US007945860B2
`
`(12) United States Patent
`Vambenepe et al.
`
`(10) Patent N0.:
`(45) Date of Patent:
`
`US 7,945,860 B2
`May 17, 2011
`
`(54)
`
`(75)
`
`SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR MANAGING
`CONVERSATIONS BETWEEN
`INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY RESOURCES
`
`Inventors: Guillaume N. Vambenepe, Mountain
`View, CA (US); Nicolas Catania, Palo
`Alto, CA (US); Bryan P. Murray,
`Duvall, WA (US); M. Homayoun
`Pourheidari, Mountain View, CA (US)
`
`(73)
`
`Assignee: Hewlett-Packard Development
`Company, L.P., Houston, TX (US)
`
`Notice:
`
`Subject to any disclaimer, the term of this
`patent is extended or adjusted under 35
`U.S.C. 154(b) by 2732 days.
`
`(21)
`
`(22)
`
`(65)
`
`(51)
`
`(52)
`(58)
`
`Appl. No.: 10/438,576
`
`Filed:
`
`May 14, 2003
`
`Prior Publication Data
`
`US 2004/0230650 A1
`
`Nov. 18, 2004
`
`Int. Cl.
`(2006.01)
`G06F 3/048
`U.S. Cl. .................................... ..
`
`715/744
`
`Field of Classi?cation Search ................ .. 709/223,
`709/224, 204; 707/10, 103 R; 705/7; 719/328;
`717/101; 715/744, 735, 765
`See application ?le for complete search history.
`
`(56)
`
`References Cited
`
`U.S. PATENT DOCUMENTS
`
`6,434,568 B1* 8/2002 BoWman-Amuah .... .. 707/103 R
`7,020,697 B1 *
`3/2006 Goodman et a1. .......... .. 709/223
`
`2003/0126136 A1* 7/2003 Omoigui . . . . . . . . . . . .
`
`. . . .. 707/10
`
`705/7
`2004/0064351 A1* 4/2004 Mikurak
`709/224
`2004/0103186 A1* 5/2004 Casati et a1. ..... ..
`709/204
`2004/0230650 A1* 11/2004 Vambenepe et a1.
`717/101
`2004/0230943 A1* 11/2004 Pourheidari et a1.
`2004/0237094 A1* 11/2004 Vambenepe et a1. ........ .. 719/328
`* cited by examiner
`
`Primary Examiner * Le Luu
`
`ABSTRACT
`(57)
`A system for managing a conversation includes one or more
`interfaces con?gured to provide management information
`about the conversation to a manager. The interface can be
`con?gured to provide information regarding a resource such
`as a Web service that contains the conversation. Information
`regarding the conversation that may be made available to the
`manager includes the number of failed messages processed
`by the conversation; the number of successful messages pro
`cessed by the conversation; the total number of messages
`processed by the conversation; the number of other resources
`participating in the conversation; the identity of other
`resources participating in the conversation; an identi?er of the
`conversation; the last mes sage received; the last fault mes sage
`received; and an identi?er of the resource that contains the
`conversation.
`
`35 Claims, 4 Drawing Sheets
`
`/ 160
`
`/ 162
`Conversation
`
`1_0_4
`
`400
`/
`
`Conversation Managed Object £51
`Conversation lmerfocem
`71 I
`
`116
`Conversation Interface Collection
`
`Conversation Monitoring Interface
`Other Parties
`Global Conversation Id
`Last Message
`Last Fault Message
`Other Services
`Numb?‘ of {Domes
`Conversation Discovery interface
`Containing Service
`Conversation Performance interface
`Failed Message Count
`Success Message Count
`Total Message Count
`Conversation Control interface
`Kill
`
`Event Types
`incorrect Message Received
`Participant Failure
`Remote Failure
`Local Failure
`
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`Descriptions
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`71 8
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`ServiceNow, Inc.'s Exhibit 1003
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`001
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`U.S. Patent
`
`May 17, 2011
`
`Sheet 1 of 4
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`US 7,945,860 B2
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`ServiceNow, |nc.'s Exhibit 1003
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`ServiceNow, Inc.'s Exhibit 1003
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`US. Patent
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`May 17, 2011
`
`Sheet 2 of4
`
`US 7,945,860 B2
`
`‘168
`Managed Objectf m
`
`Managed Object
`Interfaces
`@
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`/“ 760
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`102
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`Discovery
`Agencies
`420
`__
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`466
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`448
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`Interface
`Descrjp?ons
`
`152
`Manaaed Object Interface Collection
`
`Types
`Notification
`Relationship
`Managed Object
`FaultDetail
`Error
`
`Events
`RelationshipsChanged
`Status Values
`Operational
`Failed
`Inactive
`Unknown
`Managed Object Identity Interface
`ManagementUri
`Managed Object Configuration Interface
`Name
`Resource Version
`Type
`ManagedObjectVersion
`Description
`CreatedOn
`Owner
`SupportedEventTypes
`Vendor
`SupportedRelations
`Managed Object Monitoring Interface
`Status
`Managed Object Discovery interface
`Relationships
`GetSpecificRelationships
`Managed Object Control Interface
`Status
`Name
`Managed Object Collection Interface
`Get
`Set
`Perform
`Members
`Event Push Interface
`Push Subscribe
`Push Cancel Subscription
`EventPull Interface
`Pull Subscribe
`Pull Cancel Subscription
`Get Events Since ID
`Get Events Since Date
`Get Events Range By Date
`Event Callback Interface
`Notify
`
`FIG. ’I B
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`ServiceNow, Inc.'s Exhibit 1003
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`003
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`

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`US. Patent
`
`May 17, 2011
`
`Sheet 3 of4
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`US 7,945,860 B2
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`ServiceNow, Inc.'s Exhibit 1003
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`004
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`

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`US. Patent
`
`May 17, 2011
`
`Sheet 4 of4
`
`US 7,945,860 B2
`
`Online Store
`
`2_06
`
`Online Ordering Service M
`
`Conversation Managed Object 302
`
`Conversation lnterface[s] Q5
`Managed Object lnterface(s) 3i
`
`Conversation
`
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`
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`Managed Object lnterface(s] m
`
`Conversation
`
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`
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`
`Discovery
`Agencies
`L22
`
`4 '18
`
`Interface
`Descriptions
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`ServiceNow, Inc.'s Exhibit 1003
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`005
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`US 7,945,860 B2
`
`1
`SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR MANAGING
`CONVERSATIONS BETWEEN
`INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY RESOURCES
`
`RELATED APPLICATIONS
`
`The disclosed system and operating method are related to
`subject matter disclosed in the following co-pending patent
`applications that are incorporated by reference herein in their
`entirety: (1) US. patent application Ser. No. 10/438,716
`entitled “System and Method for Managing Web Services”;
`and (2) US. patent application Ser. No. 10/438,662 entitled
`“System and Method for Managing Information Technology
`Resources”.
`
`COMPUTER PROGRAM LISTING APPENDIX
`
`This speci?cation includesAppendixA (consisting of three
`text ?les) on CD-ROM, Which contains interface description
`documents that can be used With some embodiments of the
`invention. The ?les on the compact discs are as folloWs:
`1. Conversation Interfaces Description.Wsdl (12 KB cre
`ated May 14, 2003);
`2. Event Interfaces Description.Wsdl (10 KB created May
`14, 2003); and
`3. Managed Object Interfaces Description (22 KB created
`May 14, 2003).
`Appendix A is incorporated herein by reference.
`
`BACKGROUND
`
`20
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`25
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`2
`gration (UDDI) registry, provides a de?nition of the interface
`to a Web service and identi?es service providers in a netWork.
`The WSDL speci?cation is an XML-based language used to
`de?ne Web services and describe hoW to access them. An
`application trying to use a particular Web Service uses WSDL
`to ?nd the location of the Web service, the function calls
`available, and the format that the client must folloW to access
`the Web service. Therefore, the client ?rst obtains a copy of
`the WSDL ?le and then uses the information in this ?le to
`format a request, often using SOAP.
`The UDDI registry supports Web services by providing a
`place for a company to register its business and the Web
`services that it offers. Users that need a Web service can use
`this registry to ?nd a business that provides the service.
`Web services are highly extensible, interact in a loosely
`coupled manner, and are deployed and utiliZed via various
`standard speci?cations such as SOAP, WSDL, and UDDI. In
`particular, Web services alloW businesses to create processes
`that span multiple enterprises and de?ne netWorks based on
`business partnerships. Enterprises are adopting Web services
`technology to address their business integration needs, but
`currently there is no standard frameWork for managing Web
`services.
`Web services have some characteristics that make them
`especially challenging to manage. One characteristic is that
`Web services Work together to form a distributed application
`that may extend across an enterprise or even a WorldWide
`netWork such as the Internet. The challenge is that there are
`many vieWpoints from Which to manage an application. The
`management challenges With a distributed application
`involve crossing boundaries of control and management
`domains While maintaining a uni?ed, yet customized vieW for
`the distributed application. For instance, an IT manager may
`be interested in managing all of the services in a domain,
`Which includes several computer systems. The vantage point
`is all Web services on a given computer system. In another
`instance, a process manager may be interested in all of the
`Web services that Work together to drive a process to comple
`tion. This may involve Web services throughout an enterprise,
`or possibly Web services hosted by other companies. Still
`further, a business manager may be interested in all of the
`service agreements With the company regarding Web services
`hosted by other companies. The business manager Will be
`interested in making sure the company meets its service
`agreements With others. Additionally, the service providers’
`performance in ful?lling the service agreements Will be
`tracked to provide information for making future business
`decisions.
`Another characteristic that presents management chal
`lenges is that Web services have been designed to be exten
`sible at all levels. The SOAP protocol standard provides a
`very ?exible mechanism to extend the processing of mes
`sages by adding headers to the message. Additionally, the
`body of the message may be any XML document that is
`understood by the Web service. The WSDL and XML
`schema description standards provide a means to de?ne arbi
`trary data types, and to extend or restrict previously de?ned
`data types. An XML-schema is a document that describes the
`valid format of an XML data-set, such as elements that are
`(and are not) alloWed at any point; What the attributes for any
`element may be; and the number of occurrences of elements.
`It is also possible for a Web service to provide several
`interfaces into its functionality. There are also discovery stan
`dards that provide their oWn extensibility mechanisms. The
`management challenges With such an extensible system
`include determining the type of a managed object and hoW to
`communicate With the object.
`
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`The term Web services describes an approach to distributed
`computing in Which interactions are carried out through the
`exchange of eXtensible Markup Language @(ML) messages.
`Web services can perform any task that can be described and
`contained Within one or more modules of code. For example,
`functions such as language translation or currency conver
`sion, performing calculations for medical claims processing,
`and handling certain aspects of travel planning can be imple
`mented in a Web service. Essentially any transaction or bit of
`business logic can become a Web service if it can be accessed
`and used by another system over a netWork such as the Inter
`net.
`A Web service is a softWare system identi?ed by a Univer
`sal Resource Identi?er (URI) Whose public interfaces and
`bindings are typically de?ned and described in an XML docu
`ment. The description can be discovered by other softWare
`systems. These systems may then interact With the Web ser
`vice in a manner prescribed by its de?nition, using XML
`based messages conveyed by Internet protocols.
`50
`The Web services architecture is based upon the interac
`tions betWeen three primary roles: service provider, service
`registry, and service requestor. These roles interact using
`publish, ?nd, bind and other operations. The service provider
`is the business that provides access to the Web service and
`optionally publishes the service description in a service reg
`istry. The service requestor ?nds the service description
`optionally in a service registry and uses the information in the
`description to bind to a service.
`Web services typically send XML messages formatted in
`accordance With the Simple Object Access Protocol (SOAP)
`speci?cation. The SOAP speci?cation is a universally agreed
`upon protocol that uses XML and optionally HTTP together
`to invoke functions exposed in Web services.
`The XML messages are described using the Web Services
`Description Language (WSDL) speci?cation, Which, along
`With the optional Universal Description Discovery and Inte
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`US 7,945,860 B2
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`3
`The UDDI standard allows WSDL documents to be dis
`covered at run time. This discovery mechanism is not limited
`to use only Within an enterprise, but is available Wherever the
`Web service is available over a network, such as the Internet.
`Furthermore, it is possible to discover not only the basic
`capabilities of a Web service, but also the advanced capabili
`ties that are speci?ed by these standards. One management
`challenge With such a powerful discovery mechanism is to
`ensure that provided services are protected With the proper
`type of security. Another management challenge is identify
`ing users accessing the provided Web services. Yet another
`more complex management challenge is that all appropriate
`service agreements are not only discoverable but also
`enforced.
`SOAP and UDDI provide information about the Web ser
`vices as they use the applications, but facilities are lacking
`that provide critical information on the state of the Web ser
`vice as it is executing, and alloW messages sent and receieved
`by the Web service to be managed.
`
`SUMMARY
`
`In one embodiment, a system for managing a conversation
`in a Web service includes a conversation managed object
`executable on a computer processor. The conversation man
`aged object includes one or more interfaces con?gured to
`provide management information about the conversation to a
`manager. The interface is con?gured to provide information
`regarding the Web service that contains the conversation.
`In another embodiment, a system capable of monitoring
`messages betWeen a ?rst resource and a second resource
`includes a computer processor con?gured to communicate
`With the ?rst resource. The computer processor includes
`executable instructions operable to: discover Whether a con
`versation has been established betWeen the ?rst resource and
`the second resource; end the conversation; and request infor
`mation regarding the conversation. The information about the
`conversation that is available via the interface includes, for
`example, the number of failed messages processed by the
`conversation; the number of successful messages processed
`by the conversation; the total number of messages processed
`by the conversation; the number of other resources participat
`ing in the conversation; the identity of other resources par
`ticipating in the conversation; an identi?er of the conversa
`tion; the last message received; the last fault message
`received; and/ or an identi?er of the ?rst resource that contains
`the conversation.
`In a further embodiment, a computer program product
`comprises a conversation interface, and a managed object
`interface associated With the conversation interface. The con
`versation interface includes information for monitoring mes
`sages in a conversation, including the number of failed mes
`sages; the number of successful messages; the total number of
`messages; the identity of services participating in the conver
`sation; the number of services participating in the conversa
`tion; an identi?er of the conversation; the last message
`received by the managed service; the last fault message
`received by the managed service; and/or an identi?er of the
`managed service that contains the conversation interface.
`In a still further embodiment, a method for managing a
`conversation for a Web service includes creating a conversa
`tion object representing the conversation, exposing manage
`ment capabilities for the conversation via a plurality of inter
`faces; and alloWing a manager to subscribe With the
`conversation object to receive noti?cation of events regarding
`the conversation.
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`4
`Various other features and advantages of embodiments of
`the invention Will be more fully understood upon consider
`ation of the detailed description beloW, taken together With
`the accompanying ?gures.
`
`BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES
`
`FIG. 1A is a diagram of components included in an
`embodiment of a conversation management system and a
`conversation interface collection.
`FIG. 1B is a diagram of components included in an
`embodiment of a managed object interface collection for the
`conversation management system of FIG. 1A.
`FIG. 2 shoWs a diagram of components included in an
`embodiment of an online shopping service system that can
`utiliZe the conversation management system of FIG. 1A.
`FIG. 3 shoWs a block diagram of components in online
`shopping service system of FIG. 2 con?gured With conversa
`tion and managed object interfaces.
`
`DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES
`
`Referring noW to FIG. 1A, an embodiment of a conversa
`tion management system 100 that alloWs manager 102 to
`monitor and control one or more conversations 104, 106 is
`shoWn. Conversation managed objects 108, 110 represent the
`management features of resource(s) that conduct conversa
`tions 104, 106. Interfaces in one or more categories can be
`included in conversation interfaces 112, 114 for each conver
`sation managed object 108, 110. Conversation interfaces 112,
`114 alloW manager 102 to access information regarding the
`state of messages related to corresponding conversations 104,
`106.
`In some embodiments, management capabilities provided
`via conversation interfaces 112, 114 include attributes that
`represent information about the messages; operations to sup
`port the management of conversations 104, 106; and events
`representing information, exceptions, and state changes that
`can be reported by conversation managed objects 108, 110 to
`manager 102. Conversation managed objects 108, 110 can be
`implemented as part of the implementation for conversations
`104, 106, such as shoWn for conversation managed object
`108, or in a layer external to conversations 104, 106, as shoWn
`for conversation managed object 110.
`The term “conversation” is a set of related messages sent
`and received by a particular conversation. Conversations 104,
`106 are typically invoked by other resources, such as Web
`services (not shoWn). The messages received by a particular
`conversation 104, 106 may be sent by more than one other
`conversation, and a particularresource, such as a Web service,
`can invoke multiple conversations that may or may not be
`related to the resource’s other conversations.
`Conversations 104, 106 populate data ?elds in conversa
`tion interfaces 112, 114 that are available to manager 102.
`Further, conversations 104, 106 receive information and con
`trol parameters from manager 102 via conversations inter
`faces 112, 114.
`In some embodiments, conversations 104, 106 folloW rules
`described by the Web Services Conversation Language
`(WSCL), Which alloWs conversations 104, 106 to be de?ned
`in XML schema, and messages to be formatted according to
`XML speci?cations. WSCL speci?es the XML messages to
`be exchanged, and the alloWed sequence of the message
`exchanges. WSCL conversation de?nitions are XML docu
`ments that can be interpreted by Web services infrastructures
`and development tools. Other suitable programming lan
`guages can be utiliZed to implement conversations 104, 106.
`
`ServiceNow, Inc.'s Exhibit 1003
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`US 7,945,860 B2
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`25
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`In some embodiments, each collection of conversation
`interfaces 112, 114 supports various categories of manage
`ment capabilities including monitoring, discovery, control,
`performance, con?guration, and security. Other interfaces
`that support additional conversation management capabilities
`can be utiliZed, in addition to, or instead of, conversation
`interfaces 112, 114.
`An embodiment of conversation interfaces 114 is repre
`sented in FIG. 1A as Conversation Interface Collection 116.
`Each interface in Conversation Interface Collection 116
`includes at least one management feature that can be used by
`manager 102 to monitor and/or control the exchange mes
`sages betWeen conversations 104 and 106. Conversation
`interfaces 112, 114 can include additional, feWer, or the same
`features shoWn in the embodiment of Conversation Interface
`Collection 116 in FIG. 1A.
`In the embodiment shoWn, Conversation Interface Collec
`tion 116 includes a Conversation Monitoring Interface, a
`Conversation Discovery Interface, a Conversation Perfor
`mance Interface, and a Conversation Control Interface. Con
`versation interfaces 112, 114 can be con?gured to support any
`one, a group, or all of the interfaces in Conversation Interface
`Collection 116.
`Further, in some embodiments, manager 102 can discover
`interface descriptions 118 for conversation interfaces 112,
`114 via a suitable discovery agency 120, such as UDDI or
`other suitable method. Interface descriptions 118 can be con
`?gured to reveal selected management information to man
`ager 102 by exposing only selected interfaces in conversation
`interfaces 112, 114. For example, a description for conversa
`tion interfaces 114 may expose only the Conversation Moni
`toring Interface to manager 102.
`Moreover, attributes in Conversation Interface Collection
`116 can support types of access by other objects, such as
`read-only and read/Write. When description documents 118
`are implemented in WSDL, conversation interfaces 112, 114
`are mapped to ports, and different operations are created
`based on the access policies of the attributes, as further
`described herein. Conversation Interface Collection 116 can
`also be extended to provide further management capabilities
`for manager 102, as further described herein.
`In the embodiment shoWn in FIG. 1A, Conversation Moni
`toring Interface includes attributes for Other Parties, Global
`Conversation ID, Last Message, Last Fault message, Other
`Services, and Number of Parties.
`The Other Parties attribute returns a list of other conversa
`tion managed objects participating in the corresponding con
`versation. For example, the Other Parties attribute in conver
`sation managed object 110 returns an identi?er for
`conversation managed object 108, and vice versa.
`The Global Conversation ID attribute returns a globally
`unique identi?er associated With conversation 106. The list of
`managed objects returned by the Other Parties attribute above
`return the same value for the Global Conversation ID. A
`55
`different identi?er indicates a different managed object. An
`example of a suitable identi?er is a Universal Resource Iden
`ti?er (URI) that can be used to identify resources in a domain
`including documents, images, doWnloadable ?les, services,
`electronic mailboxes, and other resources. Other suitable
`identi?ers can be utiliZed.
`The Last Message Received attribute represents the last
`message received by conversation 106.
`The Last Message Sent attribute represents the last mes
`sage sent by conversation 106.
`The Last Fault Message Received attribute represents the
`last fault message received by conversation 106.
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`The Last Fault Message Sent attribute represents the last
`fault message sent by conversation 106.
`The Other Services attribute represents a list of Service
`managed objects, Which represent the other Web services or
`resources that are participating in conversation 106. The list
`returned represents the identities of the Web services or other
`resources that are parties to conversation 106.
`The Number Of Parties attribute represents the number of
`other Web services or other resources involved in the conver
`sation.
`Conversation Discovery Interface can include a Contain
`ing Service attribute, Which returns a globally unique identi
`?er for the resource, such as a Web service that contains
`conversation 106.
`Conversation Performance Interface can include attributes
`such as Failed Message Count, Success Message Count, and
`Total Message Count. Failed Message Count returns the num
`ber of failed messages processed by conversation 106. Suc
`cess Message Count returns the number of successful mes
`sages processed by conversation 106. Total Message Count
`returns the total number of messages processed by conversa
`tion 106.
`Conversation Control Interface can include a Kill opera
`tion to terminate conversation 106. Other conversation(s) 104
`to Which the killed conversation 106 is related may continue
`to exchange messages.
`The embodiment of Conversation Interface Collection 116
`shoWn also includes Event Types, such as Incorrect Message
`Received, Participant Failure, Remote Failure, and Local
`Failure. An Event represents a change in the state of a corre
`sponding object, for example, conversation 106. Manager
`102 can register to receive noti?cation of one or more of the
`Event Types available in Conversation Interface Collection
`116.
`In the embodiment shoWn, Incorrect Message Received
`event indicates that an incorrect message Was received by
`conversation 106. Participant Failure event indicates that
`either a message could not be sent to one of the participants in
`conversation 106, or an expected response Was never received
`from one of the other participants. Remote Failure event
`indicates that one of the remote participants in conversation
`106 sent an unexpected fault message. Local Failure event
`indicates that a fault happened While processing a message for
`conversation 106.
`The preceding types, operations, and attributes are
`examples of features that can be included in Conversation
`Interface Collection 116. Other features can be implemented
`for Conversation Interface Collection 116 in addition to, or
`instead of, the preceding features. Further, the names for the
`interfaces, attributes, events, operations and other interface
`features disclosed herein are provided for purposes of illus
`tration only. The same names can be used to represent differ
`ent features, and other names can be implemented to repre
`sent features disclosed herein.
`FIG. 1A also shoWs managed object interfaces 122 asso
`ciated With conversation managed object 108, and managed
`object interfaces 124 associated With conversation managed
`object 110. Referring to FIG. 1B, an embodiment of managed
`object 148 With managed object interfaces 150 is shoWn.
`Managed object 148 is a management representation of a
`resource. For example, conversation managed objects 108,
`110 in FIG. 1A can each be considered managed objects 148.
`Managed object 148 implements managed object inter
`faces 150 to provide a common set of basic management
`capabilities to monitor and/ or control the underlying resource
`(s) represented by managed object 148 through various fea
`tures such as attributes, operations, and event noti?cations.
`
`ServiceNow, Inc.'s Exhibit 1003
`
`008
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`

`

`US 7,945,860 B2
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`7
`Various implementations of managed object interfaces 150
`can hide some or all of the management capabilities from
`managers 102 that are not authorized to access speci?c man
`agement capabilities.
`Each managed object 148 inherits managed object inter
`faces 150, Which can be implemented as part of each managed
`object 148, or in another layer outside of managed object 148.
`Each managed object 148 can also include one or more addi
`tional interfaces, based on the associated resources, that
`expose relevant information to manager 102. For example,
`conversation managed objects 108, 110 implement conversa
`tion interfaces 112, 114, as Well as managed object interfaces
`122, 124 (FIG. 1A).
`Interface descriptions 118 for managed object interfaces
`150 can be used in some implementations to expose manage
`ment capabilities available for managed objects 148 to man
`ager 102. Interface descriptions 118 can alloW manager 102 to
`determine the objects that can be managed, the attributes, and
`relationships and topology of related managed objects 148.
`Managed object interfaces 150 can alloW manager 102 to
`access information to monitor, audit, and control various
`aspects of managed objects 148, and to register to receive
`event noti?cations.
`The embodiment of Managed Object Interface Collection
`152 shoWn in FIG. 1B includes, among others, various event,
`types, attributes, operations, and status values that can be
`implemented in managed object interfaces 150.
`Managed Object Con?guration Interface includes Sup
`ported Relations, Which is a read-only attribute that returns a
`list of the relations supported by managed object 148. Any of
`the relations in the list may be used in relationships managed
`object 148 has With other managed objects. For example,
`managed object 148 can support relations such as Contains,
`Contained In, Depends On, Depended Upon, and Corre
`sponds To. Other suitable relations can be utiliZed. Further
`information regarding Managed objects 148 and managed
`object interfaces 150 is provided in the disclosure entitled
`“System and Method for Managing Web Services”, US.
`patent application Ser. No. l0/438,7 l 6, Which is incorporated
`herein by reference.
`Since conversation 106 can correspond to one or more
`conversations, the relation CorrespondsTo indicates that the
`related conversations have the same global unique ID. For
`example, if conversation 106 contained by a ?rst service
`corresponds to conversation 104 hosted by second service,
`then all the messages that are included in conversation 106
`and that either originate from or are sent to the second service
`are also included in conversation 104. If there are no such
`messages common to conversation 106 and conversation 104,
`then there are some other conversations that correspond to
`conversations 106 and 104 that provide a string of corre
`sponding conversations in Which each link of the string is
`made of a correspondence relationship that includes at least
`one common message. Other features that can be included in
`Managed Object Interface Collection 152 are described in the
`disclosure entitled “System and Method for Managing Infor
`mation Technology Resources,” US. patent application Ser.
`No. l0/438,662, Which is incorporated herein by reference.
`Referring to FIGS. 1A and 1B, in some embodiments,
`managed object interfaces 150 and conversation interfaces
`112, 114 are exposed to manager 102 through interface
`descriptions 118. Interface descriptions 118 can provide a
`framework for creating management services for all managed
`objects 148 regardless of the resources they represent by
`de?ning the interfaces in a common format recognized by
`other managed objects 148 and manager 102. In one embodi
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`ment, interface descriptions 118 de?ne the interfaces to Web
`Services Description Language (WSDL). Other suitable for
`mats can be utiliZed.
`Interface descriptions 118 implemented in WSDL typi
`cally de?ne schemas for messages and corresponding WSDL
`parts; port types; marker attributes; and namespaces.
`Port types describe a list of potential management capa
`bilities for manager 102. Managed objects 148 can implement
`management interfaces for some or all of the port types
`de?ned in interface descriptions 118. Managed objects 148
`can also use interface descriptions 118 to expose different
`interfaces to different managers 102. Examples of WSDL
`interface descriptions 118 suitable for use With some embodi
`ments of Conversation Interface Collection 116 and Managed
`Object Interface Collection 152 described herein are pro
`vided in the Appendix ?led With this disclosure.
`Extensions can be implemented to conversation interfaces
`112, 114, and managed object interfaces 150 to