Method and system for message management

Abstract

Methods and systems for message format distribution. A sending server is connected to a plurality of receiving servers. The sending server comprises a master database containing information which is periodically provided to the receiving servers. The sending server and the receiving servers communicate using messaging facilities. Changes in the message format are distributed by the sending server to the receiving servers via the messaging facilities. The message format changes are implemented by receiving clients executing on each of the receiving servers. Standard configurable receiving clients are used by all receiving servers, thereby reducing or eliminating development work by the receiving parties.

What is claimed is:  
     
         1 . A method for processing messages received from a sending database management system, comprising: 
 receiving, on a message queue, a configuration message from the sending database management system, wherein the configuration message contains message formatting information; and    generating a configuration file according to message formatting information so that the configuration file contains mapping rules for processing subsequently received messages.    
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising: 
 receiving, on the message queue, a data message containing update information;    extracting the update information from the data message; and    writing the update information to a database according to the mapping rules.    
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein the configuration message and the data message are received from a data warehouse.  
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 2 , further comprising: 
 retrieving, by a custom application, selected data from the database; and    writing the selected data to a custom database.    
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising, formatting a transaction log with fields configured to be populated by data contained in the subsequently received messages, wherein the fields are populated according to the mapping rules.  
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 5 , further comprising: 
 receiving a data message containing update information;    extracting the update information from the data message; and    writing the update information to the transaction log according to the mapping rules.    
     
     
         7 . A computer readable medium containing a program which, when executed performs an operation for processing messages received from a sending database management system, the operation comprising: 
 receiving, on a message queue, a configuration message from the sending database management system, wherein the configuration message contains message formatting information; and    generating a configuration file according to message formatting information so that the configuration file contains mapping rules for processing subsequently received messages.    
     
     
         8 . The computer readable medium of  claim 7 , wherein the configuration message comprises a first plurality of fields and wherein the configuration file maps the first plurality of fields to a second plurality of fields of one or more database tables in a database.  
     
     
         9 . The computer readable medium of  claim 7 , wherein the message queue is a component of a messaging facility comprising a message queue manager.  
     
     
         10 . The computer readable medium of  claim 7 , wherein the operation further comprises: 
 receiving, on the message queue, a data message containing update information;    extracting the update information from the data message; and    writing the update information to a database according to the mapping rules.    
     
     
         11 . The computer readable medium of  claim 10 , wherein the configuration message and the data message are received from a data warehouse.  
     
     
         12 . The computer readable medium of  claim 10 , wherein the operation further comprises: 
 retrieving, by a custom application, selected data from the database; and    writing the selected data to a custom database.    
     
     
         13 . The computer readable medium of  claim 7 , wherein the operation further comprises, formatting a transaction log with fields configured to be populated by data contained in the subsequently received messages, wherein the fields are populated according to the mapping rules.  
     
     
         14 . The computer readable medium of  claim 13 , wherein the operation further comprises: 
 receiving a data message containing update information;    extracting the update information from the data message; and    writing the update information to the transaction log according to the mapping rules.    
     
     
         15 . A database system, comprising: 
 a messaging facility configured to receive messages from a sending system via a network connection;    a database; and    a receiving application configured to retrieve the messages from the messaging facility, and configured to: 
 generate a configuration file according to a configuration message, wherein the configuration file contains mapping rules established by the configuration message; and  
 write data received in a data message to the database according to the mapping rules.  
   
     
     
         16 . The system of  claim 15 , wherein the messaging facility comprises at least one queue on which to receive the messages from the sending system.  
     
     
         17 . The system of  claim 15 , wherein the messaging facility is connected to the sending system by a channel.  
     
     
         18 . The system of  claim 15 , wherein the configuration message comprises a first plurality of fields and wherein the configuration file maps the first plurality of fields to a second plurality of fields of one or more database tables in the database.  
     
     
         19 . The system of  claim 15 , further comprising a custom application configured to access selected data from the database and write the selected data to a custom database.  
     
     
         20 . A networked system of databases, comprising: 
 (a) a sending server computer, comprising: 
 a sending messaging facility configured to send messages including configuration messages containing message format information and data messages containing data updates; and  
 a master database;  
   (b) a plurality of receiving server computers connected to the sending server computer via a network connection, each of the plurality of receiving server computers, comprising: 
 a receiving messaging facility configured to receive the messages from the sending server computer system;  
 a database; and  
 a receiving application configured to retrieve the messages from the messaging facility, and configured to: 
 generate a configuration file according to a configuration message received from the sending server computer, wherein the configuration file contains mapping rules established by the configuration message; and  
 write data received in a data message received from the sending server computer to the database according to the mapping rules.  
 
   
     
     
         21 . The system of  claim 20 , wherein the sending messaging facility and each receiving messaging facility comprise at least one queue.  
     
     
         22 . The system of  claim 20 , wherein the sending messaging facility is connected to each receiving messaging facility by a channel.  
     
     
         23 . The system of  claim 20 , wherein the configuration message comprises a first plurality of fields and wherein the configuration file maps the first plurality of fields to a second plurality of fields of one or more database tables in the receiving server computer databases.  
     
     
         24 . The system of  claim 20 , wherein at least one out of the receiving server computer further comprises a custom application configured to access selected data from the database of the at least one receiving server computer and write the selected data to a custom database of the at least one receiving server computer.