Abstract A method and apparatus for processing jobs on an enterprise-wide computer system. The computer system uses a portal architecture to allow a user to view a wide variety of content retrieved from a variety of different computer systems. The computer system is configured such that a plurality of users can access the system at the same time through a computer network such as the Internet. Users may access the computer system by using a standardized browser program, thus simplifying the user interface. The computer system may also be connected to one or more back-end databases that correspond to the different computer systems within the enterprise. The computer system is configured to run predefined jobs to process data. These jobs can perform a variety of tasks such as retrieving data from a back-end database, preparing a report based upon retrieved data, processing data already resident within the portal system, or notifying a user when a particular condition occurs within the computer system. The computer system presents data to a user in an object called a portal page. The portal page is an object arranged in a format that is readable by a browser program. The portal page is a highly configurable document that may be comprised of a plurality of modules called portal objects. Each portal object may contain a set of links corresponding to output reports, jobs, or other objects stored within the repository. One feature of the portal page is a dynamically updated portal object. A dynamically updated portal object is an object that is updated on the user's portal page based upon data stored in the portal system.
1 . A computer system configured to present a portal page to at least one user through a network interface, wherein said at least one user communicates with the network interface through a computer network, the computer system comprising: a service broker electrically connected to the network interface, the service broker controlling a level of access to the computer system by a user and adapted to receive a request from a user for a job report; an authentication server electrically connected to the service broker, the authentication server configured to determine a level of access to be granted to a user based upon data stored therein; a repository electrically connected to the service broker, the repository comprising a computer memory encoded with a plurality of objects including at least one output report corresponding to a job and at least one portal page corresponding to a user, wherein the portal page includes a display window and a dynamically updated portal object associated with an output report stored in the repository; wherein the computer memory of the repository is further encoded with instructions for providing said at least one portal page to a corresponding user; and a job server electrically connected to the service broker and to the repository, the job server configured to execute a job stored within the repository and produce an output report, the server also configured to store the output report in the repository.
Claim 2
Dependent Claim
236 words
1 . A computer system configured to present a portal page to at least one user through a network interface, wherein said at least one user communicates with the network interface through a computer network, the computer system comprising: a service broker electrically connected to the network interface, the service broker controlling a level of access to the computer system by a user and adapted to receive a request from a user for a job report; an authentication server electrically connected to the service broker, the authentication server configured to determine a level of access to be granted to a user based upon data stored therein; a repository electrically connected to the service broker, the repository comprising a computer memory encoded with a plurality of objects including at least one output report corresponding to a job and at least one portal page corresponding to a user, wherein the portal page includes a display window and a dynamically updated portal object associated with an output report stored in the repository; wherein the computer memory of the repository is further encoded with instructions for providing said at least one portal page to a corresponding user; and a job server electrically connected to the service broker and to the repository, the job server configured to execute a job stored within the repository and produce an output report, the server also configured to store the output report in the repository.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
185 words
2 . A method of processing a job in a computer system comprised of a service broker, a repository including computer memory, an authentication server, and a job server, the computer system configured for communication with at least one user through a network interface, the method comprising the steps of: retrieving a personalized portal page corresponding to a user from the repository, wherein the personalized portal page includes a display window and at least one portal object, wherein the portal object includes a link corresponding to a job stored in the repository; transmitting the personalized portal page to the user; receiving a request from the user to execute a job stored in the repository; retrieving the requested job from the repository; dispatching the requested job for processing on a corresponding job server; processing the requested job in the job server so as to produce an output report corresponding to the requested job; converting the output report into a format readable by a browser program; transmitting the portal page to the user with the converted output report displayed in the display window of the portal page.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
185 words
2 . A method of processing a job in a computer system comprised of a service broker, a repository including computer memory, an authentication server, and a job server, the computer system configured for communication with at least one user through a network interface, the method comprising the steps of: retrieving a personalized portal page corresponding to a user from the repository, wherein the personalized portal page includes a display window and at least one portal object, wherein the portal object includes a link corresponding to a job stored in the repository; transmitting the personalized portal page to the user; receiving a request from the user to execute a job stored in the repository; retrieving the requested job from the repository; dispatching the requested job for processing on a corresponding job server; processing the requested job in the job server so as to produce an output report corresponding to the requested job; converting the output report into a format readable by a browser program; transmitting the portal page to the user with the converted output report displayed in the display window of the portal page.