Milestone manager

Abstract

A milestone manager receives a milestone message from a first application. The milestone message includes information associated with a periodic event. The milestone manager applies a rule based process on the milestone message information and sends a trigger to a second application in response to the milestone. The trigger initiates processing of the second application in response to the milestone.

1 - 33 . (canceled) 
     
     
         34 . A method for managing processing activity of computer applications in a distributed computing environment, the method comprising:
 receiving, by at least one processor and from a first application, a first milestone message comprising first milestone information indicating a milestone type indicator for the first milestone message and one or more milestone parameter values describing the first milestone, wherein at least one of the one or more milestone parameter values is a first hierarchal attribute value indicating a first element in a hierarchal structure;   receiving, by the at least one processor, a second milestone message comprising second milestone information indicating a milestone type indicator for the second milestone message and one or more milestone parameter values describing the second milestone, wherein at least one of the one or more milestone parameter values is a second hierarchal attribute value indicating a second element in the hierarchal structure;   bridging up, by the at least one processor, the first and second milestone messages to derive an aggregated milestone message based at least in part on the hierarchal attribute values for each of the first and second milestone messages and the hierarchal structure, wherein the aggregated milestone message comprises an indication of a third element in the hierarchal structure, wherein the third element is a parent of the first element and the second element;   applying, by the at least one processor, a rule on the aggregated milestone message; and   sending, by the at least one processor, a first trigger message to a third application based on the application of the rule on the aggregated milestone message.   
     
     
         35 . The method of  claim 34 , wherein, with the exception of the first and second hierarchical attribute values, the one or more milestone parameter values for the first milestone message are equivalent to the one or more milestone parameter values for the second milestone message are equivalent. 
     
     
         36 . The method of  claim 34 , wherein the second milestone message is manually generated. 
     
     
         37 . The method of  claim 36 , further comprising:
 generating a graphical user interface;   providing the graphical user interface to a user;   receiving from the user via the graphical user interface a request to generate the second milestone message.   
     
     
         38 . The method of  claim 34 , wherein the first milestone message corresponds to a first point in a business cycle instance, and wherein the second milestone message corresponds to a second point in the business cycle instance. 
     
     
         39 . The method of  claim 38 , further comprising recording an audit trail indicating at least one event selected from the group consisting of: a creation of the business cycle instance, a termination of the business cycle instance, the receipt of the first milestone message, and the sending of the first trigger. 
     
     
         40 . The method of  claim 34 , further comprising monitoring incoming milestone messages to detect an occurrence of a late milestone message. 
     
     
         41 . The method of  claim 34 , further comprising:
 creating a business cycle instance;   maintaining active the business cycle instance state; and   detecting initiating or terminating business cycle instances.   
     
     
         42 . The method of  claim 34 , further comprising:
 receiving, by at least one processor, a third milestone message, the third milestone message comprising third milestone information including a milestone type indicator and one or more milestone parameter values, wherein at least one of the milestone parameter values is a third hierarchical attribute value that represents a third element of the hierarchal structure;   bridging down, by the at least one processor, the third milestone message to derive a fourth milestone message and a fifth milestone message based at least in part on the third hierarchical attribute value and the hierarchal structure, wherein the fourth and fifth milestone messages each correspond to elements of the hierarchal structure that are child elements of the third element according to the hierarchal structure.   
     
     
         43 . A system for managing processing activity of computer applications in a distributed computing environment, the system comprising:
 a computer system comprising at least one processor and operatively-associated memory, wherein the computer system is programmed to:
 receive from a first application, a first milestone message comprising first milestone information indicating a milestone type indicator for the first milestone message and one or more milestone parameter values describing the first milestone, wherein at least one of the one or more milestone parameter values is a first hierarchal attribute value indicating a first element in a hierarchal structure; 
 receive a second milestone message comprising second milestone information indicating a milestone type indicator for the second milestone message and one or more milestone parameter values describing the second milestone, wherein at least one of the one or more milestone parameter values is a second hierarchal attribute value indicating a second element in the hierarchal structure; 
 bridge up the first and second milestone messages to derive an aggregated milestone message based at least in part on the hierarchal attribute values for each of the first and second milestone messages and the hierarchal structure, wherein the aggregated milestone message comprises an indication of a third element in the hierarchal structure, wherein the third element is a parent of the first element and the second element; 
 apply a rule on the aggregated milestone message; and 
 send a first trigger message to a third application based on the application of the rule on the aggregated milestone message. 
   
     
     
         44 . The system of  claim 43 , wherein, with the exception of the first and second hierarchical attribute values, the one or more milestone parameter values for the first milestone message are equivalent to the one or more milestone parameter values for the second milestone message are equivalent. 
     
     
         45 . The system of  claim 43 , wherein the second milestone message is manually generated. 
     
     
         46 . The system of  claim 45 , wherein the computer system is further programmed to:
 generate a graphical user interface;   provide the graphical user interface to a user;   receive from the user via the graphical user interface a request to generate the second milestone message.   
     
     
         47 . The system of  claim 43 , wherein the first milestone message corresponds to a first point in a business cycle instance, and wherein the second milestone message corresponds to a second point in the business cycle instance. 
     
     
         48 . The system of  claim 47 , wherein the computer system is further programmed to record an audit trail indicating at least one event selected from the group consisting of: a creation of the business cycle instance, a termination of the business cycle instance, the receipt of the first milestone message, and the sending of the first trigger. 
     
     
         49 . The system of  claim 43 , wherein the computer system is further programmed to monitor incoming milestone messages to detect an occurrence of a late milestone message. 
     
     
         50 . The system of  claim 43 , wherein the computer system is further programmed to:
 create a business cycle instance;   maintain active the business cycle instance state; and   detect initiating or terminating business cycle instances.   
     
     
         51 . The system of  claim 43 , wherein the computer system is further programmed to:
 receive a third milestone message, the third milestone message comprising third milestone information including a milestone type indicator and one or more milestone parameter values, wherein at least one of the milestone parameter values is a third hierarchical attribute value that represents a third element of the hierarchal structure;   bridge down the third milestone message to derive a fourth milestone message and a fifth milestone message based at least in part on the third hierarchical attribute value and the hierarchal structure, wherein the fourth and fifth milestone messages each correspond to elements of the hierarchal structure that are child elements of the third element according to the hierarchal structure.