Integration of information distribution systems
An integration component assists in the integration of information distribution systems (IDSs). The integration component may help to identify the scope of the systems that are to be integrated using a multi-level top-down approach. The multi-level top-down approach may include five levels: a system software level, a business process level, a business rule level, an interface function level, and a data level. A fault detection component may then check the identified systems to identify potential faults. This check can be performed by representing the business rules as a Transition-Directed-Graph (TDG) and then processing the TDG using generic depth-first search (DFS)-based algorithms.
1. A computer-implemented method of integrating software systems, the method comprising:
identifying, by a processor of a computer, the software systems that are to be integrated;
identifying, by the a processor of the computer, a scope of the integration based on a multi-level top-down approach, where the multi-level top-down approach includes:
a first level that includes the software systems,
a second level that includes business processes of the software systems,
a third level that includes business rules that are defined as transitions in the business processes,
a fourth level that includes interface functions that define communications between the business rules, and
a fifth level that includes data used by the business rules and the interface functions;
identifying, by the processor of the computer, the business processes, associated with the software systems, that are to be integrated;
identifying, by the processor of the computer, the business rules that are defined for each of the business processes that are to be integrated;
identifying, by the processor of the computer, faults in the business rules by applying generic depth-first search (DFS)-based techniques to the business rules; and
modifying, by the processor of the computer, the business rules based on the identified faults.
2. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , where identifying faults in the business rules includes:
representing the business rules using a transition-directed graph (TDG) representation.
3. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , further including:
comparing the business processes to locate similar business processes that are to be integrated.
4. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , where identifying the scope of the integration is performed on software systems from multiple merging entities.
5. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , where the identified faults include faults of at least one of inconsistency, contradiction, circularity, subsumption, redundancy, or incompleteness.
6. A computer-implemented system for integrating information distribution systems, the computer-implemented system comprising:
a physical memory device to store instructions; and
a processor to execute the instructions to implement:
means for identifying the information distribution systems that are to be integrated;
means for assisting a user to identify a scope of the integration using a multi-level top-down approach, the identified scope including a set of business processes that are to be integrated and a set of business rules that define the business processes, where the multi-level top-down approach includes:
a first level that includes software systems,
a second level that includes the business processes, which define the software systems,
a third level that includes the business rules defined as transitions in the business processes,
a fourth level that includes interface functions that define communications between the business rules, and
a fifth level that includes data used by the business rules and the interface functions;
means for identifying faults in the business rules by applying generic depth-first search (DFS)-based techniques to the business rules; and
means for modifying the business rules based on the identified faults.
7. The computer-implemented system of claim 6 , where the fault detection component is further configured to represent the business rules using a transition-directed graph (TDG) representation.
8. The computer-implemented system of claim 6 , where the means for assisting compares the business processes to locate similar business processes that are to be integrated.
9. The computer-implemented system of claim 6 , where the scope of the integration is defined for software systems from multiple merging entities.
10. The computer-implemented system of claim 6 , where the identified faults include faults of at least one of inconsistency, contradiction, circularity, subsumption, redundancy, or incompleteness.
11. A computer-implemented method of integrating information distribution systems of merging entities, the method comprising:
identifying, by a processor of a computer, a scope of the information distribution systems that are to be integrated based on a multi-level top-down approach including:
a first level that includes software systems,
a second level that includes business processes, which define the software systems,
a third level that includes business rules defined as transitions in the business processes,
a fourth level that includes interface functions that define communications between the business rules, and
a fifth level that includes data used by the business rules and the interface functions;
identifying, by the processor of the computer, the business processes in the software systems;
comparing, by the processor of the computer, the identified business processes to determine business processes that are related as candidates for integration;
identifying, by the processor of the computer, the business rules that define the identified business processes;
identifying, by the processor of the computer, faults in the business rules by applying generic depth-first search (DFS)-based techniques to the business rules; and
modifying, by the processor of the computer, the business rules based on the identified faults.
12. The computer-implemented method of claim 11 , further comprising:
modifying the business rules based on the identified faults.
13. The computer-implemented method of claim 11 , where comparing the identified business processes includes finding pairs of business processes that perform similar functions.
14. The computer-implemented method of claim 11 , where the identified faults include faults of at least one of inconsistency, contradiction, circularity, subsumption, redundancy, or incompleteness.
15. The computer-implemented method of claim 11 , where identifying faults in the business rules further includes:
representing the business rules using a transition-directed graph (TDG) representation.
16. A physical computer-readable memory device containing instructions for execution by one or more processors, the physical computer-readable memory device including:
instructions for assisting a user to identify a scope of an integration of information distribution systems by using a multi-level top-down approach, the identified scope including a set of business processes that are to be integrated and a set of business rules that define the business processes, where the multi-level top-down approach includes:
a first level that includes software systems,
a second level that includes the business processes, which define the software systems,
a third level that includes the business rules defined as transitions in the business processes,
a fourth level that includes interface functions that define communications between the business rules, and
a fifth level that includes data used by the business rules and the interface functions;
instructions for identifying faults in the business rules by applying generic depth-first search (DFS)-based techniques to the business rules; and
instructions for modifying the business rules based on the identified faults.
17. The physical computer-readable memory device of claim 16 , where the instructions for identifying faults represent the business rules using a transition-directed graph (TDG) representation.
18. The physical computer-readable memory device of claim 16 , where the scope of the integration is defined for information distribution systems from multiple merging entities.
19. The physical computer-readable memory device of claim 16 , where the identified faults include faults of at least one of inconsistency, contradiction, circularity, subsumption, or incompleteness.