Process metadata triggers and events

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9984111-B2
Application number	US-201514681388-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Apr 8, 2015
Priority date	Apr 8, 2015
Publication date	May 29, 2018
Grant date	May 29, 2018

Abstract

Embodiments of the invention provide systems and methods for implementing process metadata triggers and events. More specifically, embodiments of the present invention allow for process metadata events to be defined and generated, including the program code and interfaces that may define the triggering criteria and actions associated with the events. Certain embodiments include ongoing evaluations of triggering criteria for events, including criteria both internal and external to an enterprise system, and generating new event occurrences based on the evaluations of triggering criteria for events. Events and event occurrences may be tracked and monitored, and programmatic actions may be initiated in response to the creation or modification of an event or an event occurrence, including modification of enterprise system software, generation and transmission of targeted user notifications, the generation and customization of electronic documents, and the like.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method for generating an event occurrence object, the method comprising:
determining, by a process metadata manager computer system, that one or more software trigger criteria have occurred, the software trigger criteria associated with a first event software object supported by a multi-user software application;
in response to determining that the software trigger criteria have occurred, initiating a instantiation of the first event software object, thereby generating a first event occurrence software object;
determining, by the process metadata manager computer system, a plurality of users associated with the first event occurrence software object;
performing a first modification of the multi-user software application, by the process metadata manager computer system, to permit selection via user interfaces of the multi-user software application, of the first event occurrence software object, by the determined plurality of users associated with the first event occurrence software object, wherein performing the first modification includes preventing at least one other user of the multi-user software application from selecting the first event occurrence software object via the user interfaces of the multi-user software application;
determining, by the process metadata manager computer system, that a first user of the plurality of users associated with the first event occurrence software object has selected the first event occurrence software object via the user interfaces of the multi-user software application; and
in response to determining that the first user has selected the first event occurrence software object, performing a second modification of the multi-user software application, by the process metadata manager computer system, to prevent selection of the first event occurrence software object by any other users of the plurality of users associated with the first event occurrence software object, via the user interfaces of the multi-user software application.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein determining that the software trigger criteria associated with the first event software object have occurred comprises:
querying a database associated with the multi-user software application; and
comparing results of the query with a plurality of trigger criteria corresponding to a plurality of different event software objects, including the first event software object.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein determining that the software trigger criteria associated with the first event software object have occurred comprises:
receiving an electronic communication from a user authorized to initiate event occurrences, the electronic communication identifying the first event software object; and
generating the first event occurrence software object as an occurrence of the first event software object, in response to the electronic communication.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein determining that the software trigger criteria associated with the first event software object have occurred comprises:
retrieving scheduling criteria for generating the first event occurrence software object;
periodically polling one or more computer hardware resources associated with the multi-user software application, in accordance with the retrieved scheduling criteria; and
generating the first event occurrence software object based on results of the periodically polling one or more computer hardware resources, and based on the retrieved scheduling criteria.

5. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
determining that the first user has deselected the first event occurrence software object via the user interfaces of the multi-user software application; and
in response to determining that the first user has deselected the first event occurrence software object, performing a third modification of the multi-user software application to permit selection of the first event occurrence software object by any other users of the plurality of users associated with the first event occurrence software object.

6. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
receiving an indication that the first user has completed an action associated with the first event occurrence software object; and
in response to receiving the indication, removing the first event occurrence software object from a list of active event occurrence objects associated with the multi-user software application.

7. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
determining that an action associated with the first event occurrence software object has not been completed within a predetermined time period following the selection of the first event occurrence software object by the first user; and
in response to said determination, performing a modification of the multi-user software application to permit selection of the event occurrence object by any other users of the plurality of users associated with the first event occurrence software object.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein performing the first and second modifications of the multi-user software application comprises:
modifying, by the process metadata manager computer system, programming code of the multi-user software application during execution of the multi-user software application.

9. The method of claim 1 , wherein performing the first and second modifications of the multi-user software application comprises:
invoking, by the process metadata manager computer system, one or more exposed software functions of the multi-user software application.

10. A system comprising:
a processor; and
a memory coupled with and readable by the processor and storing therein a set of instructions which, when executed by the processor, causes the processor to generate an event occurrence object by:
determining that one or more software trigger criteria have occurred, the software trigger criteria associated with a first event software object supported by a multi-user software application;
in response to determining that the software trigger criteria have occurred, initiating a instantiation of the first event software object, thereby generating a first event occurrence software object;
determining a plurality of users associated with the first event occurrence software object;
performing a first modification of the multi-user software application to permit selection via user interfaces of the multi-user software application, of the first event occurrence software object, by the determined plurality of users associated with the first event occurrence software object, wherein performing the first modification includes preventing at least one other user of the multi-user software application from selecting the first event occurrence software object via the user interfaces of the multi-user software application;
determining that a first user of the plurality of users associated with the first event occurrence software object has selected the first event occurrence software object via the user interfaces of the multi-user software application; and
in response to determining that the first user has selected the first event occurrence software object, performing a second modification of the multi-user software application to prevent selection of the first event occurrence software object by any other users of the plurality of users associated with the first event occurrence software object, via the user interfaces of the multi-user software application.

11. The system of claim 10 , wherein determining that the software trigger criteria associated with the first event software object have occurred comprises:
querying a database associated with the multi-user software application; a

Assignees

• Oracle Int Corp

Inventors

• Fillipi Steven
• Bali Gurbinder

Classifications

• G06F17/3051

  Physics · mapped topic

• G06F17/30362 Primary

  Physics · mapped topic

• G06F17/30377

  Physics · mapped topic

• G06F16/24565 Primary

  Triggers; Constraints · CPC title

• G06F16/2343 Primary

  Locking methods, e.g. distributed locking or locking implementation details · CPC title