Browsing meta data for an enterprise service framework

1. A computer program product, tangibly embodied on a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium, containing instructions to cause a data processing apparatus to:

store back end system metadata corresponding to a plurality of back end systems, wherein the back end systems store service modules that execute a plurality of prebuilt queries on data stored by the back end systems, and the back end system metadata identifies the service modules stored on the respective back end systems;

store service module metadata identifying the prebuilt queries that are executed by the respective service modules;

store query metadata describing data types of query results generated when the prebuilt queries are executed by the respective service modules;

receive, from a client, a first request, the first request identifying one of the back end systems;

transmit the back end system metadata for the identified back end system to the client in response to the first request, the transmitted back end system metadata describing the service modules stored by the identified back end system;

receive, from the client, a second request, the second request identifying one of the service modules stored by the identified back end system;

transmit the service module metadata for the identified service module to the client in response to the second request, the transmitted service module metadata identifying at least two of the prebuilt queries executed by the identified service module;

receive, from the client, a third request, the third request identifying one of the at least two prebuilt queries executed by the identified service module; and

transmit the query metadata for the identified prebuilt query to the client in response to the third request, the transmitted query metadata describing data types of the query results generated when the identified prebuilt query is executed,

wherein the back end system metadata, the service module metadata, and the query metadata are transmitted to the client in a normalized format, and

wherein the client displays the transmitted back end system metadata, the transmitted service module data, and the transmitted query metadata.

2. The computer program product of claim 1 , wherein the client comprises an application development tool.

3. The computer program product of claim 1 , wherein the first request is formatted in extensible mark up language (XML) and is sent by the client using hypertext transfer protocol (HTTP).

4. The computer program product of claim 1 , wherein the normalized format comprises an XML file.

5. The computer program product of claim 1 , wherein the normalized format provides information about:

the identified service module associated with the identified prebuilt query,

a search parameter associated with the identified prebuilt query, and

a field associated with a second query with a same result data type as a result of the identified prebuilt query.

6. The computer program product of claim 1 , wherein the normalized format comprises self-describing tags.

7. The computer program product of claim 1 , wherein the query metadata comprises field definitions for predefined result fields of the identified prebuilt query.

8. The computer program product of claim 1 , wherein the back end system metadata, the service module metadata, and the query metadata is stored in a repository according to a meta model, and further comprising instructions to:

search the repository for the back end system metadata for the identified back end system, upon receiving the first request;

search the repository for the service module metadata for the identified service module, upon receiving the second request; and

search the repository for the query metadata for the identified prebuilt query, upon receiving the third request.

9. The computer program product of claim 8 , wherein the meta model comprises a service module class, a query class, or an aspect class.

10. The computer program product of claim 1 , wherein the back end system metadata, the service module metadata, and the query metadata are implemented as objects and cached in individual user sessions so a session user can reuse the objects.

11. A computer-implemented method comprising:

storing, in a storage device, back end system metadata corresponding to a plurality of back end systems, wherein the back end systems store service modules that execute a plurality of prebuilt queries on data stored by the back end systems, and the back end system metadata identifies the service modules stored on the respective back end systems;

storing, in the storage device, service module metadata identifying the prebuilt queries that are executed by the respective service modules;

storing, in the storage device, query metadata describing data types of query results generated when the prebuilt queries are executed by the respective service modules;

receiving, from a client, a first request, the first request identifying one of the back end systems;

transmitting the back end system metadata for the identified back end system to the client in response to the first request, the transmitted back end system metadata describing the of service modules stored by the identified back end system;

receiving, from the client, a second request, the second request identifying one of the service modules stored by the identified back end system;

transmitting the service module metadata for the identified service module to the client in response to the second request, the transmitted service module metadata identifying at least two of the prebuilt queries executed by the identified service module;

receiving, from the client, a third request, the third request identifying one of the at least two prebuilt queries executed by the identified service module; and

transmitting, using a processor, the query metadata for the identified prebuilt query to the client in response to the third request, the transmitted query metadata describing data types of the query results generated when the identified prebuilt query is executed,

wherein the back end system metadata, the service module metadata, and the query metadata are transmitted to the client in a normalized format, and

wherein the client displays the transmitted back end system metadata, the transmitted service module data, and the transmitted query metadata.

12. The method of claim 11 , wherein the normalized format provides information about:

the identified service module associated with the identified prebuilt query,

a search parameter associated with the identified prebuilt query, and

a field associated with a second query with a same result data type as a result of the identified prebuilt query.

13. A system comprising:

a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing instructions; and

a data processor executing the instructions to:

store back end system metadata corresponding to a plurality of back end systems, wherein the back end systems store service modules that execute a plurality of prebuilt queries on data stored by the back end systems, and the back end system metadata identifies the service modules stored on the respective back end systems;

store service module metadata identifying the prebuilt queries that are executed by the respective service modules;

store query metadata describing data types of query results generated when the prebuilt queries are executed by the respective service modules;

receive, from a client, a first request, the first request identifying one of the back end systems;

transmit the back end system metadata for the identified back end system to the client in response to the first request, the transmitted back end system metadata describing the service modules stored by the identified back end system;

receive, from the client, a second request, the second request identifying one of the service modules stored by the identified back end system;

transmit the service module metadata for the identified service module to the client in response to the second request, the transmitted service module metadata identifying at least two of the prebuilt queries executed by the identified service module;

receive, from the client, a third request, the third request identifying one of the at least two prebuilt queries executed comprised by the identified service module; and

transmit the query metadata for the identified prebuilt query to the client in response to the third request, the transmitted query metadata describing data types of the query results generated when the identified prebuilt query is executed,

wherein the back end system metadata, the service module metadata, and the query metadata are transmitted to the client in a normalized format, and

wherein the client displays the transmitted back end system metadata, the transmitted service module data, and the transmitted query metadata.

14. The system of claim 13 , further comprising an enterprise service framework, wherein the back end system metadata, the service module metadata, and the query metadata are stored in a repository, and the non-transitory computer-readable medium further storing instructions to:

search the repository for the back end system metadata for the identified back end system, upon receiving the first request;

search the repository for the service module metadata for the identified service module, upon receiving the second request; and

search the repository for the query metadata for the identified prebuilt query, upon receiving the third request.

15. The system of claim 13 , wherein the client comprises a development tool.

16. The system of claim 13 , wherein the normalized format provides information about:

the identified service module associated with the identified prebuilt query,

a search parameter associated with the identified prebuilt query, and

a field associated with a second query with a same result data type as a result of the identified prebuilt query.