Custom application builder for supply chain management

1. A computer-implemented method for generating a custom application, comprising:

storing application parameters of a custom application for a trading partner in a supply chain network, the application parameters describing at least one user-customized display of supply chain data for the trading partner, the application parameters further defining a user-customized order of actions to be performed on the supply chain data and a type of the custom application;

receiving one or more user-modifications of the user-customized display of supply chain data and the user-customized order of actions to be performed on the supply chain data;

storing the received one or more user-modifications;

receiving a request for supply chain data over a computer network from the trading partner;

responsive to receiving the request for supply chain data from the trading partner, automatically identifying a role of the trading partner that made the request for supply chain data;

responsive to identifying the role of the trading partner, generating at least one of the application parameters based on the role of the trading partner;

generating a custom application comprising one or more user interfaces based on the stored application parameters and the at least one application parameter based on the role of the trading partner; and

rendering for display the custom application to the trading partner wherein the one or more user interfaces display portions of the requested supply chain data based on a format for display described in the application parameters and permit actions to be performed on the supply chain data based on the application parameters.

2. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , further comprising:

receiving the application parameters as customized by the trading partner.

3. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein actions to be performed on the supply chain data comprise:

sorting data;

searching data; and

calculating values based on the supply chain data.

4. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein the user-customized display of supply chain data comprises supply chain data displayed in one or more columns that can be searched by a search feature comprising:

a drop-down menu permitting user selection of one or more columns;

an interface allowing a user to directly input search criteria for the one or more columns; and

the interface allowing the user to directly input search criteria comprises a calendar date picker when the selected one or more columns comprises a date type definition and comprises a textbox when the selected one or more columns comprises a string type definition.

5. A supply chain management system for generating a custom application, comprising:

a web interface tangibly embodied on a non-transitory computer-readable medium and configured to receive application parameters for a custom application, the application parameters describing at least one user-customized display of supply chain data, the application parameters further defining a user-customized order of actions to be performed on the supply chain data and a type of the custom application;

a custom application builder module tangibly embodied on the non-transitory computer-readable medium and configured to:

receive one or more user-modifications of the user-customized display of supply chain data and the user-customized order of actions to be performed on the supply chain data;

store the received one or more user-modifications;

receive a request for supply chain data over a computer network from a trading partner;

responsive to receiving the request for supply chain data from the trading partner, automatically identify a role of the trading partner that made the request for supply chain data;

responsive to identifying the role of the trading partner, generate at least the one application parameter based on the role of the trading partner;

generate a custom application comprising one or more user interfaces based on the application parameters and the at least one application parameter based on the role of the trading partner; and

render for display the custom application to the trading partner wherein the one or more user interfaces display portions of the requested supply chain data based on a format for display described in the application parameters and permit actions to be performed on the supply chain data based on the application parameters.

6. The supply chain management system of claim 5 , wherein the custom application builder module is further configured to cause the web interface to render a display of at least a portion of the supply chain data returned from a database in response to the request.

7. The supply chain management system of claim 5 , wherein the application parameters describe at least one customized display of the custom application.

8. A computer-implemented method, comprising:

selecting a type of application that displays supply chain data, the type of application related to a user-created application and defining application parameters, the supply chain data stored in a database;

receiving one or more user-modifications of a user-customized display of the supply chain data from a trading partner;

storing the received one or more user-modifications;

generating a web-based request for the supply chain data based on the selecting;

selectively customizing a display of at least a portion of the supply chain data returned from the database in response to the web-based request;

generating at least one application parameter based on a role of the trading partner; and

generating a custom application comprising one or more user interfaces based on the application parameters and the at least one application parameter based on the role of the trading partner and rendering for display the customized display to the trading partner based on a format for display described in the at least one application parameter and permit actions to be performed on the supply chain data based on the at least one application parameter.

9. The computer-implemented method of claim 8 , the act of selectively customizing comprising at least one of:

selecting for display at least one column comprising at least the portion of the supply chain data;

selecting a name of the at least one column;

selecting a criteria for sorting data in the at least one column;

selecting a direction for sorting data in the at least one column;

selecting a search criteria for searching the returned supply chain data;

defining the search criteria for searching the returned supply chain data;

selecting error information to display;

selecting an action for performing at least one operation on data in the at least one column; and

naming the action.

10. The computer-implemented method of claim 8 , further comprising:

performing an operation on data in a displayed column comprising at least the portion of the returned supply chain data.

11. The computer-implemented method of claim 10 , the act of performing comprising at least one of:

adding the data in the displayed column;

averaging the data in the displayed column;

determining a maximum value in the displayed column;

determining a minimum value in the displayed column;

performing an operation on the data in the displayed column with data in another displayed column comprising at least the portion of the returned supply chain data; and

performing the operation on the data in the displayed column with data in another displayed column comprising at least the portion of the returned supply chain data and forming a new displayed column based on a result of the performing the operation on the data in the displayed column with the data in the another displayed column.

12. The computer-implemented method of claim 10 , wherein data displayed in one or more columns can be searched by a search feature comprising:

a drop-down menu permitting user selection of one or more columns;

an interface allowing a user to directly input search criteria for the one or more columns; and

the interface allowing the user to directly input search criteria comprises a calendar date picker when the selected one or more columns comprises a date type definition and comprises a textbox when the selected one or more columns comprises a string type definition.

13. The computer-implemented method of claim 10 , wherein footer data is displayed comprising one or more formulas that generate the data displayed in the column.

14. A supply chain management system, comprising:

a computer system providing a user a capability to build a custom application requiring supply chain data;

a user interface tangibly embodied on a non-transitory computer-readable medium that receives one or more user-modifications of a user-customized display of the supply chain data and a user-customized order of actions to be performed on the supply chain data;

a web interface tangibly embodied on the non-transitory computer-readable medium and accessible by the computer system, wherein the web interface handles a request from a computer for the supply chain data; and

a database that stores the received one or more user-modifications of the user-customized display of the supply chain data, wherein a procedure in metadata stored in the database is invocable to return the supply chain data based on parameters in the request, the parameters comprising the user-customized order of actions to be performed on the supply chain data and a type of the custom application, wherein the computer system generates the custom application based on the parameters and a role of a trading partner and renders for display the user-customized display to the trading partner based on a format for display described in at least one of the parameters and permits actions to be performed on the supply chain data based on the at least one of the parameters.

15. The supply chain management system of claim 14 , wherein the parameters in the request are specific to the type of the custom application.

16. The supply chain management system of claim 14 , wherein the metadata comprises an XML file.

17. The supply chain management system of claim 14 , wherein the web interface is further configured to authenticate the user.

18. The supply chain management system of claim 14 , wherein at least a portion of the returned supply chain data is displayed to the user using the custom application, wherein the user is capable of selecting display preferences for the custom application.

19. The supply chain management system of claim 14 , wherein supply chain data stored in the database is updateable based on activities in a supply chain related to the user.

20. The supply chain management system of claim 14 , wherein the database is configured to store a plurality of metadata, each of which corresponds to a module associated with the type of custom application selectable by the user.

21. A non-transitory computer-readable medium embodied with software for generating a custom application, the software when executed using a computer system is configured to:

render a web-based application configured to receive a selection of a first application to customize, the first application having a type that is related to a user-created application, the first application requiring supply chain data;

receive one or more user-modifications of a user-customized display of the supply chain data and a user-customized order of actions to be performed on the supply chain data;

store the received one or more user-modifications;

receive a request for supply chain data over a computer network from a trading partner;

responsive to receiving the request for supply chain data from the trading partner, automatically identify a role of the trading partner;

responsive to identifying the role of the trading partner, generate a custom application comprising one or more user interfaces based on the user-customized display of the supply chain data and the user-customized order of actions to be performed on the supply chain data and the role of the trading partner; and

render for display the custom application to the trading partner wherein the one or more user interfaces display portions of the requested supply chain data based on a format for display and permit actions to be performed on the supply chain data based on the user-customized display of the supply chain data and the user-customized order of actions to be performed on the supply chain data and the role of the trading partner.

22. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 21 , wherein the software is further configured to:

allow a user to update supply chain data stored in a database.

23. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 21 , wherein the software is further configured to:

allow a user to at least one of delete, copy, modify, restrict, and share with another user the custom application.