Patent Filed in 2008 Describes Method and Apparatus for Accessing ERP Application Over Internet

Strategic Insights -

A recently published patent by Frederick Lo and colleagues describes a method and apparatus for accessing an Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) application over the Internet using Java. The patent, filed on October 20, 2008, was published online on October 13, 2015, and is assigned to International Business Machines Corporation.

The invention relates to the need for simplified development environments for ERP systems that can be accessed over the Internet. The problem with using ERP software on the Web is the lack of correspondence between the protocols used to communicate in the Web and the protocols used to communicate with ERP software. The inventors propose a method that allows Web users to request information from ERP software via HTML input forms, which is then used to create a sequence of ERP API calls for execution by the ERP software.

Key Takeaways:

  • The patent describes a method and apparatus for executing pre-defined API calls in an ERP system via the Internet.
  • The method uses HTML input forms to request information from ERP software, which is then used to create a sequence of ERP API calls for execution by the ERP software.
  • The results output by the ERP software are transformed into HTML or XML/XSL format for presentation to the Web user.
  • The specification of the ERP interface is done through the specification of ERP data definition.
  • The invention provides a client-server ERP information handling system for accessing data managed by an ERP application via the Internet.
  • The system consists of a client computer, a web server, an ERP web gateway, and an ERP application.
  • The ERP web gateway converts requests from the web server into language format required by the interface of the ERP application and converts information received from the interface of the ERP.

Statistics:

  • The patent was filed on October 20, 2008.
  • The patent was published online on October 13, 2015.
  • The patent is assigned to International Business Machines Corporation (IBM).
  • The invention provides a method for executing ERP application requests in a computer-implemented ERP data processing system via a network.
  • The method consists of 9 steps: transmitting an HTML input form, receiving a HTTP request, transferring data, transferring control to the ERP application, receiving output data, merging output data, transforming strongly typed Java objects, and transmitting HTML or XML object to the browser.
  • The invention provides a client-server ERP information handling system for accessing data managed by an ERP application via the Internet.

Sources:

  • Lo, Frederick; Orchard, David B.; Viswanathan, Arvind; Vodarek, Jiri George. Accessing a ERP Application over the Internet Using Strongly Typed Declarative Language Files. U.S. Patent Number 9159040, filed October 20, 2008, and published online on October 13, 2015. Patent URL: http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO1&Sect2=HITOFF&d=PALL&p=1&u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fsrchnum.htm&r=1&f=G&l=50&s1=9159040.PN.&OS=PN/9159040RS=PN/9159040