Converting XML code to binary format

• US 20040143791A1
• Filed: 01/17/2003
• Published: 07/22/2004
• Est. Priority Date: 01/17/2003
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
• Inventors: Ito, Yuichi, Bleisch, Paul L.
• Granted Patent: US 7,350,199 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 715/513
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 40/143 Markup, e.g. Standard Generalized Markup Language [SGML] or Document Type Definition [DTD]
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 40/154 Tree transformation for tree-structured or markup documents, e.g. XSLT, XSL-FO or stylesheets
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/235 Processing of additional data, e.g. scrambling of additional data or processing content descriptors
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/435 Processing of additional data, e.g. decrypting of additional data, reconstructing software from modules extracted from the transport stream

Abstract

A technique for converting XML code to a binary format involves identifying code elements that appear in the XML code and storing them in an element palette. The XML code is then encoded by selecting predefined commands that represent the XML text-based instructions and associating the predefined commands with references to corresponding code elements in the element palette. The commands and associated references form fixed-length tokens that can be further compressed. During conversion, data is extracted and stored in an uncompressed format. The conversion produces a binary output that contains the element palette, the data, and the tokens (compressed or uncompressed). When the binary form of the XML code is loaded for execution, the tokens are decoded into instructions that operate on the elements referenced in the element palette.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

identifying unique code elements in XML code;

storing the unique code elements in a data structure;

encoding portions of the XML code into tokens, individual tokens having a predefined command and a reference to one of the unique code elements in the data structure;

extracting data from the XML code; and

forming an output containing the data structure, the tokens, and the data.

2. A method as recited in claim 1, wherein the data structure comprises a list, with each unique code element having an entry in the list.

3. A method as recited in claim 1, wherein the encoding comprises, for each portion of the XML code:

identifying a particular unique code element contained in the portion of the XML code;

selecting, from a set of predefined commands, a predefined command that performs the portion of the XML code; and

associating the predefined command with a reference to the particular unique code element in the data structure.

4. A method as recited in claim 1, wherein the tokens comprise fixed-length tokens.

5. A method as recited in claim 1, wherein the tokens comprise 16-bit tokens, each 16-bit token having a 4-bit command field to hold the predefined command and a 12-bit parameter field to hold the reference.

6. A method as recited in claim 1, further comprising compressing the tokens.

7. A method as recited in claim 1, further comprising:

storing the data in a data buffer;

storing the tokens in a token buffer; and

alternately flushing the token buffer and the data buffer to interleave the tokens and the data in the output.

8. A method as recited in claim 1, wherein the output comprises a binary file.

9. One or more computer-readable media comprising computer-executable instructions that, when executed, perform the method as recited in claim 1.

10. A method comprising:

during a first pass through XML code, creating a data structure listing unique code elements found in the XML code;

during a second pass through the XML code, deriving fixed-length tokens representative of the XML code, each token having a predefined command and a reference to one of the unique code elements in the data structure.

11. A method as recited in claim 10, wherein the deriving comprises, for each portion of the XML code:

identifying a particular unique code element contained in the portion of the XML code;

selecting, from a set of predefined commands, a predefined command that performs the portion of the XML code; and

associating the predefined command with a reference to the particular unique code element in the data structure.

12. A method as recited in claim 10, further comprising compressing the tokens.

13. A method as recited in claim 10, further comprising constructing a binary file comprising the data structure, the tokens and data contained in the XML code.

14. A method as recited in claim 10, further comprising:

extracting data from the XML code during the second pass;

compressing the tokens during the second pass; and

constructing a binary file comprising the data structure followed by interleaved blocks of compressed tokens and uncompressed data.

15. One or more computer-readable media comprising computer-executable instructions that, when executed, perform the method as recited in claim 10.

16. A method comprising:

converting XML code to a binary output having a list of unique code elements from the XML code, a set of commands that represent the XML code and reference associated ones of the unique code elements, and data extracted from the XML code; and

executing the binary output.

17. A method as recited in claim 16, wherein the converting comprises:

creating a data structure listing the unique code elements found in the XML code; and

for each portion of the XML code, identifying a particular unique code element contained in the portion of the XML code, selecting a command from the set of commands that performs the portion of the XML code, and associating the command with a reference to the particular unique code element in the data structure.

18. A method as recited in claim 16, wherein the executing comprises:

translating the commands into instructions; and

performing the instructions on the unique code elements referenced by the commands.

19. A method as recited in claim 18, wherein one of the instructions pertains to an operation involving the data, and the performing comprises using the data in the binary output during performance of said one instruction.

20. A method as recited in claim 16, wherein the executing comprises:

translating the commands into calls to a database interface; and

calling various methods exposed by the database interface to access the unique code elements and the data from the binary output.

21. One or more computer-readable media comprising computer-executable instructions that, when executed, perform the method as recited in claim 16.

22. A computer-readable medium storing computer-executable instructions that, when executed by a processor, perform acts comprising:

identifying unique code elements in XML code;

encoding portions of the XML code into fixed-length tokens, each token having a command that represents the portion of the XML code and a reference to one of the unique code elements found in the portion of XML code; and

forming an output containing the unique code elements, the tokens, and data extracted from the XML code.

23. A computer-readable medium as recited in claim 22, wherein the tokens comprise 16-bit tokens, each token having a 4-bit command field to hold the predefined command and a 12-bit parameter field to hold the reference.

24. A computer-readable medium as recited in claim 22, further comprising computer-executable instructions that, when executed by a processor, to perform acts comprising compressing the tokens.

25. A computer-readable medium as recited in claim 22, further comprising computer-executable instructions that, when executed by a processor, perform acts comprising:

during the encoding, storing the data in a data buffer and storing the tokens in a token buffer; and

alternately flushing the token buffer and the data buffer to interleave the tokens and the data in the output.

26. A computer-readable medium as recited in claim 22, wherein the output is a binary file.

27. One or more computer-readable media storing computer-executable instructions that, when executed by a processor, perform acts comprising:

converting XML code to a binary output by;

storing unique code elements found in the XML code in a data structure;

encoding portions of the XML code into tokens, individual tokens associating a predefined command that represents the portion of the XML code with a reference to the data structure that identifies one of the unique code elements found in the portion of the XML code;

extracting data from the XML code; and

forming the binary output as containing the data structure, the tokens, and the data; and

executing the binary output by;

translating the commands into instructions; and

performing the instructions on the unique code elements in the data structure that are referenced by the commands.

28. A computer-readable medium as recited in claim 27, wherein the tokens comprise 16-bit tokens, each token having a 4-bit command field to hold the predefined command and a 12-bit parameter field to hold the reference.

29. A computer-readable medium as recited in claim 27, further comprising computer-executable instructions that, when executed by a processor, perform acts comprising compressing the tokens.

30. A data structure stored on a storage medium, comprising:

an element palette containing unique code elements identified in a piece of XML code;

at least one token block of tokens, each token containing a predefined command associated with a reference to one of the unique code elements in the element palette; and

at least one data block containing data extracted from the piece of XML code.

31. A data structure as recited in claim 30, wherein individual tokens are compressed, and the block of tokens comprises multiple compressed tokens.

32. A data structure as recited in claim 30, further comprising multiple 11 token blocks and multiple data blocks, wherein the token and data blocks are interleaved.

33. A data structure as recited in claim 30, further comprising multiple token blocks and multiple data blocks, wherein the token and data blocks are interleaved such that data in the data blocks correspond to tokens contained in a neighboring token block.

34. A computing system, comprising:

a memory;

a processor coupled to the memory; and

an XML-to-binary converter executing on the processor to convert XML code to a binary output, the binary output having a list of unique code elements identified in the XML code, data extracted from the XML code, and fixed-length tokens, where individual tokens associate a command selected from a set of commands with a reference to one of the unique code elements.

35. A computing system as recited in claim 34, wherein the XML-to-binary converter is configured to derive the tokens by discerning, for a portion of XML code, a command that is operationally representative of the portion of XML code and associating the predefined command with a reference to the unique code element contained in the portion of XML code.

36. A computing system as recited in claim 34, wherein the XML-to-binary converter is further configured to compress the tokens.

37. A computing system as recited in claim 34, wherein the memory comprises a token buffer and a data buffer, and the XML-to-binary converter stores the tokens in the token buffer and the data in the data buffer as the XML code is being converted, the token buffer and data buffer being alternately flushed to interleave the tokens and the data in the binary output.

38. A computing system as recited in claim 34, wherein the token buffer is flushed when full and the data buffer is automatically flushed in response to flushing the token buffer.

39. A computing system for converting XML code to a binary format, comprising:

a palette creator to create an element palette that lists unique code elements from the XML code;

a tokenization module to produce tokens representative of portions of the XML code, the tokenization module being configured to select, for each portion of XML code, a predefined command that represents the portion of XML code and to associate the command with a reference to a unique code element in the element palette upon which the command operates, wherein individual tokens contain the command and the associated reference.

40. A computing system as recited in claim 39, wherein the tokens comprise fixed-length tokens.

41. A computing system as recited in claim 39, wherein the tokens comprise 16-bit tokens, each token having a 4-bit command field to hold the predefined command and a 12-bit parameter field to hold the reference.

42. A computing system as recited in claim 39, further comprising a compressor to compress the tokens.

43. A computing system as recited in claim 39, further comprising:

a data buffer to hold data extracted from the XML code during tokenization;

a token buffer to hold the tokens; and

wherein the first and second buffers are alternately flushed to form a binary output that interleaves the tokens and the data.

44. A computing system for executing XML code that has been converted to a binary form, the binary form containing a list of unique code elements from the XML code, data extracted from the XML code, and a set of predefined commands representative of portions of the XML code, wherein the commands reference entries in the list that contain the unique code elements found in the portions of XML code represented by the commands, the computing system comprising:

a memory;

a processor coupled to the memory; and

an XML binary form decoder to decode the binary form of the XML code by storing the list and the data in the memory, and translating the commands into instructions that operate on the unique code elements referenced by the commands.

45. A computing system as recited in claim 44, wherein one of the instructions pertains to an operation involving the data, and the XML binary form decoder uses the data stored in the memory during performance of said one instruction.

46. A computing system as recited in claim 44, wherein the XML binary decoder translates the commands into calls to a database interface that accesses the unique code elements in the list and the data stored in the memory.

47. A computing system as recited in claim 44, embodied as a gaming system.

48. A computing system for executing XML code that has been converted to a binary form, the binary form containing a list of unique code elements from the XML code, data extracted from the XML code, and a set of predefined commands representative of portions of the XML code, wherein the commands reference entries in the list that contain the unique code elements found in the portions of XML code represented by the commands, the computing system comprising:

an interface that exposes a set of interface methods; and

a decoder to decode the commands into calls to different ones of the interface methods that operate on the unique code elements referenced by the commands.

49. A computing system as recited in claim 48, embodied as a gaming system.