A form-based approach for Web services by end-user-initiative application development

摘要

The number of end-users using the Internet is increasing in and out of offices. End-user-initiative development of applications has become important for automation of tasks. Applications for Web services should be supported by business professionals themselves because Web services must be modified frequently. This paper describes end-user-initiative application development methodologies for the MOON (multiagent-oriented office network) systems including window work in B-to-C and B-to-B electronic commerce. Window work is considered as a metaphor of the interface between service providers and their clients for Web services. The front-end of the system is constructed by a multi-agent framework. The back-end is developed by modeling techniques. The multi-agent framework is a Java application framework and is designed based on the simple concept that "one service is equal to one form." It provides form-based interfaces as a common XML-based protocol of {who, what, how} for end-users, which corresponds to the UDDI protocol of {white, yellow, green} pages. Form transformation from input to output implies service integration. Prototyping for the front-end system and the back-end system is performed in Java and XML.