WEB SERVICE TOOL BASED ON BUSINESS OBJECT LAYER

1 . A method comprising:

receiving an input that selects an object and an associated attribute from a repository of pre-defined business objects via a graphical user interface; and

automatically generating code that describes and implements a Web service according to the selected object and the associated attribute.

2 . The method of claim 1 further comprising:

guiding a user, through the graphical user interface, to create the Web service in pre-defined stages.

3 . The method of claim 1 wherein automatically generating code comprises:

automatically generating a Web Services Description Language (WSDL) file to describe an interface of the Web service.

4 . The method of claim 1 wherein automatically generating code further comprises:

automatically generating function modules that include logic for performing runtime operations of the Web service.

5 . The method of claim 1 wherein receiving an input comprises:

setting a default value for the associated attribute according to the input; and

specifying whether the default value can be overwritten by a requestor of the Web service.

6 . The method of claim 1 wherein receiving an input further comprises:

changing a name of the associated attribute according to the input.

7 . The method of claim 1 further comprising:

copying functionalities of the selected object; and

changing the associated attribute based on planned usage of the Web service.

8 . The method of claim 1 further comprising:

testing and running the Web service using a business application that integrates business processes across various sources.

9 . A system comprising:

a graphical user interface to receive an input that selects a business object and an associated attribute;

a Web service generator coupled to the graphical user interface to automatically generate code that describes and implements a Web service according to the selected object and the associated attributes; and

a Web service engine to perform runtime operations of the Web service.

10 . The system of claim 9 further comprising:

a business application used by the Web service generator to test the Web service and by the Web service engine to run the Web service.

11 . The system of claim 9 wherein the graphical user interface comprises:

a creation wizard to guide a user in creation of the Web service in pre-defined stages.

12 . The system of claim 9 wherein the code comprises:

a Web Services Description Language (WSDL) file to describe an interface of the Web service; and

function modules to perform runtime operations of the Web service.

13 . The system of claim 9 further comprising:

a business object layer (BOL) to provide pre-defined business objects and query services for user selection.

14 . The system of claim 9 further comprising:

a web service tool database to store user selection for generation and the runtime operations of the Web service.

15 . A machine-readable medium having instructions, which when executed, cause a machine to perform a method, the method comprising:

presenting a graphical user interface to create a Web service in pre-defined stages;

receiving a user input from the graphical user interface; and

automatically generating code that defines and implements the Web service according to the selected object and the associated attribute.

16 . The machine-readable medium of claim 15 , wherein receiving a user input comprises:

receiving selection of an object and associated attributes from an object repository that store pre-defined business objects.

17 . The machine-readable medium of claim 15 , wherein receiving a user input comprises:

receiving the user input that specifies an operation available to a requester of the Web service with respect to the selected object.

18 . The machine-readable medium of claim 15 , wherein automatically generating code further comprises:

automatically generating a Web Services Description Language (WSDL) file to describe an interface of the Web service; and

automatically generating function modules that include logic for performing runtime operations of the Web service.

19 . The machine-readable medium of claim 15 , wherein presenting a graphical user interface comprises:

providing icons in a display showing the pre-defined stages; and

in response to selection of one of the icons, displaying a screen corresponding to one of the pre-defined stages.

20 . The machine-readable medium of claim 15 , wherein presenting a graphical user interface further comprises:

providing an expert mode selector in the graphical user interface; and

displaying detailed information of the selected object in response to activation of the expert mode.