Patent ID: 8407718

Claim:
A method of directing messages within a computer system, the method comprising: directing a message to a predetermined set of services; each service executing a command specified by the message wherein the message comprises details of the predetermined set of services; each service in the predetermined set of services using said details to determine whether the message should be sent to another service; and if it is determined that the message should be sent to another service, each service in the predetermined set of services transmitting the message to an appropriate service; wherein: the message is directed between a composite user interface and at least one source application; the message is received by an aggregation service which generates at least one further message which produces a request to the at least one source application; the aggregation service receives a plurality of response messages containing data generated by the at least one source application; the aggregation service uses said plurality of response messages to generate a further response message which is transmitted to the composite user interface; and the aggregation service is configured to expect to receive a predetermined number of response messages in response to transmission of said further message, and said further response message is generated when the predetermined number of response messages has been received.