Service Metadata Synchronization via Canonical Normalization
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Existing software applications created before the Service Component Architecture (SCA) standard were developed in proprietary formats, making it difficult to synchronize service metadata into a normalized format for canonical representation and storage in a metadata repository.
Innovation Solution
A system is developed to synchronize service metadata from proprietary formats into a standardized format using connectors, normalizers, and providers, enabling bi-directional synchronization and storage in a metadata repository, specifically using Service Component Architecture (SCA) for canonical representation.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If service metadata is stored in proprietary formats in existing software applications, then the metadata can be maintained in application-specific formats, but it becomes difficult to synchronize and normalize the metadata into a canonical representation
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a synchronization system comprising connectors, normalizers, and providers as intermediary components between proprietary metadata sources and the metadata repository. Connectors establish connections to various software applications, normalizers transform proprietary metadata formats into standardized SCA format, and providers publish the normalized metadata to the repository. This intermediary layer enables format compatibility while managing synchronization complexity systematically.
Solution Approach 2:
The synchronization system is divided into distinct functional modules: connectors that handle connection establishment, normalizers that perform format transformation, and providers that manage publication. This segmentation allows each component to specialize in specific tasks, making the overall system more manageable and maintainable despite handling multiple proprietary formats.
2Loss of information
If service metadata is normalized into SCA format and stored in a metadata repository, then visibility and traceability of software assets improve, but the process of synchronizing from proprietary formats becomes more complex
Solution Approach 1:
The normalizer acts as an intermediary that systematically transforms proprietary metadata formats into standardized SCA format. This component handles the complexity of format conversion internally, presenting a simplified interface to both the source applications and the metadata repository, thereby improving metadata visibility without exposing the synchronization complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
The system changes the format parameter of metadata from various proprietary formats to a standardized SCA format. This parameter transformation enables consistent representation of service metadata, improving visibility and traceability while the automated normalization process manages the complexity of format conversion.
3Reliability
If bi-directional synchronization is implemented between software applications and metadata repository, then metadata can be kept up-to-date across systems, but the synchronization system requires more complex infrastructure
Solution Approach 1:
The synchronization system uses connectors as intermediary components that establish and maintain connections between software applications and the metadata repository. These connectors handle the complexity of bi-directional communication, ensuring reliable metadata synchronization while abstracting the infrastructure complexity from the core synchronization logic.
Solution Approach 2:
Bi-directional synchronization implements feedback mechanisms where the system continuously monitors and updates metadata between software applications and the repository. This feedback loop ensures metadata remains consistent and up-to-date across systems, with the intermediary components managing the complexity of maintaining this continuous synchronization.
Data Source
Figure 1
Figure 2
Figure 3
AI summary
A system and method for synchronizing service metadata into a format for canonical representation of service metadata and publishing the synchronized service metadata into a metadata repository. The method comprises: receiving service metadata from a service producer; normalizing the service metadata into the format for canonical representation of service metadata; and publishing normalized service metadata into a metadata repository that supports the format for canonical representation of service metadata. The system comprises: at least one connector for each service producer, wherein the connector permits a synchronization system to communicate bi-directionally with the service producer; one normalizer for each service producer, wherein the normalizer transforms the service metadata into a format for the canonical representation of service metadata; and at least one provider for each service producer, wherein the provider publishes the canonical representation of service metadata into a metadata repository.