Abstract:
Web portal application customization methods and systems using profiles allow developers to expose different functionalities and a different look and feel to users belonging to different user profiles. Specifically, the method allows a developer to define default and profile-specific transitions as well as default and profile-specific states. Upon request of a transition by a workflow engine, the system transparently provides the workflow engine with a profile-specific transition if a profile-specific transition associated with the user is available. If a profile-specific transition is not available, the system provides the application with a default transition. Likewise, the system transparently provides the application with a profile-relevant state according to the profile of the user and the availability of a profile-specific state. Accordingly, the method may implement highly customizable functionalities and look and feel effectively and cost-efficiently.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
       [0001]    1. Priority Claim. 
         [0002]    This application claims the benefit of EPO Application No. 09425440.6, filed Nov. 2, 2009, which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. 
         [0003]    2. Technical Field. 
         [0004]    This application relates to customization of web portal applications, and more particularly relates to a method and system for supporting the customization of web portal applications using profiles such that highly customized web portal applications may be developed based on a single software code base. 
         [0005]    3. Related Art. 
         [0006]    More businesses are utilizing the Internet to provide services to other businesses or individuals. Recently, web portal applications, which allow businesses to provide information and services to others on a web site hosted on the Internet, have become a popular means of providing such services. To provide a certain service on the Internet, a web portal application specifically designed to provide such a service was developed. Since a web portal application was designed specifically to provide a certain service, new web portal applications needed to be developed from the ground up to provide a different type of service or to add support for an additional type of service. In addition, as the number of businesses utilizing web portal applications increased and therefore the number of businesses providing similar services on the Internet increased, a need to differentiate the look and feel of the web portal application arose. Also, the user base to which the businesses provided services became larger and more diverse. To accommodate the diversity of the user base and the different types of services offered through the web portal application, a need arose to provide a different application behavior and a different look and feel to suit the requirements of each user. 
         [0007]    However, software code underlying the web portal application, in order to provide a new service or to provide a different look and feel for different users, had to be significantly—or even entirely—re-written, and a significant amount of effort and resources had to be invested. 
         [0008]    Thus, the technical challenges include providing a method and system that allow an efficient, reliable and cost-effective way to develop a web portal application suited for different kinds of services and users. 
       SUMMARY 
       [0009]    The disclosed method and system provide a more efficient, customizable way of developing a web portal application. The system receives profiles of various types of user. The system further receives default and profile-specific states and default and profile-specific transitions. The states may be bound to web pages which may represent graphical user interfaces (“GUIs”) displayed at various steps of a workflow of the web portal application. The transitions may represent business logic performed by a software program between the steps of the workflow. The system further identifies the profile associated with a user of the web portal application. The system selects and retrieves a state from a memory and displays a web page bound to the state. Further, the system may receive from the user a transition input available for the displayed state. The transition input may include, for example, an instruction to proceed to the next state of the workflow or an instruction to return to a previous state of the workflow. Upon receipt of the transition input from the user, the system retrieves from the memory a transition associated with the received transition input (“input-associated transition”). In retrieving the input-associated transition, the system determines whether or not an input-associated transition exists which corresponds to the identified profile of the user (“profile-specific transition”). If a profile-specific transition exists, the system retrieves from the memory the profile-specific transition as the input-associated transition. If no profile-specific transition exists, the system retrieves from the memory a default transition associated with the received transition input as the input-associated transition. Subsequently, the system performs the tasks specified in the retrieved input-associated transition. 
         [0010]    In retrieving the selected state, the system determines whether or not a version of the selected state exists which corresponds to the identified profile of the user (“profile-specific state”). If a profile-specific state exists, the system retrieves from the memory the profile-specific state as the selected state. If no profile-specific state exists, the system retrieves from the memory a default version of the selected state as the selected state. 
         [0011]    Other systems, methods, features and advantages will be, or will become, apparent to one with skill in the art upon examination of the following figures and detailed description. All such additional systems, methods, features and advantages are included within this description, are within the scope of the invention, and are protected by the following claims. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0012]    The system may be better understood with reference to the following drawings and description. The elements in the figures are not necessarily to scale, emphasis instead being placed upon illustrating the principles of the various embodiments of the invention. In the figures, like-referenced numerals designate corresponding features throughout the different views. 
           [0013]      FIG. 1  shows a general overview of the components of an embodiment of the invention. 
           [0014]      FIG. 2  shows a brief overview of the operation an embodiment of the invention. 
           [0015]      FIG. 3  shows a system diagram of an embodiment of the invention. 
           [0016]      FIG. 4  shows an overview of the profile-managing mechanism of an embodiment of the invention. 
           [0017]      FIG. 5  shows an example of a state diagram of the operation of an embodiment of the invention. 
           [0018]      FIG. 6  shows a flow diagram of logic that an embodiment of the invention may employ to provide customizable workflow of a web portal application. 
           [0019]      FIG. 7A  shows an example of transitions which may be implemented in an embodiment of the invention. 
           [0020]      FIG. 7B  shows a diagram of a series of tasks which may be implemented in transitions in an embodiment of the invention. 
           [0021]      FIG. 8  shows a flow diagram of logic that an embodiment of the invention may employ to provide a customizable GUI. 
           [0022]      FIG. 9  shows an example of software code for templates used for implementing a GUI. 
           [0023]      FIG. 10  shows a detailed example of software code for profile-specific sections of a template used for implementing a customizable GUI. 
           [0024]      FIG. 11  shows an example of a customizable GUI. 
           [0025]      FIG. 12  shows a diagram representing the structure of a sitemap resource file. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
       [0026]      FIG. 1  shows an overview  100  of the components of an embodiment of the system according to the current invention (“system”). The system includes a profile manager  102  which stores and manages user profile information. The profile manager  102  may communicate with various components of the system such as a template manager  104 , a data validation provider  106 , a workflow engine  108 , reference data sources  110  and a sitemap provider  112 . The profile manager  102  may provide user profile information to the system components upon request by the system components. The workflow engine  108  drives the application processes as well as the user interaction through a sequence of defined steps. The workflow engine  108  may be implemented, for example, using Microsoft™ Windows Workflow Foundation™ technology. The template manager  104  may be implemented as an independent component which may provide templates on which a graphical user interface (GUI) of the web portal application may be built. The template manager  104  allows for a complete separation between the data and their presentation to the user. The data validation provider  106  may also be an independent component communicating with the profile manager  102  to provide various data checking services as required by the workflow of the web portal application. The data validation provider  106  may also be in communication with the template manager  104  (not shown). Reference data sources  110  may be a database which may store miscellaneous reference data sources, such as repositories for storing data which may be needed for implementing a web portal application, interface messages and localization databases. The sitemap provider  112  may also be an independent component which may store information about the hierarchy of web pages, flow structure and accessible resources. The sitemap provider  112  may be implemented using, for example, Microsoft™ ASP.NET™ framework. 
         [0027]      FIG. 2  shows an example  200  of the operation of the system to provide a customizable workflow using profiles. A workflow may comprise a sequence of data retrieval, product configuration, and/or data submission steps and may be represented as a sequence of states linked to each other by transitions. The transitions and the states may be implemented as instances of base classes defined by the Microsoft™ Windows Workflow Foundation™ library. A state may be bound to a specific web page for data presentation and data entry by a user. A state&#39;s association with a specific web page may be implemented by extending the Windows Workflow Foundation™ component using, for example, Microsoft™ Web Client Software Factory™, allowing each state to point to a specific web page. The web pages may be implemented and stored by an independent component, for example an ASP.NET™ library. A transition may define a sequence of tasks to be executed sequentially in order to proceed successfully to the next state in the workflow. The task defined in the transition may be business logic necessary for implementing a web portal application. Associations between the states and the transitions may be implemented, for example, by storing their associations in XML files, which may be edited through visual editing tools. Transitions between the states may be triggered by user input. 
         [0028]    The workflow engine  108  may begin a workflow of a web portal application by selecting an initial state  202 . The initial state  202  may be associated with the transition “process start”  204 , which may navigate the workflow to the “standard process state 1”  206 . The state  206  may be associated with a transition  210  which performs a default task, and a profile specific variant transition  208 , which performs a task specific to a profile. While the example  200  shows that only one variant transition  208  is associated with the “standard process state 1”  206 , more than one variant transition may be associated with a state. 
         [0029]    A variant is a transition or state which is selected and executed by the system only for a user having a specific profile. The workflow engine  108  may request a transition to be performed. Upon a request for a transition by the workflow engine  108 , the system may engage in “profiling”, meaning that the system may select and perform a version (default or variant) of the transition according to the profile of the current user. The “profiling” process is transparent to the workflow engine  108 . Therefore, the workflow engine  108  need not indicate a version of the transition to be performed. Through “profiling”, the system performs the variant transition—the “profile-specific transition 1”  208 —if the profile of the current user matches the profile with which the “profile-specific transition 1” is associated, and performs the default transition—the “default transition 1”  210 —if the profile of the current user does not match that of the “profile-specific transition 1”. 
         [0030]    If the current user&#39;s profile matches that of the “profile-specific transition 1”  208 , the “profile-specific transition 1” may navigate the workflow to the “variant state 1”  212 . In turn, the “variant state 1”  212  may be associated with a “profile specific transition 2”  214 , which may navigate the workflow to the “variant state 2”  216 . The variant state  216  may be associated with a “profile-specific transition 3”  218 , which may navigate the workflow to the “process final state”  224 . On the other hand, at state  206 , if the profile of the current user does not match that of the “profile-specific transition 1”  208 , the system will perform the “default transition 1”  210 , which may navigate the workflow to the “standard process state 2”  220 . The “standard process state 2”  220  may be associated with the “default transition 2”  222 , which may navigate the workflow to the “process final state”  224 . The “process final state”  224  may be associated with the “process end” transition  226 , which may end the workflow of the web portal application. As the example above describes, the system may, by engaging in profiling, provide for different workflows tailored to different user profiles using a single implementation of the workflow engine  108 , rather than having to implement different workflows for each user having a different profile. 
         [0031]      FIG. 3  shows the general configuration of a system  300  of an embodiment of the invention. The system  300  includes a processor  302 , a memory  304 , a profile manager  306 , a controller  308 , a template manager  310 , a data validation provider  312 , a sitemap provider  314 , a reference data source manager  316 , and a backend communication layer  318 . The components  302 - 318  may be coupled and be in communication among each other. The memory  304  may include a profile definition  320 . The profile definition  320  may include profiles  322  for a number of different users or a number of different types of users. A profile  322  may be implemented as a character string. For example, users associated with a company XYZ may be associated with a profile  322  which may be implemented as the character string “XYZ_Profile”. The profile  322  may be referenced by the components of the system  300  to select appropriate business logic suitable for a user associated with the profile. 
         [0032]    The memory  304  may further include a state definition  324  and a transition definition  326 . The state definition  324  may further include a default state  328  and profile-specific states  330 . Each profile-specific state is associated with a specific profile. The transition definition  326  may include a default transition  332  and profile-specific transitions  334 . Each profile-specific transition is associated with a specific profile. 
         [0033]    The memory  304  may also contain a template definition  336 , which stores a default template  338  and profile-specific templates  340 . Templates define the layout of the user interface of the web page that is bound to each state. A default template may further contain default sections  342  and/or profile-specific sections  344 . The templates may be implemented using the hypertext mark-up language (HTML). Templates allow for a simplified user interface creation and management. Using templates increases the separation between the user interface data management (data retrieval/interface build-up/read and store of user inputs) and the layout/rendering of the web page. For example, templates allow for independent management of the different features of the page layout, allowing for the reuse of recurring features, such as frames and data presentation forms, across many different web pages. 
         [0034]    The memory  304  may also include a sitemap resource file  346 . The sitemap resource file  346  stores information regarding the hierarchy of web pages and accessible resources available to a user. The sitemap resource file  346  may be implemented as an extensible markup language (XML) document. A web page may be represented as a node  348  inside the sitemap resource file  346 . Each node may contain a tag  350 , indicating association of the node with a profile of a user. The node  348  may also include other information regarding the web page it represents, such as properties of the web page. 
         [0035]    The memory  304  may also contain a workflow program  352  containing logic which, when executed by the processor  302 , causes the system to execute the workflow of the web application. The workflow engine  108  may be implemented as a part of the workflow program  352 . 
         [0036]    The profile manager  306 , which may be implemented as an independent component, identifies the identity of the current user, identifies the profile associated with the current user, and provides the identified profile information to components of the system  300  requesting such information. The controller  308  receives user inputs, and manages the transitions according to the user inputs and the workflow of the web portal application. The template manager  310  manages templates, which the system  300  utilizes to build the user interfaces of the web pages that are bound to the states of the web portal application. At the request of the workflow program  352 , the template manager  310  may retrieve the relevant template according to the profile of the current user to build the user interface of the web page. 
         [0037]    The data validation provider  312  may also be implemented as an independent component which receives data and performs validation on the data according to the profile of the user. The received data may be, for example, data input by the user in response to the request by the web portal application implemented by the system  300 . Validation may be, for example, performing an integrity check on the date received to ensure that the data received conforms to a predefined rule. In an illustrative example, a web page may be configured to receive a bank account number from a user. The bank account number received through the web page may be transmitted to and validated by the data validation provider  312 . Data validation provider  312  may provide the results back to the workflow program  352 , which may utilize the results according to the needs of the web portal application implemented by the system  300 . In the illustrative example discussed above, the bank account number may be validated by the data validation provider  312  for proper format, and the workflow program  352  may issue a warning to the user if the format of the bank account number is not proper. 
         [0038]    The sitemap provider  314  may be implemented as an independent component which manages the sitemap resource file  346 . At the request of the workflow program  352 , the sitemap provider may search through the sitemap resource file  346  for a node  348  to identify properties associated with a web page and provide the identified information to the workflow application. 
         [0039]    The reference data source manager  316  manages reference data which may be stored in the memory  304 . The reference data may be for example, a list of values or configuration data which may be used in building the user interface of a web page or may otherwise be used in executing the workflow program  352 . 
         [0040]    The backend communication layer  318  manages communications between the system  300  and backend systems such as SRM and billing systems which may be necessary for the execution of the web portal application implemented by the system  300 . 
         [0041]      FIG. 4  shows an overview representing the profile-managing mechanism  400  which may be implemented in the system  300 . The profile-managing mechanism  400  may include three types of components: the application component  402 , the resource manager  404 , and the resource repository  406 . 
         [0042]    The application component  402  represents a component of the system  300  which implements specific business requirements. The application component  402  may request a resource  408  necessary for the fulfillment of the business requirements from a resource manager  404 . An example of an application component  402  is the workflow program  352 , which may request a resource  408  required for execution of the workflow of the web portal application from the resource manager  404 . In an illustrative example, in order to display a webpage bound to a state of a workflow, the workflow program  352  may request from the resource manager  404  a resource  408  necessary for displaying the web page bound to the state. In this example, the resource  408  may be a template for building the user interface of the webpage bound to the state of the workflow. 
         [0043]    The resource manager  404  represents components of the system  300  which may receive requests from an application component  402  for a resource  408 , and may cause an appropriate resource to be provided to the application component. The request for a resource  408  by the application component  402  may indicate the type of resource needed for fulfilling the business requirement that the application component  402  implements. The request may be made without indicating whether a profile-specific resource or a default resource is requested. In other words, the request made by the application component  402  is not “profiled”. Rather, the resource manager  404  effectively “profiles” the request by receiving a request and causing a “profiled” resource  408  to be delivered to the application component  402 . In other words, the resource manager  404  causes an appropriate resource  408  corresponding to the profile of the current user to be provided to the application component  402 . Depending on the type of request of the application component  402 , the resource manager  404  may be the controller  308 , the template manager  310 , the data validation provider  312 , the sitemap provider  314 , the reference data source  316 , or other components of the system  300  which may manage and cause data to be provided to the application component  402 . 
         [0044]    Upon request by the application component  402  for a resource  408 , the resource manager  404  may communicate with the profile manager  306  to identify a user profile  322  associated with the current user. The resource manager  404  may search the resource repository  406  to identify a correctly profiled version of the requested resource  408 , i.e., the version of the requested resource which corresponds to the identified profile  322 . 
         [0045]    The resource repository  406  may represent a repository or a group of repositories which store the resources  408 . If a profile-specific version of the requested resource  408  corresponding to the profile  322  of the current user is identified, the resource manager  404  causes the resource repository  406  to provide the identified profile-specific version of the requested resource to the application component  402 . If a profile-specific version of the requested resource  408  corresponding to the profile  322  of the current user is not identified, the resource manager  404  causes the resource repository  406  to provide a default version of the requested resource to the application component  402 . The resource repository  406  may be the memory  304 , or a memory or a database system specifically provided to store the type of resource managed by a specific resource manager  404 . 
         [0046]    The requested resource  408  may be, for example, a transition or a state managed by the controller  308 , a template managed by the template manager  310 , page property information managed by the sitemap provider  314 , or data managed by the reference data source manager  316 . 
         [0047]    A profile-specific resource may be identified by the profile name appended to the end of the name of the resource  408 . If the profile is called “profileA”, the resource manager  404  may look for a resource  408  with the name of the profile, “profileA”, appended to the end of the name of a resource. For example, if a template is named “main_window”, the name of a default version of the template may be “main_window”, while a profile-specific version of the template corresponding to a user associated with the “profileA” may be named “main_window_profileA”. Therefore, a template manager  310  processing a request for the template “main_window” for a profileA-user may look for the string “profile_A” appended to the end of the name “main_window”. 
         [0048]    Utilizing the web portal application customization system, a single web portal application may be developed to support variants which serve the needs of different businesses providing different services to its respective customers. In an illustrative example, a single web portal application may be developed for selling telephone cards to customers by two different companies, a company A and a company B. While some features of the phone cards or services provided by the web application may be similar, by using variants and profiles, the two companies may provide different user experience to the users and sell telephone cards having different features through a single web application. Different profiles may be associated with the customers of different companies, and differentiation of product features and user experience may be achieved by providing the variants associated with the profile of the current user to the workflow of the web portal application. 
         [0049]      FIG. 5  shows a diagram  500  illustrating an example of a relationship between the states and the transitions as implemented in a web portal application supporting multiple profiles. An initial state of a workflow may be set as the “CardSearch” state  502 , which is associated with the transition “CardSearch_goNext”. When the system  300  receives a transition input for the transition “CardSearch_goNext”, the workflow program  352  requests from the controller  308  a transition associated with the received transition input. The controller  308  communicates with the profile manager  306  to identify and retrieve the profile  322  of the current user. Using the information in the profile  322 , the controller  308  identifies a “profiled” transition (a “profiled” resource  408 ) in the memory  304  (the resource repository  406 ), and causes the memory  304  to provide the identified “profiled” transition to the workflow program  352 . 
         [0050]    In the example shown in  FIG. 5 , two types of resource  408  are available for the transition input “CardSearch_goNext”—the default transition “CardSearch_goNext”  504  and the profile-specific transition “CardSearch_goNext_profileA”  506 . In this case, the controller  308  identifies the transition “CardSearch_goNext_profileA”  506  as the profile-specific resource  408  since the string “profileA” is appended to the end of the name of the transition “CardSearch_goNext”. If the profile of the current user is “profileA”, the system  300  may select and execute the task defined in the profile-specific transition  506 . If the current user&#39;s profile is not “profileA”, the controller may not find a profile-specific resource for the profile of the current user. In this case, a default resource  408 —the transition  504 —may be selected and executed by the system  300 . In the case of a profileA-user, the transition  506  may cause the workflow to proceed to the profile-specific state  508 . 
         [0051]    The state  508  may be bound to a web page summarizing a list of phone cards that may be available for purchase, designed specifically for profileA-users. The state  508  may have two profile-specific transition inputs associated with it—the transition input “Summary_profileA_goBack” and the transition input “Summary_profileA_goNext”. The resource repository  406  may store transitions  510  and  512 , respectively, for the transition inputs. The transition  510  may cause the workflow to return to the previous state  502 , and the transition  512  may cause the workflow to proceed to the next state, the “ConfirmOrder” state  514 . 
         [0052]    In state  502 , if the profile of the current user is not “profileA”, the system  300  may retrieve and execute the default transition  504 , causing the workflow to proceed to the default state—the “Summary” state  516 . The state  516  may also display a web page summarizing a list of phone cards that may be available for purchase, designed for use by any non-profileA-users. The state  516  may be associated with two default transition inputs—the transition input “Summary_goBack” and the transition input “Summary_goNext”. The resource repository  406  may store the transitions  518  and  520 , respectively, for the transition inputs. The transition  518  may allow the workflow to return to the previous state  502 , and the transition  520  may allow the workflow to proceed to the next state, the “ConfirmOrder” state  514 . Since, in this example, no profile-specific state is associated with the state  514 , both transitions  512  and  520  may proceed to the same state  514 . The state  514  may be associated with two types of transition inputs—the transition input “ConfirmOrder_goNext” and the transition input “ConfirmOrder_goBack”. In this case, the transition input “ConfirmOrder_goNext” does not have a profile-specific transition associated with it. Therefore, if a transition input for the transition “ConfirmOrder_goNext” is received from the user, the system  300  may execute the default transition, the transition “ConfirmOrder_goNext”  522 , for users with any types of profiles. However, a profile-specific transition exists for the transition input “ConfirmOrder_goBack”. Therefore, if a transition input for the transition “ConfirmOrder_goBack” is received from the user, the system  300  may execute the default transition, the transition “ConfirmOrder_goBack”  524 , for the non-profileA-users, and the profile-specific transition, the transition “ConfirmOrder_goBack_ProfileA”  526 , for all profileA-users. 
         [0053]      FIG. 6  shows a flow diagram  600  of logic that the workflow program  352  of the system  300  may implement. The system  300  may receive from a developer of a web portal application a profile associated with a type of a user and store the profile in a resource repository  406  such as the memory  304  ( 602 ). The system  300  may further receive from the developer of the web portal application and store in memory  304 : default and profile-specific templates ( 604 ), default and profile-specific state definitions ( 606 ), default and profile-specific transition definitions ( 608 ), and a sitemap resource file  346  ( 610 ). The receiving and storing of the default and profile-specific templates, the default and profile-specific state definitions, the default and profile-specific transition definitions and the sitemap resource file may also be performed by other systems independent of the workflow program  352 . 
         [0054]    When the execution of the workflow begins, the system  300  selects an initial state ( 612 ). Next, the system  300  engages in “profiling” of the initial state—the workflow program  352  requests an initial state from the controller  308 , and the controller causes a “profiled” initial state to be provided to the workflow program  352 . In other words, the system  300  determines whether or not a profile-specific state corresponding to the profile of the current user exists ( 614 ). If a profile-specific state does not exist, the system selects a default state ( 616 ) and displays the web page to which the default state is bound. On the other hand, if the system  300  identifies a profile-specific state corresponding to the profile of the current user, the system selects the profile-specific state ( 618 ) and displays the web page to which the state is bound. 
         [0055]    At either the default or the profile-specific states, the system  300  may receive a transition input from a user, indicating a selection by the user among the transitions available for the displayed web page ( 620 ). Upon receiving the transition input from the user, the system  300  engages in “profiling” of the transition associated with the received transition input—the workflow program  352  requests a transition associated with the received transition input from the controller  308 , and the controller causes a “profiled” transition associated with the received transition input to be provided to the workflow program  342 . In other words, the system  300  determines whether or not a profile-specific transition corresponding to the transition input exists ( 622 ). And if a profile-specific transition does not exist, the system  300  selects a default transition corresponding to the transition input ( 624 ). If a profile-specific transition for the transition input exists, the system  300  selects the profile-specific transition corresponding to the transition input ( 626 ). Once either the default transition or the profile-specific transition is selected, the system  300  performs the actions defined in the selected transition ( 628 ). Depending on the actions defined in the transition, the workflow application  352  may end, or may select the next state according to the workflow ( 630 ). If a next state is selected, the logic may repeat from step  614  described above. 
         [0056]    In addition to being defined to proceed to a certain state, the transition may also be defined to perform a profile-specific task before proceeding from one state to another.  FIG. 7A  shows an illustrative example  700   a  of a default transition and a profile-specific transition proceeding to the same state. A state  702  may be associated with a transition which allows the workflow to proceed to the state  708 . In this example, the resource repository  406  contains a default transition  704  and a profile-specific transition  706  for the transition “SearchData_goNext”. Both the default transition  704  and the profile-specific transition  706  instruct the workflow to proceed to the same default state  708 . However, both the default transition  704  and the profile transition  706  may be defined to perform a business process specific to a profile before proceeding from state  702  to state  708 . 
         [0057]      FIG. 7B  shows a diagram  700   b  of a series of tasks which may be implemented in the transitions described in  FIG. 7A . The default transition  704  may begin with a task  712  which may initiate the transition. Next, the default transition  704  may execute the data retrieval module  714  for retrieving necessary data, for example, from the resource data source  316 . A default filter  716  may be applied to the retrieved data, and the default transition  704  may execute the module  718  for proceeding to the next state  708 . 
         [0058]    The profile-specific transition  706  may begin with a task  720  which may initiate the transition. Next, the transition  706  may execute the data retrieval module  714  for retrieving necessary data, for example, from the resource data source  316 . The retrieval module  714  may be the same module as the one used by the default transition  704 . Subsequently, a profile-specific filter  722  may be applied to the retrieved data, and the profile-specific transition  706  may execute the module  718  for proceeding to the next state  708 . Again, the module  718  for allowing the workflow to proceed to the next state  708  may be the same module used by the default transition  704 . As described above, the default transition  704  and the profile-specific transition  706  may be both defined to allow the workflow to proceed to the same state  708 , while performing data retrieval and filtering tasks which are specific to their associated profiles. 
         [0059]      FIG. 8  shows a flow diagram  800  of logic that the workflow program  352  in the system  300  may implement for displaying a web page bound to a state. When the system  300  selects a state, the system  300  may identify a web page bound to the state (not shown). The system  300  may also retrieve through the sitemap provider  314  information associated with the web page ( 802 ). The information may include, for example, accessibility information indicating whether or not a user may access the web page. The system  300  determines, based on the retrieved page properties, whether or not the current user may have access to the web page ( 804 ). If the current user has access to the web page, the system  300  proceeds to build the user interface of the web page. 
         [0060]    The web page may comprise one or more building blocks called webparts. A webpart may contain profile-independent computer software code for user interface definition and user input retrieval. The webpart may access the reference data source  316  to load lists of values used by the web portal application for implementing a business logic or configuration data necessary for the web page. The webpart may contain computer software code which requests the data validation provider  312  to validate data entry by the user. A web part may also utilize templates to build the user interface. The “profiling” of the web page and/or the webpart may be achieved through templates. A template may be retrieved through the template manager  310 . 
         [0061]    Continuing with  FIG. 8 , when accessing a template required by a webpart, the system  300 , through the template manger  310 , retrieves a “profiled” template for the webpart. In other words, the system  300  determines whether or not a profile-specific template exists for the requested template ( 806 ). If a profile-specific template exists, the profile specific template is selected ( 808 ), and the system applies the profile-specific template in building the user interface ( 810 ). If a profile-specific template does not exist, then the system  300  may select a default template ( 812 ). 
         [0062]    In an illustrative example, when the workflow program  352  requests a “Hompage.html” template for displaying a home page of the web portal application to a profileA-user, the system  300  may search through the memory  304  (resource repository  406 ) for a profile specific template for “Homepage.html”. A profile specific template may be identified with the name of the profile appended to the end of the name of the template. For example, a profile-specific template for the default template “Homepage.html” may be named “Homepage_profileA.html”. If a template named “Homepage_profileA.html” is identified in the memory  304  (resource repository  406 ), the workflow program  352  may select the template “Homepage_profileA.html”. If a template named “Hompage_profileA.html” is not found in the memory  304  (resource repository  406 ), then a default template, “Homapge.html”, may be selected. 
         [0063]    A template in turn may contain one or more sections, which may include a default section and/or a profile-specific section. Continuing further with  FIG. 8 , once a template is selected, the system  300  further determines whether or not, for each section in the template, the section is a default section ( 814 ). If the section is a default section, the system  300  applies the default section ( 816 ). If the section is not a default section, the system determines whether or not the section is a profile-specific section which corresponds to the profile of the current user ( 818 ). If the section is not a profile-specific section which corresponds to the profile of the current user, the system does not apply the profile-specific section. If the section is a profile-specific section which corresponds to the profile of the current user, the system applies the profile-specific section ( 820 ). For example, if the profile of the current user is “profileA”, then the system  300  applies all the sections marked for “profileA”, and may not apply sections marked, for example, for “profileB”, “profileC” or “profileD”. If a section is a default section, the system  300  may apply the section in building the user interface regardless of the current user&#39;s profile. 
         [0064]    The templates are now described in more detail. The templates may be implemented using HTML. However, the templates may also be implemented using other computer programming languages. A template may be designated and defined as a page template, defining a specific web page that defines the controls and the layout for the web page. However, a template may also be designated and defined as a layout template to specify a recurring page layout element of a web page, such as frames, information boxes or data entry fields. A page template may contain one or more layout templates. A layout template may contain one or more of other layout templates. 
         [0065]      FIG. 9  shows an example of a portion of code  900  for a page template. At the beginning of the code  900  for the page template, generic layout templates  902  may be called. A generic layout template may be a layout template that establishes the overall layout of a webpage which may be uniform across all profiles. Since the generic layout templates  902  are the same for all profiles, they may be called and reused by other templates as well. The page template may further include sections  904  and  906  which define the individual page layout features specific to the page template. Sections  904  and  906  may further include code  908  for specifically declaring and positioning page layout elements inside the webpage. 
         [0066]      FIG. 10  shows a detailed example of a portion of computer software code  1000  for implementing profile-specific sections of a template. As discussed above, a template may contain sections which may be specifically designated for a certain profile. The template may contain a “profileA”-section  1002 , and a “profileB”-section  1004 . A section may be implemented as a layout template or as any portion of a page template, and may be marked by an indicator containing the name of the profile. For example, section  1002  may contain a section identifier  1006  indicating that the section  1002  is a section specific for “profileA”. Section identifier  1008  indicates that the section  1004  is a section specific for “profileB”. 
         [0067]      FIG. 11  shows an example  1100  of two user interfaces built using an identical template containing a default section and a profileA-specific section (profile-specific section for a profileA user). The user interface  1102  may represent a web page displayed to a “profileA”-user, and the user interface  1104  may represent a web page displayed to a “profileB”-user. The template used to build both interfaces  1102  and  1104  may be the same template containing a default section for displaying the page feature  1106  and a profileA-specific section for displaying the page feature  1108 . When building a user interface for a profileA-user, the system displays both the default section  1106  and the profileA-specific section  1108 . However, when building a user interface for a profileB-user, the system only displays the default section  1106  and silences the profileA-specific section  1108 , since the profile of the user (“profileB”) does not match the profileA-specific section  1108 . A profile-specific section may be associated with only a single profile or may be associated with a plurality of profiles. 
         [0068]      FIG. 12  shows a diagram  1200  representing a structure of a sitemap resource file  346 . The sitemap resource file  346  may store information regarding the structure of the workflow of the web portal application. For example, the system  300  may use the information from the sitemap resource file  346  to display a sitemap graph in the form of a tree view showing graphically the hierarchy of web pages of the web portal application. The system  300  may also access the sitemap resource file  346  to determine the accessibility of a user to a certain web page. 
         [0069]    The sitemap resource file  346  may be implemented as a plurality of nodes arranged in a tree structure. Each node may represent a state or a webpage of the web portal application and may store information indicating the next node or nodes (“child”/“children” nodes, or “descendent” nodes) in the tree structure. Each node may also include information regarding the state or the webpage such as page properties of the state or the webpage. Each node may further include tags  350  (not shown in  FIG. 12 ; shown in  FIG. 3 ). A tag may contain accessibility information of a user to the page represented by the node. For example, the sitemap resource file  346  may include an “application root” node  1202 , having child nodes  1204  and  1206 . Each child node may represent the initial states of “business flow 1” and “business flow 2”, respectively. The child node  1204  may include a tag containing accessibility information which specifies that the node may be accessed by all types of users. The child node  1206  may include a tag containing accessibility information which specifies that the node may only be accessed by a profileA-user. 
         [0070]    The accessibility information of a node  350  may be propagated downwards in the tree structure. In other words, if the node  1206  is tagged such that only profileA-users are granted access, the descendent nodes  1208 , which are located downstream of the node  1206 , are also accessible only by profileA-users, despite the fact that the descendent nodes  1208  are not individually tagged with such accessibility information. The accessibility information of a node may also be specified not to be propagated downwards. For example, the node  1204  may contain a child node  1210 , which in turn may have a child node  1212 . Even though its grand-parent node  1204  is tagged to allow access to all types of users, the node  1212  may be tagged so that the node is inaccessible to a profileB-user. The accessibility of the node  1212  may also be specified not to propagate downwards, and the child node of the node  1212 , the node  1214 , may again be accessible to all types of users. 
         [0071]    The sitemap provider  314  manages the sitemap resource file  346 . The sitemap provider may be implemented, for example, using the sitemap provider component of the ASP.NET™ framework. When the workflow program  352  requests information from a node of the sitemap resource file  346 , the sitemap provider  314  identifies the profile of the current user. The sitemap provider  314  also searches through the sitemap resource file  346  for the requested node. The sitemap provider  314  may begin the search at the “application root” node  1202 , and proceed down the descendent nodes of the node  1202 , until the requested node is identified. The search may be made using the binary search method. However, any other searching methods suitable for searching a tree structure may be used. During the search, the sitemap provider  314  may identify the tag of any parent node of the requested node which includes accessibility information specified to be propagated downwards. When the requested node is identified, the sitemap provider  314  determines whether or not the current user has access to the requested node based on the profile of the user, the accessibility information which is propagated down from the parent nodes, and the accessibility information of the tag of the identified node. If the sitemap provider determines that the user has access to the requested node, the sitemap provider causes the requested information of the identified node to be provided to the workflow program  352 . 
         [0072]    In an illustrative example with reference to  FIG. 12 , if a workflow program  352  requests information contained in a child node  1208  of the node  1206 , the sitemap provider  314  begins with the node  1202  and searches down the descendant nodes of the node  1202  until the sitemap provider identifies the requested child node  1208  of the parent node  1206 . During the search, the sitemap provider  314  may identify the parent node  1206  which may include a tag containing accessibility information granting access only to a profile-A user. The tag may also be specified to propagate downwards. When the sitemap provider  314  identifies the child node  1208 , the node  1208  may not be tagged with information which restricts access to any users. If the current user is a profile-A user, the sitemap provider  314  may cause the requested information contained in the identified node to be provided to the workflow program  352 . However, if the current user is a profile-B user, the sitemap provider  314  may determine that the user does not have access to the identified node and may not cause the requested information contained in the identified node to be provided to the workflow program  352 . In the latter case, the sitemap provider  314  determines that the current user does not have access to the identified node since the parent node  1206  of the identified node includes a tag which allows access only to a profile-A user and which is specified to be propagated downwards. 
         [0073]    The system  300  may also allow the workflow application  352  to validate data received from a user. The workflow application  352  may request that the data validation provider  312  determine whether or not data received from a user conforms to predetermined rules. For example, data input by a user may be a bank account number to which a payment is to be made, and the data validation provider  312  may determine (“validate”) whether or not the bank account number supplied by the user has the correct number of digits. The workflow application  352  may request validation of data, for example, using a line of code requesting validation of data (“validation request code”) which may read, for example: 
         [0000]    
       
         
               
             
           
               
                   
               
             
             
               
                   ClientValidate(“txtBankAccount”, “check_exactLenght”, “22”, 
               
               
                 “blocking”, “Please check the Bank Account Number”) 
               
               
                   
               
             
          
         
       
     
         [0074]    Validation may be done differently on the same piece of data depending on the profile of a user. For example, bank account information of a profileA-user may be validated to determine whether or not the length of the bank account number is 22 digits. However, bank account information of a profileB-user may be validated for a 15-digit bank account number. A profile-specific validation may be indicated by including the name of the profile as one of the parameters in the validation request code. For example, validation request code for a profileA-user may read, for example: 
         [0000]    
       
         
               
             
           
               
                   
               
             
             
               
                  ClientValidate(“ProfileA”, “txtBankAccount”, “check_exactLenght”, 
               
               
                 “22”, “blocking”, “Please check the Bank Account Number”) 
               
               
                   
               
             
          
         
       
     
         [0075]    Validation request code for a profileB-user may read, for example: 
         [0000]    
       
         
               
             
           
               
                   
               
             
             
               
                   ClientValidate(“ProfileB”, “txtBankAccount”, 
               
               
                 “check_exactLenght”, “15”, “blocking”, “Please check the Bank 
               
               
                 Account Number”) 
               
               
                   
               
             
          
         
       
     
         [0076]    In an embodiment, multiple validation request code may exist for the same type of data, where each code may specify a specific profile (profile-specific validation request code) or may not specify any profile (default validation request code). If two or more instances of contradictory validation request code exists for the same type of data, the system  300  determines whether or not a profile-specific validation request code exists for the current user&#39;s profile. If the system  300  determines that a profile-specific validation request code exists, the system selects the corresponding code and requests validation of data using the profile-specific validation request code. If the system  300  determines that a profile-specific validation request code does not exist, the system requests validation of data using a default validation request code. 
         [0077]    In another embodiment, the validation request code may be “profiled”. In other words, a single validation request code may exist for a single type of data without specifying a profile with which the code is associated. When the workflow program  352  requests the execution of the validation request code to the validation provider  312 , the validation provider  312  may determine whether a predetermined rule specific to the current user&#39;s profile exists for the requested validation. If a profile-specific rule exists, the validation provider  312  may perform the validation based on the predetermined profile-specific rule. If a profile-specific predefined rule does not exist, the validation provider  312  may perform the validation based on a default predetermined rule. The predetermined rule may be stored in the resource repository  406 . 
         [0078]    The system  300  may be implemented in many different ways. For example, although some features are shown stored in computer-readable memories (e.g., as logic implemented as computer-executable instructions or as data structures in memory), all or part of the system and its logic and data structures may be stored on, distributed across, or read from other machine-readable media. The media may include hard disks, floppy disks, CD-ROMs, or a signal, such as a signal received from a network or received over multiple packets communicated across the network. 
         [0079]    The system  300  may be implemented with additional, different, or fewer components. As one example, a processor may be implemented as a microprocessor, a microcontroller, a DSP, an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), discrete logic, or a combination of other types of circuits or logic. As another example, memories may be DRAM, SRAM, Flash or any other type of memory. The processing capability of the system may be distributed among multiple components, such as among multiple processors and memories, optionally including multiple distributed processing systems. Resource repositories, databases, and other data structures may be separately stored and managed, may be incorporated into a single memory or database, may be logically and physically organized in many different ways, and may implemented with different types of data structures such as linked lists, hash tables, or implicit storage mechanisms. Logic, such as programs or circuitry, may be combined or split among multiple programs, distributed across several memories and processors, and may be implemented in a library, such as a shared library (e.g., a dynamic link library (DLL)). The DLL, for example, may store code that prepares intermediate mappings or implements a search on the mappings. As another example, the DLL may itself provide all or some of the functionality of the system, tool, or both. 
         [0080]    As one specific example, the processing executed by the logic described above may be implemented with one or more Microsoft™ Windows Workflow Foundation™ technology. The processes may execute in any environment that supports the Microsoft™ Windows Workflow Foundation™ technology system. Examples of such environments include computer systems running the Windows™ operating system and the Unix™ operating system. 
         [0081]    While various embodiments of the invention have been described, it will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art that many more embodiments and implementations are possible within the scope of the invention. Accordingly, the invention is not to be restricted except in light of the attached claims and their equivalents.