Generalized proxy architecture to provide remote access to an application framework

• US 10,015,264 B2
• Filed: 10/05/2015
• Issued: 07/03/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 01/30/2015
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Calgary Scientific Inc.
• Original Assignee: Calgary Scientific Inc.
• Inventors: Lancaster, Gregory Knight, Lancaster, William Gregory, Lemire, Pierre Joseph
• Primary Examiner(s): Biagini, Christopher
• Application Number:
  US14/874,519
• Publication Number:
  US 20160226979A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,002 Days
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/141 Setup of application sessions admission control or resource allocation in data switching networks H04L47/70
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/142 Managing session states for stateless protocols; Signalling session states; State transitions; Keeping-state mechanisms
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/561 Adding application-functional data or data for application control, e.g. adding metadata

Abstract

Systems and method for providing remote access to service applications created within an application framework. For each of the controls in the application framework, a wrapper is provided to enable remote-access to the control. An integration component includes proxies that communicate to each the rapper, a proxy manager that communicates to the service application, and a state manager that registers views and event handlers to communicate application state information. A remote access server application receives a connection from a client remote access application executing on the client device, and state information is communicated between the service application and the client remote access application to provide a view of the service application at the client device.

Claims

1. A method of providing remote access to a service application within in an application framework executing on a server, comprising:

providing wrappers that each correspond to a user interface element of the application framework, each wrapper modifying an interface of a respective user interface element to enable remote-access to the respective user interface element;

providing an integration component that includes proxies that communicate to the wrappers, a proxy manager that communicates to the service application, and a state manager that registers views and event handlers to communicate application state information that associates user-interface elements with logical elements of the service application;

starting a remote access server application on a remote access server in accordance with an identifier provided by the proxy manager to enable remote access to the service application;

receiving a connection from a client remote access application executing on a client device; and

communicating application state information between the service application and the client remote access application to provide a view of the service application at the client device.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein each wrapper comprises a derived class that inherits properties from its respective low level control.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising providing a pluggable boundary between the proxies and the service application, such that the service application does not link to the proxies.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising announcing to the service application that the proxy manager has been instantiated and ready to receive requests from objects associated with the service application.

5. The method of claim 4, further comprising:

receiving a request, at the proxy manager, from an object; and

instantiating a proxy instance associated with the object to service the request.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the requests are directed to the remote access server application.

7. The method of claim 5, wherein a lifetime of the proxy instance is the same as the object.

8. A method of receiving requests from remote access-enable enabled user interface elements associated with a at a remote access-enabled service application within in an application framework executing on a server, comprising:

providing wrappers that each correspond to a user interface element of the application framework, each wrapper modifying an interface of a respective user interface element to enable remote-access to the respective user interface element;

providing an integration component that includes proxies that communicate to the wrappers, a proxy manager that communicates to the service application, and a state manager that registers views and event handlers to communicate application state information that associates user-interface elements with logical elements of the service application;

starting a remote access server application on a remote access server;

receiving a connection request at the remote access server from a remote-access enabled user interface element;

instantiating an integration proxy in response to the connection request being received to communicate state information between the user interface elements and the remote access server.

9. The method of claim 8, further comprising receiving, at the service application, an announcement from the proxy manager indicating that the proxy manager has been instantiated.

10. The method of claim 8, further wherein the connection request identifies an object initiating the request and includes a context for the connection request.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein the context is a structured string which contains a unique identifier of the user interface element.

12. The method of claim 8, further comprising further comprising:

connecting the integration proxy to the user interface element and the remote access server application.

13. The method of claim 8, wherein the integration proxy is connected to the user interface element and the remote access server application using a state manager, the method further comprising creating or modifying application state contents or a registering a view associated with the service application.

14. A non-transitory computer-readable medium comprising computer-executable instructions that when executed by a computing device cause the computing device to perform a method of providing remote access to a service application within in an application framework executing on a server, comprising:

providing wrappers that each correspond to a user interface element of the application framework, each wrapper modifying an interface of a respective user interface element to enable remote-access to the respective user interface element;

providing an integration component that includes proxies that communicate to the wrappers, a proxy manager that communicates to the service application, and a state manager that registers views and event handlers to communicate application state information that associates user-interface elements with logical elements of the service application;

starting a remote access server application on a remote access server in accordance with an identifier provided by the proxy manager to enable remote access to the service application;

receiving a connection from a client remote access application executing on a client device; and

communicating application state information between the service application and the client remote access application to provide a view of the service application at the client device.

15. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 14, wherein each wrapper comprises a derived class that inherits properties from its respective low level control.

16. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 14, further comprising instructions for providing a pluggable boundary between the proxies and the service application, such that the service application does not link to the proxies.

17. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 14, further comprising instructions for announcing to the service application that the proxy manager has been instantiated and ready to receive requests from objects associated with the service application.

18. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 17, further comprising instructions for:

receiving a request, at the proxy manager, from an object; and

instantiating a proxy instance associated with the object to service the request.

19. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 18, wherein the requests are directed to the remote access server application.

20. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 18, wherein a lifetime of the proxy instance is the same as the object.