System and method for dynamic uploading of user interface generation logic

• US 20040250213A1
• Filed: 06/03/2003
• Published: 12/09/2004
• Est. Priority Date: 06/03/2003
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Estrada, Miguel A., Shalabi, Sami M.
• Granted Patent: US 7,278,109 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 715/762
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/451 Execution arrangements for user interfaces

Abstract

A system and method for generating a user interface by, responsive to end user input, building a text file including data source and formatting logic; instantiating an uploadable skin; binding the text file to the skin; responsive to command from the end user, dynamically uploading the skin from a user terminal to a place server; processing and storing the skin in a place database; responsive to end user request, selecting and rendering the user interface in accordance with the skin.

Claims

1. A method for generating a user interface, comprising:

responsive to end user input, building a text file including data source and formatting logic;

instantiating an uploadable skin;

binding said text file to said skin;

responsive to command from said end user, dynamically uploading said skin from a user terminal to a place server;

processing and storing said skin in a place database;

responsive to end user request, selecting and rendering said user interface in accordance with said skin; and

said interface logic including an object oriented class

for retrieving extensible markup language for processing said skin component, and further including an extensible stylesheet language markup.

2. The method of claim 1, said style sheet component specifying one of a plurality of skin components comprising a theme.

3. The method of claim 1, further including initializing said place server by loading a java virtual machine, instantiating a java server object, and executing said java server object to initialize java statics, quickplace object model, an extensible markup language parser, and an extensible stylesheet language transformations engine.

4. The method of claim 3, further comprising terminating said place server by closing all skin components, closing all producers, deleting said java server, and deleting said java virtual machine.

5. The method of claim 4, further comprising receiving at said java server a user request, authenticating said request, opening said database, a view, and a document, loading a skin component, and processing said skin component to hypertext markup language using context selectively for processing forms, processing subforms, and processing skin components, and rendering said hypertext markjup language at said client as a skin.

6. The method of claim 5, said context selectively being a skin method for document read, document edit, folder list, headline folder, or slide show folder for a theme.

7. The method of claim 5, said processing skin components including:

creating and populating a skin component request;

creating and populating a skin component response;

searching for a requested skin component and if found processing said skin component;

responsive to successfully processing said skin component, finding and processing a next skin component until all skin components have been found and processed.

8. The method of claim 7, processing a skin component comprising finding an instance of said skin component in cache;

if found, producing, transforming and serializing resulting extensible markup language; and

if not found, creating and adding a required skin component to cache.

9. System for generating a user interface, comprising:

means responsive to end user input for building a text file including data source and formatting logic;

means for instantiating an uploadable skin;

means for binding said text file to said skin;

means responsive to command from said end user for dynamically uploading said skin from a user terminal to a place server;

means for processing and storing said skin in a place database;

means responsive to end user request for selecting and rendering said user interface in accordance with said skin; and

said interface logic including an object oriented class for retrieving extensible markup language for processing said skin component, and further including an extensible stylesheet language markup.

10. A program storage device readable by a machine, tangibly embodying a program of instructions executable by a machine to perform method steps for generating a user interface, said method comprising:

responsive to end user input, building a text file including data source and formatting logic;

instantiating an uploadable skin;

binding said text file to said skin;

responsive to command from said end user, dynamically uploading said skin from a user terminal to a place server;

processing and storing said skin in a place database;

responsive to end user request, selecting and rendering said user interface in accordance with said skin; and

said interface logic including an object oriented class for retrieving extensible markup language for processing said skin component, and further including an extensible stylesheet language markup.

11. The program storage device of claim 10, said method further including initializing said place server by loading a java virtual machine, instantiating a java server object, and executing said java server object to initialize java statics, quickplace object model, an extensible markup language parser, and an extensible stylesheet language transformations engine.

12. The program storage device of claim 11, said method further comprising terminating said place server by closing all skin components, closing all producers, deleting said java server, and deleting said java virtual machine.

13. The program storage device of claim 12, said method further comprising receiving at said java server a user request, authenticating said request, opening said database, a view, and a document, loading a skin component, and processing said skin component to hypertext markup language using context selectively for processing forms, processing subforms, and processing skin components, and rendering said hypertext markup language at said client as a skin.

14. The program storage device of claim 13, said context selectively being a skin method for document read, document edit, folder list, headline folder, or slide show folder for a theme.

15. The program storage device of claim 13, said processing skin components including:

creating and populating a skin component request;

creating and populating a skin component response;

searching for a requested skin component and if found processing said skin component;

responsive to successfully processing said skin component, finding and processing a next skin component until all skin components have been found and processed.

16. The program storage device of claim 15, said processing a skin component comprising finding an instance of said skin component in cache;

if found, producing, transforming and serializing resulting extensible markup language; and

if not found, creating and adding a required skin component to cache.