UNIFIED USER INTERFACE FRAMEWORK FOR CREATING CONFIGURABLE WEBPORTALS
USING MENU OPTIONS
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a framework for creating Web portals for
computer-based applications. More specifically, it relates to a framework for creating
configurable portals using menus provided in computer-based applications.
BACKGROUND
Most of the enterprises today manage their day-to-day activities using computerbased
applications. These computer-based applications are either developed by
enterprises in-house or are purchased from companies that have expertise in building
applications. Usually, enterprises prefer to purchase developed applications from
Information Technology (IT) companies that have the expertise of developing
applications. These enterprises either completely rely on T companies or rely on IT
companies for big and complex applications and develop only simpler applications inhouse.
There are many reasons why enterprises prefer to purchase developed
applications over developing applications in-house. One main reason is that developing
applications in-house requires expertise that these enterprises often lack. If the
enterprises develop applications in-house, they need to invest in hiring and maintaining
experts for developing applications. This can become cumbersome and expensive in the
long run considering issues such as hiring the right experts, retaining the experts,
providing adequate and continuous work to these experts, and providing training. Even
after all these arrangements, enterprises often are unable to develop applications of the
quality that are developed by IT companies with expertise in this field. Making the
above-mentioned arrangements is not only cumbersome and expensive in the long run,
but it also diverts the focus of enterprises from their main business.
IT companies usually develop applications that are applicable for multiple
enterprises. For example, an ERP application is useful for many enterprises that work in
different fields. Another example is a banking application which is useful for all banks.
These applications are quite complex and thorough because they need to cater to
different enterprises. The only limitation associated with such applications is that they
are not customized according to a particular enterprise's requirements. For example, a
banking application, such as Finacle® by Infosys Technologies, Ltd., has been
purchased and deployed by many banks. The user interface provided in Finacle® has
been created in accordance to the common requirements of different banks.
To address this limitation, enterprises customize the purchased application by
taking the services of an IT company or by employing a .team internally to so the same.
This requires additional cost and effort. For example, the banks may need to customize
the user interface of Finacle® according to their needs. Finacle® has two different user
interface frameworks—Online Services (ONS) and Customer Relationship View (CRV).
Therefore, the team working on the customization of the user-interface in Finacle® will
need to learn these two frameworks. This in turn becomes an effort intensive exercise.
In addition, different applications provide different challenges which further add to the
effort. Taking the example of Finacle® again, cross reference of view-options available
in ONS and CRV frameworks is not possible which adds to the complexity of
customizing the user interface.
There is a need for a solution that enables enterprises to develop user interfaces
for any application without much effort and cost. There is also a need for the solution to
enable the development of user interfaces without the developers needing to understand
the framework or without any technical intervention in the application. Further, there is a
need for the solution to allow the development of user interfaces without coding. Also,
there is a need for the solution to provide features in a user interface that enables the
user to navigate efficiently.
SUMMARY
The invention provides a method, a system, and a computer program product for
configuring Web portal software for a computer-based application using one or more
menus available in the computer-based application. The method comprises classifying
the one or more menus available in the computer based application according to the
functionalities. The menus classified under each functionality are configured in- a
hierarchical structure to present on the at least one Web portal corresponding to the
functionality. A context bar is defined for the Web portal by defining at least one context
element. Thereafter, the mapping is defined for at least one field of one or more menus
presented under the Web portal with one of the at least one context element.
The invention also provides a method, a system, and a computer program
product for using the configured Web portal. The configured Web portal is displayed to a
user. Thereafter, the context bar is populated using the information provided by a
customer, wherein the information is the value of the at least one context element. The
user invokes a menu in the Web portal of the one or more menus presented in the Web
portal, as per the user's request or query. The value of the context element is auto-filled
in the at least one field of the invoked menu if the context element maps onto the field
and if the auto-filling feature is enabled for the invoked menu. The invoked menu is autosubmitted
to the computer-based application if all the fields auto-filled in the invoked
menu form the mandatory fields of the invoked menu. In response to t autor
submission, the computer-based application provides the resulting data to the user
through the Web portal. The value of one of more context elements is populated with the
value of the one or more fields in the resulting data based on the mapping between the
fields of the resulting data and the context elements. The user may now invoke another
menu and auto-filling, auto-submitting, displaying the resulting data, and updating the
context elements are iteratively repeated.
The method, the system, and the computer program product described above
have a number of advantages. The system enables enterprises to develop user
interfaces for any application without much effort and cost. The method enables
development of user interfaces without developers needing to understand the framework
or without any technical intervention in the application. Thus, the system and the method
allow development of user interfaces of applications without coding. Also, the system,
the method, and the computer program product allow a user to navigate efficiently
between menus in the application. Another advantage associated with the present
invention. is that minimal input is required from the user to fill in information in menus.
The auto-submitting and auto-filling features provided in the present invention support
the user not only to navigate efficiently, but also to get a faster response from the
application with minimal manual input. Thus, the response time to provide the required
data to the customer is greatly reduced. Faster and efficient handling of customer's
queries results in customer's delight and higher satisfaction, which benefits the overall
business of enterprise.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
The various embodiments of the invention will hereinafter be described in
conjunction with the appended drawings, provided to.illustrate, and not to limit, the
invention, wherein like designations denote like elements, and in which:
FIG. 1 illustrates an environment in which various embodiments of the invention
may be practiced;
FIG. 2 is a flowchart depicting the method of developing a Web portal, in
accordance to various embodiments of the present invention;
FIG. 3 is a flowchart depicting the method for configuring menus in a hierarchical
structure, in accordance to various embodiments of the present invention;
FIG. 4 shows an exemplary hierarchical structure of menus of a computer-based
application, in accordance to an embodiment of the present invention;
FIG. 5 is a flowchart depicting the process of defining a context bar, rn
accordance to an embodiment of the present invention;
FIG. 6 is a block diagram of the user interface of the Web portal, in accordance to
various embodiments of the present invention;
FIG. 7 is a block diagram of the user interface of the Web portal, configured as
per the menus and menu options shown in FIG. 4 , in the scenario when the user
chooses menu 8 after choosing menu option 3 in a tab bar and menu option 6 in a first
left hand navigation, in accordance to an embodiment of the present invention;
FIG. 8 is a flowchart depicting the method for using the configured Web portal, in
accordance to an embodiment of the present invention; and
FIG. 9 is a block diagram of the Web portal, in accordance to various
embodiments of the present invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
The invention describes a method, a system, and a computer program product for
configuring Web portal software for a computer-based application using one or more
menus available in the computer-based application.
FIG. 1 illustrates ah environment in which various embodiments of the invention
may be practiced. An enterprise 100 includes a computer-based application 102.
Computer-based application 102 can be any application that is developed by a third
party and is purchased by enterprise 100. Computer-based application 102 is hereinafter
referred to as application 102. For example, application, 1.Q2 can be a.banking
application, such as Finacle® by Infosys Technologies, Ltd., that is purchased and
deployed by many banks. Enterprise 100 develops a Web portal 104 for application 102,
in accordance with various embodiments of the present invention. Web portal 104 is
developed by enterprise 100 as per the requirements of enterprise 1 0. Different users
in enterprise 100, represented as users 106a-d, use Web portal 104 to access
application 102. For example, a bank that deploys Finacle®, provides access to the
Finacle® application to multiple users 106 and these users 106 will access the Finacle®
application to answer customer queries. For example, a customer may call the bank and
enquire about the balance in his/her bank account and ask for a transfer of a certain
amount. The user, such as user 106a, (hereinafter referred to as user 106), at the bank
will access the customer's account details from Finacle® using Web portal 104 and
convey the balance account information to the customer. Also, user 106 will then access
Web portal 104 to conduct the transaction using Finacle®, as per the customer's
request. The example of the Finacle® application is used in the description of remaining
figures for clarity and consistency. The present invention should not be considered to be
limited to the Finacle® application only. The present invention is applicable to other
applications, such as, but not limited to, Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP)
applications, Customer Relationship Management (CRM) applications, other banking
applications, telephone billing applications, and other accounting applications.
The process of developing Web portal 104, in accordance to various
embodiments of the present invention is discussed with reference to FIGs. 2, 3, and 4.
Referring to FIG. 2 , the menus available in application 102 are identified and classified
according to the functionalities in application 102 at 202. Forexample, the menus in
Finacle® can be divided into functionalities such as Deposits, Loans, and Trade
Finance. At 204, the menus classified under each functionality are configured in a
hierarchical structure for presenting on Web portal 104 of that functionality. The details
of the configuring menus in the hierarchical structure are discussed in detail in FIG. 3. At
206, a context bar is defined for each Web portal 104 by defining one or more context
elements. Context bar maintains the context of a session initiated by user 106 by storing
customer specific information using context elements. Defining of the context bar is
discussed in detail in FIG. 5. At 208, mapping is defined.between each context element
and one or more fields of the menus of Web portal 104. At 208, it is also defined if the
auto-filling feature is enabled for each of the menus configured in Web portal 104.
FIG. 3 is a flowchart depicting the method of configuring menus in a hierarchical
structure, in accordance to various embodiments of the present invention. In accordance
to various embodiments of the present invention, the menus are configured in a
hierarchical structure with one to three levels. The three levels are top level, middle
level, and bottom level. The top level in the hierarchical structure is referred to as the tab
bar level. The middle level in the hierarchical structure is referred to as the First Left
Hand Navigation level (First-LHN) and the bottom levet t e structure r fer d to as~
the Second Left Hand Navigation (Second-LHN) level. The hierarchical structure of the
menus is shown in FIG. 4. As shown in FIG. 3, at 302, one or more menu options
classified under each functionality are configured for the tab bar level in the hierarchical
structure. Menu option is used to refer to a menu and a group of menus. In case it is the
group of menus, then selecting the menu option provides access to menus under that
menu option. At 304, the order of display for tab bar level menu options is defined. At
306, menus or menu options are configured for the first-LHN level. At 308, the order of
display for the first-LHN level menus and menu options is defined. At 310, menus are
configured for the second-LHN level. At 312, the order of display for the second-LHN
level menus is defined.
FIG. 4 shows an exemplary hierarchical structure of menus, in accordance to an
embodiment of the present invention and should not be considered to limit the scope of
the present invention to the exact structure only. At the tab bar level, there are three
menu options—menu option-1 , menu option-2, and menu option-3. Each of these menu
options cannot be null. In other words, each menu option at the tab bar level will have
menus or menu options at the hierarchical level(s) under it. A menu option at the tab bar
level can have at least one menu or menu option under it at the first-LHN level. For
example, menu option-1 has menu-1 and menu option-4 under it at the first-LHN level.
Each menu option at the first-LHN level has at least one menu under it at the second-
LHN level. For example, menu option-4 has two menus, menu-3 and menu-4, under it at
the second-LHN level. The above mentioned hierarchical structure, in accordance to
various embodiments of the present invention, is defined to be of up to three levels. For
example menu option-1 and menu-1 form a two-level hierarchical structure. On the
contrary, menu option-2, menu option-5, and menu-5 form a three-level hierarchical
structure. As described in FIG. 4, the menus available in application 102 under eac
functionality, irrespective of the hierarchy of menus defined in application 102, are
identified and then configured in a hierarchy with up to three levels for presentation in
the Web portal, in accordance to the various embodiments of the present invention.
The step of defining the context bar is described in detail in FIG. 5. At 502, at
least one context element in the context bar is defined: Defining the context element
includes defining a name of the context element, the type of information captured in the
context element, and whether it should be displayed in the context bar on Web portal
104. For example, in case of a banking application and online banking portal, the
context elements can be "customer ID", "account ID", "customer name", and "investment
ID". The type of information includes, but not limited to, characters, date, string, and
numbers. For example, customer ID, account ID and investment ID are "number" type,
customer name is "string" type. At 504, the information to be captured from a database
is defined on receiving the identifier of a customer. The identifier of the customer can be
the customer ID given by the enterprise to that customer. The identifier of a customer
can be other pieces of information and is defined by the enterprise as per the
requirement. For example, on receiving the customer ID from the customer, the
information to be captured is defined to be the name and the account number of the
customer. At 506, the information to be captured is mapped to the relevant context
element. Continuing with the same example, the name and the account number to be
captured from the database will be mapped onto context elements "customer name" and
"account ID", respectively.
The user interface of Web portal 104 configured as described with reference to
FIGs. 2 , 3, 4 , and 5 is represented in FIG. 6. FIG. 6 shows„a block diagram view of the
user interface of Web portal 104, in accordance to various embodiments of the present
invention. Similar to any Web-based portal, Web portal 104 has browser and tools 602.
Browser and tools 602 help user 106 to navigate. In addition, Web portal 104 contains a
tab bar 604, a context bar 606, a first left hand navigation (first LHN) 608, a second left
hand navigation 610, and a work area 612. Context bar 606 contains at least one
context element, as described in 502 of FIG. 5. Context bar 606 is shown to display
three context elements in FIG. 6. Each context element displayed also has a field
associated with it that contains the value of the context element. At any moment, the
field may contain the value of the context element or can be null in the absence of any
value of the context element. For example, consider a case where the information to be
captured from a database is defined and mapped onto context element 1 and context
element 2, at 504 and 506 of FIG. 5. In such a case, the value of context element 1 and
context element 2 is uploaded in Web portal 104, where as the value of context element
3 is null, as shown in FIG. 6. Context bar 606 is not limited to elements displayed in Web
portal 104 only. As defined at 502 of FIG. 5, only those context elements are displayed
in context bar 606 in the user interface of Web portal 104 which are defined to be
displayed at 502 of FIG. 5. Context bar 606 may also contain other context elements
which are configured to be displayed in Web portal 104. Tap bar 604 includes menu
options that are classified at the tab bar level in the hierarchical structure of menus, as
defined in FIG. 4 . Choosing a menu option in tab bar 604 displays the menu(s) and
menu option(s) in first left-hand navigation (first LHN) 608 that are at the first LHN level
in the hierarchy under the chosen menu option. Similarly, choosing a menu or menu
option displayed in first LHN 608, displays the menu(s) in second left-hand navigation
(second LHN) 610 that are under the chosen menu or menu option in the hierarchy. A
menu chosen from first LHN 608 or second LHN 610 is displayed in work area 612.
An example of the user interface of Web portal 104, configured as per the menus
and menu options shown in FIG. 4, is shown in FIG. 7 in the scenario when user 106
chooses menu 8 after choosing Menu option 3 in tab bar 606 and menu option 6 in first
LHN 608. As shown in FIG. 7, menu option 3 is chosen in tab bar 604. The chosen
status of the menus and menu options is shown by highlighting the background of the
menu and menu option for representation. On choosing menu option 3, first LHN 608
displays the menu(s) a d menu option(s) under menu option 3 at the first LHN level.
Therefore, menu option 6 and menu 2 are displayed in first LHN 608. As shown in FIG.
7, menu option 6 is chosen by user 106. Once menu option 6 is chosen, .the. menus
under menu option 6 at the second LHN level are displayed in second LHN 610.
Therefore, menu 7 and menu 8 are displayed in second LHN 610. Once user 106
chooses menu 8, the content of menu 8 is displayed in work area 612.
In the above example, if user 106 chooses menu 2 in first LHN 608 instead of
menu option 6 , the content of menu 2 will be displayed in work area 612 and second
LHN 610 will remain blank. This is because menu 2 is a menu in itself and does not
contain any menu under it at the second LHN level, as shown in the hierarchy
represented in FIG. 4.
The method of using Web portal 104 configured using the above mentioned
method is shown in FIG. 8. At 802, Web portal 104 is displayed to user 106. At 804,
context bar 606 is populated using the information provided by the customer. For
example, as shown in FIG. 7 context elements are customer name, account number,
and credit card number. As shown in FIG. 7, context bar 606 is populated with the
values of customer name and account number, where as the value of credit card
number is not populated in context bar. The reason for this is that only customer name
and account number are defined to be captured from a database on receiving an
identifier from the customer at 504 in FIG. 5. At 806, user 106 invokes a menu based on
the request of the customer. For example, FIG. 7 shows that user 106 invokes menu 6 ,
which relates to generating a statement of a bank account. Invoking menu 6 displays the
content of the menu in work area 612. Menu 6 contains three fields that are customer
name, account number, and period for the bank statement. At 808, the values of
populated context elements are auto filled in the fields of the invoked menu. For
example, if customer name and account number fields of menu 6 are mapped onto the
corresponding context element and auto filling feature is enabled for menu 6 , at 208 of
FIG. 2 , the value of the mapped context element is automatically filled in these two fields
in menu 6 . As shown in FIG. 7 , "John" is auto-filled in the customer name field and
"1234" is auto-filled in account number field of menu 6. At 810, it is checked if all
mandatory fields in the invoked menu are filled. If all mandatory fields are filled, the
method moves to 814, else the method moves to 812. At 812, user 06 fills the
remaining mandatory fields of the invoked menu. For example, menu 6 has three
mandatory fields of which two fields are auto-filled using the values from context bar 606
and the period of statement field is filled by user at 812. Once all mandatory fields are
filled, menu is submitted to application 102 at 814. If all mandatory fields are auto-filled
from context bar 606, the menu is auto-submitted to application 102 and user 106 is
directly taken to the resulting data page. Therefore, user 106 directly gets to see the
results on invoking a menu, without providing any further input. On the contrary, if all
mandatory fields of the invoked menu are not filled at 808, user 106 enters the value of
remaining mandatory fields at 812 and submits the information to application 1-02 at 814.
At 816, application 102 returns the resulting data in response to submission of the menu.
At 818, the resulting data is displayed to user 106 on Web portaH04. A 820, the value
of the context element(s) is populated or updated if any field of the resulting data is
mapped with the context element(s).
FIG. 9 is a block diagram of Web portal 104. Web portal 104 includes a user
interface 902, an auto-submitting module 904, a mapping module 906, and a context
update module 908. User interface 902 is an interface for user 106. User interface 902
presents browser and tools 602, tab bar 604, context bar 606, first LHN 608, second
LHN 610, and work area 612 for presenting menus, as shown in FIGs. 6 and 7 . Mapping
module 906 stores the mapping between context elements and fields in various menus
present in application 102. Auto-submitting module 904 checks the mapping between
context elements and the currently invoked menu using the mapping stored in mapping
module 906. If mapping between any context element and any field of the invoked menu
is identified, auto-submitting module 904 auto-fills the value of the context element in
that field. Auto-submitting module 904 also submits the invoked menu automatically to
application 102 if all mandatory fields of the invoked menu are filled. Application 102
provides data in response to submitting the menu to application 102. Context update
module 908 checks, using the mapping stored in mapping module 906, if any field in the
resulting data maps on to any context element in the context bar. If a mapping is
identified between a context element and a field in the resulting data, context update
module 908 updates the value of the context element with the value of the mapping field
from the resulting data. The context bar is thus updated based on the new information
captured about the customer. Thereafter, this information in the context bar is used
when any other menu is invoked by user 106.
The method, the system, and the computer program product described above
have a number of advantages. The system enables enterprises to develop user
interfaces for any application without much effort and cost. The method enables
development of user interfaces without the developers needing to understand the
framework or without any technical intervention in application 102. Thus, the system and
the method allow development of user interfaces of applications without coding. Also,
the system, the method, and the computer program product allow a user to navigate
efficiently between menus in application 102. Another advantage associated with the
present invention is that minimal input is required from user 106 to fill in information in
menus. The auto-submitting and auto-filling features provided in the present invention
support user 106 not only to navigate efficiently, but also to get a faster response from
application 102 with minimal manual input. Thus, the response time to provide the
required data to the customer is greatly reduced. Fast and efficient handling of
customer's queries results in customer's delight and higher satisfaction, which benefits
the overall business of enterprise 100.
The system for configuring Web portal software for a computer-based application
using one or more menus available in the computer-based application, as described in
the present invention or any of its modules/components, may be embodied in the form of
a computer system. Typical examples of a computer system include a general-purpose
computer, a programmed microprocessor, a micro-controller, a peripheral integrated
circuit element, and other devices or arrangements of devices that are capable of
implementing the steps that constitute the method of the present invention.
The computer system comprises a computer, an input device, a display unit, and
the Internet. The computer further comprises a microprocessor, whichis connected to a
communication bus. The computer also includes a memory, which may include Random
Access Memory (RAM) and Read Only Memory (ROM). The computer system also
comprises a storage device, which can be a hard disk drive or a removable storage drive
such as a floppy disk drive and an optical disk drive. The storage device can also be
other similar means for loading computer programs or other program instructions into
the computer system. The computer system also includes a communication unit, which
enables the computer to connect to other databases and the Internet through an
Input/Output (I/O) interface. The communication unit also enables the transfer and
reception of data from other databases. The communication unit may include a modem,
an Ethernet card, or any similar device which enable the computer system to connect to
databases and networks such as Local Area Network (LAN), Metropolitan Area- Network
(MAN), Wide Area Network (WAN), and the Internet. The computer system facilitates
inputs from a user through an input device, accessible to the system through an
interface.
The computer system executes a set of program instructions that are stored in
one or more storage elements to process the input data. The storage elements may also
hold data or other information as desired. The storage element may be in the form of an
information source or a physical memory element present in the processing machine.
The present invention may also be embodied in a computer program product for
configuring Web portal software for a computer-based application using one or more
menus available in the computer-based application. The computer program product
includes a computer-usable medium/ a computer readable storage medium having a set
program instructions comprising a computer readable program code for configuring Web
portal software for a computer-based application using one or more menus available in
the computer-based application. The set of instructions may include various commands
that instruct the processing machine to perform specific tasks such as the steps that
constitute the method of the present invention. The set of instructions may be in the form
of a software program. Further, the software may be in the form of a collection of
separate programs, a program module with a large program or a portion of a program
module, as in the present invention. The software may also include modular
programming in the form of object-oriented programming. The processing of input data
by the processing machine may be in response to user commands, results of previous
processing or a request made by another processing machine.
While the preferred embodiments of the invention have been illustrated and
described, it will be clear that the invention is not limit to these embodiments only.
Numerous modifications, changes, variations, substitutions, and equivalents will be .
apparent to those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit and scope of the
invention, as described in the claims.
What is claimed is:
1. A method for configuring at least one web portal software for a computer based
application using one or more menus available in the computer based application,
the method comprising:
a. classifying the one or more menus available in the computer based application
according to the functionalities;
b. configuring at least one of the one or more menus classified under each
functionality in a hierarchical structure for presenting on at least one web portal,
wherein each of the at least web portal corresponds to a functionality of the
computer based application;
c. defining a context bar for the at least one web portal, wherein the defining the
context bar comprises defining at least one context element; -an
d. defining mapping of at least one field of one or more menus presented under the
at least one web portal with one of the at least one context element.
2. The method of claim , wherein configuring the at least one. of the one or more.
menus classified under each functionality in the hierarchical structure for presentation
in the at least one web portal comprises:
a. configuring menu options at the top level of the hierarchical structure in a tab bar;
b. defining an order of display for the configured menu options irr the tatr bar; -
c . configuring at least one of menu and menu option for display i a first left hand
navigation on the at least one web portal, wherein the at least one menu or menu
option being configured under one of the at least one menu option ή the tab bar;
and
d. defining an order of display for the configured at least one menu or menu option in
the first left hand navigation;
e. configuring at least one menu for display in a second left hand navigation on the
web portal, wherein the at least one menu being configured under one of the at
least one menu option in the first left hand navigation; and
f . defining an order of display for the configured at least one menu in the second left
hand navigation.
3. The method of claim 1 wherein defining mapping of the at least one field of one or
more menus presented under the web portal with one of the at least one context
element comprising specifying for each configured menu if the auto-filling feature is
to be enabled.
4 . The method of claim , wherein defining the context bar further comprising:
a. defining the information of a customer to be captured from a database on
receiving the identifier of the customer; and
b. mapping the to be captured information to the at least one context element in the
context bar;
5. The method of claim , wherein defining each of the at least one context element
comprises specifying if the context element is to be displayed in the web portal; and
6. The method of claim 1 further comprising using the configured at least.one web
portal, wherein using the configured at least one web portal comprising:
a. displaying the configured web portal to a user;
b. populating the context bar using the information provided by a etistomer; wherein
the information being the value of the at least one context element;
c. invoking a menu in the web portal out of the at least one of the one or more
menus presented in the web portal, wherein the invokingjs performed by the user;
d. auto-filling the value of the context element in the at least one field; wherein the
context element is mapped onto the at least one field, if the auto-filling feature is
enabled for the invoked menu;
e. auto-submitting the invoked menu to the computer based application if all the
fields auto-filled in the invoked menu form the mandatory fields of the invoked
menu;
f . fetching the resulting data from the computer based application in response to the
auto-submission;
g. displaying the resulting data to the user on the web portal; and
h. populating the value of one of more of the at least one context element with the
value of the one or more fields in the resulting data based on.a pre-defined
condition;
wherein c to h are performed in an iterative manner.
7 . The method of claim 6 wherein the context bar being populated with the information
given by the customer.
8. The method of claim 6 wherein the context bar being populated with the information
pre-defined to be captured from a database using the information given by the
customer; wherein the information given by the customer being the identifier of the
customer.
9. The method of claim 6 wherein the pre-defined condition is if any field in the resulting
data is being mapped on the one of the at least one context element, wherein the
value of the one or more of the at least one context element is populated with the
value of the field mapping onto the one or more of the at least one context element.
10.A computer implemented system for configuring at feast one web portal for an
application using one or more menus available in the application, the computer
implemented system comprising:
a. a classification module configured for classifying the menus available in the
application according to the functionalities;
b. a configuration module configured for configuring the menus classified under each
functionality in a hierarchical structure for presentation in the at least one web
portal, wherein each web portal corresponds to a functionality of the application;
c . a context bar defining module configured for at least one context element in a
context bar of the at least one web portal; and
d. a mapping module configured for defining mapping of at least one field of one or
more menus presented under the web portal with one of the at least one context
element.
A web portal software for a functionality in a computer based application, the web
portal comprising:
a. a user interface comprising:
i. a context bar comprising:
. at least one context element;
2. a value for each of the at least one context element;
ii. a tab bar comprising at least one of menu and menu option;
iii. a first left hand navigation comprising at least one of menu and menu option
under each menu option of the tab bar;
iv. a second left hand navigation comprising at least one menu under each menu
option of the first left hand navigation;
v. a work area configured for displaying a menu invoked fe a user a o
displaying the resulting data from the computer based application;
b. a mapping module configured for storing the mapping between the at least one
context element and at least one field in the at least one menu on the user
interface;
c. an auto-submitting module configured for filling the at least one field of the menu
being invoked with the value of the context element being mapped onto the field
of the menu and for submitting the information to the computer based application
through the auto-filled menu, in case all the mandatory fields of the invoked menu
are auto-filled; and
d. a context update module configured for updating the value of the at least one
context element;
12.The web portal of claim 11, wherein the context bar further comprises;
a. at least one context element not being displayed In the user interface; and
b. a value for each of the at least one context element not being displayed in the
user interface, wherein the value not being displayed in the user interface;
13.The web portal of claim 1 , wherein the context update module is configured to
update the value of the at least one context element using the information provided
by the customer;
14.The web portal of claim 13, wherein the context update module being further
configured to update the value of the at least one context element with the
information pre-defined to be captured from a database using the information
provided by the customer, wherein the information provided by the customer bei g
the identifier of the customer.
15.The web portal of claim 14, wherein the context update module is further configured
to update the value of the at least one context element with the information in the
resulting data from the computer based application.
16.A computer program product for use with a computer, the computer program product
comprising a computer readable storage medium having a -computer readable
program code embodied therein for configuring at least one web portal for an
application using one or more menus available in the application, the computer
readable program code comprising:
a. a program instruction means for classifying the menus available in the application
according to the functionalities;
b. a program instruction means for configuring at least one of the one or more
menus classified under each functionality in a hierarchical structure for presenting
on the at least one web portal, wherein each web portal corresponds to a
functionality of the application;
c. a program instruction means for defining a context bar for the web portal, wherein
the program instruction means for defining the context bar comprises a program
instruction means for defining at least one context element; and
d. a program instruction means for defining mapping at least one field of one or more
menus presented under the web portal to one of the at least one context element.
17.The computer readable program code of claim 16 wherein the program instruction
means configuring the at least one of the one or more menus classified under each
functionality in a hierarchical structure for presentation in the at least one web portal
comprises:
a . a program instruction means for configuring the menu options at the top level of
the hierarchical structure in a tab bar;
b. a program instruction means for defining an order of display for the configured
menu options in the tab bar;
c . a program instruction means for configuring at least one of menu and menu option
for display in a first left hand navigation on the at least one web portal, wherein
the at least one menu or menu option being configured under one of the at least
one menu option in the tab bar; and
d . a program instruction means for defining an order of display for the configured at
least one menu or menu option in the first left hand navigation;
e. a program instruction means for configuring at least one menu for display in a
second left hand navigation on the web portal, wherein the at least one menu
being configured under one of the at least one menu option in the first left hand
navigation; and
f . a program instruction means for defining an order of display for the configured at
least one menu in the second left hand navigation.
18.The computer readable program code of claim 16 wherein the program instruction
means for defining mapping of the at least one field of one or more menus presented
under the web portal with one of the at least one context element comprising a
program instruction means for specifying for each configured menu if the auto-filling
feature is to be enabled.
19.The computer readable program code of claim 16, wherein the program instruction
means for defining a context bar further comprising:
a . a program instruction means for defining the information of a customer to be
captured from a database on receiving the identifier of the customer; and
b. a program instruction means for mapping the to be captured information to the at
least one context element in the context bar;
20.The computer readable program code of claim 16, wherein the program instruction
means for defining each of the at least one context element comprises a program
instruction means for specifying if the context element is to be displayed in the web
portal.
2 .The computer readable program code of claim 16 further comprising a program
instruction means for using the configured web portal, wherein the program
instruction means for using the configured web portal comprising:
a. a program instruction means for displaying the configured web portal to a user;
b. a program instruction means for populating the context bar using the information
provided by a customer, wherein the information being the value of the at least
one context element;
c. a program instruction means for invoking a menu in the web portal out of the at
least one of the one or more menus presented in the web portal, wherein the
invoking is performed by the user;
d. a program instruction means for auto-filling the value of the context element in the
at least one field; wherein the context element is mapped onto the at least one
field, if the auto-filling feature is enabled for the invoked menu;
e. a program instruction means for auto-submitting the invoked menu to the
application if all the fields auto-filled in the invoked menu form the mandatory
fields of the invoked menu;
f . a program instruction means for fetching the resulting data from the application in
response to the auto-submission; and
g. a program instruction means for displaying the resulting data to the user on the
web portal;
h. a program instruction means for populating the value of the mapping context
element with the value of the field in the resulting data;
22.The computer readable program code of claim 2 1 wherein the context bar being
populated with the information given by the customer.
The computer readable program code of claim 2 1 wherein the context bar being
populated with the information pre-defined to be captured from a database using the
information given by the customer; wherein the information given by the customer
being the identifier of the customer.