Case leaf nodes pointing to business objects or document types
Case management systems and techniques are disclosed. In various embodiments, a trait definition is received that associates with a case node comprising a case model an object associated with an external system, e.g., a document or other content object and/or a business or other software object. The trait definition is used to bind respective instances of the object to corresponding instances of the case node in case instances created based on the case model.
1. A method of managing cases, comprising:
receiving, by a case management module of a case management system, the case management module executing on a computing device, for a case node of a case model a trait definition that associates with that case node an object that is located on a system external to the case management system, the trait definition including an identifier associated with the object;
instantiating one or more case instances from the case model, wherein each of the one or more case instances has corresponding instances of the case node, and wherein a trait data structure is created for each instance of the case node;
instantiating a respective instance of the object for each of the instances of the case node, wherein the respective instance of the object is located on a system external to the case management system;
using the trait definition, binding the respective instances of the object to the corresponding instances of the case node in the one or more case instances, the binding comprising storing object identifiers of the respective instances of the object in the trait data structure of the corresponding instances of the case node, the object identifiers stored in the trait data structure of the corresponding instances of the case node associating the respective instances of the object with the corresponding instances of the case node; and
accessing the respective instances of the object using the object identifiers of the respective instances, wherein the respective instances of the object are located on one or more content management systems that are external to the case management system that manages the corresponding instances of the case node in the case instances created based on the case model, the accessing including accessing the respective instances of the object via a content services layer of the case management system, using instances of a set of foundation classes located on the case management system to access the respective instances of the object located on the one or more content management systems, the accessing including implementing behaviors associated with the respective instances of the object.
2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the object comprises a business or other software object.
3. The method of claim 2 , wherein the business or other software object is associated with an application and the application is configured to perform application level processing with respect to the business or other software object.
4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the object comprises a document or other content object.
5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the object comprises a document and the external system comprises a content management system.
6. The method of claim 5 , wherein the content management system associates the document with a document type and the identifier associated with the object identifies the document type.
7. The method of claim 6 , wherein the content management system is configured to perform type-based processing with respect the document based on the document type.
8. The method of claim 1 , wherein the object comprises a document or other content object and the external system comprises a content management system,
wherein the content management system is associated with an application server that includes the content services layer configured to access content stored in the content management system and the object has services associated with the object.
9. A case management system, comprising:
a storage device configured to store a case model; and
a processor coupled to the storage device and configured to:
receive, at the case management system, for a case node of the case model a trait definition that associates with that case node an object that is located on a system external to the case management system, the trait definition including an identifier associated with the object;
instantiate one or more case instances from the case model, wherein each of the one or more case instances has corresponding instances of the case node, and wherein a trait data structure is created for each instance of the case node;
instantiate a respective instance of the object for each of the instances of the case node, wherein the respective instance of the object is located on a system external to the case management system;
bind, using the trait definition, the respective instances of the object to the corresponding instances of the case node in the one or more case instances, wherein binding respective instances of the object to corresponding instances of the case node in case instances comprises storing object identifiers of the respective instances of the object in the trait data structure of the corresponding instances of the case node to associate the respective instances of the object with the corresponding instances of the case node; and
access the respective instances of the object using the object identifiers of the respective instances, wherein the respective instances of the object are located on one or more content management systems that are external to the case management system that manages the corresponding instances of the case node in the case instances created based on the case model, the accessing including accessing the respective instances of the object via a content services layer of the case management system, using instances of a set of foundation classes located on the case management system to access the respective instances of the object located on the one or more content management systems, the accessing including implementing behaviors associated with the respective instances of the object.
10. The case management system of claim 9 , wherein the object comprises a business or other software object.
11. The case management system of claim 10 , wherein the business or other software object is associated with an application and the application is configured to perform application level processing with respect to the business or other software object.
12. The case management system of claim 9 , wherein the object comprises a document or other content object.
13. The case management system of claim 9 , wherein the object comprises a document and the external system comprises a content management system.
14. The case management system of claim 13 , wherein the content management system associates the document with a document type and the identifier associated with the object identifies the document type.
15. The case management system of claim 14 , wherein the content management system is configured to perform type-based processing with respect the document based on the document type.
16. The system of claim 9 , wherein the object comprises a document or other content object and the external system comprises a content management system,
wherein the content management system is associated with an application server that includes the content services layer configured to access content stored in the content management system and the object has services associated with the object.
17. A computer program product to manage a case, the computer program product being embodied in a non-transitory computer readable storage medium and comprising computer instructions for:
receiving, by a case management system, for a case node of a case model a trait definition that associates with that case node an object that is located on a system external to the case management system, the trait definition including an identifier associated with the object;
instantiating one or more case instances from the case model, wherein each of the one or more case instances has corresponding instances of the case node, and wherein a trait data structure is created for each instance of the case node;
instantiating a respective instance of the object for each of the instances of the case node, wherein the respective instance of the object is located on a system external to the case management system;
using the trait definition, binding the respective instances of the object to the corresponding instances of the case node in the one or more case instances, wherein binding respective instances of the object to corresponding instances of the case node in case instances comprises storing object identifiers of the respective instances of the object in the trait data structure of the corresponding instances of the case node to associate the respective instances of the object with the corresponding instances of the case node; and
accessing the respective instances of the object using the object identifiers of the respective instances, wherein the respective instances of the object are located on one or more content management systems that are external to the case management system that manages the corresponding instances of the case node in the case instances created based on the case model, the accessing including accessing the respective instances of the object via a content services layer of the case management system, using instances of a set of foundation classes located on the case management system to access the respective instances of the object located on the one or more content management systems, the accessing including implementing behaviors associated with the respective instances of the object.
18. The computer program product of claim 17 , wherein the object comprises a business or other software object.
19. The computer program product of claim 17 , wherein the object comprises a document or other content object.
20. The computer program product of claim 17 , wherein the object comprises a document or other content object and the external system comprises a content management system,
wherein the content management system is associated with an application server that includes the content services layer configured to access content stored in the content management system and the object has services associated with the object.