Patent Publication Number: US-6985958-B2

Title: Messaging infrastructure for identity-centric data access

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION 
   The present application claims priority from co-pending U.S. provisional application Ser. No. 60/275,809, filed Mar. 14, 2001 and entitled “Identity-Based Service Communication Using XML Messaging Interfaces”, which provisional application is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. 

   BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
   1. The Field of the Invention 
   The present invention relates to the field of data access technologies. Specifically, the present invention relates to messaging data structures that facilitate access to data in a user or identity-centric manner rather than in an application-centric manner. 
   2. Background and Related Art 
   The Internet has revolutionized the way people access information. With the aid of a conventional Internet-enabled computing device, one may obtain information on almost any subject with relatively little effort. Information is so abundant, that our ability to manage such information is often overwhelmed. 
   However, information is often irrelevant to all but a few. Some information is specific to only a single identity such as a person, group of people or organization. Such information may include, for example, addresses, telephone numbers, contacts, task lists, journals, schedules, grocery lists, music favorites and other preferences. 
   In order to manage such identity-specific information, a data access model  100  was developed as illustrated in  FIG. 1 . The data access model  100  include three fundamental components; an identity  110 , an application  120 , and data  130 . The application  120  manages data  130  that the application  120  needs to operate properly. The data  130  typically includes identity-specific data as well as other types of data. During operation, the application  120  typically performs various operations on the data  130  either on its own initiative, or in response to instructions issued by the identity  110  or another program module. 
   The bi-directional arrow  140  represents a strong logical coupling between the application  120  and the data  130 . Although the data  130  may include identity-specific data, the data  130  may be accessed only through the application that manages the data. For example, a Web-based grocery service application may manage a grocery list for an individual, store a residence address for delivery of the groceries, and store credit card information for automatic payment. All of this data is identity-specific. However, the data is accessed only through the Web-based grocery service application. Likewise, a calendar application may maintain schedule information for a given identity. This calendar data is accessed via the calendar application only. 
     FIG. 2  illustrates this principles by extending the model of  FIG. 1  to include multiple application programs, each interacting with their own data. For example, in addition to using application  120 , the identity  110  also interfaces with applications  221  through  224 . Each application  221  through  224  interacts with their own data  231  through  234 , respectively. While there may be considerable redundancy between the data represented by data  130  and  231  through  234 , each set of data is maintained and accessed via its own corresponding application. 
   Although functional, maintaining data on a per-application basis has disadvantages. Namely, if an application is no longer available, the corresponding data is often lost. For example, if an individual wanted to change Web-based grocery services, the individual would typically have to reenter the grocery list and the delivery address to a new Web-based application. Also, suppose a calendar application maintained schedule information in a proprietary format. In order to change from that calendar application, a user may have to reenter the calendar information for the next application. 
   In addition, since the application maintains the data, the user must access the data via the application. If the application is not mobile, the data is not mobile either, absent efforts to make the data redundant in multiple locations. Making the data redundant between applications often requires user effort to periodically synchronize the data. In addition, between synchronizations, the data sets in the different applications may diverge as the data changes. Sometimes, if the data diverges inconsistently in both applications, user intervention is required to resolve the inconsistencies. Accordingly, if the application is not mobile, the data is not mobile either without expending user effort. 
   Therefore, what is desired are data structures that allow identities more flexible access to and control over their corresponding identity-specific information regardless of the application. 
   SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
   Messaging data structures that facilitate more identity-centric data access are described. An identity may be a user, a group of users, an organization or any other identifiable entity. Instead of data being maintained on an application-by-application basis, the data associated with a particular identity is stored by one or more data services accessible by many applications. Each data service may store a particular type of data for a number of identities. For example, there may be a calendar data service that stores calendar information for the identity, an in-box data service that stores received e-mails for the identity, and the like. 
   The data is stored in accordance with a schema that is recognized by a number of different applications and the data service. When a user is to perform an operation on the identity&#39;s data, the application that the user is interfacing with generates a message that has a structure that is recognized by the data service. The message represents a request to perform an operation on the data structure corresponding to the identity. The data service receives and interprets the message, and then determines whether or not to honor the request. For example, the data service may consult corresponding access control rules to determine if the application or user is authorized to perform the operation. An example of access control rules is an Access Control List or ACL, which is used in this description as an example of access control rules. If authorized, the data service then performs the operation. The operation may include, for example deleting, updating, adding, or querying the data object. 
   The message data structure includes various fields that are organized according to a message schema. The fields identify the data object by identifying the identity that owns the data object, identifying the schema of the data object, and if necessary, identifying the instance of the data object. In addition, the message data structure identifies the desired operation to be performed on the target data object. A service address identifies the location of the service that is to perform the requested operation on the identity&#39;s data object. In addition, correlation information is included so that a response to the request may be recognized. By generating and interpreting such messages using a message schema, the data object may be maintained on an identity-centric manner, rather than having each application maintain its own version of the identity&#39;s data. 
   Additional features and advantages of the invention will be set forth in the description which follows, and in part will be obvious from the description, or may be learned by the practice of the invention. The features and advantages of the invention may be realized and obtained by means of the instruments and combinations particularly pointed out in the appended claims. These and other features of the present invention will become more fully apparent from the following description and appended claims, or may be learned by the practice of the invention as set forth hereinafter. 

   
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     In order to describe the manner in which the above-recited and other advantages and features of the invention can be obtained, a more particular description of the invention briefly described above will be rendered by reference to specific embodiments thereof which are illustrated in the appended drawings. Understanding that these drawings depict only typical embodiments of the invention and are not therefore to be considered to be limiting of its scope, the invention will be described and explained with additional specificity and detail through the use of the accompanying drawings in which: 
       FIG. 1  schematically illustrates a model that depicts the conventional relationship between an identity, an application, and data in accordance with the prior art in which there is a strong coupling between the application and the data; 
       FIG. 2  schematically illustrates the conventional model of  FIG. 1  in which multiple applications interact with corresponding data on an application-by-application basis; 
       FIG. 3  schematically illustrates a model depicting the relationship between a user, an application, and data in accordance with the present invention in which there is a strong coupling between the identity and the data; 
       FIG. 4  schematically illustrates the model of  FIG. 3  in which multiple applications interact with the same set of data; 
       FIG. 5  illustrates the model of  FIG. 3  in which further details are illustrated for the data service that provides the data and the strong coupling between the identity and the data; 
       FIG. 6  illustrates a data object in which the meaning of the various fields of the data object is understood by interpretation in light of a schema; 
       FIG. 7  illustrates a data structure of request message that is in accordance with a message format, and that identifies a desired data object in an identity-centric manner in accordance with the present invention; 
       FIG. 8  schematically illustrates a computing device that may implement the features of the present invention; and 
       FIG. 9  schematically illustrates a station that may perform centralized processing of communications between the applications and the services. 
   

   DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
   The present invention extends to an identity-based messaging data structure for requesting an operation be performed on identity-specific data independent of the application accessing the data. Throughout this description and in the claims, an identity is defined as being a person, a group of people, an organization, or any other identifiable entity. Such identifiable entities may include, for example, a science project, a fundraising event, a word processing document, a power point presentation, a conference room, or an x-ray machine. However, this list is illustrative only, and not exhaustive. The messaging data structure described herein may be implemented in a network environment in which data is managed based on the identity that owns the data, rather than based on the application that accesses the data. 
   Each identity may be associated with a variety of data objects that are owned by the identity. Each data object associated with an identity may be specific to a particular data type. For example, an identity may have an associated data object that represents calendar data, personal information data, grocery list data, contacts data, task data, documents data or the like. Each of these data objects may be organized according to a data format (also called herein a “schema”) that is suited to the particular data type of the data object. 
   The messaging data structure uniquely identifies the desired identity-specific data by specifying the data type or schema of the desired data object and by specifying the associated identity. In order to properly route the data structure to the service that manages the data object, the data structure also includes the network address of the service. The messaging data structure includes information identifying the specific operation to be performed on the data object. In addition, the messaging data structure includes correlation information to match any potential response to the request. In some instances, further information may be included in the messaging data structure as described in further detail below. 
   The embodiments of the present invention may comprise a special purpose or general purpose computing device including various computer hardware, as discussed in greater detail below. Embodiments within the scope of the present invention also include computer-readable media for carrying or having computer-executable instructions or data structures stored thereon. Such computer-readable media can be any available media which can be accessed by a general purpose or special purpose computer. By way of example, and not limitation, such computer-readable media can comprise physical storage media such as RAM, ROM, EEPROM, CD-ROM or other optical disk storage, magnetic disk storage or other magnetic storage devices, or any other medium which can be used to carry or store desired program code means in the form of computer-executable instructions or data structures and which can be accessed by a general purpose or special purpose computer. The claims may mention the term “computer program product.” In this description and in the claims, this term does not imply that the computer program product was bought for a price. The term “computer program products” also refers to free products. 
   When information is transferred or provided over a network or another communications connection (either hardwired, wireless, or a combination of hardwired or wireless) to a computer, the computer properly views the connection as a computer-readable medium. Thus, any such connection is properly termed a computer-readable medium. Combinations of the above should also be included within the scope of computer-readable media. Computer-executable instructions comprise, for example, instructions and data which cause a general purpose computer, special purpose computer, or special purpose processing device to perform a certain function or group of functions. In this description and in the claims, a “network” is defined as any medium over which messages may be communicated. Thus, a network may include a medium for messaging between two different machines. However, a network may also be a mechanism for communicating messages between two processes running on the same machine. 
   Although not required, the invention will be described in the general context of computer-executable instructions, such as program modules, being executed by computing devices. Generally, program modules include routines, programs, objects, components, data structures, and the like that perform particular tasks or implement particular abstract data types. Computer-executable instructions, associated data structures, and program modules represent examples of the program code means for executing steps of the methods disclosed herein. The particular sequence of such executable instructions or associated data structures represent examples of corresponding acts for implementing the functions described in such steps. 
   Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the invention may be practiced in network computing environments with many types of computer system configurations, including personal computers, hand-held devices, multi-processor systems, microprocessor-based or programmable consumer electronics, network PCs, minicomputers, mainframe computers, and the like. The invention may also be practiced in distributed computing environments where tasks are performed by local and remote processing devices that are linked (either by hardwired links, wireless links, or by a combination of hardwired or wireless links) through a communications network. In a distributed computing environment, program modules may be located in both local and remote memory storage devices. 
   In contrast to the application-centric model for data access illustrated in  FIGS. 1 and 2 , the principles of the present invention allow an identity to have control over its identity-specific data independent of the application used to access the data.  FIG. 3  schematically illustrates a model  300  for accessing data in accordance with the present invention.  FIG. 3  may be contrasted with  FIG. 1 . The model includes an identity  310 , an application  320 , and a data service  331  that maintains identity-specific data  330 . In contrast to arrow  140  of  FIG. 1 , an arrow  340  of  FIG. 3  represents a strong coupling between the identity  310  and the identity-specific data  330 . 
   The data service  331  is represented by a cloud shape to emphasize that the data service  331  is accessible regardless of the application and device used so long as the application and device are capable of implementing the principles of the present invention.  FIG. 4  illustrates this principle by showing the model of  FIG. 3  in which the identity  310  accesses the identity-specific data  330  through multiple applications  320  and  421  through  424 .  FIG. 4  may be contrasted with  FIG. 2 . Instead of each application owning its own data, each application accesses the relevant identity-specific data from data service  331 . 
   Although not required, the applications  320  and  421  through  424  may perform different functions and be implemented on different devices. For example, the identity  310  might use a desktop Personal Computer or “PC” running application  320  to draft a word processing document, and then move to a Personal Digital Assistant (hereinafter, “PDA”) that runs application  421  to continue editing. The identity may accomplish this even though the word processing applications locally represent the word processing document using incompatible data structures, and without having to synchronize the word processing document between the desktop PC and the PDA. From the identity&#39;s perspective, it is as though the identity  310  retrieves the word processing document from an ever-present and ever-accessible sky filled with all of the associated identity-specific data. 
   Not only may the identity access its own identity-specific data, but the identity may authorize other individuals and applications to perform specific operations on all or portions of the identity&#39;s data. For example, an identity may authorize a Web-based weather application to read, but not alter, the identity&#39;s address information to extract the zip code or town so that weather forecasts may be tailored to the identity. If the identity were to move, the identity would update the address information. Accordingly, the next time the identity runs the weather application, the weather application would provide a weather forecast specific to the new address. Thus, with just this authorization, the identity has avoided having to re-enter zip code information directly to the weather application. Many applications may benefit by avoiding this kind of manual entry of data using this kind of authorization. The weather application mentioned herein is just one example of such an application. 
   As another example, suppose that the identity is to sign up for a Web-based grocery delivery service. Instead of having to enter in the personal information and a grocery list, the identity may authorize the grocery delivery service application to have access to the address information as well as a grocery list for weekly delivery. The identity has avoided having to manually enter the information at the time it signed up for the service. Instead, the personal information and the grocery list were made accessible to the application through simple authorizations. Should the identity desire to switch Web-based grocery delivery services, the identity would retract authorizations granted to the previous application, and grant the same authorizations to the new applications, thus again avoiding having to reenter the information. 
     FIG. 5  shows more details regarding how the data access model  300  accomplishes this flexible organization and management of data on an identity-specific basis. The data service  331  includes a variety of type-specific data services  510 . Each service manages a specific type of data object for one or more identities.  FIG. 6  illustrates the general format of such a data object. The data object  600  includes multiple fields including for example, field A  601  field B  602  and other fields  603 . 
   The structure of the data object follows a specific set of rules or “schema” regarding where the fields are placed in a data structure, and the particular meaning of the fields. The schema may have an initial set of rules regarding the placement and meaning of an initial set of fields. However, the schema may also provide rules for adding more fields to the data structure, thus allowing flexibility in the amount and types of fields that a schema may support. Thus, the schema may be extensible. As long as an application follows the set of rules when interpreting the data object, the application will be able to interpret the meaning and content of the various fields within the data object. Thus, if a schema is widely recognized and followed, the data object may be interpreted by a wide variety of applications. In one embodiment, the data object is organized as an extenstible Markup Language (XML) document. XML documents are beneficial and capable of defining a data object that follows a schema because XML provides for name-value pairing or “tags” where the meaning of the value may be implied by the name. 
   Once again, the data service  331  may include many type-specific data services  510 . In the illustrated example of  FIG. 5 , the type-specific data services  510  include a variety of data objects associated with identity A. For example, address service  511  manages an address data object  511 A, contacts service  512  maintains a contacts data object  512 A, grocery list service  513  maintains a grocery list data object  513 A for storing a grocery list, in-box service  514  maintains an in-box data object  514 A, and music service  515  maintains a music data object  515 A, each of the data objects associated with identity A. The data object  511 A may be not in the clear as stored or transmitted. For example, the data object  511 A may be encrypted or compressed, in which case decryption or decompression, respectively, may be necessary before the schematized structure may be discernable. 
   The type-specific data services  510  may also include many other types of type-specific data services as represented by the vertical ellipses in  FIG. 5 . For example, the type-specific data services may include a data service that maintains settings for various applications that are used by an identity, a data service that maintains a list of physical devices (and their capabilities) which associate with and interact with a given identity, a favorite Web site service that maintains a list of the identity&#39;s designated favorite Web sites, a location service that maintains a list of location-centric information about an identity, and the like. 
   For clarity, only an example list of type-specific data services has been mentioned. It will be apparent, in light of this disclosure, that the variety of type-specific data services is essentially unlimited. Each of the type-specific services maintains identity-specific data objects that follow a schema according to the type of data. In addition, there may be a number of type-specific services that maintain data structures of a particular type. 
   The type-specific data services  510  may be located anywhere in a network. However, in order to maximize availability, the type-specific data services  510  may be accessible via the Internet. Thus, the type-specific data services may be provided by a Web site or service and may be accessed via, for example, a World Wide Web address or other Uniform Resource Identifier (URI). As used in this description or in the claims, a Uniform Resource Identifier or URI is defined as any local or network addressing or naming mechanism and is broad enough to encompasses Globally Unique IDs (or GUIDs), Internet Protocol (IP) addresses, or yet to be developed addressing or naming mechanisms. Also, the type-specific data services may also be implemented by a variety of connected computing devices. It is not essential to the invention the particular type of computing device or devices that implements the data service. Any connected devices may implement the data service such as personal computers, hand-held devices, multi-processor systems, microprocessor-based or programmable consumer electronics, network PCs, minicomputers, mainframe computers, and the like, or combinations thereof. 
   The number of type-specific data services  510  in the data service  331  may be quite large. In addition, the number of identities for which the data service  331  maintains identity-centric data may also be quite large. Accordingly, to assist in locating a particular type-specific data service corresponding to a particular individual, the data service  331  includes a locator service  520 . 
   The locator service  520  organizes relevant type-specific data service addresses on an identity-specific basis. For example, the locator service  520  also maintains a data object  520 A that represents a list of address corresponding to the type-specific data services that maintain identity A&#39;s data. For example, data object  520  includes the address service address  521 , the contacts service address  522 , the grocery list service address  523 , the in-box service address  524 , and the music service address  525 . An arrow represents the logical addressing relationship where the address at the tail of the arrow is the address for the service at the head of the arrow. 
   The address locator service  520  may also be located in any network. However, to facilitate availability yet again, the locator service  520  may be implemented on the Internet in the form of a Web site. In this case, the locator service  520  may be accessed via a World Wide Web address or other URI. 
   The identity  310 , the application  320 , and the data services  331  interact such that the data access model of  FIG. 3  is emulated. More regarding the structure and operation of the architecture illustrated in  FIGS. 3 through 5  is described in commonly-owned, co-pending, U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/003,750, filed on the same date herewith, and entitled “Identity-Centric Data Access”, which co-pending application is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. 
   The various components of  FIG. 5  interact using a messaging data structure that identifies the data object that is to be operated upon by identifying the identity associated with the data object, and by identifying the particular schema associated with the data object. For example, the messaging data structure may identify that the data object of interest is the calendar data object associated with identity A. In the event that there are more than one calendar data objects associated with identity A, then the messaging data structure may also identify the particular instance using a unique identifier assigned to that particular instance. For example, perhaps there is one calendar data object for work-related items, and one for personal items. In this manner, the target data object desired to be operated upon may be uniquely identified. 
     FIG. 7  schematically illustrates an example data structure of a network message  700  that represent a request for service in accordance with the principles of the present invention. The data structure  700  follows a schema so that the meaning of the data structure  700  may be interpreted by any application or service that is capable of following the schema. The fact that the fields of the data structure  700  are represented by the schema is represented in  FIG. 7  by the fields being encapsulated by a dashed box In this description and in the claims, a “data type schema” is defined as a schema associated with one of the type-specific data services  510  or the locator service  520 . A “message schema” is defines as a schema used by the data structure  700 . The message schema may be broad enough to allow for the inclusion of embodiments of data type schemas. For example, the message may include one or more entire calendar data structures or other types of data structures as appropriate. 
   The data structure  700  includes a number of data fields for which the meaning of the data field is implied by the message schema based on its organization within the data structure  700 . Each of the data fields in the data structure may be a set of one or more data fields dispersed anywhere throughout the data structure  700 , so long as the message schema is adhered to. The exact message schema is arbitrary so long as the schema is recognized by the service that interprets the meaning of the data structure  700 . In this description and in the claims, a “message schema” is defines as a set of rules that defines how fields are located within the message and the corresponding meaning of the field. A message schema may include, for example, an HTTP request where the method specifies the operation to be performed, and the URL includes structured information in accordance with a set of rules. The message schema may also include a CPU operation code such as a read or write request. The message schema may also include a formal message schema. In this description and in the claims, a “formal message schema” is defined as a message schema in which each of the fields in the data structure are associated with another field that identifies the meaning of the field. For example, in the eXtensible Markup Language (XML), a tag is associated with each field value, the tag representing the meaning of the corresponding value. 
   Data field  701  identifies the identity whose data object is desired to be operated upon. In this description and in the claims, a data field “identifies” a particular item even if further processing is required after parsing the data field. For example, the data field may identify a particular item even if the particular item needs to be decoded, decrypted or decompressed prior to being interpreted. In addition, the identification may not be human-readable. Instead, the identification of one or more items may not be human-readable, and may have been pre-negotiated for used during one or more sessions. 
   Data field  702  identifies the address of a service that manages data objects for a number of identities including the identity whose data object is desired to be operated upon. The address of the service may be, for example, a Uniform Resource Identifier or World Wide Web address if the data model of  FIG. 4  is implemented over the Internet. As previously mentioned, the address of one of the type-specific data services  510  may be obtained using the locator service  520 . In addition, the address of the locator service  520  may be, for example, a function of the identity name. 
   Data field  703  identifies the data type schema. The locator service  520  may use the identification of the identity and the identification of the data type schema to locate the corresponding service address as described in further detail in the co-pending application entitled “Identity-Centric Data Access” previously incorporated by reference. In addition, the particular data service that receives the data structure  700  as a request for service may use the identification of the identity and the identification of the data type schema to identify the particular data object that is desired to be operated upon. In some instances in which a particular data type service only manages data objects of the particular data type schema, the data type schema may be implied by the very fact that the request was received by the service. In other words, the service address may imply the particular data type schema. However, to facilitate interaction with services in which data objects following multiple schemas are managed by a single service (and thus the data type schema may not be inferred from the service address), an express statement of the particular data type schema may be included in the messaging data structure. 
   Data field  704  identifies a particular instance of a data object that follows the data type schema and that is associated with the identity. This identification is useful in services in which there may be more than one such data object. For example, identity A may have two calendar data objects, one for work-related calendar information, and one for personal calendar information. The data field  704  allows for a precise identification of the data object desired in such services. The service may then use the identification of the identity, the identification of the data type schema, and the identification of the instance to thereby identify the target data object. 
   Data field  705  identifies correlation information that may be used to determine that a particular message is a response to a particular request. In one example, the correlation information is a unique message identifier  706 . Whenever a response is to follow a request, the request should include correlation information to allow the requestor to understand that a return message is a response to the request. In another example, some of the text of the request message may itself be used in the response to allow this correlation. 
   If the underlying message transfer protocol or technique used to transmit the request data structure  700  is a request/response oriented protocol such as HyperText Transport Protocol (HTTP), this correlation information may optionally be managed by the underlying protocol. In that case, the correlation information may include correlation information managed by the underlying protocol, as well as supplemental correlation information that is not managed by the underlying protocol. However, if the underlying message transfer protocol is not request/response oriented such as Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP), the correlation information is included in portions of the request that are not managed by the transport protocol. 
   Data field  707  identifies the operation to be performed on the particular data object. The data field  707  may include a data field  708  that identifies a fragment of the data object to be operated upon. The fragment may include the entire data object, some elements of the data object, or a single element of the data object. The data field  707  may also include a data field  709  that identifies an action to be performed on the fragment. For example, the action may be to add the fragment (action  710 ), delete the fragment (action  711 ), update or modify the fragment (action  712 ), or query about the fragment (action  713 ). 
   Some data objects represent actual content of interest (e.g., calendar items, contacts, tasks, or the like) while other data objects represent access control list information concerning a content-based data object. The collection of the content-based data object along with its corresponding access control list data object may also be viewed as being a data object. Accordingly, to focus on the precise data object that the operation is to be performed upon, the data structure  700  may include a data field  714  that represents whether or not the operation is to be performed on the content data object ( 715 ) or whether the operation is to be performed on the access control list data object ( 716 ). 
   Data field  717  identifies a requestor of the operation. The requestor may be verified with the access control list portion of the data object to determine whether the requestor has the rights to perform the requested operation. Thus, the access control list data object controls who has what rights to the access control list data object and the corresponding content data object. 
   Data field  718  identifies a response address where a response to the request should be transmitted. Of course, the default setting for the response address may be the originating address for the request should there be no response address listed. 
   Data field  719  identifies a protocol used to transport the request in cases in which a selection of transport protocols may be used to transmit the messaging data structure  700 . For example, the data field  719  may identify HTTP or SMTP as the transport protocol to be used. 
   A data field  720  may be used to identify a path that the data structure  700  is to take on its way to the target service. The data field  720  may also identify a path for the corresponding response. For example, the path may include specified intermediary computing systems. For each segment along the path, the path field may also specify the transport protocol to use in transporting along the segment. Thus, a request may be transmitted using HTTP, and a response returned via SMTP. Furthermore, a request (or a response to the request) may be transmitted using both HTTP and SMTP, where HTTP is used for one segment, and SMTP is used for another. Thus, the data structure  700  allows for fine-grained control over how messages are transmitted. 
   In one embodiment, the data structure  700  is implemented as an XML document embedded within a Simple Object Access Protocol (SOAP) envelope although the present invention is not so limited. The following illustrates an example of a request data structure in accordance with the present invention implemented as an XML document embedded in a SOAP envelope. 
   
     
       
         
             
             
           
             
                 
             
           
          
             
               1. 
               &lt;s:Envelope xmlns:s=“http://schemas.xmlsoap.org/soap/envelope/” 
             
          
         
         
             
             
          
             
               2. 
               xmlns:srp=“http://schemas.xmlsoap.org/rp/” 
             
             
               3. 
               xmlns:m=“http://schemas.microsoft.com/hs/2001/10/myProfile” 
             
             
               4. 
               xmlns:hs=“http://schemas.microsoft.com/hs/2001/10/core” 
             
             
               5. 
               xmlns:ss=“http://schemas.xmlsoap.org/soap/security/2000-12” 
             
             
               6. 
               &gt; 
             
          
         
         
             
             
          
             
               7. 
               &lt;s:Header&gt; 
             
          
         
         
             
             
          
             
               8. 
               &lt;srp:path&gt; 
             
             
               9. 
             
          
         
         
             
          
             
               &lt;srp:action&gt;http://schemas.microsoft.com/hs/2001/10/core#request&lt;/srp:action&gt; 
             
             
               10. 
             
             
               &lt;srp:to&gt;http://vbe1.vfd1.myProfile.contoso.com/chloe@contoso.com/&lt;/srp:to&gt; 
             
          
         
         
             
             
          
             
               11. 
               &lt;srp:fwd&gt; 
             
          
         
         
             
             
          
             
               12. 
               &lt;srp:via&gt;smxp://165.12.33.12:1280&lt;/srp:via&gt; 
             
          
         
         
             
             
          
             
               13. 
               &lt;/srp:fwd&gt; 
             
             
               14. 
               &lt;srp:rev&gt; 
             
          
         
         
             
             
          
             
               15. 
               &lt;srp:via&gt;smxp://165.12.33.12:1281&lt;/srp:via&gt; 
             
             
               16. 
               &lt;srp:via&gt;http://response.mydevmachine&lt;/srp:via&gt; 
             
          
         
         
             
             
          
             
               17. 
               &lt;/srp:rev&gt; 
             
             
               18. 
               &lt;srp:id&gt;uuid:76343E4501&lt;/srp:id&gt; 
             
          
         
         
             
             
          
             
               19. 
               &lt;/srp:path&gt; 
             
             
               20. 
               &lt;ss:licenses&gt; 
             
          
         
         
             
             
          
             
               21. 
               &lt;hs:identity&gt; 
             
          
         
         
             
             
          
             
               22. 
               &lt;hs:kerberos&gt;865E1DB32AC3&lt;/hs:kerberos&gt; 
             
          
         
         
             
             
          
             
               23. 
               &lt;/hs:identity&gt; 
             
          
         
         
             
             
          
             
               24. 
               &lt;/ss:licenses&gt; 
             
          
         
         
             
             
             
             
             
          
             
               25. 
               &lt;hs:request 
               service=“myprofile” 
               document=“content” 
               method=“update” 
             
          
         
         
             
          
             
               genResponse=“always”&gt; 
             
          
         
         
             
             
             
             
          
             
               26. 
               &lt;hs:key 
               puid=“e09fB22233334444” 
               instance=“chloe@contoso.com” 
             
          
         
         
             
          
             
               cluster=“vbe1.vfe1”/&gt; 
             
          
         
         
             
             
          
             
               27. 
               &lt;/hs:request&gt; 
             
          
         
         
             
             
          
             
               28. 
               &lt;/s:Header&gt; 
             
             
               29. 
               &lt;s:Body&gt; 
             
          
         
         
             
             
          
             
               30. 
               &lt;hs:insertRequest select=“/hs:myProfile”&gt; 
             
          
         
         
             
             
          
             
               31. 
               &lt;m:address&gt; 
             
          
         
         
             
             
          
             
               32. 
               &lt;m:cat @ref=“system/home”/&gt; 
             
          
         
         
             
             
             
             
          
             
               33. 
               &lt;m:officialAddressLine 
               xml:lang=“en”&gt;1236 
               Lisa 
             
          
         
         
             
          
             
               Lane&lt;/m:officialAddressLine&gt; 
             
          
         
         
             
             
          
             
               34. 
               &lt;m:primaryCity xml:lang=“en”&gt;Los Fiction&lt;/m:primaryCity&gt; 
             
          
         
         
             
             
          
             
               35. 
               &lt;/m:address&gt; 
             
          
         
         
             
             
          
             
               36. 
               &lt;/hs:insertRequest&gt; 
             
          
         
         
             
             
          
             
               37. 
               &lt;/s:Body&gt; 
             
          
         
         
             
             
          
             
               38. 
               &lt;/s:Envelope&gt; 
             
             
                 
             
          
         
       
     
   
   Each of the lines of the request is numbered for purposes of clarity in describing this embodiment, but would not be numbered in the actual XML document. Lines  1 – 6  is the SOAP envelope opening tag and corresponds to line  38  which is the SOAP envelope closing tag. The SOAP envelope opening tag specifies abbreviations (e.g., “s”, “srp”, “m”, “hs” and “ss”) for certain data formats or schemas. The remaining portion (lines  7 – 37 ) represents the content of the SOAP envelope. 
   Line  7  is an opening header tag that corresponds to line  28 , which is a closing header tag. Thus, lines  8 – 27  are identified as being header information. 
   Line  8  is an opening path header tag that corresponds to line  19 , which is a closing path header tag. Thus, lines  9 – 18  are identified as including path information and is comparable to path field  720  of  FIG. 7 . 
   Within the path information, line  9  identifies that the data structure represents a request. Line  10  identifies the service address in URL form and is comparable to service address field  702  of  FIG. 7 . Lines  11  through  13  identify the URL of an intermediary computing system that the request should traverse in order to transmit the request to the service. Lines  12  identifies the transport protocol (e.g., smxp) to use when communicating with this intermediary computing system. Lines  14 – 17  identify the reverse path for use when transmitting the response by specifying the URL of an intermediary computing system. The reverse path transport protocols are also specified for each segment. For example, line  15  specifies the use of smxp, while line  16  specifies the use of http. Thus, these portions of lines  14 – 17  are comparable to protocol field  719  of  FIG. 7 . Line  16  specifies a response address in URL form and is comparable to response address field  718  of  FIG. 7 . Line  18  identifies a message ID and is comparable to the message identifier field  706  corresponding to the correlation information field  705  of  FIG. 7 . 
   Lines  20 – 24  identifies licenses for use when determining whether or not the requesting entity is authorized to perform certain actions such as the requested action. Lines  21 – 23  identify the requester using the conventional Kerberos authentication method and are comparable to the requester field  717  of  FIG. 7 . The information is encoded so as to allow for authentication without the risk of transmitting the requestor&#39;s authentication credentials in the clear. 
   Line  25  represents an opening request tag that corresponds to line  27 , which represents a closing request tag. The opening request tag includes attributes that identify the schema (e.g., “myprofile”) of the target data object and is comparable to the data type schema field  703  of  FIG. 7 . Another attribute identifies the document class (e.g., “content”) and is comparable to data field  714  of  FIG. 7 . Yet another attribute identifies the operation method (e.g., “update”) and, in conjunction with the body information described below, identifies an actual update operation to be performed on the target data object. Line  26  represents the identity or owner of the data and is comparable to the identity field  701  of  FIG. 7 . Line  26  also represents the instance and is comparable to instance ID field  704  of  FIG. 7 . Lines  29 – 37  represent the body of the request and represent specific information to be updated. In this example, the home address is updated to “1236 Lisa Lane” in the town of Los Fiction. In this manner, the messaging data structure may identify and manipulate the target data object in an dentity-centric manner. 
   In one example embodiment, all of the requests are filtered through a centralized station that consolidates and performs functions that are common to each of the services.  FIG. 9  illustrates a more specific diagram of the station  900  and one of the services identified as service  920 . The station  900  receives a request from an application using a network protocol such as HyperText Transport Protocol (HTTP) represented by arrow  901 , or Direct Internet Message Encapsulation (DIME) represented by arrow  902 . The station  900  includes a message connector  903 , which receives the request and passes the message up the protocol stack so that the request may be further processed. The request is then provided to an input thread pool  904  for temporary storage. 
   The request is then parsed at a message processor  905  which parses the request into various components. For example, in one embodiment, the request is a Simple Object Access Protocol (SOAP) message in which case the message processor  905  parses using the appropriate SOAP protocol. The message processor  905  may also perform some preliminary level of rule checking to make sure the request should be further processed. For example, if the request is to manipulate a data structure that none of the services manage, the message processor  905  may abstain from passing the request further down the process flow, and instead simply generate an error message using the response generation module  912  to be returned via the message connector  903 . 
   The request may then be filtered by a firewall  906  and then logged using a logger  907 . A firewall may also reject a request and generate an error message using the response generation module  912  that is returned as a response via the message connector  903 . A local log  910  may receive and store event information received from the firewall  906 , as well as normal logging information received from the logger  907  such as the following for each received request: time received, method type, attribute types, and address of request. Then, an authorization module  908  determines if the request is authorized to perform the requested operation on the target data structure. If authorization fails, then an error message is returned via the response generation module  912  and the message connector  903 . Then authorization module  908  may consult the ACL database  927 . 
   In one example, the request is in the form of an SOAP envelope, which contains unencrypted header information, as well as an optional encrypted body portion. A decryption module  909  decrypts the body of the request. Then, a signature checker  911  checks any signatures associated with the request to guard against tampering. Any failed decryption or signature checking may also be returned to the requestor in the form of an error message generated by the response generation module  912 . 
   After signature checking, the station  900  then passes information sufficient to accomplish the requested operation to the appropriate target service. This information includes a message that the request is authorized, the scope of access permissions, an identification of the requested method, and any needed request details. 
   The information is then passed to the service dispatch module  921  of the service  920 . The service logic  922  then receives and processes the information. The service logic  922  is capable of perform standard methods  923  including insert, query, update, delete, and replace as well as possibly some service specific methods  924 . In order to execute the requested operation, the service logic accesses a data store that store the data structures to be manipulated. In one embodiment, the data structures to be operated upon are eXtensible Markup Language (XML) documents in which case the data store is an XML store  925 . The data structures to be accessed may be content documents  926 , ACL documents  927  or system documents  928 . 
   Once the requested operation is performed on the target data structure using the service logic  922  interacting with the XML store  925 , response information is provided to service completion module  929 . The response information is then passed to response generation module  912  for generation of an appropriate response. The response is then returned to the user via the message connector  903 . 
   Having now described the principles of the present invention in detail, it is noted that the precise hardware configuration that implements the above-described features is not important to the present invention. For example, the locator service  520  may be implemented by one computing device or device cluster. In addition, a computing device or device cluster may implement groups of one or more of the other identity-based services such as those illustrated in  FIG. 5 . Also, the application  320  may be implemented on any device. Indeed, one of the unique features of the present invention is its lack of dependence on the hardware operating environment. 
   Nevertheless, for the sake of completeness,  FIG. 8  illustrates an example computing system that may itself or in combination with other computing devices implement all or portions of the features described above. The example system includes a general purpose computing device in the form of a conventional computing device  820 , including a processing unit  821 , a system memory  822 , and a system bus  823  that couples various system components including the system memory  822  to the processing unit  821 . The system bus  823  may be any of several types of bus structures including a memory bus or memory controller, a peripheral bus, and a local bus using any of a variety of bus architectures. The system memory includes read only memory (ROM)  824  and random access memory (RAM)  825 . A basic input/output system (BIOS)  826 , containing the basic routines that help transfer information between elements within the computer  820 , such as during start-up, may be stored in ROM  824 . 
   The computer  820  may also include a magnetic hard disk drive  827  for reading from and writing to a magnetic hard disk  839 , a magnetic disk drive  828  for reading from or writing to a removable magnetic disk  829 , and an optical disk drive  830  for reading from or writing to removable optical disk  831  such as a CD-ROM or other optical media. The magnetic hard disk drive  827 , magnetic disk drive  828 , and optical disk drive  830  are connected to the system bus  823  by a hard disk drive interface  832 , a magnetic disk drive-interface  833 , and an optical drive interface  834 , respectively. The drives and their associated computer-readable media provide nonvolatile storage of computer-executable instructions, data structures, program modules and other data for the computer  820 . Although the exemplary environment described herein employs a magnetic hard disk  839 , a removable magnetic disk  829  and a removable optical disk  831 , other types of computer readable media for storing data can be used, including magnetic cassettes, flash memory cards, digital versatile disks, Bernoulli cartridges, RAMs, ROMs, and the like. 
   Program code means comprising one or more program modules may be stored on the hard disk  839 , magnetic disk  829 , optical disk  831 , ROM  824  or RAM  825 , including an operating system  835 , one or more application programs  836 , other program modules  837 , and program data  838 . For example, application  320  and the various data services may each be an application program such as application programs  836 . 
   A user may enter commands and information into the computer  820  through keyboard  840 , pointing device  842 , or other input devices (not shown), such as a microphone, joy stick, game pad, satellite dish, scanner, or the like. These and other input devices are often connected to the processing unit  821  through a serial port interface  846  coupled to system bus  823 . Alternatively, the input devices may be connected by other interfaces, such as a parallel port, a game port or a universal serial bus (USB). A monitor  847  or another display device is also connected to system bus  823  via an interface, such as video adapter  848 . In addition to the monitor, personal computers typically include other peripheral output devices (not shown), such as speakers and printers. 
   The computer  820  may operate in a networked environment using logical connections to one or more remote computers, such as remote computers  849   a  and  849   b . Remote computers  849   a  and  849   b  may each be another personal computer, a server, a router, a network PC, a peer device or other common network node, and typically include many or all of the elements described above relative to the computer  820 , although only memory storage devices  850   a  and  850   b  and their associated application programs  836   a  and  836   b  have been illustrated in  FIG. 8 . The logical connections depicted in  FIG. 8  include a local area network (LAN)  851  and a wide area network (WAN)  852  that are presented here by way of example and not limitation. Such networking environments are commonplace in office-wide or enterprise-wide computer networks, intranets and the Internet. These networks may be the means whereby the network messages are communicated between the application  320  and the data service  331 . 
   When used in a LAN networking environment, the computer  820  is connected to the local network  851  through a network interface or adapter  853 . When used in a WAN networking environment, the computer  820  may include a modem  854 , a wireless link, or other means for establishing communications over the wide area network  852 , such as the Internet. The modem  854 , which may be internal or external, is connected to the system bus  823  via the serial port interface  846 . In a networked environment, program modules depicted relative to the computer  820 , or portions thereof, may be stored in the remote memory storage device. It will be appreciated that the network connections shown are exemplary and other means of establishing communications over wide area network  852  may be used. 
   Accordingly, the principles of the present invention allow for the convenient organization and manipulation of data on an identity-centric basis. In particular, a requestor may cause a computing device to generate request information in accordance with a schema. The request may then be transmitted to a receiving computing system which may extract and interpret the meaning of the various request fields in accordance with the schema. 
   The present invention may be embodied in other specific forms without departing from its spirit or essential characteristics. The described embodiments are to be considered in all respects only as illustrative and not restrictive. The scope of the invention is, therefore, indicated by the appended claims rather than by the foregoing description. All changes which come within the meaning and range of equivalency of the claims are to be embraced within their scope.