U.S. patent application number 15/265481 was filed with the patent office on 2017-01-05 for distributed scalable policy based content management.
The applicant listed for this patent is ProntoForms Inc.. Invention is credited to Julian Craddock, Thane Eisener, Paul Haskins, Glenda Ann Leonard, Waldo Rachow.
Application Number | 20170004171 15/265481 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 34956725 |
Filed Date | 2017-01-05 |
United States Patent
Application |
20170004171 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Leonard; Glenda Ann ; et
al. |
January 5, 2017 |
DISTRIBUTED SCALABLE POLICY BASED CONTENT MANAGEMENT
Abstract
A method for defining and constraining the behavior of a shared,
mobile content management system is disclosed. The method includes
providing an admin console for defining, modifying, and managing
declarative policies. Declarative policies are defined based on an
XML policy model. The XML policy model dictates the policies that
can be expressed by the admin console. The defined declarative
policies are enacted without requiring the content management
system to be restarted, reconfigured, or re-implemented. An
XML-based policy wizard definition language is provided to define
policy wizards in the admin console that guide an administrator
through the steps of creating and editing the policies.
Additionally, at least one policy repository based on LDAP is
provided. The at least one policy repository has an interface and
is adapted to store a plurality of declarative policies. The policy
repository has scalable and distributed capabilities.
Inventors: |
Leonard; Glenda Ann;
(Ottawa, CA) ; Eisener; Thane; (Kanata, CA)
; Craddock; Julian; (Madeira Park, CA) ; Rachow;
Waldo; (Cumberland, CA) ; Haskins; Paul;
(Manotick, CA) |
|
Applicant: |
Name |
City |
State |
Country |
Type |
ProntoForms Inc. |
Ottawa |
|
CA |
|
|
Family ID: |
34956725 |
Appl. No.: |
15/265481 |
Filed: |
September 14, 2016 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
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Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
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14313144 |
Jun 24, 2014 |
9471611 |
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15265481 |
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10961784 |
Oct 8, 2004 |
8799242 |
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14313144 |
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Current U.S.
Class: |
1/1 |
Current CPC
Class: |
G06F 16/2365 20190101;
H04L 41/00 20130101; G06F 16/22 20190101 |
International
Class: |
G06F 17/30 20060101
G06F017/30 |
Claims
1-26. (canceled)
27. A distributed, scalable policy filter architecture for a
content management system comprising: a computer comprising a
processor and a memory; a policy repository for storing a plurality
of policies stored in the memory, the policy repository comprising
an interface for allowing a content management engine run on the
processor to retrieve the stored policies via a plurality of
indexes of the stored policies, the indexes including a system
trigger index and a condition index, each of the plurality of
indexes being tied to a specific domain name in a directory; the
content management engine comprising: a plurality of filters that
act as policy decision points, the plurality filters retrieving the
relevant policies from the policy repository, the filters being
adapted to retrieve and evaluate the policies via the interface of
the policy repository, the evaluation of the policies by the
plurality of filters to determine what system transactions are
required in response to a content request; and the evaluation of
the policies being performed in at least one of an outsourcing mode
and a provisioning mode; and a systems transactions processor that
requires every content request to pass through the plurality of
policy filters before the request is processed.
28. The policy filter architecture of claim 27, wherein the
plurality of filters are instantiated in parallel to enable load
balancing and increased throughput.
29. The policy filter architecture of claim 28, wherein the
plurality of filters are distributed on a plurality of different
machines.
30. The policy filter architecture of claim 29, wherein multiple
policies are applied to the same transaction across a plurality of
security domains, the plurality of security domains being on the
plurality of different machines.
31. The policy filter architecture of claim 28 wherein the
outsourcing mode uses information from multiple sources to evaluate
the policy.
32. The policy filter architecture of claim 31 wherein the multiple
sources relate to at least one of a user's device and a connecting
network.
33. The policy filter architecture of claim 28 wherein the
provisioning mode uses policy rules compiled into specific policy
parameters to evaluate the policy.
34. A mobile content management system including a plurality of
transient mobile devices, the mobile content management system
adapted to generate internal transient policies, the system
comprising: a computer comprising a processor and a memory; a
mobile content management engine executed on the processor, the
mobile content management engine generating internal transient
policies in response to events within or external from the system,
the content management engine comprising a system transactions
processor and an event notification component, wherein the content
management engine uses the generated internal transient policies to
configure the behavior of the system transactions processor and the
event notification component; and wherein the content management
engine supports version control on digital content by instantiating
transient policies which allows for a first mobile device to access
the digital content and stops other mobile devices from accessing
the digital content until the first mobile device returns the
digital content.
35. The content management system of claim 34, wherein the content
management engine supports the locking of the digital content by
instantiating a transient locked policy when the digital content
needs to be locked.
36. The content management system of claim 35, wherein the
transient locked policy is turned off or deleted when the system no
longer requires locking.
37. A mobile shared content management system comprising: a
computer comprising a processor and a memory; a plurality of mobile
devices having periodic communications within the system within a
network; a policy repository in the memory of the computer for
storing a plurality of system policies; a content management engine
running on the processor comprising: a plurality of filters that
act as policy decision points, the filters retrieving policies from
the policy repository and adapted to retrieve and evaluate the
policies of the policy repository, wherein the evaluation of the
policies by the plurality of filters determine what system
transactions are required in response to a content request; and a
systems transactions processor that requires the content request to
pass through the plurality of policy filters before the content
request is processed; an interface for allowing the content
management engine to run on the processor to retrieve stored
policies via a plurality of indexes of the stored policies, the
indexes including a system trigger index and a condition index,
each of the plurality of indexes being tied to a specific domain
name in a directory; and a policy wizard user interface in the
memory of the computer, the policy wizard user interface in
communication with the plurality of mobile devices for guiding a
user through a sequence of steps to create a policy, the sequence
of steps comprising: a system trigger specifying when at least one
condition should be evaluated, and evaluating whether the at least
one condition is true in order for the policy to be applied.
38. The mobile shared content management system of claim 37,
wherein the plurality of filters are instantiated in parallel to
enable load balancing and increased throughput.
39. The mobile shared content management system of claim 38,
wherein the plurality of filters are distributed on a plurality of
different machines.
40. The mobile shared content management system of claim 39,
wherein multiple policies are applied to multiple systems
transactions across a plurality of security domains, the plurality
of security domains being on a plurality of different machines.
41. The mobile shared content management system of claim 37,
wherein the content management engine further comprises a protocol
for: discovering a relevant resource; checking the feasibility of
the resource; identifying content that is new; and distributing the
content to the plurality of mobile devices at a specified time.
42. The mobile shared content management system of claim 41,
wherein the relevant resource is selected from an available
network, available device, content type, and file system
adapter.
43. The mobile shared content management system of claim 41,
wherein the policy can be applied dynamically while the system is
running.
44. The mobile shared content management system of claim 41,
wherein the policy repository uses an LDAP protocol and directory
for storage of system policies.
Description
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
[0001] The present invention relates generally to content
management and, more particularly, to a system and method for
managing content using declarative policies.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0002] Today, the majority of digital content resides within
computer based file systems. We use the file systems to manage our
digital content by organizing it, distributing it, and controlling
access in much the same way as filing cabinets manage paper-based
content. Typically within an organization, digital content may be
distributed across many different types of devices, linked by many
different types of networks and that content may be accessed and
controlled by many different types of users, on many different
types of devices, under many different types of business
situations.
[0003] Content management systems are becoming increasingly complex
in terms of the amount of content, the number of users, the number
of different devices and locations from which content is provided
and must be distributed to, and the constant changing nature of
business processes that use content. Enterprise IT departments are
challenged to provide reliable, cost effective solutions that allow
policies to be efficiently and dynamically defined in a manner that
content management systems can execute in an efficient and scalable
fashion. A well-implemented solution would allow users to use
policies to tailor the content management system to the specific
needs of the individual users in a manner that does not require any
structural changes to the underlying system.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0004] According to one embodiment of the present invention, a
method for defining and constraining the behavior of a shared,
mobile content management system is disclosed. The method includes
providing an admin console for defining, modifying, and managing
declarative policies. Declarative policies are defined based on an
XML policy model. The XML policy model dictates the policies that
can be expressed by the admin console. The defined declarative
policies are enacted without requiring the content management
system to be restarted, reconfigured, or re-implemented. An
XML-based policy wizard definition language is provided to define
policy wizards in the admin console that guide an administrator
through the steps of creating and editing the policies.
Additionally, at least one policy repository based on LDAP is
provided. The at least one policy repository has an interface and
is adapted to store a plurality of declarative policies. The policy
repository has scalable and distributed capabilities.
[0005] According to another embodiment of the present invention, a
shared, mobile content management system is disclosed. The content
management system comprises an XML based declarative policy model
for specifying and editing content policies. The declarative policy
model including a declarative language of the form UPON
<trigger> IF <condition> THEN <action>. A policy
wizard for specifying: (a) new policies in a XML representation
that captures a system <trigger> specifying when at least one
<condition> should be evaluated; (b) that the at least one
<condition> must be true in order for the policy to be
applied, and (c) at least one policy <action> that must be
performed when the at least one policy <condition> evaluates
to true. A content management engine is adapted to evaluate the
policies specified by the policy wizard.
[0006] According to another embodiment of the present invention, a
content management system is disclosed. The content management
system comprises a policy repository for storing a plurality of
policy definition files therein. The policy definition files are
written in a policy wizard definition language. An admin console
automatically generates policy wizard user interfaces based the
policy definition files. The admin console is adapted to specify
the policy wizard user interfaces in XML as a sequence of steps
that must be performed in a certain order. The policy wizard user
interfaces being capable of guiding a user through the sequence of
steps to create a policy. The admin console can map local and
distributed LDAP DNs, system defined triggers, external triggers,
systems actions, external actions, system conditions, and external
conditions to natural language expressions for presentation via the
generated policy wizard user interfaces.
[0007] The above summary of the present invention is not intended
to represent each embodiment, or every aspect, of the present
invention. Additional features and benefits of the present
invention are apparent from the detailed description, figures, and
claims set forth below.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0008] FIG. 1 is an illustration of a content management system
located on a network, according to one embodiment of the present
invention.
[0009] FIG. 2 is an architectural view of the content management
system of FIG. 1, according to one embodiment of the present
invention.
[0010] FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating defining a policy by, and
for use in, the content management system of FIG. 1, according to
one embodiment of the present invention.
[0011] FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating the retrieval and
evaluation of a policy by a content management engine, according to
one embodiment of the present invention.
[0012] FIG. 5 is a block diagram that illustrates a computer system
upon which embodiments of the invention may be implemented,
according to one embodiment of the present invention.
[0013] FIG. 6a is a flowchart illustrating a method utilized by a
policy wizard user interface to assist an administrator in creating
a policy, according to one embodiment of the present invention.
[0014] FIG. 6b is a screen view of a policy wizard user interface,
according to one embodiment of the present invention.
[0015] FIG. 6c is a screen view of the policy wizard user interface
of FIG. 6b, according to one embodiment of the present
invention.
[0016] FIG. 6d is a screen view of the policy wizard user interface
of FIG. 6b, according to one embodiment of the present
invention.
[0017] FIG. 6e is a screen view of the policy wizard user interface
of FIG. 6b, according to one embodiment of the present
invention.
[0018] While the invention is susceptible to various modifications
and alternative forms, specific embodiments have been shown by way
of example in the drawings and will be described in detail herein.
It should be understood, however, that the invention is not
intended to be limited to the particular forms disclosed. Rather,
the invention is to cover all modifications, equivalents, and
alternatives falling within the spirit and scope of the invention
as defined by the appended claims.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE ILLUSTRATED EMBODIMENTS
[0019] Within an organization, digital content may be distributed
across many different types of devices, linked by many different
types of networks. The content may be accessed and controlled by
many different types of users, on many different types of devices,
under many different types of business situations. To manage
content under such circumstances, one needs to efficiently,
securely and dynamically specify and execute the policies that
define or constrain system actions in a context sensitive manner.
These policies may include everything from user preferences and
profiles to business rules for routing content, to administration
settings for device and network capabilities. For example, a policy
might specify that specific users or user groups should be notified
when specific new content appears (from particular locations or
particular users) and that content should be automatically
distributed to the devices of those users at a particular time of
day. The type of notification (e.g., SMS message, email, fax) and
the form of the content (e.g., Excel file, plain text, URL) should
also be able to be adjusted depending on the user's preferences and
the type of device that the content is being pushed to.
[0020] To execute such a policy, a content management system would
need to discover the relevant resources (e.g., available networks,
available devices, content types, file system adapters, etc.),
check the feasibility of the resources (e.g., can the resources be
configured to achieve the desired result taking into account
security restrictions, bandwidth limitations etc.), identify
content that is new (by monitoring the source file systems), and
distribute the content to the specified devices at the specified
time. This would support both push and pull distribution models.
The trigger for publishing content to a user could be a regularly
scheduled event, or a specific user request. Administrators could
assign users to groups that receive such content, or a user could
join a group receiving content through a user initiated
subscription process.
[0021] In particular, the system should allow policy changes to be
made dynamically while the system is running, and not require any
scripting or coding. The changes can be made by focusing on the
business rules for content management not on the resource specific
configuration (e.g., networks, bandwidth, connectivity, devices,
etc.) that produce the result. Moreover, the system should allow
these policies to be defined in a distributed fashion to support
Internet Service Provider (ISP) and Managed Service Provider (MSP)
models of management. For example, a central body could set up the
initial system and base level policies. But detailed policy rules
could be added and administered by individual departments within an
organization, or individual customers of an ISP or MSP.
[0022] ISP's provide basic network infrastructure for connecting
organizations to the Internet and connecting geographically
dispersed employees and offices within the organization. According
to one embodiment, the present invention allows ISP's to flexibly
enable more sophisticated content sharing across the existing
network. The ISP can define basic content management policies, but
with a separate domain for each organization the ISP supports. The
organization could then add their own policies within the domain on
top of the ISP policies already in place.
[0023] Turning now to the drawings and initially to FIG. 1, a
content management system 10 is shown within a network 12,
according to one embodiment of the present invention. The content
management system 10 is in electronic communication with the
network 12. A plurality of systems and devices are located on the
network 12 including, for example, at least one policy repository
14, at least one content store 16, and at least one user device 18.
As illustrated in FIG. 1, one or more content stores may be located
on a plurality of devices, such as, for example, a database or
relational database 16a, an ERP system (or other
manufacturing/business system) 16b, a document or resource
management system 16c, or a file system 16d. The user devices 18
may be, for example, a laptop computer 18a, a cellular telephone
18b, a PDA (either cradled or wireless) 18c, or a smart phone 18d.
The content management system 10 allows a user on a user device 18
to access content located in a content store 16, assuming the user
has the proper permissions.
[0024] Referring now to FIG. 2, an architectural diagram showing
the interaction of components and actors within the content
management system 10 is illustrated, according to one embodiment of
the present invention. The content management system 10 includes a
content management engine 20, a policy repository 14, a content
store 16, an admin console 28, a policy model 32, and a policy
wizard 36.
[0025] The content management engine 20 is policy based and
provides a set of actions for accessing and managing
content--located on the content store 16--that are specified,
configured, and triggered by policies. These policies determine how
the system should behave in response to external requests and
internal events. The content management engine 20 is provided with
one or a plurality of policy filters and these filters can reside
on a single server or across multiple servers in one or more
security domains. In the illustrated embodiment, a set of four
policy filters 40a-d are provided with two filters 40a-b being
provided in parallel with another two filters 40c-d.
[0026] The content management engine 20 includes fully-distributed,
policy decision and enforcement based on a "pipe and filter"
architecture. A system transactions processor 48 is included within
the content management engine 20 as well. The system transactions
processor 48 requires that all system transactions pass through one
or more of the policy filters 40a-d that determine which, if any,
policies apply to the particular transaction. These filters 40a-d
represent the policy decision points (PDP) 44a of the content
management engine 20, while the system transactions processor 48 is
the policy enforcement point (PEP) 44b. These policy filters 40a-d
can search one or more local or remote policy repositories 14.
Because all transactions pass through at least one policy filter
40a-d, it is not possible for a policy not to be enforced by the
content management system 10 if it is valid. Further, the pipe and
filter architecture enables policy filters 40a-d to be applied
serially, in either a distributed or local fashion, or in parallel,
ensuring optimal system functionality as well as the ability to
enforce different policies in different locations by different
system administrators. The content management engine 20 can be
provided with one or a plurality of policy filters and these
filters can reside on a single server or across multiple servers in
one or more security domains. In the illustrated embodiment, a set
of four policy filters 40a-d are provided with two filters 40a-b
being provided in parallel with the other two filters 40c-d.
[0027] When a content request is made, for example, by a user on a
device 18, the content management engine 20 retrieves the relevant
policies from the policy repository 14. If one or more policies are
found to apply, the content management engine 20 applies the
appropriate policies so that the desired behavior is obtained. The
order of the policy evaluation is determined by the type of policy
and resources involved (according to one embodiment the mechanism
uses a policy filter architecture), as well as the manner that
system transactions are processed.
[0028] At a PDP 44a, a policy is evaluated by retrieving the policy
object from a policy repository 14, evaluating the condition
attributes of the policy object by either evaluating an LDAP
expression and/or by evaluating calls to system actions and
evaluating the action attribute if the condition attributes
evaluate to TRUE. If one or more policy actions conflict, a system
error is generated.
[0029] Policies are evaluated, at the PDP 44a, in one of two modes,
outsourcing or provisioning. In the outsourcing mode, policy
decisions are made dynamically. This allows the policy to evaluate
information from multiple sources (such as the user's current
device, and current connecting network). Alternatively, in the
provisioning mode, the policy rules are compiled into specific
configuration and policy parameters. For example, according to one
embodiment of the present invention, security policies specified in
the Extensible Markup Language (XML) declarative language are
compiled into LDAP Access Control Instructions (ACI). The
provisioning mode is more scalable than the outsourcing mode, but
the provisioning mode is less dynamic. Both modes are used
according to one implementation of the content management engine
20.
[0030] The content management engine 20 provides superior end user,
network, and server/client performance in several different ways,
including, but not limited to, policy retrieval and server
performance. Regarding policy retrieval, the policy schema
representation enables the rapid identification and retrieval of
the policies relevant to a particular transaction. Policies within
the policy repository 14 are indexed by system trigger(s) and
condition(s). These indexes are mapped directly to LDAP domain
names (DNs) and as a result can be rapidly retrieved from a LDAP
registry.
[0031] Regarding server performance, the pipe and filter
architecture employed by the content management engine 20 for
policy decisions and enforcement enables the system to rapidly
identify what policies apply to which transactions. Provisioning
mode policy evaluation can be used to further improve server
performance when appropriate. When the filters are deployed in
serial, it is possible to enable different system administrators to
apply different policies to the same transaction. For example, an
enterprise might apply a security policy, while a content
distributor might apply a notification policy.
[0032] The content management system 10 provides enforcement of
system policies by ensuring that every system transaction passes
through one or more policy filter 40a-d provided by the content
management engine 20. This ensures that a transaction cannot pass
through the system 10 without being checked to comply with the
various policies contained within the policy repository 14.
[0033] The policy repository 14 stores rich, user-friendly
specifications of policies in a form that is also efficient for
retrieval and execution by the content management engine 20.
According to one embodiment, the policy repository 14 uses the LDAP
protocol and directory for the storage of system policies. The
described policy repository 14 includes proprietary Content
Management Policy LDAP Schema Classes, a scalable, high-speed
policy indexing and retrieval algorithm, and a translator for
converting between the LDAP Schema Classes and the XML syntax used
based declarative policy language used for policy specification.
The Policy Schema classes extend the core LDAP v 3.0 schema
classes.
[0034] The policy repository 14 supports fully distributed policy
decision and enforcement. Policies can be stored in a single,
central policy repository or in two or more distributed policy
repositories. The policy repository 14 can be any LDAP 3.0
directory such as Sun's SunOne directory server, or Microsoft's
Active Directory product. Policies in the policy repository 14 can
be manipulated via the LDAP v 3.0 protocols and a proprietary
HTTP/XML based protocol. The policy repository 14 also enables
policies to access information, and to be defined in terms of
information, distributed across multiple policy engine components
as well as external system components such as existing LDAP
directories, databases, and software components. For example, a
policy can be defined in terms of LDAP objects stored in a
third-party directory and in terms of system calls to external
software modules.
[0035] The admin console 28 is a graphical user interface (GUI)
that allows a user to manage (add, modify, delete) policies as well
as the system actions and resources (users, content, external
systems, devices) that are referenced by policies. The admin
console 28 includes a means for instantiating policies (turning
them on), turning policies off, deleting policies, and specifying
access control policies to control policy utilization as well as
policy specification and editing. The admin console 28 also
provides the ability to specify priorities and link related
policies.
[0036] The admin console 28 includes a policy compiler/translator
in both directions between the XML based declarative policy schema
and the proprietary LDAP policy schema class extensions to LDAP v
3.0. In addition to translation, the admin console 28 also tests
the consistency of the policies--checking for conflicts. For
example, if a new policy is created using the admin console 28,
policy compilation and translation will check to determine whether
or not it conflicts with any existing policies.
[0037] The policy model 32 is XML based and defines the high level
representation of policies, system actions, and resources which are
the basis of the content management engine 20. This is an
intermediate format from the GUI presented to the user in the admin
console 28, and the compiled optimized format that is stored in the
policy repository 14 and executed by the content management engine
20. The policy model 32 is an XML based declarative policy schema
for specifying and describing policies. The policy schema describes
policies in terms of their triggers, conditions, and actions.
[0038] The XML policy schema supports a number of different User
Interface (UI) techniques for enabling end users to create, and
modify policies. In particular, it supports the automatic
generation of "policy wizards" 36 in the admin console 28 based on
a Policy Wizard Definition Language that can be used to guide an
administrator to create a policy by following one or more
steps.
[0039] The policy wizards 36 are specified declaratively in XML.
The policy wizards 36 are then utilized by the content management
engine 20 to create a policy wizard UI 220 (FIGS. 6b-e). The policy
wizard UI 220 can then be used by the administrators or other
authorized users to create different types of declarative policies
for storage in the policy repository 14. The admin console 28
guides an administrator or user through the definitions of policies
by displaying on the GUI a dynamically generated policy wizard UI
220 using an XML-based Policy Wizard Definition Language.
[0040] Generally, present systems use solutions such as rules
engines and rules editors to create and maintain system policies.
These solutions are very complex and require an intimate knowledge
of the product to create and maintain the policies. Though very
flexible, these systems are complex and tend to overburden the
end-user. Alternatively, the admin console 28 of the present
invention supports a wizard-based approach that enables users to
create, edit, and modify policies, without coding, in a natural
language format.
[0041] When the content management engine 20 receives a content
request from a user who wishes to access content from the content
store 16 (as shown in FIG. 2), the request is first inspected by
the policy filters 40a-d to determine which policies are relevant
to the request. Policies are retrieved from the content management
engine 20 and evaluated to determine the sequence of actions that
the engine 20 needs to take in response to the request. The system
transaction processor 48 executes the actions necessary to access
the content in the content store (either to retrieve it or update
it) and generate a response back to the user. In addition to the
response, events associated with the actions are generated by the
content management engine 20. These events can, in turn, be
inspected by the policy filters 40a-d and result in more system 10
actions. One of the actions that can be taken is to notify users of
events that have occurred. For example, a notification could be
sent out to inform a user that content is available. These event
notifications 50 may be sent out via external systems 52 in the
form of emails, SMS messages, faxes, etc.
[0042] The policy model 32 supports the expression of "publish and
subscribe" policies related to the digital content, users, devices,
networks and other resources that are managed by the content
management engine 20. These policies can be interpreted as simple
rules of the form "If some condition exists, then take the
following actions." Together, policies define the behavior of the
content management engine 20 by configuring, constraining, and
enabling the possible actions that the content management engine 20
is able to perform in response to requests and events. Users can
freely add and delete policies from the policy repository 14 to
affect behavior without requiring any scripting, coding or
interruption of the services provided by the content management
engine 20. These policies can be used to precisely tailor system
functionality so that it can be quickly tailored to meet the
diverse needs of the system's users.
[0043] Moreover, the content management engine 20 can be
distributed across any number of locations wherever content is
located inside or outside an organization's firewalls. It can also
manage content that is inside or outside an organization's
firewalls. This is essential for MSP/ASP business models, and for
supporting mobile users who are on the road outside the office.
[0044] The content management engine 20 provides policy retrieval
and evaluations, system transaction processing, and event
notification to the users of the content management system 10.
Policy retrieval and evaluations are used to determine the behavior
of the content management engine 20 in response to requests,
events, or other detectable trigger. The system transaction
processor 48 performs the required actions in a secure and scalable
fashion. Event notifications allows the content management engine
20 to trigger policies in response to monitored events like
schedules and changed content, and to inform users and
administrators of its actions. For example, a notification could be
sent out to inform a user that new content is available. These
event notifications 50 may be sent out via external systems 52 in
the form of emails, SMS messages, faxes, etc.
[0045] In the preferred implementation of this mechanism policy
retrieval and evaluation is based on a policy filter architecture
to ensure scalability and facilitate the process of matching
policies to requests and events. Different policy filters can
manage different types of policies and configure different types of
system resources. Depending on the filter they can be run serially
or in parallel to maximize throughput and scalability.
[0046] FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating the creation of a policy
by a developer and/or administrator utilizing the policy wizard 36
of the admin console 28, according to one embodiment of the present
invention. First, the policy wizard 36 is defined by an XML file
written using the Policy Wizard Definition Language (PWDL), at step
60. The policy wizard 36 is generally written by a developer for
later use by an administrator. The administrator can then select
the policy wizard 36, at step 62, in the admin console 28 to define
a new policy. The new policy is defined, at step 64, by following a
plurality of steps that the policy wizard 36 guides the
administrator through. Once the wizard 36 has been completed then
the newly-defined policy is stored in the policy repository 14, at
step 66. The system administrator can retrieve stored policies, at
step 66, and modify the policy, at step 67. The administrator may
change any number of items by selecting, from the admin console 28,
the stored policy in the policy repository 14. The administrator
can then re-proceed through the steps with the policy wizard 36 as
the guide. The modified policy may then be stored in the
repository, at step 65. Once the system administrator is satisfied
with the policy it can be activated, at step 69, in the policy
repository 14. At that point, the content management engine 20 will
apply the policy where appropriate using its policy retrieval and
evaluation components 44a-b.
[0047] The policy schema representation is compliant with the Java
Architecture for XML binding (JaxB). In the preferred
implementation for this mechanism, JaxB is used to allow a wizard
engine to "read" wizard definition files to create an effective,
easy to use user interfaces. In the current implementation, a tag
embedded in the admin console 28 parses the wizard definition files
(policy wizards 36). This tag then intelligently determines which
step of the wizard the user is on, and provides the user with the
appropriate options to choose from. While PWDL is used to
define--and automatically generate--wizards for creating policies,
PWDL can be applied in any situation where a complicated set of
parameters must be assigned values by end users.
[0048] In the admin console 28, each policy is mapped to a number
of definition files generated by PWDL. The wizard definition
files--generated in PWDL--each define a single policy wizard UI
220. These files are stored to enable future policy modification
and editing, at steps 66-67, and are also translated into policies
that are stored in the policy repository 14.
[0049] The wizard definition files describe policy wizard details,
such as, how many steps does the wizard contain, what are the users
prompts for each step, what are the options available in each step,
what are the interdependencies between options from one step to
another, what conditions may apply, which actions should this
policy fire, etc.
[0050] The admin console 28 utilizes the wizard definition files to
automatically generate a policy wizard UI. The preferred
instantiation of the wizard UI is a Web based UI, though this is
not required for the invention. The wizard definition files are
easily extensible to enable the addition of new policy wizard
information such as might be required by different UIs.
[0051] In addition to describing wizard details, PDWL can record a
user's choices in a PWDL described wizard. By recording a user's
choices, PWDL can be used to edit or modify an existing policy with
the original choices "pre-selected" in each step. In addition, PWDL
can be used to generate a natural language description of the
policy in which the user's choices are "highlighted" using a
variety of techniques such as "color coding," "bold type," and
"italic type."
[0052] If the wizard definition language is ever modified, say by
adding additional policy wizard details, then all existing policies
that have been generated using the language can be tested for
validity against the new PWDL schema. Since the wizard definition
language is XML, it is human readable, enabling policies to be
modified by directly editing the XML descriptions of the policies
instead of using a policy wizard UI. Enabling direct editing of the
XML descriptions maximizes the systems flexibility--allowing users
who are well-acquainted with policies to create and edit them
without assistance from a developer.
[0053] According to one embodiment, the policy wizard 36 is
designed to take advantage of the Java 2 Enterprise Edition (J2EE)
framework, the Apache Struts framework, the Apache Taglib
framework, the JavaScript programming language, and the Java
Architecture for XML binding (JaxB) technology. The current
implementation uses JaxB to convert the XML documents that define
the wizards into Java Objects. These Java objects are referred to
within an Apache Taglib tag embedded in a J2EE JSP. The user's
choices are stored in the JSP using JavaScript, and processed using
a Action Handler from the Apache Struts framework.
[0054] The JSP page has JavaScript embedded in it for tracking the
user's choices while they are on a particular step. These choices
are passed to the Action Handler when the user requests to move to
another step. The JavaScript also populates the JSP Form with the
choices the user has made when a policy is being edited. The policy
wizard step tag allows the presentation layer of the admin console
28 to have an intimate knowledge of the Java Objects created by the
JaxB compiler, without exposing them to the JSP designer. This
design achieves a clear separation between the presentation logic
in the JSP and the wizard logic that is in the PWDL tags. The tag
reads the wizard definition file, and then writes the UI components
required to the JSP. When submitted, the user choices (passed in
XML format) are converted to Java Objects in the Action Handler
using JaxB. The Action Handler then either creates a new policy
object, or if the user is editing an existing policy, retrieves the
policy from the LDAP policy repository and modifies it. The policy
is then stored in the policy repository 14.
[0055] Policies can be specified using conditional rules of the
form:
IF some condition is true, THEN perform this action.
Using the admin console 28, a user with the appropriate system
privileges, specifies the behavior of the content management engine
20 by defining new policies (step 64) or modifying existing
policies (step 67). The language of the policies is defined by the
policy model 32 which defines the conditions and actions that are
possible and, more importantly, the system resources that can be
referenced when specifying the policies. According to one
embodiment, the policy wizards 36 are defined and the admin console
28 uses the wizards to guide a user through the possible choices
for creating a policy.
[0056] Once the desired policies have been created, the
administrator may activate them, at step 69. This has the affect of
compiling the policy into the policy repository 14 so that it can
be retrieved and executed by the content management engine 20. When
a policy is executed, the content management engine 20 provisions
and configures the content network resources that are required to
obtain the desired behavior. For example, if an administrator
wishes to set up a content network that enables the automatic
distribution of digital content from a particular supplier to a
particular user at a particular time of day they might specify a
policy of the form: [0057] Whenever supplier X has new digital
content, install that content on user Y's device between 9 p.m. and
11 p.m. and notify the user dynamically according to the method
defined in their user preferences (email, SMS, fax).
[0058] Underlying this relatively simple policy might be a variety
of different system resources. Each of these has to be configured
so that the desired result is achieved. For example, security
provisioning must ensure that user Y can access supplier X's
content, the distribution system must ensure that the content can
actually be installed on user Y's device, and the network that
connects Y to the content must be adequate to the task.
[0059] Once a policy has been activated, the content management
engine 20 automatically identifies when the policy should be
executed. In other words, it identifies what "triggers" the
policy's application. Sometimes the policy triggers are internal to
the content management engine 20 and sometimes they are external.
In the previous example, the content management engine 20 may
utilize an event notification sub-system 48 (FIG. 2) that wakes up
at specified times such as at 9 p.m.
[0060] Sometimes triggers result from user requests to the content
management engine 20. For example, a user with a PDA device
requests a list of all the content that they can consume. In
response to the request, the policy engine retrieves the set of
policies that are applicable to the current user and their request
and executes them, resulting in a sequence of system actions, and
possibly the triggering of other events. The retrieval and
execution of policies is performed through the policy filter
framework that can flexibly control the order in which policies are
retrieved, evaluated, and executed depending on the types of
content, resources involved, and other factors like the time of
day, current load, and network bandwidth.
[0061] Referring now to FIG. 4, a method for responding to a
content request by the content management engine 20 is illustrated,
according to one embodiment of the present invention. At step 70, a
request for content is made either by a user or when an event has
occurred. The content request is then received by the content
management engine 20 (FIG. 2), at step 74. The filters 40a-d (FIG.
2) of the content management engine 20 then search the policy
repository 14 to determine the relevant policies associated with
the particular request and, at step 76, the relevant policies are
retrieved by the content management engine 20. These policies are
then evaluated, ate step 78, by the system transaction processor 48
(FIG. 2). The system transaction processor 48 initiates one or more
system transactions, at step 80, based on the evaluation of the
policy in association with the content request. For example, the
system transaction processor 48 may generate a content response, as
step 82, or an event notice, at step 84. The content response
generated at step 82 can then be communicated to a user device 18
(FIG. 2), at step 86. Similarly, the event notice generated at step
84 can then be communicated to a user device 18, at step 86, or to
an external system, at step 88.
[0062] FIG. 5 is a block diagram that illustrates a computer system
100 upon which embodiments of the invention may be implemented.
Computer system 100 includes a bus 102 or other communication
mechanism for communicating information, and a processor or
processors 104 coupled with bus 102 for processing information.
Computer system 100 also includes a main memory 106, such as a
random access memory (RAM) or other dynamic storage device, coupled
to bus 102 for storing information and instructions to be executed
by processor 104. Main memory 106 also may be used for storing
temporary variables or other intermediate information during
execution of instructions to be executed by processor 104. Computer
system 100 further includes a read only memory (ROM) 108 or other
static storage device coupled to bus 102 for storing static
information and instructions for processor 104. A storage device
110, such as, for example, a magnetic disk or optical disk, is
provided and coupled to bus 102 for storing information and
instructions.
[0063] Computer system 100 may be coupled via bus 102 to a display
112, such as a cathode ray tube (CRT), liquid crystal display
(LCD), or may be a handheld active or passive display, for
displaying information to a computer user. An input device 114,
including alphanumeric and other keys, is coupled to bus 102 for
communicating information and command selections to processor 104.
Other user input devices include cursor control 116 or microphone
117. Cursor control 116 may include one or more of any number of
devices, such as, for example, a mouse, a trackball, or cursor
direction keys for communicating direction information and command
selections to processor 104 and for controlling cursor movement on
display 112. The cursor control 116 typically has two degrees of
freedom in two axes, a first axis (e.g., x) and a second axis
(e.g., y), allowing the device to specify positions in a plane.
[0064] Execution of sequences of instructions contained in main
memory 106 causes processor 104 to perform the process steps
described above. One or more processors in a multi-processing
arrangement may also be employed to execute the sequences of
instructions contained in main memory 106. In alternative
embodiments, hard-wired circuitry may be used in place of or in
combination with software instructions and it is to be understood
that no specific combination of hardware circuitry and software are
required. Instructions may be provided in any number of forms such
as source code, assembly code, object code, machine language,
compressed or encrypted versions of the foregoing, and any and all
equivalents thereof "Computer-readable medium" refers to any medium
that participates in providing instructions to processor 104 for
execution and "program product" refers to such a computer-readable
medium bearing a computer-executable program. The computer usable
medium may be referred to as "bearing" the instructions, which
encompass all ways in which instructions are associated with a
computer usable medium. Computer-readable mediums include, but are
not limited to, non-volatile media, volatile media, and
transmission media. Non-volatile media include, for example,
optical or magnetic disks, such as storage device 110. Volatile
media include dynamic memory, such as main memory 106. Transmission
media include coaxial cables, copper wire and fiber optics,
including the wires that comprise bus 102. Transmission media can
also take the form of acoustic or light waves, such as those
generated during radio frequency (RF) and infrared (IR) data
communications. Common forms of computer-readable media include,
for example, a floppy disk, a flexible disk, hard disk, magnetic
tape, any other magnetic medium, a CD-ROM, DVD, any other optical
medium, punch cards, paper tape, any other physical medium with
patterns of holes, a RAM, a PROM, and EPROM, a FLASH-EPROM, any
other memory chip or cartridge, a carrier wave as described
hereinafter, or any other medium from which a computer can
read.
[0065] Various forms of computer readable media may be involved in
carrying one or more sequences of one or more instructions to
processor 104 for execution. For example, the instructions may
initially be borne on a magnetic disk of a remote computer. The
remote computer can load the instructions into its dynamic memory
and send the instructions over a telephone line using a modem. A
modem local to computer system 100 can receive the data on the
telephone line and use an infrared transmitter to convert the data
to an infrared signal. An infrared detector coupled to bus 102 can
receive the data carried in the infrared signal and place the data
on bus 102. Bus 102 carries the data to main memory 106, from which
processor 104 retrieves and executes the instructions. Instructions
received by main memory 106 may optionally be stored on storage
device 110 either before or after execution by processor 104.
[0066] Computer system 100 may also include a communication
interface 118 coupled to bus 102 to provide a two-way data
communication coupling to a network link 120 connected to a local
network 122. For example, communication interface 118 may be an
integrated services digital network (ISDN) card or a modem to
provide a data communication connection to a corresponding type of
telephone line. As another example, communication interface 118 may
be a local area network (LAN) card to provide a data communication
connection to a compatible LAN. Wireless links may also be
implemented. In any such implementation, communication interface
118 sends and receives electrical, electromagnetic or optical
signals that carry digital data streams representing various types
of information.
[0067] Network link 120 typically provides data communication
through one or more networks to other data devices. For example,
network link 120 may provide a connection through local network 122
to a host computer 124 or to data equipment operated by an Internet
Service Provider (ISP) 126. ISP 126 in turn provides data
communication services through the worldwide packet data
communication network, now commonly referred to as the "Internet"
128. Local network 122 and Internet 128 both use electrical,
electromagnetic or optical signals that carry digital data streams.
The signals through the various networks and the signals on network
link 120 and through communication interface 118, which carry the
digital data to and from computer system 100, are exemplary forms
of carrier waves transporting the information. Thus the processing
required by method of the invention described by way of example
herein may be implemented on a local computer utilizing storage
device 110 or may be implemented, for example, on a LAN or over the
Internet.
[0068] Computer system 100 can send messages and receive data,
including program code, through the network(s), network link 120,
and communication interface 118. In the Internet example, a server
130 might transmit a requested code for an application program
through Internet 128, ISP 126, local network 122 and communication
interface 118. In accord with the invention, one such downloaded
application provides for transmitting an inspection procedure to an
inspector at a remote inspection data from a central computer and
receiving, in the central computer, information transmitted from
the inspector at a remote location to permit processing of the
inspection information by the central computer. The received code
may be executed by processor 104 as it is received, and/or stored
in storage device 110, or other non-volatile storage for later
execution. In this manner, computer system 100 may obtain
application code in the form of a carrier wave.
[0069] The policy model 32 (FIG. 2) utilized by the content
management engine 20 will now be more fully described. As discussed
above, a content management policy is a high level statement of
intentions. A policy is specified as a conditional declarative
statement of the form:
UPON <trigger> IF <condition> THEN <action>
The <action> is only performed if the <condition>
statement logically evaluates to TRUE, when the system
<trigger> exists.
[0070] A <trigger> may be any detectable event in the content
management engine 20 (FIG. 2). The trigger can be internal to the
content management engine 20 (e.g., created by some system
component such as an event notifier) or external to the content
management engine 20 (e.g., created by a component external to the
content management engine 20 such as a corporate Lightweight
Directory Access Protocol directory). Triggers can also be related
to a user action, such as, requesting a new piece of content or a
system generated event, such as, a particular time and date being
reached. The content management engine 20 currently exposes all
available actions as triggers in the policy language. New system
triggers are made available by exposing the required business logic
or by exposing the Application Program Interface (API) calls to
external systems.
[0071] A <condition> is usually represented as a disjunction
(logical OR) of expressions about the current state of the content
management engine 20. In other words, if at least one of the
expressions is true, then the <condition> evaluates to true
and the <action> will be performed. Each expression in the
listed <condition> can be represented as either (1) a
well-formed Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP) search
string, or (2) a conjunction of logical predicates and/or
propositions that map to system defined methods (methods
implemented in the business logic and exposed in the policy
language) or standard mathematical methods supported by the LDAP
programming language (e.g., equals, greater than, less than,
similar to, etc.). Each method can take as arguments Distinguished
Names (DNs) of objects in system accessible LDAP registries such as
the DN for a user profile or a particular device profile. For
example, a mathematical method "greater than" might take as
arguments a constant "20" and a DN that maps to the maximum amount
of available memory on a particular device. When the mathematical
method is evaluated it returns TRUE if the amount of available
memory is greater than 20 and FALSE otherwise.
[0072] The <condition> is written as:
Expression1 or Expression2 or Expression3 or . . . or
ExpressionN
such that "OR" is a logical or, and each Expression is written
as:
Predicate1 and Predicate2 and Predicate3 and . . . and
Predicatej
such that "AND" is a logical and. Alternatively, each Expression
can be written as a well-formed LDAP search string that evaluates
to the null set if the result of the search is FALSE and the
non-null set if the result is TRUE. Each <condition>
statement maps to a multi-valued LDAP object attribute in a Policy
object. Each C1 maps to one of the values of the multi-valued
attribute. In LDAP, multi-valued attributes map directly to
disjunctions of the attribute values and evaluate to a null set
none of the attributes are TRUE or map to a non-empty set if one or
more of the attribute values are TRUE.
[0073] The <action> is represented as a conjunction of
ACTIONS, such as:
A1 and A2 and . . . and AN
All A.sub.i in <action> map to either (1) an API call
supported by the content management engine 20, or (2) a well-formed
LDAP string that performs a LDAP action upon a LDAP registry such
as a deletion, an insertion, or a modification. Within each
<action> statement, the individual actions A.sub.i are
ordered. That is, A1 is evaluated before A2, and so on.
[0074] The content management engine 20 distinguishes between two
kinds of policies, (1) those that persist throughout the life cycle
of the system, or change very infrequently, and (2) those that are
subject to frequent change and only apply or are relevant for
specific periods of time. Persistent policies remain relevant for
long periods of time. Persistent policies can be modified or
deleted and are considered relevant if they exist as instantiated
policies within the policy system.
[0075] Alternatively, transient policies are relevant over a
specific period of time or between specific system triggers.
Typically, the time period is relatively short in duration and is
terminated by a specific system action. An example of a transient
policy in the content management engine 20 is one, such as, "IF the
user's device is connected on a 802.11 network, THEN copy this item
to that device." In this example, the policy is not relevant until
the user connects using a 802.11 network. When the user does
connect, the system generates the transient policy. The policy
results in a specific piece of content being copied to the user's
device. Once the item has been copied, the policy is no longer
relevant and is either inactivated or deleted from the policy
repository 14.
[0076] The content management engine 20 utilizes transient policies
as an alternative to status flags to specify what system actions
have to be performed on system resources. For example, instead of
setting a status flag on an item (and specifying the system schema
required to do so), the content management engine 20 instantiates
transient policies that have the same effect. Instead of setting a
status flag on an item in a user profile that is interpreted as
"this item is not currently on the user's device and should be,"
the content management engine 20 can specify a transient policy
that is applied when the relevant conditions are met, such as, "the
user's device is currently connected to the server, so execute the
policy." Instead of searching through all the system resources for
status flags, the content management engine 20 can simply identify
the relevant transient policy and evaluate it.
[0077] The content management engine 20 provides an extension to
the LDAP v 3.0 policy schema that enables it to represent policy
specific information. Because the content management engine's 20
LDAP policy schema extends the LDAP standard, the policies can be
stored on any LDAP v 3.0. compliant directory including Sun's
SunOne directory server, and Microsoft's Active Directory
product.
[0078] As discussed above with respect to FIG. 2, the policy
wizards 36 enable administrators to specify different types of
policy wizard files declaratively using an XML-based PWDL. FIGS.
6a-e describe and illustrate the creation of policies utilizing a
policy wizard UI generated by the admin console 28 from the policy
wizard file created by the policy wizard 36, according to some
embodiments of the present invention.
[0079] A policy wizard UI 220 is a technique for enabling users to
perform complex tasks in which a number of parameters must be
assigned values in order for a system to behave appropriately.
Typically, a wizard encapsulates a set of steps that a user must
follow. These steps are generally ordered and each step can consist
of one or more options. Wizards can be implemented in a number of
different ways. Typically, they are hard coded by a system
programmer utilizing some programming language or web based
representational format such as HTML. The difficultly with this
approach is that it is relatively difficult to create "new
wizards." Each wizard requires a programmer to implement the
desired solution. The present invention, however, allows new
wizards to be created using the policy wizard 34. Thus, as will be
described with respect to FIGS. 8a-b, new wizards can be created
without requiring an administrator to hard code the desired
solution.
[0080] FIGS. 6a-e will discuss the utilization of a policy wizard
UI--generated by the admin console 28--for allowing an
administrator or user to generate policies that the content
management engine 20 can retrieve and evaluate from the policy
repository 14.
[0081] Referring now to FIG. 6a, a method for defining a catalog
policy is illustrated according to one embodiment of the present
invention. A catalog policy is a set of policies that apply to
captured content items that either: automate the notification of
changes within the catalog via email or SMS; install new or
modified items; or de-install items deleted from the catalog. At
step 200, an event is specified to serve as a <trigger> for
the policy. As illustrated in FIG. 6b, a policy wizard UI 220 is
shown that may be displayed on the UI of the admin console 28 (FIG.
2). The policy wizard UI 220 includes a directory frame 224 and a
definition frame 228. The definition frame 228 is used by an
administrator to define the policy being created. As illustrated in
FIG. 6b, an administrator or user is provided four options to
select a <trigger> from. The administrator may, for example,
select "the addition of an item to a folder" as the <trigger>
by choosing radio button 232a. Alternatively, the administrator may
select "the removal of an item from the folder" as the
<trigger> by choosing radio button 232b or "the update of a
catalog item" may be selected as the <trigger> by choosing
radio button 232c. Further, the administrator may select "the
binary file(s) associated with an item have been modified" as the
<trigger> by choosing radio button 232d. When either of the
first three radio buttons 232a-d are selected, the administrator
can define the folder or folders that the policy should apply by
utilizing the folder sub-frame 310. When the fourth radio button
232d is selected, in this example, the administrator can define the
item that the policy should apply with an item sub-frame similar to
the folder sub-frame 310.
[0082] The folder sub-frame 310 includes a directory area 312 and
definitional area 314. The definitional area 314 allows the
administrator to select from the available folders. Each available
folder that can be monitored is provided with a checkbox 318 that
can be selected. The administrator, in the illustrated example, may
select to monitor either or both of the admin folder or the IT
folder by selecting the corresponding checkbox 318a and/or 318b,
respectively.
[0083] The definition frame 228 is also provided with a "wizard
summary" box 236. The wizard summary box 236 may be used to display
to the administrator a natural language explanation of a policy
utilizing the selected <trigger>, Once a <trigger> has
been selected, the administrator selects the "next" button 240 to
move on to the next step of the wizard.
[0084] Referring again to FIG. 6a, once the administrator has
selected a <trigger>, at step 200, the administrator is then
prompted to select one or more <condition> for the chosen
<trigger>. As illustrated in FIG. 6c, the administrator may
select one or more <condition> by choosing from a plurality
of checkboxes 242a-b. Each checkbox 242a-b represents a
<condition> that may be associated with the <trigger>
selected in step 200, and multiple <conditions> can be
assigned for each checkbox by utilizing the "keywords" sub-frame
320. The keywords sub-frame 320 includes a "new keyword" field 324
and a "keyword list" box 328. The administrator can enter a
specific keyword into the new-keyword field 324 and then assign the
entered keyword by selecting the "add keyword" button 332. The
keyword-list box 328 contains a listing of all of the assigned
keywords. An assigned keyword can be unassigned by selecting the
appropriate keyword and then selecting the "remove selected" button
336.
[0085] After selecting one or more <condition> and assigning
the desired keywords to each condition, the administrator can
select the "next" button 240 to move on to the next step of the
wizard or may select the "prey" button 244 to return to the
previous step of the wizard. The administrator, thus, is able to
set the conditions under which the policy is valid. The
administrator can choose whether all of the selected conditions
must be true (AND) by selecting radio button 245, or whether any of
the selected conditions apply (OR) by selecting radio button 246.
As illustrated in FIG. 6c, the wizard-summary box 236 provides a
natural language description of the created policy to through this
step to the administrator.
[0086] Turning once again to FIG. 6a, once the administrator has
selected both a <trigger> and one or more <condition>,
the administrator is prompted to select the <action> or
outcome of the policy. The administrator may also specify the
target users or groups of users for the selected <action>. As
illustrated in FIG. 6d, the administrator may select one or more
<action> by choosing from a plurality of checkboxes 248a-h.
Similar to FIG. 6c, each checkbox 248a-h represents an
<action> that may be associated with the <trigger>
selected in step 200. After selecting one or more <action>,
the administrator can select the "next" button 240 to move on to
the next step of the wizard or may select the "prey" button 244 to
return to the previous step of the wizard.
[0087] If the administrator selects to use a custom e-mail
template, an e-mail template sub-frame 340 can prompt the
administrator to create a custom email to be sent with the item, as
illustrated in FIG. 6d. From this template, the administrator can
specify whether the e-mail should include or attach the content, or
whether the content should be embedded in or attached to the
email--by selecting the corresponding radio button 344a-c. The
administrator may also specify a subject for the e-mail by
inserting the subject into a "subject" field 348. The administrator
may also select a priority setting, such as, low, medium, or high,
by using the drop-down menu bar 352. The administrator can
additionally insert a standard message to be sent with the content
by utilizing the "message" field 354.
[0088] Returning to FIG. 6a once more, the administrator is
prompted to name the newly-created policy, at step 212, so that it
may be viewed and/or edited at a later time. As illustrated in FIG.
6e, the wizard prompts the administrator to insert a name for the
newly-defined policy into the field box 252. If the specified
policy name does not conflict with an earlier defined policy, the
policy will be saved into the policy repository 14. Alternatively,
if the policy name does conflict, the administrator is prompted to
either rename the policy or over-write the previously-created
policy. The wizard-summary box 236 enables the administrator to
determine the results of the policy by providing a natural language
description of the policy to the administrator. Once the policy has
been named and saved to the policy repository 14, the administrator
may select the "finish" button 256 to exit the wizard.
[0089] Referring again to FIG. 6a, the method may also be used to
define a logging policy, according to another embodiment of the
present invention. A logging policy is a set of policies that apply
to the logging of events in the system. Once the event occurs and
conditions matched, an entry may be made in a log file or an
email/SMS notification sent to specified user(s).
[0090] The method of FIG. 6a may also be used to define a network
policy, according to another embodiment of the present invention.
The content management system 10 (FIGS. 1-2) provides a content
distribution function that queues files pending user connection in
response to one or more of the following: (1) conditional policy
actions; (2) administrator push; and (3) requests by the user.
[0091] A given usage scenario may afford the user a choice of
network services over time, from expensive, low bandwidth general
packet radio services (GPRS) when they are on the road to "free,"
high bandwidth LAN at their desk using a cradle. With choice comes
the option to defer fulfillment of a large, or low value file (or
other content request) to a time where it may be more effectively
delivered. The content management engine 20 can determine the
network service where the connection is between the optional client
and server. On reconcile, the policy will identify the type of
connection and apply conditional tests to the user and content to
determine for each queued file whether it should be delivered or
remain queued for later delivery.
[0092] Network policies, as described above, benefit both the
administrator and the end user. Administrators can enforce network
policies to help alleviate network usage during peak times (saving
time and money), while end users benefit because they do not have
to endure long wait times while the system attempts to install a
large item.
[0093] According to one embodiment, the content management engine
20 utilizes a policy to constrain fulfillment to the device based
on a best interpretation of cost and value. This policy enforces a
delivery constraint during the reconcile event on matching certain
conditions. In some embodiments, the constraint will be enacted on
a per-item basis. The policy should be implemented for all items
irrespective of the event that initiates the action--user
self-installed, administrative push or policy. The network policy
is triggered on reconcile or installation.
[0094] According to some embodiments, the network policy
<trigger> is the detection of a reconcile using a GRPS or
1.times. connection. Once this <trigger> is identified, the
policy can be invoked. According to other embodiments, the network
policy <trigger> is the detection of WiFi or Cradle/LAN
connections. When one of the above <trigger> is recognized
the content management engine 20 may test for one or more of the
following conditions: the content size; the content type; the item
name; the time of day (so as to allow the administrators to
constrain a reconcile or install event to a specific time of day);
and the day of the week
[0095] Where a user is self-installing an item but the network
policy prevents fulfillment, this is likely to be interpreted as a
system failure unless a message is returned. Thus, the network
policy may generate a response from the content management system
10 (FIGS. 1-2) informing the user that that the item cannot be
fulfilled at this time.
[0096] According to one embodiment, the content management system
10 provides an XML based declarative policy model 32 for specifying
and editing content policies. The policy model includes a
declarative language of the form "UPON <trigger> IF
<condition> THEN <action>." The policy model further
includes the ability to specify new policies in a XML
representation that captures the system trigger specifying when the
policy conditions should be evaluated, the policy conditions that
must be TRUE in order for the policy to be applied, and the policy
actions that are performed when the policy conditions evaluate to
TRUE. The policy model further includes the ability to modify an
existing policy via a web based User Interface by editing the
trigger(s), condition(s), or action(s).
[0097] According to one embodiment, the content management system
10 includes a web based admin console 28 that enables a system
administrator to review existing policies contained within a policy
repository 14, modify the existing policies, create new policies,
instantiate policies, disable policies, delete policies, archive
policies, and import/export policies.
[0098] According to one embodiment, the admin console 28 can
automatically generate policy wizards 36 that a system
administrator can utilize to create and modify policies. Policy
wizards 36 are defined in XML format based on an XML wizard
definition language called the Policy Wizard Definition Language.
The policy wizards 36 specify a sequence of steps that the system
administrator must perform in a specific order, as well as the
dependencies amongst steps (e.g., parameter X, in step Y, must be
specified before parameter A in Step B can be specified). The admin
console 28 provides the ability to present the policy wizard 36 to
the end user either via an HTML page displayed in a browser or via
an application that parses the XML representation of the
Wizard.
[0099] According to one embodiment, the content management system
10 includes a high-performance policy retrieval and evaluation
component for identifying, storing and retrieving policies from a
policy repository 14. The policy repository implements an index to
enable high performance retrieval using a tuple <TRIGGER,
OPERATION, SUBJECT, OBJECT> such that each item in the tuple
maps to a system action, a LDAP DN, or a wildcard (an item
specifying that the specific value of the item is not required).
The policy retrieval and evaluation component supports wild card
parameters in the policy identification tuple if a particular
parameter is irrelevant. A wild card parameter in a tuple is a
"don't care" placeholder and will map to any parameter value. For
example, an administrator might wish to use a wild card in a policy
that fires when any user attempts to access the system or when any
kind of device is used to access content. The policy repository 14
is able to translate any policy identification tuple into a LDAP DN
that is used to index an individual policy, or a set of policies if
wildcards are present. The policy repository can quickly retrieve
all policies, based upon their LDAP DNs that are relevant to a
particular system <trigger> and set of system
<conditions>. The policy retrieval and evaluation component
can statically optimize the retrieval of relevant policies by
ordering the elements of the policy identification tuple to improve
system performance related to the retrieval of policy objects. The
policy retrieval and evaluation component can dynamically optimize
the retrieval of relevant policies by building a LDAP search tree
that indexes against any of the elements of the tuple with the
appropriate delimiters.
[0100] According to one embodiment, the policy repository 14 is
implemented as a standard LDAP object schema. The LDAP object
schema includes, but is not limited to, a multi-valued condition
object attribute, an ordered multi-valued action object attribute,
and A set of miscellaneous object attributes. The multi-valued
condition object attribute is configured such that each value of
the objects maps to a single condition in a disjunction of policy
conditions, and each object attribute value can be a well-formed
LDAP string or a call to a system implemented method. The ordered
multi-valued action object attribute is configured such that each
value of the object maps to one action in a conjunction of policy
actions, and each action is evaluated in order of appearance. The
set of miscellaneous object attributes includes the common name of
the policy, the owner of the policy, the description of the policy,
the status of the policy, and the access rights associated with the
policy.
[0101] According to one embodiment, the content management system
10 includes a LDAP accessible LDAP policy repository 14 for
storing, and retrieving LDAP policy objects. The policy repository
14 includes a high performance, secure, fully distributed, LDAP
based policy repository, and for the ability to distribute LDAP
policy objects across multiple physical instances of LDAP
directories.
[0102] According to one embodiment, the content management system
10 implements a system transaction processing component that is
able to replace system status flags and pending system actions with
transient policies (that are processed by the policy retrieval and
evaluation component). System resources are locked by instantiating
a transient "locked" policy when the system resource needs to
locked and turning off or deleting the transient policy when the
system no longer needs to be locked. "Check in/check out" version
control on digital content is supported by instantiating transient
"checked in" and "checked out" policies. If a piece of content must
be "checked in and out" a system policy is created stating this
effect. When a user "checks out" a piece of digital content that
has a "checked in and out policy" associated with it from a content
repository, a transient policy is instantiated stating who the user
is (using their LDAP user profile DN) and what device they have the
content on (using the device LDAP device profile DN). They also
create another transient policy stating that the content cannot be
accessed by anyone else (the locked policy). The policy is
triggered on the "CHECK IN" action (e.g., when a piece of content
is put back in the system). When the policy is evaluated it first
disables itself, and then disables the locked policy so that some
one else can check the content out.
[0103] According to one embodiment, the content management system
10 implements an event notification component based on defining
event notifications as policies (processed by the policy retrieval
and evaluation component) that trigger actions to invoke external
systems (email, SMS, fax, etc.) to deliver notifications. The event
notification system represents event notifications as simple event
policies specifying the desired system trigger, conditions, and
actions, and it can be flexibly extended by adding additional
notification devices such as fax notification, e-mail notification,
and voice notification, as policy actions.
[0104] According to one embodiment, the content management system
10 includes a distributed, highly efficient and scalable
pass-through policy filter architecture for implementing policy
decision points (PDPs) and policy enforcement points (PEP) that
enables the detection and enforcement of the policies relevant to a
any system transaction. The pass-through policy filter architecture
ensures that no system transaction can bypass the PEP unless
specifically configured by the system administrator. The
pass-through policy filter architecture provides scalable PDP and
PEP by instantiating multiple policy filters in parallel and load
balancing the transactions across them. The pass-through policy
filter architecture provides distributed PDP and PEP by
instantiating policy filters in different locations improving
system throughput and performance and security. The pass-through
policy filter architecture also enables multiple policies to be
applied to the same transaction at different locations such that
each location is in a different security domain and administered by
system administrators.
Examples of Policies
[0105] The policy "Send the group RnD an email notifying them of
any new items in the Release Notes catalog" would be represented
as: [0106] tcocpolicy [0107] uniqueIdentifier=123456789 [0108]
tcPolicyType=Catalog [0109] tcDisplayName=Release Note Catalog
Update [0110] tcActivityState=ACTIVE [0111]
tcPolicyEventType=WAREHOUSE_ITEM_ADDED [0112]
tcOCPolicyActionDN=uniqueIdentifier=abcdefg, [0113]
ou=Actions,ou=Policies,dc=mExperience [0114] tcPolicyCondition=
[0115]
com.truecontext.wasabi.business.catalog.Catalog.getCatalogID$=$tccatalo
[0116] gname=Release Notes, ou=catalogs, dc=mExperience [0117]
tcDisplayInfo=1,2,3, (based on UI requirements) [0118]
tcocemailaction [0119] uniqueIdentifier=abcdefg [0120] tcCommand=
[0121] com.truecontext.wasabi.business.misc.email.JMSMailHelper $
sendEmail [0122] $ tcrecipient $ tcsubkect $ tcpayload $ tcsender $
tcpriority [0123] tcPayload=A new item had been added to the [0124]
$com.truecontext.wasabi.business.catalog.Catalog.getCatalogName$.
[0125] tcPriority=Normal [0126] tcRecipientUserDN= [0127]
tcRecipientGroupDN=cn=RnD, ou=Groups, dc=mExperience [0128]
tcSenderDN=uid=tc_sysop, ou=People, dc=mExperience [0129]
tcSubject=A new item has been added a a catalog.
[0130] While the present invention has been described with
reference to one or more particular embodiments, those skilled in
the art will recognize that many changes may be made thereto
without departing from the spirit and scope of the present
invention. Each of these embodiments and obvious variations thereof
is contemplated as falling within the scope of the claimed
invention, which is set forth in the following claims.
* * * * *