Actor-based information system

Abstract

A method for accessing information. A computer system receives a request for a piece of the information stored in a location between client computer systems and sources of the information. The information has formats for the information in the location. The formats for the information are controlled by the sources of the information. Each of the sources is assigned to control a group of portions of the information in the location. The computer system identifies the piece of the information corresponding to the request. The computer system returns a response to the request for the piece of the information, enabling simplifying access to the information in different formats.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A method for accessing information over an actor-based integration system, the method comprising:
 receiving, by the actor-based integration system, a request from an application for a piece of the information stored in a location between application and organizations assigned to control a group of portions of the information in the location, wherein the information has formats for the information in the location;   identifying, by the actor-based integration system, the piece of the information in the location corresponding to the request;   transforming, by the actor-based integration system, the piece of information from a first format that is used to store the information in the location into a second format usable by the requesting application; and   returning, by the actor-based integration system, a response to requesting application that includes the transformed information.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1  further comprising:
 receiving, by the computer system, the information from the sources for distribution to the client computer systems; and 
 placing, by the computer system, the information into the location. 
 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein receiving the information from the sources for distribution to the client computer systems comprises:
 receiving, by the computer system, the information from the sources for distribution to the client computer systems in the formats.   
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein a client computer system in the client computer systems subscribes to a portion of the information and further comprising:
 notifying, by the computer system, the client computer system subscribing to the portion of the information of an occurrence of at least of one a change in a format for the portion, an addition of additional information to the portion, a deletion of the information from the portion, a modification of the information in the portion, or a change of a source controlling the portion.   
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 4 , wherein the source of the portion of the information is allowed to change the information in the portion and other sources not assigned to the portion are not allowed to change the information in the portion. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 5  further comprising:
 receiving, by the computer system, a request from the client computer system for a change to the format for the portion of the information; 
 sending, by the computer system, the request to the source; 
 receiving, by the computer system, a response to the request from the source; and 
 sending, by the computer system, the response to the client computer system. 
 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 1  further comprising:
 assigning, by the computer system, the sources to the portions of the information based on a policy. 
 
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the location includes a database and the portions of the information are stored as nodes in the database. 
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein a portion in the portions of the information is a type of the information that is used to perform an operation for an organization. 
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 9 , wherein the type is selected from one of accounting, research, business planning, accounts receivable, accounts payable, sales, marketing, payroll, benefits, taxes, or education. 
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the client computer systems and the sources communicate with the location through at least one of representational state transfer services or durable queues. 
     
     
         12 . A method for accessing information, the method comprising:
 receiving, by a computer system, a portion of information from a source, wherein the information has formats;   comparing, by the computer system, the source to an assignment list identifying which ones of sources of the information are assigned to control particular ones of portions of the information, wherein the formats for the information are controlled by the sources of the information; and   storing, by the computer system the portion of the information in a location between client computer systems and the sources of the information when the source is assigned to control the portion of the information, wherein the computer system receives a request for the information from a client computer system and sends a response to the client computer system, enabling simplifying access to the information in different formats.   
     
     
         13 . A computer system comprising:
 an information manager that receives a request for a piece of information stored in a location between client computer systems and sources of the information, wherein the information has formats for the information in the location, wherein the formats for the information are controlled by the sources of the information, and wherein each of the sources is assigned to control a group of portions of the information in the location; identifies the piece of the information corresponding to the request; and   returns a response to the request for the piece of the information, enabling simplifying access to the information in different formats.   
     
     
         14 . The computer system of  claim 13 , wherein the information manager receives the information from the sources for distribution to client computer systems and places the information into the location. 
     
     
         15 . The computer system of  claim 13 , wherein in receiving the information from the sources for distribution to the client computer systems, the information manager receives the information from the sources for distribution to the client computer systems in the formats. 
     
     
         16 . The computer system of  claim 13 , wherein a client computer system in the client computer systems subscribes to a portion of the information and the information manager notifies the client computer system subscribing to the portion of the information of an occurrence of at least of one a change in a format for the portion, an addition of additional information to the portion, a deletion of the information from the portion, a modification of the information in the portion, or a change of a source controlling the portion. 
     
     
         17 . The computer system of  claim 16 , wherein the source of the portion of the information is allowed to change the information in the portion and other sources not assigned to the portion are not allowed to change the information in the portion. 
     
     
         18 . The computer system of  claim 17 , wherein the information manager receives the request from the client computer system for a change to a format for the portion of the information; sends the request to the source; receives the response to the request from the source; and sends the response to the client computer system. 
     
     
         19 . The computer system of  claim 13 , wherein the information manager assigns the sources to the portions of the information based on a policy. 
     
     
         20 . The computer system of  claim 13 , wherein the location includes a database and the portions of the information are stored as nodes in the database. 
     
     
         21 . A computer program product for accessing information, the computer program product comprising:
 a computer readable storage media;   first program code, stored on the computer readable storage media, for receiving a request for a piece of the information stored in a location between client computer systems and sources of the information, wherein the information has formats for the information in the location, wherein the formats for the information are controlled by the sources of the information, and wherein each of the sources is assigned to control a group of portions of the information in the location;   second program code, stored on the computer readable storage media, for identifying the piece of the information corresponding to the request; and   third program code, stored on the computer readable storage media, for returning a response to the request for the piece of the information, enabling simplifying access to the information in different formats.   
     
     
         22 . The computer program product of  claim 21  further comprising:
 fourth program code, stored on the computer readable storage media, for receiving the information from the sources for distribution to the client computer systems in the formats. 
 
     
     
         23 . The computer program product of  claim 21 , wherein a client computer system in the client computer systems subscribes to a portion of the information and further comprising:
 fourth program code, stored on the computer readable storage media, for notifying the client computer system subscribing to the portion of the information of an occurrence of at least of one a change in a format for the portion, an addition of additional information to the portion, a deletion of the information from the portion, a modification of the information in the portion, or a change of the source controlling the portion.   
     
     
         24 . The computer program product of  claim 21  further comprising:
 fourth program code, stored on the computer readable storage media, for receiving the request from the client computer system for a change to a format for a portion of the information; 
 fifth program code, stored on the computer readable storage media, for sending the request to a source; 
 sixth program code, stored on the computer readable storage media, for receiving a response to the request from the source; and 
 seventh program code, stored on the computer readable storage media, for sending the response to the client computer system.