Customizable two step mapping of extensible markup language data in an e-procurement system and method

In an electronic purchasing and procurement system having an Extensible Markup Language (XML) content transformation method and system. The XML content transformation system includes logic for identifying XML content from an external database and presenting XML content formatted in response to purchase requests from the users of the electronic purchasing and procurement system. In one embodiment of the present invention, the XML content transformation system receives an in-bound document containing XML content of a first XML data format. The XML content transformation system then maps the XML content of the first XML data format to an internal proprietary second XML data format using the tag information contained in the first XML data format. The second XML data format is subsequently transformed in a third XML data format suitable for delivery to the user in an out-bound documents.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This is related to Viswanath et al., co-filed U.S. patent application Ser. No.: 09/982,214 titled “DOCUMENT EXCHANGE FRAMEWORK FOR AUTOMATED EXTENSIBLE MARKUP LANGUAGE PROCESSING IN AN E-PROCUREMENT System and Method”. To the extent not repeated herein, the contents of this patent application are incorporated herein by reference.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present claimed invention relates generally to the field of wireless communication systems. More particularly, the present claimed invention relates to Extensible Markup Language (XML) content retrieval and transformation in an electronic purchasing and procurement environment.

BACKGROUND ART

The Internet has become the dominant vehicle for data communications with a vast collection of computing resources, interconnected as a network from sites around the world. And with the growth of Internet usage has come a corresponding growth in the usage of Internet devices, wireless devices and services in a way different from the traditional uses of such devices.

The growing base of Internet Users has become accustomed to readily accessing Internet-based services, which traditionally were restricted or limited to the “client/server” environment, at any time from any location. Accessibility to traditional business services and products over the Internet means enterprises have to adjust to new paradigms of transacting business.

Consequently, some organizations are, for example, scrambling to implement e-commerce and customer relationship management (CRM) strategies to increase revenue and bring them closer to their customer base. But organizations that are committed to an e-business strategy realize that their procurement operations are an equally critical aspect of their business. By implementing a sound e-procurement solution, organizations can truly integrate with their supply chain partners and realize dramatic business efficiencies and cost saving in purchasing everything from office supplies to services to raw materials.

For any organization, procuring goods and services is a core business function that is critical to the successful operations of the company. All organizations must procure “indirect” goods such as office supplies and other materials that support business operations and enable maintenance and repair operations (MROs) to function.

In addition, many organizations must also procure “direct” goods, such as raw materials or components that are used in manufacturing processes. Other goods or services that organizations must procure include travel, consulting services and equipment.

Many large organizations have dedicated resources that handle procurement at a corporate level. By centralizing procurement, organizations can bring control over the entire process and improve their purchasing efficiencies. Unfortunately, in many organizations, procurement is still a fragmented, paper-intensive process that involves many forms, phone calls, and approval cycles. Just as procurement requires interfacing with multiple suppliers, it requires interacting with different areas of the organization (accounting, management, lines of business, receiving, etc.) each of which may have different processes and approval flows.

As organizations begin to embrace e-business technologies for selling goods and serving their customers online, they are also beginning to look at the efficiencies that e-commerce technologies can bring their internal procurement operations. Thus, e-procurement is quickly assuming a highly strategic role within the e-business strategies of many organizations.

With e-procurement, organizations can move the entire purchasing catalogs into a central catalog of products from approved suppliers, helping buyers quickly locate goods and services. E-procurement helps automate the formerly time consuming review process typically required to approve requisitions and initiate purchases. Finally e-procurement helps the organization realize efficiencies by accelerating the purchasing process, identifying existing inventory to minimize redundant purchasing, detecting unauthorized spending, determining purchasing patterns for improved budgeting, and ensuring contract compliance.

As the number of business applications on the Internet increases, having restricted content and very limited information about goods and services transactions over the Internet impairs the ability of purchasing professionals to take advantage of Internet technologies and provide efficient and cost effective services.

SUMMARY OF INVENTION

Accordingly, to take advantage of the myriad of e-commerce applications being developed, an e-purchasing and e-procurement system are needed with extensibility capabilities to allow content requests from purchasing requisitioners to the e-purchasing and e-procurement system to be formatted based on available Internet purchasing standards. Further, a need exists for a system and method of presentation formatting of content to be different from the formatting logic of the user's request to enable quick implementation of data gathered for presentation to the client. A need exists for “out-of-the-box” solutions to allow technically unsophisticated end-users to connect to the Internet and perform sophisticated purchasing and procurement decisions and activities not available in the prior art in an organization's purchasing environment without unduly tasking the end-user's technical abilities. A need further exists for an improved and less costly device independent system, which improves efficiency and provides content to various users of different configurations without losing the embedded features designed for these devices.

What is described is an e-procurement system having a portal server supporting a robust procurement system providing a wide range of features that purchasing and procurement applications require including storing capabilities for various purchasing and procurement functions in a business environment. In one embodiment of the present invention, the procurement system includes a catalog management system that integrates information from multiple external catalogs that include a collection of goods and services that may be ordered electronically from a database repository into a consolidated catalog of goods and services from approved suppliers to enable a purchasing or procurement agent to purchase items over the Internet.

In one embodiment of the present invention, the procurement processing system includes a requisition and order management module that helps organizations to streamline the requisitions process in the organization. The requisition and order management module allows users to request multiple items from different suppliers or a single requisition from a plurality of back-end resource servers on the Internet and transforms the content into a format suitable for delivery to the client. In one embodiment, an Extensible Markup Language (XML) content is formatted to transform the XML content from an external source into an appropriate markup content for delivery to a request from a user of the e-procurement system of the present invention.

The present invention further includes a Data Mapping Framework that allows multiple documents to be delivered at multiple locations based on a single requisition request by a user. The Data Mapping Framework allows the e-procurement system of the present invention to automatically process inbound and outbound XML document requests handled by the e-procurement system.

Embodiments of the present invention are also directed to a system and a method for accepting in-bound order requests in a first data format from users and transmitting out-bound orders in a second data format that is substantially different from the first data format. The document framework of the present invention is further utilized to accept communications from the system formatting and presentation in the electronic purchasing and procurement environment of a business enterprise. In general, embodiments of the present invention vary the degree of handling supplier or buyer requests to a plurality of purchase orders or requisitions from a plurality of order catalogs from web-sites based on a plurality of suppliers connecting to the electronic procurement environment. The present invention implements internal proprietary content request formatting to retrieve extensible markup language content form a data-source external to the e-procurement system or from a file-system on a server based on detailed user request information. In other words, the embodiments of the invention provide user specific content request formatting and presentation of content gathered from various back-end resources and presented in a consolidated form in the e-procurement environment.

Embodiments of the invention include an extensible markup language (XML) content generation and transformation solution designed to improve the handling of Open Buying on the Internet (OBI) Standard content requests from a variety of user requisition requests to the procurement and purchasing system of the present invention. The requested information may be gathered from a variety of supplier catalog over a variety of web-sites and integrated for presentation to a variety of different user requests. The present invention allows for the intelligent mapping of Internet based OBI standard language content requests to the purchasing and procurement system using one or more Internet access protocols available to the user to format the data gathered into a coherently and cohesively formatted content into one or more markup language documents suitable for delivery to the requesting user.

To achieve the content request delivery formatting and data presentation formatting of the present invention, embodiments provide a software-implemented process based on the XML data mapping format for use in an Internet purchasing based environment using a variety of markup languages to format data content to any number of documents without modifying the underlying code. Contents of the purchase requisition are then mapped into an internal proprietary XML data format to allow for the quick and effective processing of the purchase requests. The mapped XML data is then reformatted and delivered in an XML format suitable for delivery in response to the purchase request. In one embodiment of the present invention, an Extensible Markup Language (XML) may be used to format content requests from the user to the purchasing and procurement system. The purchasing and procurement system then may use a sub-processing XDOC framework to generate XML data fetched and parsed in response to the user's request.

Embodiments of the present invention generate internal tags which correspond to tag information contained in the OBI XML data presented to the e-procurement system of the invention. The internal tag is then used to access mapping information responsive to the OBI XML data from a database that stores data and objects that correspond to the OBI XML data. The internal tag further allows the data mapping framework to reference associated attribute information from the database with respect to each data object.

Embodiments of the present invention include an extensible configuration file that is text based and allows a user of the e-procurement system to dynamically change file characteristics of the contents of the purchase request.

Embodiments of the present invention further include mapping logic that maps the OBI XML content of a purchase order of a first format into an intermediary second data format for processing by the Data Mapping Framework. The second data format is subsequently transformed into a third data format suitable for delivery in response to the particular purchase order.

Embodiments of the present invention receive a user purchase requisition request from a particular user using an Internet based Open Buyer's Interface standard protocol. OBI is the standard used to connect multiple e-commerce sites together to provide real time data sharing between suppliers and purchasers. OBI allows multiple Internet sites to behave as one site.

Embodiments of the present invention generate out-bound documents in response to the in-bound requests from purchasers over the Internet. Out-bound documents are generated in XML which is a batched process data from one site to another. XML allows systems to be updated as data is passed back and forth from one system to another. The present invention allows the XML data to be configured to export and import data to the appropriate system on-demand, share real-time data between multiple sites and effectively keep site data in synchronization.

A sub-process is used for formatting the requested data for presentation to the requesting client. In this embodiment, the present invention associates the contents of a purchase order to an arbitrary XML data source in a database associated with the e-procurement system. The retrieved XML data is transformed using a proprietary data object and attributes transformation logic into an appropriate format such as a Hyper-Text Markup Language and a host of other markups languages.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Reference will now be made in detail to the preferred embodiments of the invention, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings. While the invention will be described in conjunction with the preferred embodiments, it will be understood that they are not intended to limit the invention to these embodiments.

The invention is directed to a system, an architecture, subsystem and method to manage an extensible markup language content request formatting and presentation processes in an e-commerce procurement and purchasing environment in a way superior to the prior art. In accordance with an aspect of the invention, an e-procurement and e-purchasing system provides users both content request formatting processes and presentation formatting processes that enable order requisitions to be electronically processed on-line on the Internet.

In the following detailed description of the present invention, a system and method for Internet protocol based communication system are described. Numerous specific details are not set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of the present invention. However, it will be recognized by one skilled in the art that the present invention may be practiced without these specific details or with equivalents thereof.

Generally, an aspect of the invention encompasses providing an integrated e-procurement and e-purchasing system having a wide range of order requisition, process, acknowledgement and other services to online users who may connect to an enterprise system of on-line purchasing and requisitions. The invention can be more fully described with reference toFIGS. 1 through 8B.

FIG. 1depicts an e-commerce procurement and purchasing environment of one embodiment of the present invention. The on-line purchasing and procurement environment100shown inFIG. 1comprises computer server110, e-Purchase and e-Procurement system120, Interface130, Database140, Directory150and Memory160.

Server110is coupled to provide an e-platform application server for the e-procurement and e-purchasing environment of the present invention. Server110provides a user with a single sign-on facility to the e-procurement system of the present invention, as well as the ability to customize the e-procurement system. Server110provides scalability and high availability to the user.

E-Procurement system120is coupled to Server110to provide an on-line centralized control for buying goods and services for enterprise operations. E-Procurement system120is a business-to-business application for purchasing and procurement professionals who are within an organization in the enterprise. E-Procurement system120is further extensible to allow non-professional purchasing and procurement persons with the enterprise to purchase consumables, such as office supplies, small office equipment and services from suppliers on the Internet.

Still referring toFIG. 1, Interface130couples to e-Procurement system120and provides a foundation for order submissions, and establishes communication between a customer and legacy systems and the e-Procurement system120of the present invention.

Interface130further supports secure transmission of data over public and private networks, as well as the storage of documents, tracking of services and the management of tasks. In one embodiment of the present invention, Interface130supports the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) ASCII12and other communication interface standards. Interface130further supports the use of graphical tools for mapping, translation and conversion of any file format such as Electronic Data Interface (EDI) to any other file format.

Database140is coupled to the e-Procurement system120to provide ordering and catalog information to the user. Database140may be an “off-the-shelf” software product such as those sold by Oracle corporation of Redwood City, Calif.

In the e-Procurement system120of the present invention, Database140also provides an intermediary storage facility of catalog information where orders are stored that originated by a user. In-bound orders are processed by e-Procurement system120using order information retrieved from the catalogs stored in Database140. E-Procurement system120transmits out-bound order documents based on available catalog information from a supplier to the buyer.

Directory150ofFIG. 1is coupled to e-Procurement system120to store membership information of users of the e-Procurement system120. Directory150also stores information on the suppliers, as well as location information of buyers and sellers in order to facilitate an effective and efficient communication of order and supply information between enterprises.

Memory160is coupled to the Server110to store transient copies of purchase requisitions stored in Database140. A purchase order requisition of catalog information stored in Memory160has a one-to-one correlation with data objects stored in Database140. Information stored in Memory160may be stored as Java objects, or the like, in a manner well known in the art.

Referring now toFIG. 2, a block diagram of one embodiment of the e-Procurement system120of the present invention is shown. As shown inFIG. 2, e-Procurement system120comprises catalog managing module200, catalog pricing engine210, Document Exchange (XDOC) module220, Mapping Module230and Rule engine module240. Also shown inFIG. 2is DOC Interface module130which is coupled to XDOC220.

To make products available to buyers, suppliers organize product information into catalogs. The product information data structure in a catalog is a hierarchy of categories with items under these categories. The ways of representing this information vary from supplier to supplier, even among suppliers of similar products.

Catalog management module200allows suppliers to map their existing catalogs to the e-Procurement system120using a set of graphical interface tools. Catalog management module200allows for a quick real-time catalog creation and maintenance by providing creation of buyer managed content.

Catalog management module200further enables a system administrator of the e-Procurement system120to create and maintain a standardized structure that maps supplier catalog data to an e-procurement and purchasing environment. Catalog management module200also provides the system administrator with the environment to create and manage group-specific buyers and suppliers catalog and generate requisitions and purchase products.

Pricing module210is coupled to Catalog management module200to provide pricing rules for catalog items provided by various suppliers. Pricing module210is configurable to allow the control of the flow of pricing information for purchase requests between a purchaser and a supplier in the e-purchasing and e-procurement environment of the present invention.

XDOC220is coupled to Catalog management module200to automatically process in-bound order requests to the e-Procurement system120and the corresponding out-bound order data. E-Procurement system120generates XML documents for completing in-bound and out-bound transactions to suppliers etc. XDOC220examines the tags of any incoming document to the e-Procurement system120and determines whether a corresponding object to the tag is stored in Database140.

If the incoming document tag has a corresponding database data object, XDOC220populates the incoming requests with the attributes that correspond to the identified object tag. For example, an incoming document may have a tag in the incoming XML file such as <billing address>. This tag is defined by the present invention as a data object as <bill to> in Database140.

Upon identifying the <billing address> tag, XDOC220immediately associates the tag with the <bill to> data object in Database140and subsequently populates the attributes associated with the <bill to> object. In the present invention, XDOC220has the flexibility to write out XML files in different formats. The files can be in OBI or non-OBI formats depending on how the business rules are set up.

Still referring toFIG. 2, Mapping Module230is coupled to XDOC module220to provide a two step mapping process in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention to transform OBI compliant XML files and non-OBI compliant XML files into an internal XML compliant file suitable to the e-Procurement system120. The two step mapping scheme enables the e-Procurement system120to handle the translation of the output or the input of any XML document of any XML standard or version without modification of the underlying file code.

Rules module or engine240is coupled to XDOC220to provide the underlying business rules that control the operating transaction principles of the e-Procurement system120. In the present invention, Rules module240is configurable with generalized statements that allow system administrators to control the flow and behavior of e-procurement and purchasing system120. The underlying business rules sematics may not be as complex as a full programming language that allows the user to perform typical customizations such as page layouts, icon layouts and other “click and surf” functions typical in Internet computing.

FIG. 3is a block diagram depiction of an exemplary process flow of the Open Buying on the Internet (OBI) standard which is the underlying standard utilized in Interface130. The process flow shown inFIG. 3comprises the interaction of these entities: requisition310, Buying320and Supplier330.

Requisition310may be the user with a need for a product or service, who meets this need by querying the Supplier330catalogs for the required items. The Requisition310generates order requests and queries order status to the e-Procurement system120using an Internet browser.

Buyer320represents a purchasing management and information system which supports purchasing and procurement functions within an enterprise. These systems include an OBI server for receiving OBI order requests and retrieving OBI orders. The system further includes handling a requisition profile information, trading partner information and other information necessary to complete an order. The Buyer320also negotiates and maintains contractual relationship with the Supplier330.

Supplier330maintains a dynamic electronic catalog that represents accurate product and price information that can be tailored based on the organization's affiliation of the requisitioner310. Product and price information reflects the contract with a buyer. The supplier's catalog should be integrated effectively with inventory and order management system and an OBI server for sending OBI order requests and receiving OBI orders.

FIG. 4is a block diagram illustration of an exemplary data structure layout of files and data objects of one embodiment of the e-Procurement system120of the present invention. As shown inFIG. 4, the file structure of the e-Procurement system120comprise requisition400, line groups410and lines420which represent files structure stored in Memory160.

The e-Procurement file system structure further comprises requisition400b, line group410band line420bwhich represent data objects which are stored in Database140and map to files in the file structure stored in Memory160. In the present invention, line objects describe line item entries, such as the description of an item being purchased, the quantity, the location of the buyer or the supplier, etc., in a purchase order that specifies the order by a buyer or response to an order from a supplier respectively. And each line object has attributes which define the classes and sub-classes for items in a catalog. For example, the purchase number, the expiration date of the order, the creation date of the order, the modification date of the order, etc.

Requisition400and the corresponding data objects requisition400brepresent an electronic list of items a buyer has. A requisition is a purchase request that has not yet been approved as a purchase order. In the present invention, Requisitions400and400binclude templates that can be used to create another requisition. The template can contain actual items that are repeatedly ordered or other types of information such as default billing, shipping and approval information.

Line group410and the corresponding data objects410brepresent groups of line items contained in a number of purchase requisitions which indicate the type of items that a buyer orders or a supplier has available for sale. Line groups from a number of requisitions and may include, for example, Invoice line numbers, Order codes, Order line item number, etc.

Lines420and the corresponding data objects lines420brepresent the line items contained in each purchase requisition. As shown inFIG. 4, each line in memory maps to a data object line in Database140. Also, each line in either Memory160or Database140maps to a line in Line group410and410brespectively. In the present invention, line groups and lines are data items which are stored in Database140as data objects and data attributes.

Although the data objects and attributes may differ, the document transformation logic of the present invention relates the data object and attributes in a manner that enable the XDOC220to retrieve data in a relational manner when exact information of a purchase requisition is not found in the Database140. The function and method of the file layout in Database140and Memory160is described in co-pending U.S. patent application titled “Dynamic Criteria Based Line-Grouping mechanism and method for Purchase Order Generation”, filed on Oct. 15, 2001, Ser. No.09/981,147, assigned to the assignee of the present invention and hereby incorporated by reference herein.

FIG. 5is block diagram depiction of one embodiment of the Mapping Module230of the present invention. As shown inFIG. 5, the Mapping Module230comprises Processing Unit500, in-bound documents510-530and out-bound documents540-560.

Processing Unit500comprises XML processing logic for automatically processing order requests and responses in XML or other applicable markup languages for purchase requisitions made via the e-Procurement system120of the present invention.

Process unit500generates XML documents for sending out order requests to suppliers by buyers or procurement professionals. Processing unit500also handles in-bound request documents (e.g.,510-530) emanating from suppliers responding to order requests from buyers using the e-Procurement system120of the present invention. The Processing Unit500uses a “documents exchange logic” to automate the processing of in-bound request documents and out-bound response documents by relating file information contained in the in-bound and out-bound documents to data objects and attributes retrieved from Database140based on a prior knowledge of the user's characteristics.

Still referring toFIG. 5, the in-bound documents comprise documents510-530which typically represent an OBI855document for handling order acknowledgements from a supplier and also represent OBI856documents which typically handle advance shipping instructions from the supplier to the buyer indicating when goods ordered by the buyer may be delivered. The in-bound documents further include OBI865documents which typically represent order cancellation acknowledgements from the supplier to the buyer acknowledging receipt of an order cancellation by the buyer.

Out-bound documents comprise documents540which typically represent OBI XML documents which may include an XML translation of the entire in-bound document set present to the Processing unit500. Document540is included in out-bound documents to typically represent OBI850documents which represent Purchase Order generation to the supplier. Purchase Orders represent requisitions that have been approved by the buyer for supply by the supplier.

Document550represents OBI860documents set which typically include order changes that are submitted by the buyer to the supplier after a purchase order has been provided to the Supplier.

FIG. 6is a block diagram depiction of one embodiment of the internal architecture of the Mapping Module230of the present invention. As shown inFIG. 6, Mapping module230comprises Configuration Module600, Internal XML Mapper610and dataModel module620. The Mapping Module230performs a two step XML file translation process which enables the e-Procurement system120to handle XML files from a variety of external sources without having to modify the underlying code of these files in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.

Configuration Module600is coupled to receive incoming OBI-XML and non-OBI-XML files from purchase requisition documents presented to the e-Procurement system120. The Configuration Module600provides a mechanism for the e-Procurement system120to define the relationship between objects, attributes and tables of records of catalog items supported by the e-Procurement system120in the e-procurement environment. The Configuration Module600is configurable and customizable by the user to include XML tags of catalog objects and attributes that may be translated from incoming documents to the internal XML file. These tags may include, for example, <bill-to-address> which relates to a typical XML tag <Billing Location>, <send-to-address> which relates to a typical XML tag <receiving location>, etc. The data received by the Configuration module600is presented to the Internal XML mapper610.

The Internal XML Mapper610ofFIG. 6is coupled to the Configuration Module600to receive the external XML tags (e.g., OBI-XML) and translate these tags into an internal XML objects known as Buyer-XML or bx_XML. The Internal XML Mapper610includes logic that enables the Mapping Module230retrieve XML objects stored in Memory160and write out OBI compliant XML files depending on the objects and attributes stored in Database140and specified by the user.

Files translation in the Internal XML Mapper610is achieved by the use of dataModel Module620which is utilized by XDOC220to traverse Database140to retrieve data objects corresponding to the inbound external XML files presented to Mapping Module230. DataModel Module620includes flags that may be set by XDOC220in order to selectively retrieve object and attributes from Memory160and Database140. DataModel Module620is configurable by the user to set flags that allows the e-Procurement system120to compile the underlying XDOC220code.

In an embodiment of the present invention, when XDOC220is configured for no-OBI compliant files, then there are some custom properties in the dataModel Module620that determines which attributes of a purchase order are to be written out for delivery to a supplier. The following illustrates an exemplary embodiment of such custom attribute:

“order_header” NTV {“Class_name” Str “order_header”,“attribute” NTV {“order_id” NTV {“attr_name” Str “order_id”“schema” NTVArr {{“schema” Str “order_header”,“schema_attr” Str “order_id”}. . . . . .
The above example shows that the order_id of a requisition should not be written out while writing an outbound purchase order. However, other attributes in the purchase order may be written out.

The above example also shows how attributes of a given object can be selectively written out during the implementation of XDOC220. Thus, in the present invention, the Mapper Module230is configurable to specify the Purchase order/custom property for relationships between different objects. This allows the user the ability to specify if a line group, for example, is written out then line objects associated with the line group are also written out.

Of course, while writing out the line objects, the purchase order custom property for each attribute of the line group is examined. And only those attributes which have the purchase order variable set to true are written out.

FIG. 7is a block diagram depiction of one embodiment of the Internal XML mapper610of the present invention. As shown inFIG. 7, the Internal XML mapper610comprises Database traverse module (DTM)700, Flag setting module710and XML data customizing module720.

Database traverse module700is coupled to provide traversing capabilities to the Internal XML mapper610. DTM700recursively traverses Database140using the internal tags generated by the Two Step Mapper230in response to the OBI XML data presented in a purchase order, to retrieve data objects or related data objects from Database140. DTM700further retrieves data attributes that correspond to the data objects identified by the tags. In the present invention, the Two Step Mapper230utilizes data relationships to directly map data objects which directly correspond to the OBI XML data presented in a purchase order or may use a relationship logic to map the OBI XML data to data objects which may relate to items in the purchase order.

Flag setting module710couples to DTM700to provide data write out selectivity to the Two Step Mapper230. The mapping logic of the Two Step Mapper230can set Flag setting module710to indicate those contents of the data objects and attributes retrieved from Database140that can be written out in response to an in-bound document. Flag setting module710is either set to a “yes” or a “no” to indicate when data should be written out in an out-bound document.

XML data customizing module720provides the DTM700with the capability to selectively retrieve data objects from the Database140based on the contents of Flag setting module710and the attributes associated with a particular data object.

FIGS. 8A and 8Bdepict a flow diagram illustration of one embodiment of the mapping of in-bound and out-bound documents, respectively, in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention. The process illustrated inFIG. 8AandFIG. 8Bis implemented as computer instruction code stored in memory and executed by a computer system processor. As shown inFIG. 8A, an in-bound document processing starts at step800when the contents of the in-bound documents are received by the Mapper Module230. At step810, the files in the in-bound document is mapped to the internal XML files of the Mapper Module230.

At step820, the Configuration file600is modified to include data objects and attributes in the in-bound document that are not present in Database140. The new attributes of the data objects from the resulting Configuration file modification are used to then populate the Configuration Module600at step830.

To generate out-bound documents responsive to the in-bound documents, the mapping logic in Mapper Module230traverses the Database140using dataModel Module620at step840. In the present invention, Database140can be traversed at either the data object level or the attribute level.

At step850, processing flags are activated to enable the disabling of data objects or attribute write outs by the mapping logic. At decision step860, the mapping logic checks the data write out flag to determine whether the flag is set to true. If the write-out flag is set to true, the attribute/object of the contents of the out-bound documents is written out at step870. On the other hand, if the data write out flag is set to false, the data write-out step870is skipped.

At step decision step880, the mapping logic checks to determine if new attributes have to be added to the Configuration file Module600. If new attributes are to be added, the Configuration file Module600is modified and the in-bound file is converted from the internal XML file (e.g., bx_XML) into a markup file suitable for delivery with the out-bound documents at step890. However, if no new attributes have to be added, processing of the out-bound documents ends.