Type Descriptor Language (TDLanguage) metamodel

• US 20040111464A1
• Filed: 12/04/2002
• Published: 06/10/2004
• Est. Priority Date: 12/04/2002
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: PayPal, Inc. (PayPal Holdings, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Ho, Shyh-Mei F., Tsai, Tony Y.
• Granted Patent: US 6,964,053 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 709/203
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/565 Conversion or adaptation of application format or content adding application control or application functional data H04L67/561
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/06 Notations for structuring of protocol data, e.g. abstract syntax notation one [ASN.1]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/08 Protocols for interworking; Protocol conversion
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/328 in the presentation layer [OSI layer 6]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/329 in the application layer [OSI layer 7]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 9/40 Network security protocols

Abstract

A method of and a system for processing an enterprise application request on an end user application and an application server. This is accomplished by initiating the application request on the end user application in a first language (such as a markup language) with a first application program (such as a Web browser), and transmitting the application request to the server and converting the application from the first language of the first end user application to a language running on the application server, processing the application request on the application server, and transmitting the response from the application server back to the end user application, and converting the response from the language running on the application server to the language of the end user application. The end user application and the application server have at least one connector between them, and the steps of (i) converting the application request from the language of the end user application (as a source language) to the language running on the application server (as a target language), and (ii) converting the response to the application request from the language running on the application server (as a source language) to the language of the end user application (as a target language), each include the steps of invoking connector metamodels of the respective source and target languages, populating the connector metamodels with metamodel data of each of the respective source and target languages, and converting the source language to the target language.

Claims

1. A method of processing an application request on an end user application and an application server comprising the steps of:

a) initiating the application request on the end user application in a first source language with a first application program;

b) transmitting the application request to the server and converting the application request from the first source language of the first end user application to a first target language running on the application server;

c) processing said application request on the application server;

d) transmitting a response to the application request from the application server to the end user application, and converting the response to the application request from the first target language running on the application server to the first source language of the first end user application; and

e) wherein the end user application and the application server have at least one connector there between, and the steps of (i) converting the application request from the first source language of the first end user application as a source language to the first target language running on the application server, and (ii) converting a response to the application request from the first target language running on the application server, as a second source language, to the first source language of the first end user application, as a second target language, each comprising the steps of;

1) invoking Type Descriptor class connector metamodels of respective source and target languages, said Type Descriptor class connector metamodels comprising of an Instance Type Descriptor Base class, a Type Descriptor Language Element class, and a Language Element Model inheriting from Type Description Language Element class.

2) populating the connector metamodels with metamodel data Language Elements of each of the respective source and target languages; and

3) converting the first source language to the first target language.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein the end user application is a web browser.

3. The method of claim 1 wherein the metamodel metadata further comprises invocation metamodel metadata, application domain interface metamodel metadata, and Type Descriptor metamodel metadata.

4. The method of claim 3 wherein the invocation metamodel metadata is chosen from the group consisting of message control information, security data, transactional semantics, trace and debug information, pre-condition and post-condition resources, and user data.

5. The method of claim 3 wherein the application domain interface metamodel metadata comprises input parameter signatures, output parameter signatures, and return types.

9. The method of claim 3 wherein the Type Descriptor metamodel metadata associates physical realizations and storage mapping, to data types, data structures, and realization constraints.

6. The method of claim 6 wherein the application domain interface metamodel metadata further includes language metamodel metadata.

7. The method of claim 6 wherein the source language is object oriented, and the language metamodel metadata maps encapsulated objects into code and data.

8. The method of claim 7 wherein the language metamodel metadata maps object inheritances into references and pointers

10. transaction processing system comprising a client, a server, and at least one connector there between,

a) the client having an end user application, and being controlled and configured to initiate an application request with the server in a first source language with a first application program and to transmit the application request to the server;

b) the connector being configured and controlled to receive the application request from the client, convert the application request from the first source language of the first end user application running on the client to a first target language running on the server;

c) the server being configured and controlled to receive the converted application request from the connector and processing the said application request in the first target language with a second application program residing on the server, and to thereafter transmit a response to the application request through the connector back to the first application program on the client;

d) the connector being configured and controlled to receive a response to the application request from the server, to convert a response to the application request from the first target language running on the application server to the first source language of the first application program running on the client; and

e) wherein connector between the client and the server is configured and controlled to (i) convert the application request from the first source language of the client application on the client as a source language to the language running on the application server as a first target language, and (ii) convert the response to the application request from the language running on the application server as a second source language to the first source language of the client application running on the client as a second target language, each by a method comprising the steps of;

1) invoking Type Descriptor class connector metamodels of respective source and target languages, said Type Descriptor class connector metamodels comprising of an Instance Type Descriptor Base class, a Type Descriptor Language Element class, and a Language Element Model inheriting from Type Description Language Element class.

2) populating the connector metamodels with metamodel data Language Elements of each of the respective source and target languages; and

3) converting the first source language to the first target language.

11. The system of claim 10 wherein the metamodel metadata comprises invocation metamodel metadata, application domain interface metamodel metadata, and Type Descriptor metamodel metadata.

12. The system of claim 11 herein the invocation metamodel metadata is chosen from the group consisting of message control information, security data, transactional semantics, trace and debug information, pre-condition and post-condition resources, and user data.

13. The system of claim 12 wherein the application domain interface metamodel metadata comprises input parameter signatures, output parameter signatures, and return types.

14. The system of claim 13 wherein the application domain interface metamodel metadata further includes language metamodel metadata.

15. The system of claim 10 wherein the source language is object oriented, and the language metamodel metadata maps encapsulated objects into code and data.

16. The system of claim 15 wherein the language metamodel metadata maps object inheritances into references and pointers

17. The system of claim 12 wherein the Type Descriptor metamodel metadata defines physical realizations, storage mapping, data types, data structures, and realization constraints.

18. The system of claim 14 wherein said system has a plurality of application servers and is configured and controlled to process rich transactions.

19. A program product comprising a storage medium having invocation metamodel metadata, application domain interface metamodel metadata, and language metamodel metadata, computer instructions for building a metamodel metadata repository of source and COBOL target language metamodel metadata, and computer instructions for:

1) invoking Type Descriptor class connector metamodels of respective source and target languages, said Type Descriptor class connector metamodels comprising of an Instance Type Descriptor Base class, a Type Descriptor Language Element class, and a Language Element Model inheriting from Type Description Language Element class.

2) populating the connector metamodels with metamodel data Language Elements of each of the respective source and target languages; and

3) converting the first source language to the first target language.

20. The program product of claim 19 further comprising computer instructions for building connector stubs from said metamodel metadata.

21. The program product of claim 19 further comprising computer instructions to build a connector for carrying out the steps of:

1) retrieving connector metamodel metadata of respective source and target languages from the metamodel metadata repository;

2) populating the connector metamodels with metamodel data of each of the respective source and target languages from the metamodel metadata repository and invoking the retrieved, populated connector metamodels; and

3) converting the source language to the target language.

22. The program product of claim 21 wherein the metamodel metadata in the repository comprises invocation metamodel metadata, application domain interface metamodel metadata, and Type Descriptor metamodel metadata.

23. The program product of claim 22 wherein the invocation metamodel metadata is chosen from the group consisting of message control information, security data, transactional semantics, trace and debug information, pre-condition and post-condition resources, and user data.

24. The program product of claim 22 wherein the application domain interface metamodel metadata comprises input parameter signatures, output parameter signatures, and return types.

25. The program product of claim 22 wherein the application domain interface metamodel metadata further includes language metamodel metadata.

26. The program product of claim 25 wherein the language metamodel metadata includes mappings between source and target languages.

27. The program product of claim 26 wherein the source is object oriented, and the language metamodel metadata maps encapsulated objects into code and data.

28. The program product of claim 26 wherein the language metamodel metadata maps object inheritances into references and pointers

29. The program product of claim 23 wherein the Type Descriptor metamodel metadata defines physical realizations, storage mapping, data types, data structures, and realization constraints.