Abstract: A bulk service interface can be instantiated for each of at least one service provider providing a plurality of business objects using a stored definition of a plurality of metadata properties relating to generation of a user interface that incorporates content of a plurality of business objects. The bulk service interface can query the stored definition and access, in a bulk metadata access process, dynamic metadata required for instantiation of the plurality of business objects. If the stored definition has not previously been received, a default bulk services access process that queries an existing dynamic metadata access interface of each of the plurality of business objects can be initiated to retrieve the dynamic metadata from each of the plurality of business objects. An instance of the user interface can be generated using dynamic metadata accessed by the bulk service interface and/or the retrieved by the default bulk services access process.

Abstract: A host software application implementing business processes and providing a graphical display associated with a user interface (UI) for a user in a client program executing on a client frontend device that is separate from a backend device storing metadata associated with the UI may be initiated. An automation graphical symbol may provide the user with an option to initiate a test on events of the host software application, during execution of the host software application. A request from the user may be received, to initiate a test on events of the host software application. Information may be received from the user indicating one or more selected specific events for performing the test. The test may be initiated on the selected specific events, based on a state of execution of the host software application at an initial time of the user indicating the selected specific events for performing the test.

Abstract: Various embodiments of systems and methods for lifecycle stable user interface adaptations are described herein. All adaptations done by partners/key users/end users to a user interface of a computer software application are preserved during the lifecycle of the application. In one aspect, the adaptations are persisted as additional metadata used for the generation of the user interface. In another aspect, the lifecycle stability is achieved by attaching the adaptations to semantically coherent set of fields placed in the UI that reappear in future releases of the computer software application.

Abstract: A component object binds business driven services to a graphical user interface (GUI). The object includes a data model, view model and controller. The view model graphically presents, and the controller manipulates data used by the object. The controller includes an event handler that respond to events generated within the GUI and binds data used by the object to a data source which can be another component object or a remotely located source. The event handler can call a local script to calculate the value of a data element within the object. The component object can be instantiated on a client, and can be configured to communicate with a corresponding component object on a server. The client and server component objects can exchange only that data that needs to be exchanged to maintain the current state of a user interface in the client computer.

Abstract: Displaying a plurality of objects on a grid. Metadata indicates an object's display column and span. A lowest position is determined from objects displayed in the same column span. The object is displayed in the column span at the lowest position. A lowest position is determined after the last object is displayed. The grid is resized to minimize whitespace beyond the lowest position to border whitespace. Display overlay of first and second graphical objects. When the first object is directly manipulated in a GUI, the second object is automatically manipulated the same way. When the first object is scrolled in a first direction by a first amount, the second object is automatically displaced opposite the first direction by the first amount. When the first object is resized in a first dimension by a first amount, the second object can be automatically resized by the first amount in the first dimension.

Abstract: Methods for synchronizing data in client-server architectures are described. A client stores data in first and second fields. The value stored in the second field depends on the value stored in the first. When the client writes a new value to the first field, it disables writing to the second field. The client sends a refresh request and receives a refresh response from a server. The refresh request and response contain differences in data stored in the client and server fields. If the refresh response includes a new value for the second field, the client writes the value to the second field. A round trip pending flag associated with the first field is set. A data invalid flag associated with the second field is set. New data can be written to a third field when the value of the third field does not depend on the value of the first field.

Abstract: A computerized method for accessing business object data stored in a data buffer of a server computer includes providing an application program interface (API) having a function for specifying a set of paths through a business object stored as a data structure in a data buffer of a server computer. Each of the paths included in the set of paths specifies a plurality of nodes of the business object for accessing hosted data at the plurality of nodes. The method further includes receiving a set of parameters for the function of the API. The set of parameters specify the set of paths. The method further includes issuing the set of parameters to the server computer, retrieving hosted data from the plurality of nodes for each path in the set of paths; and transmitting to a client the hosted data retrieved from the plurality of nodes.

Abstract: Methods and apparatus, including computer program products, are provided for providing a query language based on a model. In one aspect, there is provided a computer-implemented method. The method may include receiving a first query; generating, based on a model including metadata representing a data structure, a second query specific to the data structure stored in a database; and sending the second query to the database. Related apparatus, systems, methods, and articles are also described.

Abstract: A bulk service interface can be instantiated for each of at least one service provider providing a plurality of business objects using a stored definition of a plurality of metadata properties relating to generation of a user interface that incorporates content of a plurality of business objects. The bulk service interface can query the stored definition and access, in a bulk metadata access process, dynamic metadata required for instantiation of the plurality of business objects. If the stored definition has not previously been received, a default bulk services access process that queries an existing dynamic metadata access interface of each of the plurality of business objects can be initiated to retrieve the dynamic metadata from each of the plurality of business objects. An instance of the user interface can be generated using dynamic metadata accessed by the bulk service interface and/or the retrieved by the default bulk services access process.

Abstract: Methods and apparatus, including computer program products, to realize a software model are described. Process components are defined that characterize software implementing respective and distinct business processes and additionally define at least one process agent that enables communications between a business object associated with the corresponding process component and a business object associated with any other process component. Business Process Variant Types are also defined that associate one or more of the process agents for the corresponding process component so that selection of a process variant type causes the associated one or more process agents to be activated.

Abstract: Various embodiments include one or more of systems, methods, software, and data structures to provide flexibility when configuring systems to new or different processes while not disrupting incomplete processes. Some embodiments include receiving input representative of a configuration change to at least one configuration setting and storing a copy of a setting of the at least one configuration setting from a current configuration to an historical configuration setting storage location. Such embodiments may further include storing the input representative of the configuration change into the current configuration. Following such configuring processes already initiated may be completed according to the copied historical configuration setting and new processes may be initiated according to the new configuration setting. These and other embodiments are described herein.

Abstract: Various embodiments of systems and methods for user programming access to data model in user interface design are described herein. User interface modeling is merged with a scripting language for additional functionalities. In one aspect, scripting enhances the dynamic access to the whole user interface model. In another aspect, additional controller and navigation logic is exposed by means of script inputs. A user can model, bind and run advanced logic through runtime declaration.

Abstract: Various embodiments of systems and methods for integrated metadata and nested authorizations in a user interface framework are described herein. User interface components metadata and authorization metadata are stored in one integrated entity. The primary user interface application components have authorization metadata and are checked at runtime for accessibility to the user interface application for a given user. The user interface framework ensures the security of the embedded user interface components via nested authorizations using metadata relations. The metadata relations are used for runtime authorization and policy generation. Generic user interface components are aggregated at runtime.

Abstract: Various embodiments of systems and methods for a layering concept for a repository of a user interface framework for Web applications are described herein. The content of a repository provided by different parties (e.g., vendor, partner, customer, user, etc.) is separated. The separation is achieved by assigning solutions to the parties that store content in the repository. Simplified access to the repository is achieved by layering the solutions in a stack and implementing a layer strategy for the layers and their order of access.

Abstract: Various embodiments of systems and methods for lifecycle stable user interface adaptations are described herein. All adaptations done by partners/key users/end users to a user interface of a computer software application are preserved during the lifecycle of the application. In one aspect, the adaptations are persisted as additional metadata used for the generation of the user interface. In another aspect, the lifecycle stability is achieved by attaching the adaptations to semantically coherent set of fields placed in the UI that reappear in future releases of the computer software application.

Abstract: Various embodiments of systems and methods for improved user interface framework for Web applications are described herein. The UI framework is based on the MVC architectural pattern. An additional controller, a server controller, is included in the server part of the user interface framework runtime. A client controller is running at the client side of the user interface framework runtime. The client controller and the server controller form one logical synchronized controller. The server controller ensures that all needed controller calculations, which would lead to additional roundtrips between the client side and the server side, can be done on the server side. Thus, exact one roundtrip between client side and backend for every user interaction and transporting only the bare minimum of data needed to render the current UI state is achieved.

Abstract: Various embodiments of systems and methods for a composition model for components of a user interface framework for Web applications are described. The methods include a loosely coupled method and a tightly coupled method for composing components in a UI framework. The loosely coupled method includes triggering a navigation pipe from an out-port of a first component to an in-port of a second component and defining a context mapping between a first set of parameters of the out-port of the first component and a second set of parameters of the in-port of the second component. The tightly coupled method includes exposing a binding reference from the first component to the second component and specifying a first data model entity from the first component to be bound to a second data model entity of the second component via a binding contract.

Abstract: A computer system includes a UI designer client that runs on a client device and is configured to enable creation of UI models. A client engine runs on a client device and is configured to initiate requests for the UI models, receive the UI models in response to the requests and interpret and render the UI models at runtime. A UI runtime server client is located on a server and is configured to interface with the client engine to receive and process the requests for the UI models from the client engine. A repository is located on the server and is configured to interface with the UI designer client and store the UI models as created using the UI designer client and interface with the UI runtime server client to deliver requested UI models to the UI runtime server client for interpretation and rendering by the client engine.

Abstract: A computer system can include a data handler configured to receive data for display within a plurality of layout elements. Each layout element from the plurality of layout elements can be identified for display within an application. The computer system can include a boundary generator configured to associate a first plurality of variable-size fields with a first column and associate a second plurality of variable-size fields with a second column. Each layout element from the plurality of layout elements can include at least one variable-size field from the first plurality of variable-size fields and at least one variable-size field from the second plurality of variable-size fields. The boundary generator can be configured to define a pair of alignment boundaries using a predicted size of each of the variable-size fields from the first plurality of variable-size fields.

Abstract: Methods and apparatus for displaying objects in client GUI. A lead selection and scoping information is used to determine whether the object is viewable, and the object is rendered only if it is at least partially viewable. The lead selection and scoping information is used to determine whether data is needed to render the object, and data is received from a corresponding object on a server only if it is needed to render the object. Determining whether the object is viewable in the GUI can be based on declaratively marked entities within the object's view and on view calculation rules. Determining whether data is needed to render the object can be based on declaratively marked entities within the object's data model such as flags indicating whether the data field is valid or whether the binding of the data field to a data source is valid.