Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
CA 02324732 2000-10-30
WEB-BASED APPLICATION FOR INBOUND MESSAGE SYNCHRONIZATION
Field of The Invention
The present invention relates to a computer-based application for
synchronization of
messages in electronic commerce (e-commerce) systems. The invention also
includes web-based
applications for synchronizing inbound messages from other Internet related
communications
systems.
Background of The Invention
Web-based commercial transactions are an important part of e-commerce business
activities.
There are increasing demands placed on computer applications to integrate the
various applications
used by businesses in connection with their back office systems. With
increases in the amount of
web-based transactions and other related activities, there are increased
demands for synchronized
integration of those various applications.
As the nature and extent of e-commerce activities has evolved, there has been
an increased
need for integration between Web-based applications and back office back-end
systems (including
ERP Enterprise Resource Planning systems). The synchronized transfer of
information between
the two systems (I.e., in proper time sequence) is an important aspect of
system integration. The
messages transferred between the two systems must be processed in a manner
ensuring that the
information contained in those messages is modified or altered in the
appropriate time sequence. If
the transferred messages are not processed in the proper time sequence,
certain important aspects of
the transferred information may be lost or incorrectly processed.
In establishing the integration between the two systems, one of the possible
approaches is to
use messages that are passed back and forth between the Web-based application
and the back office
system.
It is important that the web-based application have the ability to suitably
process inbound
CA9-2000-0057
CA 02324732 2000-10-30
messages coming from the back office systems. The types of inbound messages
can vary depending
on the business needs of the particular business enterprises that are being
considered. Some
examples of the kinds of inbound messages frequently encountered in a Web-
based application are:
Order Confirmation;
Order Delivery;
Order Invoice;
Product Inventory Updates;
Product Price Updates; and
Customer Information Updates.
There are of course, many other types of messages encountered in e-commerce
related
activities.
If a message queue system is used in transmitting messages between a back
office system and
one or more network systems, synchronization problems often develop. That is,
often, the flow of
the messages between the back office and web-based systems becomes
asynchronous. The
asynchronous messages are often sent and received out of sequence despite
their respective times of
creation.
2o One of the issues resulting from asynchronous methods of communication is
the
unpredictable time of arrival of incoming messages. The unpredictability of
these arrival times may
in turn lead to unpredictable queuing of incoming messages. There may be
undesirable changes to
the expected or desired order or sequencing of inbound messages waiting in the
queue for processing
by the web-based application. Problems may arise in circumstances in which
incoming messages
are received out of their intended or expected order.
The problem of asynchronous messages may be caused by many different reasons,
including
for example:
CA9-2000-005 7 2
CA 02324732 2000-10-30
A document containing important commercial information, (for example, an Order
Invoice,
Customer Information, or other document), may be updated several times within
a relatively
short time interval by the back-office systems. Each updated version of the
message or
revision will typically generate new inbound messages to the Web.
In a complex communication environment, the revised messages may travel
through different
data network routes and arrive at the intended destinations at unpredictable
times.
To boost performance, multiple inbound queue server processes may be used.
The back office system may send out the messages from multiple ports.
Multi-threaded processing of inbound messages by the Web-based application.
The problem of asynchronous messages may cause more recent data to be
overwritten by
older data, creating inconsistencies between the Web-based application and the
back office system.
The web-based application may process incoming messages out of their intended
order, resulting in
a variety of potentially serious errors in the web-based system.
2o Summary of The Invention
The present invention comprises a method of synchronizing inbound messages to
avoid the problems
associated with the known systems of the prior art. In one aspect, the present
invention uses a date
and timestamp approach to synchronize the inbound messages eliminating the
consistency problems
arising from inbound messages being processed out of their proper time
sequence. The method also
enhances system performance by allowing the use of one or more of the
following features:
Multiple inbound queue server processing.
Mufti-threaded inbound message processing by the Web-based application.
Multiple ports for sending the messages by the back office system.
CA9-2000-0057
CA 02324732 2000-10-30
In one aspect of the present invention, a web-based software application is
provided for
synchronizing messages between back office and network based e-commerce
applications. The web-
based application comprises a reference table. In one example, the reference
table may be identified
as the MSGSYNCH table, containing the following information:
The Message Type code for an inbound message is described and stored in the
table
according to a predetermined selection of message classifications. Each
Message Type may
be assigned a particular, unique code within the predetermined selection of
message
classifications.
A unique Document Number is assigned to each corresponding document of that
particular
Message Type.
A timestamp is assigned to each document according to the date and time at
which that
particular document was originally created or subsequently updated. The
timestamp may be
stored in part of the inbound message in a code identifying the date and time
of creation for
that message.
A unique Primary Key is developed for each Message Type and Document Number
combination identified within the table. The Primary Key is then used to
search the table for
comparison with the particular Message Type and Document Number combination
corresponding
to each inbound message.
The web-based software application of this first aspect of the invention
provides a method
of comparing and processing inbound messages of the Message Types listed in
the table, according
to the following steps.
The unique Primary Key of the inbound message is used to search the MSGSYNCH
table
to locate a matching Primary Key row entry.
CA9-2000-0057
CA 02324732 2000-10-30
If a Primary Key row entry does not exist within the MSGSYNCH table, a new
Primary Key
row entry is added to the table with information comprising the Message Type,
Document
Number and Timestamp information corresponding to the inbound message.
s If the Primary Key of the inbound message does match an existing Primary Key
row entry
in the MSGSYNCH table, the Timestamp of the inbound message is compared with
the
Timestamp of the Primary Key row entry located within the table.
If the timestamp of the matching inbound message is more recent (i.e., newer)
than the
l0 timestamp of the Primary Key row entry found in the MSGSYNCH table, further
processing
of the inbound message is continued according to a predetermined process path.
The
MSGSYNCH table is updated with the document in the more recent inbound
message. The
timestamp information is also updated to reflect the timestamp of the more
recent document.
~ 5 If the timestamp of the inbound message is not more recent than the
timestamp of the located
Primary Key row entry, the inbound message is not processed further according
to the
predetermined process path.
In some applications, the application may provide an added step to log an
error in those
2o instances where an out of sequence message has been received. In some
instances, the
application may be configured to ignore the asynchronous message. Other
variations are also
possible for the further processing of such messages.
As an example of another embodiment, the invention provides a computer program
product
25 for use with a web-based application. The web-based application comprises
an inbound message
processor for multi-threaded processing of document messages. In other
embodiments, it may be
preferable to provide an alternative type of inbound message processor. The
web-based application
also comprises a web-based application database in communication with the
inbound message
processor. The computer program product also comprises:
CA9-2000-0057 5
CA 02324732 2000-10-30
a recording medium;
means, recorded on the recording medium, for operating the web-based
application database
to maintain inbound document message information comprising primary key codes
and said
timestamps for selected document messages previously received by the web-based
application database;
means, recorded on the recording medium, for comparing the primary key code of
a new
inbound document message received by the web-based application database with
primary key
1 o codes maintained in the web-based application database for the previously
received document
messages;
means, recorded on the recording medium, for selecting a pair of corresponding
document
messages by identifying any one previously received document message having a
primary
15 key code corresponding with the primary key code of the new inbound
message;
means, recorded on the recording medium, for selecting a unique new inbound
document
message by identifying any new inbound document message with a primary key
code which
does not correspond to any of the primary key codes maintained in the web-
based application
20 database;
means, recorded on the recording medium, for identifying the more recent
document message
in the message pair of corresponding document messages by comparing the
timestamp of the
previously received document message in the message pair with the timestamp of
the new
25 inbound message in the message pair; and
means, recorded on the recording medium, for updating the web-based
application database
to record: the inbound document message information for the more recent
document message
and the unique inbound document message; and the timestamps for the more
recent and
CA9-2000-0057
CA 02324732 2000-10-30
unique document messages.
In some instances, the recording medium may be a magnetic storage device. In
certain
specific instances the magnetic storage device may be a magnetic disk, CD-ROM,
hard drive or other
device. Other embodiments will be readily apparent to persons skilled in the
art.
A method of operating a web-based system is provided. In one aspect of the
invention, the
method of the invention is used to synchronize communications messages between
a first back office
system and a web-based application database. Typically, the first back office
system comprises a
o first back office database and a plurality of nodes for creating documents.
The nodes communicate
with the first back office database. The documents created in the back office
system are each
identified with a primary key code and a timestamp designating the time of
creation of each
document. The back office system subsequently generates document messages.
Each document
message comprises one of the documents along with the primary key code and
timestamp
information for that document. The method of synchronizing messages in this
system comprises the
steps of
operating the web-based application database to maintain inbound document
message
information comprising primary key codes and said timestamps for selected
document
2o messages previously received by the web-based application database;
comparing the primary key code of a new inbound document message received by
the web-
based application database with primary key codes maintained in the web-based
application
database for the previously received document messages;
selecting a pair of corresponding document messages by identifying any one
previously
received document message having a primary key code corresponding with the
primary key
code of the new inbound message;
CA9-2000-0057 7
CA 02324732 2000-10-30
selecting a unique new inbound document message by identifying any new inbound
document message with a primary key code which does not correspond to any of
the primary
key codes maintained in the web-based application database;
identifying the more recent document message in the message pair of
corresponding
document messages by comparing the timestamp of the previously received
document
message in the message pair with the timestamp of the new inbound message in
the message
pair; and
1o updating the web-based application database to record: the inbound document
message
information for the more recent document message and the unique inbound
document
message; and the timestamps for the more recent and unique document messages.
In a further aspect of this invention, a web-based system is provided in which
the described
method is implemented. By way of example, a web-based system is provided
wherein the system
comprises:
means for mufti-threaded processing of inbound document messages, and a web-
based
application database in communication with the inbound message processing
means;
means for operating the web-based application database to maintain inbound
document
message information comprising primary key codes and said timestamps for
selected
document messages previously received by the web-based application database;
means for comparing the primary key code of a new inbound document message
received by
the web-based application database with primary key codes maintained in the
web-based
application database for the previously received document messages;
means for selecting a pair of corresponding document messages by identifying
any one
CA9-2000-0057 g
CA 02324732 2000-10-30
previously received document message having a primary key code corresponding
with the
primary key code of the new inbound message;
means for selecting a unique new inbound document message by identifying any
new
inbound document message with a primary key code which does not correspond to
any of the
primary key codes maintained in the web-based application database;
means for identifying the more recent document message in the message pair of
corresponding document messages by comparing the timestamp of the previously
received
1o document message in the message pair with the timestamp of the new inbound
message in
the message pair; and
means for updating the web-based application database to record: the inbound
document
message information for the more recent document message and the unique
inbound
document message; and the timestamps for the more recent and unique document
messages.
Brief Description of the DrawinEs
Figure 1 shows a web-based application integrated with a corresponding back
office system.
The preferred embodiment of the present invention is explained in connection
with the
network system illustrated in Figure 1. Figure 1 is a flow chart illustrating
a schematic
representation of an integrated network system to assist in the explanation of
one aspect of the
present invention.
Detailed Descr~tion of the Drawings
Figure 1 depicts a web-based application which is integrated with a back
office system. In the
illustrated system, the back office application is programmed to identify the
following document
types as follows:
CA9-2000-0057 9
CA 02324732 2000-10-30
Order Confirmation (code) 1
Order Delivery (code) 2
Order Invoice (code) 3
Product Inventory Updates (code) 4
Product Price Updates (code) 5
Customer Information Updates (code) 6 (and so on.)
With reference to the back office system components illustrated in section 1
of Figure l, a
document of Document Type 2 (i.e., an Order Delivery) with a Document Number
123 is created by
l0 User A at a corresponding terminal or node. The document is created with a
Timestamp T1. The
document information (including the Timestamp T 1 ) is stored in the back
office system database.
The same document is then updated three times by User B at another terminal
with recorded
Timestamps of Tl 80, T500, and T550. The same document is updated by User C at
a third terminal
with recorded Timestamps T350 and T450. New copies of the document are created
and stored in
the back office system database for each of the five updated copies of the
original Order Delivery
document. The timestamp for each corresponding document is stored in the
document record
maintained within the database. The timestamp information is maintained in the
corresponding
messages generated by the message generator component of the system shown as
section 2 in Figure
1.
In this example, for simplicity, the form of Timestamp designation Tn
represents an n-th
document creation or updating action carried out at the back office system.
Using this example, a
Timestamp of T180 corresponds to the 180'h processing action (i.e., creating
or updating various
documents) within the back office system. The document with recorded timestamp
T180 is stored
in the back office database.
As noted previously, Section 2 of Figure 1 shows a schematic representation of
a message
generator component of the back office system. The representation depicts the
following steps in
processing the document information. At a pre-scheduled time, a batch job is
run at the back office
CA9-2000-0057 10
_T.
CA 02324732 2000-10-30
end of the system to collect all new and updated documents stored in the back
office database.
Assume that in this example, there are 600 document creation and update
actions collected by this
batch job at the pre-scheduled time and that there are three ports (Port #1,
Port #2, Port #3) used to
convert or generate messages to be sent out to the web-based application
through the network. In
this example, each of the three ports has a corresponding buffer (buffer l,
buffer 2, buffer 3) with
storage limited to a maximum of 200 documents. Each of the three ports assigns
a Message Number
to each created or updated message retrieved from a shared pool for the three
ports. In this example,
the following situation would occur.
1 o Buffer 1 for Port # 1 would contain documents with timestamps ranging from
T 1 to T200.
In this example, the original Order Delivery document T 1 created by User A
and update T 180 made
by User B are contained in buffer 1. Buffer 2 for Port #2 would contain
documents with timestamps
ranging from T201 to T400. In this example, buffer 2 contains the document
updated by User C at
T350. Buffer 3 for Port #3 contains documents with timestamps ranging from
T401 to T600. In this
example, buffer 3 contains documents updated by User B at timestamps T500 and
T550 and the
document updated by User C at timestamp T450.
For the purposes of this example, it is assumed that the three ports start
generating (sending)
messages at the same time and that all three ports generate (send) messages at
the same rate. Based
on these circumstances, it will be appreciated that the messages will be
generated in an asynchronous
manner as follows.
The document created by User C at timestamp T450 would be generated before the
update
created by User B at timestamp T180 and the updated document created by user C
at timestamp
T350. As a result, document T450 would be assigned a lower message number by
the ports than the
other two messages, T180 and T350. The document updated at T550 would be
generated about the
same time as the document updated at T350. The message Numbers assigned to
these two
documents would be close together. There is a possibility that document T350
would have a
Message Number that is higher than document T550 and which would result in the
messages being
CA9-2000-0057 11
CA 02324732 2000-10-30
asynchronous (i.e., out of sequence).
The document updated at T550 would be generated before the document updated at
T180,
with document T550 having a smaller Message Number. In this scenario, the
updated document
T180 would be generated (sent) last though Port #l. This same document would
have the largest
Message Number for the particular Document Number, resulting in the messages
being asynchronous
(i.e., out of sequence).
Since there are three ports sending messages to the five inbound queue servers
shown in
l0 section 3, the inbound messages will be received and processed out of
sequence. There may be at
least two additional reasons for this problem. The various message updates
relating to this message
type will travel from different ports, with each message traveling through an
unpredictable network
path. There are multiple inbound queue servers and each of the five server
processes may receive
and place the older messages into the inbound queue after the more recent
messages are placed into
1 s the inbound queue.
The use of multi-threaded inbound message processing would speed up system
performance.
However, the sequence of the messages would be disrupted if the time required
to process each
message differs due to resource allocation by the application.
In the preferred embodiment of the present invention, a web-based application
is provided
for synchronizing messages between back office and network based e-commerce
applications. The
web-based software application comprises a reference table. In one example,
the reference table may
be identified as the MSGSYNCH table and containing the following information:
2s
The Message Type code for an inbound message is described and stored in the
table
according to a predetermined selection of message classifications. The Message
Type may
be developed according to the particular needs of the web-based system being
considered.
For example, in some instances, the type of inbound messages may be described
as an Order
CA9-2000-0057 12
CA 02324732 2000-10-30
Confirmation message, an Invoice message, an Order Delivery message, and other
categories
selected for the particular system. Each Message Type may be assigned a
particular, unique
code within the predetermined selection of message classifications.
A unique Document Number is assigned to each corresponding document of that
particular
Message Type. For example, a particular Order Confirmation document will be
assigned a
corresponding, unique order number. As another example, a particular Order
Invoice will
be assigned a corresponding, unique invoice number.
A timestamp is assigned to each document according to the date and time at
which that
particular document was originally created or subsequently updated. The
timestamp is not
assigned according to the time that the document was sent by the back office
system. Rather,
the timestamp is used to identify the date and time corresponding to the
creation of the
original or a revised version of the document. The timestamp may be stored in
part of the
message in a code identifying the date and time of creation for that message.
For example,
the code may be generated in a format corresponding to HH:MM:SS, with
preceding codes
for the corresponding creation date. As noted, the resulting timestamp code
may be stored
in part of the related inbound message.
2o A unique Primary Key is developed for each Message Type and Document Number
combination identified within the table. The Primary Key is then used to
search the inbound
message data stored within the table for comparison with the particular
Message Type and Document
Number combination corresponding to each inbound message.
The web-based application of this preferred embodiment provides a method of
comparing
and processing inbound messages of the Message Types listed in the table,
according to the
following steps.
The unique Primary Key of the inbound message is used to search the MSGSYNCH
table
CA9-2000-0057 13
CA 02324732 2000-10-30
to locate a matching Primary Key row entry.
Ifa Primary Key row entry does not exist within the MSGSYNCH table, a new
Primary Key
row entry is added to the table with information comprising the Message Type,
Document
Number and Timestamp information corresponding to the inbound message.
If the Primary Key of the inbound message does match an existing Primary Key
row entry
in the MSGSYNCH table, compare the Timestamp of the inbound message with the
Timestamp of the Primary Key row entry located within the table.
1 o If the timestamp of the inbound message is more recent (i.e., newer) than
the timestamp of
the Primary Key row entry found in the MSGSYNCH table, continue processing the
inbound
message according to a predetermined process path. The web-based application
database is
updated with the document in the more recent inbound message. The timestarnp
information
in the MSGYNCH table is also updated to reflect the timestamp of the more
recent
document.
If the timestamp of the inbound message is not more recent than the timestamp
of the located
Primary Key row entry, the inbound message is not processed further according
to the
predetermined process path.
In some applications, the application may provide an added step to log an
error in those
instances where an out of sequence message has been received. In some
instances, the
application may be configured to ignore the asynchronous message. Other
variations are also
possible for the further processing of such messages.
Those persons skilled in the art will understand that a web-based application
may be
established to operate using the software embodying the method described
herein. The invention
also provides a computer program product to operate a web-based system in
accordance with the
steps outlined in this description. In a further aspect of this invention, a
web-based system is
CA9-2000-0057 14
CA 02324732 2000-10-30
provided in which the described method is implemented. Further embodiments of
the present
invention will be apparent to persons skilled in the art. It will be
understood that certain aspects of
the method, system and computer program product may be modified or varied
without departing
from the scope of the invention described herein. Accordingly, such
modifications and variations
s will be considered to be included in the invention as described.
By implementing the method, system or computer program product outlined in
this
disclosure, a Web-based application for processing of inbound messages may be
operated to maintain
the consistency of the information on both systems.
In addition, the method, system or computer program product of the invention
may provide
significantly improved performance by incorporating the use of multiple
inbound queue server
processes, multiple ports generating the messages in the back office system
and mufti-threaded
processing in the Web-based application. The invention accommodates the use of
the indicated
features in a manner which allows processing of various inbound messages in
proper sequence.
CA9-2000-0057 15
