and returned to the software component cooperation module 30.

F. Software component cooperation module 30
Returns the data component device returned from the software component 20 to the software component 10 that issued the access message in the above a.

Secondly, consider the operation when the software component 10 sends an access message corresponding to the internal operation name "refer to the lecture contents for the next term" to the software component 20. In this case, the following processings a to f are performed.

A. The software component 10 sends to the software component cooperation module 30 an access message having a stylized interface type of "reference" together with a business data name of "lecture" and a usage condition of "next term".

B. Software component cooperation module 30
Searches for the cooperation information shown in FIG. 4 in the cooperation information storage device 40 based on the information “lecture”, “next term”, and “reference”, and specifies the software component 20 as the destination software component.

C. Software component cooperation module 30
Sends an access message having a stylized interface type of “reference” to the software component 20 together with a business data name of “lecture” and a usage condition of “next term”.

D. The software component 20 receives the access message. At this time, the access message execution control means 23 determines that the business data name is “lecture”,
Since the usage condition is "next term" and the stylized interface type is "reference", "refer to lecture content for next term"
Is sent to the data access means 24.

E. The data access means 24 in the software component 20 executes an internal process of “referring to the lecture content for the next term” to acquire the business data “lecture”. The execution processing result is “lecture” data. This execution processing result is stored in the data component device (see FIG. 1) and returned to the software component cooperation module 30.

F. Software component cooperation module 30
Returns the data component device returned from the software component 20 to the software component 10 that issued the access message in the above a.

Thirdly, consider the operation when the software component 20 sends to the software component 10 an access message corresponding to the internal operation name "register results for this term". In this case, the following processings a to f are performed.

A. The software component 20 sends to the software component cooperation module 30 an access message having a stylized interface type of "insert" together with a business data name of "record" and a usage condition of "this term".

B. Software component cooperation module 30
4 searches the cooperation information shown in FIG. 4 in the cooperation information storage device 40 on the basis of the information of “record”, “current period”, and “insert”, and specifies the software component 10 as the destination software component.

C. Software component cooperation module 30
Sends an access message having a stylized interface type of "insert" to the software component 10 together with a business data name of "grade" and a usage condition of "current term".

D. The software component 10 receives the access message. At this time, the access message execution control means 13 determines that the business data name is “grade”,
Since the usage condition is “this term” and the stylized interface type is “insert”, the access message “register the results of this term” is sent to the data access means 14.

E. The data access means 14 in the software component 10 executes an internal process of "registering the results of this term" to acquire the business data "results". The execution processing result is “result” data. This execution processing result is stored in the data component device (see FIG. 1) and returned to the software component cooperation module 30.

F. Software component cooperation module 30
Returns the data component device returned from the software component 10 to the software component 20 that issued the access message in the above a.

(2) Second Embodiment FIG. 7 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the software component cooperation system according to the second embodiment of the present invention.

The software component cooperation method according to the present embodiment includes a plurality of software components (software component 10, software component 20, etc.) to be linked.
And a cooperation information storage device 40.
A software component cooperation module 30 is incorporated in each software component (software component 10, software component 20, etc.). Also,
The data component device (a specialized module for handling data used in the process of processing the software component 10 and the software component 20) is the same as the data component device in FIG.

Referring to FIG. 7, the software component cooperation method according to the present embodiment is the first in that each software component (software component 10, software component 20, etc.) includes a software component cooperation module 30. Different from the embodiment.

That is, each software component in FIG. 7 (software component 10 and software component 20)
Etc.) exchange access messages between software components via the software component cooperation module 30 embedded in itself. Since the software component cooperation module 30 is incorporated in each software component, it is not necessary to have the access message receiving means 31 and the access message transmitting means 33 in FIG. 1 (only the transmission destination switching means 32 is provided. Exist).

As described above, in the software component cooperation method according to the present embodiment, there is a peculiar effect that the execution efficiency is improved as compared with the first embodiment shown in FIG. This is because each software component (software component 1
This is because it is possible to omit the message transmission / reception process between the software component cooperation module 30 and the software component 20).

However, in this embodiment, since a common function of the software component cooperation module 30 is mounted on each software component, the side effect of increasing the size of each software component itself occurs. Conversely, the fact that there is no such side effect is a unique effect that the software component cooperation method according to the first embodiment has, as compared with the second embodiment.

(3) Third Embodiment FIG. 8 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the software component cooperation system according to the third embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 8, the software component cooperation method according to the third embodiment of the present invention is different from the software component cooperation method according to the first embodiment shown in FIG. The difference is that a recording medium 80 recording a program is provided. This recording medium 80
May be a magnetic disk, a semiconductor memory, or another recording medium.

The software component cooperation program is read from the recording medium 80 into a computer system (a computer system including a plurality of software components such as the software component 10 and the software component 20, the software component cooperation module 30, and the cooperation information storage device 40). , Software component (for example, in the software component 10, the access message receiving means 11, the access message transmitting means 12, the access message execution control means 13, and the data access means 14), the software component cooperation module 30 ( The access message receiving unit 31, the destination switching unit 32, the access message receiving unit 33), and the cooperation information storage device 40 are controlled. The operation of each software component (software component 10 and software component 20, etc.), software component collaboration module 30, and collaboration information storage device 40 under the control of the software component collaboration program is performed by each software component (software component in the first embodiment). 10 and software components 20, etc.), the software component cooperation module 30, and the cooperation information storage device 40 operate in exactly the same manner, and detailed description thereof will be omitted.

(4) Fourth Embodiment FIG. 9 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the software component cooperation system according to the fourth embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 9, the software component cooperation method according to the fourth embodiment of the present invention is different from the software component cooperation method according to the second embodiment shown in FIG. The difference is that a recording medium 90 recording a program is provided. This recording medium 90
May be a magnetic disk, a semiconductor memory, or another recording medium.

The software component cooperation program incorporates a computer system (a software component cooperation module 30 having a transmission destination switching means 32) from a recording medium 90, and a plurality of software components such as the software component 10 and the software component 20 and a cooperation information storage device. 40), and the operation of the computer system is read by each software component (for example, in the software component 10, access message receiving means 11, access message transmitting means 12, access message execution control means 13, data access means 14). , And a software component cooperation module 30 having a destination switching means 32) and a cooperation information storage device 40. Each software component controlled by the software component cooperation program (the software component 10 and the software component 20 in which the software component cooperation module 30 is installed, etc.)
The operation of the cooperation information storage device 40 is the same as the operation of each software component (the software component 10 and the software component 20 in which the software component cooperation module 30 is incorporated) and the cooperation information storage device 40 in the second embodiment. Since it is exactly the same, I will omit the detailed explanation.

[0103]

As described above, the present invention has the following effects.

The first effect is that it is not necessary to know the arbitrary interface of the software component of the cooperation destination in the development of each software component that constitutes the business application, so that the development of each software component can be carried out individually. That's what it means.

The reason why such an effect occurs is that the information for linking the software components is provided with the business data name and usage condition, which is one of the most stable (less changed) business applications, and the standardized interface. This is because

The second effect is to implement a software component on a statically linked programming language.
This means that software components can be combined without relinking.

The reason why such an effect occurs is that the cooperation information between software components is not described in the program but is stored in the cooperation information storage device as a database.

The third effect is that since the interface is not changed even if the function of the software component is changed, the software component can be easily replaced when the software components are combined and the business application is maintained (the interface). There is no restriction that you can only replace software parts within the range of no change) is that.

The reason why such an effect occurs is, like the reason for the second effect, that the cooperation information between software components is not described in the program, but a function for coordinating the software components and a database are provided. This is because it is separated from the cooperation information.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a software component cooperation system according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing processing of the software component cooperation method shown in FIG.

FIG. 3 is a diagram for explaining a specific operation of the software component cooperation method shown in FIG. 1 (a diagram showing a specific example of a standardized interface type in the software component cooperation method).

FIG. 4 is a diagram for explaining a specific operation of the software component linkage method shown in FIG. 1 (a diagram showing a specific example of linkage information in the linkage information storage device 40).

5 is a diagram for explaining a specific operation of the software component cooperation method shown in FIG. 1 (a diagram showing a specific example of interface correspondence information set in the access message execution control means 13).

6 is a diagram for explaining a specific operation of the software component cooperation method shown in FIG. 1 (a diagram showing a specific example of interface correspondence information set in the access message execution control means 23).

FIG. 7 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a software component cooperation system according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a software component cooperation system according to a third exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 9 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a software component cooperation system according to a fourth exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

10, 20 software parts 11,21,31 Access message receiving means 12, 22, 33 Access message transmission means 13, 23 Access message execution control means 14,24 Data access means 30 Software component cooperation module 32 destination switching means 40 Cooperation information storage device 80,90 recording medium

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Claims (6)

(57) [Claims] 1. A software component linking method for linking a plurality of software components that make up a business application, which implements a standardized interface and has a combination of a business data name and a usage condition and a standardized interface type. Each software component that implements an access message receiving means in each software component that receives a message and a standardized interface, and transmits an access message having a combination of a business data name and a usage condition and a standardized interface type to a software component cooperation module. An access message transmitting means in each of the software parts, and a data access means in each of the software parts that implements an arbitrary interface in each software part and executes processing related to an internal operation based on the access message Access message execution control means in each software component for associating a standardized interface with an arbitrary interface in each software component, a linkage information storage device storing linkage information in a database, and a standardization An access message receiving means in a software component cooperation module that implements an interface and receives an access message having a combination of a business data name and a usage condition and a standardized interface type, and cooperation in the cooperation information storage device. Destination switching means in the software component cooperation module for determining a destination software component of the access message received by the access message receiving means in the software component cooperation module based on the information; Access message transmitting means in a software component cooperation module for implementing an interface and transmitting an access message having a combination of a business data name and a usage condition and a stylized interface type to the destination software component determined by the destination switching means. A software component cooperation method characterized by having: 2. A linkage information storage device for storing linkage information in a database including a combination of a business data name, a usage condition, a standardized interface type, and a linkage destination software component name. The software component cooperation method according to claim 1. 3. An access message that implements a standardized interface and has a combination of a business data name and a usage condition and a standardized interface type in a software component cooperation method that realizes the cooperation of a plurality of software components that make up a business application. Access message receiving means in each software component, an arbitrary interface in each software component is mounted, and a data access means in each software component for executing processing related to internal operation based on the access message, and a standardized interface And an access message transmitting means in each software component for transmitting an access message having a combination of a business data name and a usage condition and a standardized interface type to a destination software component, and a standardized image. Access message execution control means in each software component for associating the interface with an arbitrary interface in each software component, a linkage information storage device storing the linkage information stored in a database, and each software component And a destination switching means in a software component cooperation module for determining a destination software component of the access message transmitted by the access message transmitting means based on the cooperation information in the cooperation information storage device. Is a software component linkage method. 4. A linkage information storage device for storing linkage information in a database including a combination of a business data name, a usage condition, a standardized interface type, and a linkage destination software component name. The software component cooperation method according to claim 3. 5. A computer system that implements cooperation between a plurality of software components that make up a business application, implements a standardized interface, and receives an access message having a business data name and a combination of a usage condition and a standardized interface type. Access in each software component that implements access message receiving means and stylized interface in each software component, and sends an access message having a combination of business data name and usage condition and stylized interface type to the software component linkage module Implement message transmission means, any interface in each software component,
A data access means in each software component for executing a process related to an internal operation based on an access message, an access message execution control means in each software component for associating a standardized interface with an arbitrary interface in each software component, Software that implements a linkage information storage device that stores linkage information in a database and a standardized interface, and receives an access message from each software component that has a combination of business data name and usage conditions and standardized interface type. Access message receiving means in the component cooperation module, of the access message received by the access message receiving means in the software component cooperation module based on the cooperation information in the cooperation information storage device. The destination switching means in the software component cooperation module for determining the recipient software component, and the stylized interface are mounted, and the access message having the combination of the business data name and the usage condition and the stylized interface type is transmitted to the destination switching means. A recording medium recording a program for functioning as an access message transmitting unit in the software component cooperation module that is transmitted to the destination software component determined by the. 6. A computer system that realizes cooperation of a plurality of software components that form a business application, implements a standardized interface, and receives an access message having a business data name and a combination of a usage condition and a standardized interface type. The access message receiving means in each software component, an arbitrary interface in each software component are mounted, and the data access means in each software component that executes the process related to the internal operation based on the access message and the standardized interface are mounted, An access message transmitting means in each software component that transmits an access message having a combination of a business data name and usage conditions and a standardized interface type, a standardized interface and The access message execution control means in each software component for associating with an arbitrary interface in the software component, the linkage information storage device storing the linkage information in the database, and the built-in software component. ,
A program for functioning as a destination switching means in a software component cooperation module for determining a destination software component of an access message transmitted by the access message transmitting means based on the cooperation information in the cooperation information storage device is recorded. recoding media.