Patent ID: 7490077

Claim:
An extensible dependency management framework, comprising: at least one computer including: a dispatcher system for creating and registering a set of dependency management dispatchers, wherein the set of dependency management dispatchers comprises at least one of a refactoring dispatcher or a revalidation dispatcher and wherein the set of dependency management dispatchers receive notifications of changes to resources from external callers; a handler system for creating and registering a set of dependency management handlers that is distinct from the set of dependency management dispatchers, wherein each dependency management handler performs change management update tasks for a set of dependents of a changed resource, wherein the set of dependency management handlers comprises at least one of a refactoring handler or a revalidation handler, and wherein the set of dependency management handlers and the set of dependency management dispatchers each implement at least one interface; and a change management system for receiving notifications of changes to resources from the set of dependency management dispatchers, for querying an index to identify dependents of the changed resources, and for calling the set of dependency management handlers associated with the changed resources to update the dependents; wherein the dependency management framework provides resource level management and element level management of the changes to the resources; wherein the change management system further identifies the dependents to the set of dependency management handlers; and wherein the set of dependency management handlers obtains updates to the dependents, and manages implementation of the updates in response to the calls received from the change management system.