Status Management and Audit Trail Service Interaction

Resolve Bottlenecks,
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions

Solution Overview

Problem

Current Service Oriented Architectures (SOAs) lack generic status management and auditing services that can be used by any business object, leading to costly and inefficient solutions specific to particular data types, and there is a need for centralized services that can interact effectively when handling business objects.

Innovation Solution

A system and method that enables interaction between a status management service and an audit trail service, allowing for auditing of business objects when they reach a designated status, by determining if the object is both a status business object and an auditable object, and using specific function sets to interface with the application server to manage status and audit changes.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Reliability

If specialized status management and auditing solutions are implemented for different business objects, then specific business object requirements are met, but device complexity and cost increase

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvebusiness object specific requirementsVSAvoidsolution complexity

Core Design Contradiction:

ReliabilityVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

The patent implements a universal status management service and audit trail service that can handle any business object type through standardized interfaces. The status management service provides generic methods (getStatus, setStatus, checkActionAllowed) that work across all business objects, eliminating the need for specialized solutions for each object type while maintaining reliability through standardized status checking mechanisms.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #6Universality (Multi-functionality)

Solution Approach 2:

The patent introduces an intermediary audit trail service that acts as a mediator between status management and business objects. This service receives status change notifications from the status management service and automatically activates auditing functionality, creating a decoupled architecture that reduces complexity while maintaining specific business object requirements through standardized interfaces.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #24Intermediary (Mediator)

2Reliability

If specialized status management and auditing solutions are implemented for different business objects, then specific business object requirements are met, but implementation and maintenance cost increase

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvebusiness object specific requirementsVSAvoidimplementation and maintenance cost

Core Design Contradiction:

ReliabilityVSEase of manufacture

Solution Approach 1:

Inventive Principle:

Principle #6Universality (Multi-functionality)

Solution Approach 2:

The audit trail service operates autonomously by listening for status change events from the status management service. When a business object's status changes, the audit trail service automatically activates auditing functionality without requiring manual intervention or reconfiguration, reducing implementation and maintenance costs through self-activating behavior.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #25Self-service

3Adaptability or versatility

If centralized status management and audit trail services are implemented, then flexibility and generality are improved, but service interaction complexity increases

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvegeneric handling of business objectsVSAvoidservice interaction complexity

Core Design Contradiction:

Adaptability or versatilityVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

Inventive Principle:

Principle #24Intermediary (Mediator)

Solution Approach 2:

The status management service implements a feedback mechanism where status changes automatically trigger notifications to the audit trail service. This event-driven feedback loop enables centralized services to interact through standardized event notifications, managing interaction complexity through asynchronous communication patterns.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #23Feedback

4Adaptability or versatility

If centralized status management and audit trail services are implemented, then flexibility and generality are improved, but the need for re-implementation across different business objects is reduced

Engineering Contradiction:

Improveflexibility and generalityVSAvoidre-implementation efficiency

Core Design Contradiction:

Adaptability or versatilityVSProductivity

Solution Approach 1:

Inventive Principle:

Principle #6Universality (Multi-functionality)

Data Source

PatentUS7774798B2Systems and methods for providing an interaction between a status management service and an audit trail service

Publication Date: 2010.08.10 SAP SE

AI summary

Systems and methods are disclosed for providing an interaction between a status management service and an audit trail service. In one embodiment, a computer-implement method provides the interaction by enabling an audit of a business object when the business object reaches a designated status. At an application server, a change associated with the business object is received. In response to the change, it is determined whether the business object is a status business object and an auditable business object. If so, a status function set is implemented to interface with the application server to determine whether the change to the business object is allowed. The method also determines whether the business object has reached the designated status. When the business object has reached the designated status, auditing data is requested for the business object.