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EP-4738098-A2 - SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR CONFIGURING SIMPLE OBJECT ACCESS PROTOCOL (SOAP) COMPONENTS

EP4738098A2EP 4738098 A2EP4738098 A2EP 4738098A2EP-4738098-A2

Abstract

A computing system includes a server. The server is communicatively coupled to a data repository local to the computing system and is configured to perform operations comprising creating, via a visual information flow creation tool, at least one information flow object in a series of flow objects of a work flow, and which comprises components that may be used to communicate with systems external to the server via simple object access protocol (SOAP).

Inventors

  • MUTHURAMAN, RAGHAVAN
  • AGARWAL, SWATI
  • RATHI, Sumit

Assignees

  • ServiceNow, Inc.

Dates

Publication Date
20260506
Application Date
20191223

Claims (15)

  1. A computing system, comprising: at least one memory (206); at least one processor (202) configured to execute stored instructions to perform actions comprising: generating and providing a graphical user interface (GUI) (500) to a client device (20), wherein the GUI (500) includes user input elements configured to receive user inputs defining configuration data of a simple object access protocol (SOAP) communication interface (114); receiving, via the user input elements of the GUI (500), the configuration data of the SOAP communication interface (114) from the client device (20); and creating the SOAP communication interface (114) based on the configuration data, wherein the SOAP communication interface is configured to be implemented by an information flow object (300) to enable the information flow object (300) to communicate via SOAP with an external system (28).
  2. The computing system of claim 1, wherein the at least one processor (202) is configured to execute the stored instructions to perform actions comprising: receiving, during execution of the information flow object (300) that implements the SOAP communication interface (114), a request to utilize the SOAP communication interface (114) to communicate via SOAP with the external system (28); and in response to receiving the request, generating and transmitting a SOAP request to the external system (28) in accordance with the configuration data, and receiving a SOAP response from the external system (28), wherein at least a portion of the SOAP response is returned to the information flow object (300) in response to the request.
  3. The computing system of claim 2, wherein the SOAP request includes a SOAP envelope indicating at least one SOAP action executable by the external system (28), wherein the external system (28) is configured to provide the SOAP response to the at least one processor (202) in response to executing the at least one SOAP action indicated by the SOAP envelope of the SOAP request.
  4. The computing system of claim 2, wherein a first user input element of the GUI (500) is configured to present the SOAP envelope and to update the SOAP envelope based on the received user inputs.
  5. The computing system of claim 2, wherein a first user input element of the GUI (500) is configured to receive a first selection of a web services description language (WSDL) file of a web service of the external system (28).
  6. The computing system of claim 5, wherein the at least one processor (202) is configured to: parse the WSDL file to determine one or more operations provided by the web service of the external system (28) to populate a second user input element of the GUI (500), wherein the second user input element is configured to receive a second selection of at least one operation to be performed by the web service of the external system (28).
  7. The computing system of claim 6, wherein: a third user input element of the GUI (500) is configured to present at least one SOAP action to be indicated by a SOAP envelope of the SOAP request based on the second selection of the at least one operation received by the second user input element; and a fourth user input element of the GUI (500) is configured to receive at least one input value for the at least one SOAP action, wherein the at least one input value is indicated along with the at least one SOAP action in the SOAP envelope of the SOAP request.
  8. A computer-implemented method, comprising: generating and providing a graphical user interface (GUI) (500) to a client device (20), wherein the GUI (500) includes user input elements configured to receive user inputs defining configuration data of a simple object access protocol (SOAP) communication interface (114); receiving, via the user input elements of the GUI (500), the configuration data of the SOAP communication interface (114) from the client device (20); creating the SOAP communication interface (114) based on the configuration data; receiving, from an information flow object (300) during execution, a request to utilize the SOAP communication interface to communicate via SOAP with an external system; and in response to receiving the request, generating and transmitting a SOAP request to the external system in accordance with the configuration data, and receiving a SOAP response from the external system, wherein at least a portion of the SOAP response is returned to the information flow object in response to the request.
  9. The computer-implemented method of claim 8, wherein receiving the configuration data comprises: receiving, via a first user input element of the GUI (500), a first selection of a web services description language (WSDL) file of a web service of the external system (28); parsing the WSDL file to determine one or more operations provided by the web service of the external system (28); populating a second user input element of the GUI (500) with the one or more operations provided by the web service; and receiving, via the second user input element of the GUI (500), a second selection of at least one operation of the one or more operations provided by the web service.
  10. The computer-implemented method of claim 9, wherein generating the SOAP request comprises: generating a SOAP envelope of the SOAP request, wherein the SOAP envelope indicates at least one SOAP action that corresponds to the at least one operation of the second selection received from the second user input element of the GUI (500).
  11. The computer-implemented method of claim 10, wherein the SOAP response is generated by the web service of the external system (28) in response to executing the at least one SOAP action indicated by the SOAP envelope.
  12. The computer-implemented method of claim 8, wherein the GUI (500) includes a visual information flow creation tool (112) comprising second user input elements, and wherein the method comprises: receiving, via the second user input elements, second user inputs defining the information flow object (300) prior to executing the information flow object (300).
  13. A non-transitory, computer-readable medium storing instructions executable by a processor (202) of a computing system (10), the instructions comprising instructions to: generate and provide a graphical user interface (GUI) (500) to a client device (20), wherein the GUI (500) includes user input elements configured to receive user inputs defining configuration data of a simple object access protocol (SOAP) communication interface (114); receive, via the user input elements of the GUI (500), the configuration data of the SOAP communication interface (114) from the client device (20), wherein the configuration data comprises at least one selected operation of a web service of an external system (28); create the SOAP communication interface (114) based on the configuration data; receive, from an information flow object (300) during execution, a request to utilize the SOAP communication interface (114) to communicate via SOAP with the web service of the external system (28); in response to receiving the request, generate and transmit a SOAP request to the web service of the external system (28), wherein the SOAP request indicates at least one SOAP action that corresponds to the at least one selected operation of the web service from the configuration data; in response to providing the SOAP request to the web service of the external system (28), receive a SOAP response from the web service of the external system (28); and return at least a portion of the SOAP response to the information flow object (300) in response to the request.
  14. The non-transitory, computer-readable medium of claim 13, wherein the instructions to receive the configuration data comprise instructions to: parse a web services description language (WSDL) file of the web service to determine one or more operations provided by the web service; populate a first user input element of the GUI (500) with the one or more operations provided by the web service; and receive, via the first user input element, the least one selected operation of the web service.
  15. The non-transitory, computer-readable medium of claim 14, wherein the instructions to receive the configuration data comprise instructions to: receive, via a second user input element of the GUI (500), at least one input value for the at least one SOAP action; and generate a SOAP envelope of the SOAP request, wherein the SOAP envelope indicates the at least one SOAP action and the at least one input value.

Description

BACKGROUND The present disclosure relates generally to a system and method for designing and configuring objects in a workflow, and is particularly, but not exclusively suitable for configuring objects that utilize web-based services via a simple object access protocol (SOAP). This section is intended to introduce the reader to various aspects of art that may be related to various aspects of the present disclosure, which are described and/or claimed below. This discussion is believed to be helpful in providing the reader with background information to facilitate a better understanding of the various aspects of the present disclosure. Accordingly, it should be understood that these statements are to be read in this light, and not as admissions of prior art. Cloud computing relates to the sharing of computing resources that are generally accessed via the Internet. In particular, a cloud computing infrastructure allows users, such as individuals and/or enterprises, to access a shared pool of computing resources, such as servers, storage devices, networks, applications, and/or other computing-based services. By doing so, users are able to access computing resources on demand that are located at remote locations, which resources may be used to perform a variety computing functions (e.g., storing and/or processing large quantities of computing data). For enterprise and other organization users, cloud computing provides flexibility in accessing cloud computing resources without accruing large up-front costs, such as purchasing expensive network equipment or investing large amounts of time in establishing a private network infrastructure. Instead, by utilizing cloud computing resources, users are able redirect their resources to focus on their enterprise's core functions. Within the context of cloud computing solutions for data repositories, users may be asked to deal with ever increasing amounts of data, e.g., including certain date-based information stored in the data repositories. In fact, the amount of cloud- based and date-based data collected and stored in today's cloud computing solutions, such as cloud-based repositories, may be orders of magnitude greater than what was historically collected and stored. Users tasked with automating and/or troubleshooting enterprise, IT, and/or other organization-related functions (e.g., incident tracking and/or help desk-related functions) navigate ever increasing amounts of date-based data to properly and efficiently perform their job functions. In certain embodiments, cloned data repositories may be created. With this in mind, the following embodiments are directed to improving the manner in which certain objects for certain data repositories, including cloned data repositories, may operate via SOAP. SUMMARY A summary of certain embodiments disclosed herein is set forth below. It should be understood that these aspects are presented merely to provide the reader with a brief summary of these certain embodiments and that these aspects are not intended to limit the scope of this disclosure. Indeed, this disclosure may encompass a variety of aspects that may not be set forth below. Information Technology (IT) networks may include a number of computing devices, server systems, databases, and the like that generate, collect, and store information. As increasing amounts of data representing vast resources become available, it becomes increasingly difficult to analyze the data, interact with the data, and/or provide reports for the data. The current embodiments provide systems and methods for configuring events or actions that enable the retrieval, manipulation and/or transformation of data, in particular via an integration hub and "spoke" architecture. A spoke is a scoped application that has content dedicated to a particular application. As will be described in detail below, the integration hub and spokes enable the creation of software objects, such as flows, actions, and/or steps that make up a workflow. A workflow may be considered to be a series (e.g. a sequence) of logical steps, which represent events to be processed by a computing system using computing resources of that computing system and/or resources external to that computing system. One such spoke is a simple object access protocol (SOAP) spoke, which may be used to create data that controls workflows, and which enables access to objects and services that are accessible via a simple object access protocol (SOAP). The SOAP spoke may be invoked by a flow designer system as part of configuring and then executing a workflow. In particular, the SOAP spoke can be used by such a flow designer system to utilize SOAP functionality in order to interact with a variety of third-party services and/or objects as part of such a workflow. In certain embodiments, a "wizard" system may provide for a graphical user interface (GUI) that includes textboxes, drop down menus, radio buttons, and other GUI controls. The GUI controls may b