Systems and methods for managing web services via a framework of interfaces

1. A system for managing a Web service, comprising:

a computer processor; and

a service managed object executable on the computer processor, wherein:

the service managed object is associated with the Web service and includes at least one interface configured to allow a manager to access management features for the Web service; and

the at least one interface is configured to provide a list of conversations associated with the Web service.

2. The system of claim 1 , wherein the at least one interface is further configured to provide information regarding an interface description for the at least one interface.

3. The system of claim 1 wherein the at least one interface is further configured to provide information regarding the relationship of the service managed object to other managed objects.

4. The system of claim 1 , further comprising a conversation interface for at least one of the conversations, wherein the conversation interface provides:

information regarding other managed objects participating in the at least one conversation;

an identifier associated with the at least one conversation;

information regarding messages processed by the service;

identifiers for other services participating in the at least one conversation; and

the number of other services participating in the at least one conversation.

5. The system of claim 4 , wherein the conversation interface further provides information regarding the service that contains the at least one conversation.

6. The system of claim 4 , wherein the conversation interface further provides notification of at least one of the following events:

the at least one conversation received an incorrect message;

one of the participants in the at least one conversation is missing;

one of the remote participants in the at least one conversation sent an unexpected fault message; and

a fault occurred while processing a message for the at least one conversation.

7. The system of claim 4 , further comprising a Web service execution environment (WSEE) interface comprising information regarding:

the configuration of the WSEE; and

other services that are executable in the WSEE.

8. The system of claim 1 , wherein the at least one interface is configured to provide information regarding the response time of the service.

9. The system of claim 1 , wherein the at least one interface is configured to allow a manager to control operation of the service.

10. The system of claim 1 , wherein the service managed object is configured to notify the manager of the operational status of the service.

11. The system of claim 1 , wherein the information is sent to the manager via a simple object access protocol (SOAP).

12. The system of claim 1 , further comprising an interface description that describes management capabilities available for the service via the at least one interface.

13. The system of claim 12 , wherein the interface description is formatted according to a Web services description language (WSDL).

14. A system capable of managing a Web service, comprising:

a computer processor configured to communicate with the service, wherein the computer processor includes executable instructions operable to:

discover a managed object interface for the service;

discover capabilities for managing the service based on the managed object interface for the service;

discover a service interface for the service; and

discover additional capabilities for managing the service based on the service object interface.

15. The system of claim 14 , wherein the computer processor includes executable instructions further operable to:

discover other managed objects related to the service based on the information in the managed object interface.

16. The system of claim 14 , wherein the computer processor includes executable instructions further operable to receive information regarding at least one of the group of:

conversations associated with the service that are in progress;

the last requested message received by the service;

the last fault message returned from the service; and

the execution environment for the service.

17. The system of claim 14 , wherein the computer processor includes executable instructions further operable to receive information regarding at least one of the group of:

the total number of messages the service has received since its creation;

the number of failed messages processed by the service;

the number of successful messages processed by the Web service;

the maximum amount of time that successful operational requests executed before returning a response;

the minimum amount of time that successful operational requests executed before returning a response;

the cumulative amount of time that successful operational requests have executed since the service started;

the maximum amount of time that failed operational requests executed before returning a response;

the minimum amount of time that failed operational requests executed before returning a response; and

the cumulative amount of time that failed operational requests have executed since the service started.

18. The system of claim 17 , wherein the computer processor includes executable instructions further operable to receive information regarding at least one of the group of:

an operation to start the service;

an operation to restart the service; and

an operation to stop the service.

19. The system of claim 18 , wherein the computer processor includes executable instructions further operable to receive information regarding:

a value indicating the operational status of a resource associated with the service; and

an event indicating the a change in the operational status of the resource.

20. The system of claim 19 , wherein the computer processor further comprises instructions operable to determine the management capabilities for the service based on:

a first interface description that describes the managed object interface; and

a second interface description that describes the service object interface.

21. The system of claim 20 , wherein the first interface description and the second interface description are formatted according to a Web services description language (WSDL).

22. A computer program product tangibly embodied in a computer readable storage medium, comprising:

a service interface; and

a managed object interface associated with the service interface, wherein the service interface is configured to include information for managing a Web service, including information indicating conversations associated with the service that are in progress.

23. The computer program product of claim 22 , wherein the service interface is further configured to include information regarding at least one of the group of: the last requested message received by the service; the last fault message returned from the service; and the execution environment for the service.

24. The computer program product of claim 22 , wherein the service interface is further configured to include information regarding at least one of the group of: the total number of messages the service has received since its creation; the number of failed messages processed by the service; the number of successful messages processed by the Web service; the maximum amount of time that successful operational requests executed before returning a response; the minimum amount of time that successful operational requests executed before returning a response; the cumulative amount of time that successful operational requests have executed since the service started; the maximum amount of time that failed operational requests executed before returning a response; the minimum amount of time that failed operational requests executed before returning a response; and the cumulative amount of time that failed operational requests have executed since the service started.

25. The computer program product of claim 24 , further comprising computer executable instructions operable to exchange messages via the simple object access protocol (SOAP).

26. The computer program product of claim 22 , wherein the service interface is further configured to include at least one of the group of: an operation to start the service; and an operation to stop the service.

27. The computer program product of claim 22 , wherein the service interface is further configured to include: at least one of the group of: a status value indicating the service's underlying resource is in the process of transitioning from terminated to operational status; and a status value indicating the service's underlying resource is in the process of transitioning from operational to inactive; and at least one of the group of: an event indicating the service is starting; an event indicating the service is stopping; and an event indicating the service has stopped.

28. The computer program product of claim 22 , further comprising a service interface description that describes the service interface.

29. The computer program product of claim 28 , wherein the extension to the service interface exposes management information regarding a business transaction.

30. The computer program product of claim 22 , further comprising:

an extension to the service object interface to expose additional service management capabilities for the service.

31. The computer program product of claim 30 , wherein the service interface description is formatted according to a Web services description language (WSDL).

32. The computer program product of claim 31 , wherein the extension to the service interface is implemented by including another port type in an interface description for the extension.

33. A method for managing a service, comprising:

creating a service object representing the service, wherein the service object includes a management interface;

exposing management capabilities for the service via a description of the management interface; and

allowing a manager to subscribe to receive notification of events regarding the service.

34. The method of claim 33 further comprising:

providing information regarding the service including:

information indicating conversations associated with the service;

messages processed by the service;

the execution environment for the service; and

the response time of the service.

35. The method of claim 33 further comprising:

allowing a manager to control operation of the service.

36. An apparatus for managing a service, comprising:

interface means for representing management capabilities for the service; and

description means for exposing a selection of the management capabilities for the service to a manager.

37. The apparatus of claim 36 , further comprising:

means for allowing a manager to subscribe with the service object to receive notification of events regarding the service.

38. The apparatus of claim 37 further comprising:

means for providing information indicating conversations associated with the service;

means for providing information regarding messages processed by the service; and

means for providing information indicating the response time of the service.

39. The apparatus of claim 36 further comprising:

means for allowing a manager to operate the service.