Model content provider with reusable components for supporting a plurality of GUI API's

• US 20050015361A1
• Filed: 07/15/2003
• Published: 01/20/2005
• Est. Priority Date: 07/15/2003
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Speakes, Andrew, Payton, Brian G., Sholars, Sheila I., Scanlon, Maria N.
• Application Number:
  US10/620,538
• Publication Number:
  US 20050015361A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/2428 Query predicate definition using graphical user interfaces, including menus and forms G06F16/2423 takes precedence

Abstract

A user-friendly query modeling tool and method, for representing, creating, modifying and modeling a query language statement for use in retrieving data from a database. In accordance with the present invention, the tool includes a user interface for receiving or building and manipulating a query , a query model definition for use in populating instances of one or more query models, and a model content provider for receiving query elements from the user interface and providing them to the query model, and conversely, for retrieving query elements from the query model and providing them to the user interface. The model content provider has a hierarchical architecture including lower level API specific components for supporting a plurality of GUI API'"'"'s, and higher level API-independent, reusable components. This architecture facilitates scalability in terms of adding support for new API'"'"'s.

Claims

1. A model content provider for receiving queries from a user interface portion having a plurality of GUI API'"'"'s running applications, and for providing elements of the query to a query model, the model content provider comprising:

a plurality of API-specific content viewers communicating with corresponding ones of the running applications; and

a reusable, API-independent content viewer communicating with the API-specific content viewers and the query model.

2. The model content provider of claim 1, wherein the API-independent content viewer further comprises a generalized set of classes.

3. The model content provider of claim 1, wherein the content viewers further comprise a hierarchical set of classes, the API-independent classes comprising the top of the hierarchy and GUI-specific classes content viewers structures comprising the bottom of the hierarchy.

4. A method for receiving queries from a user interface having a plurality of GUI API'"'"'s running applications, and for providing elements of the query to a query model, the method comprising the steps of:

communicating with corresponding ones of the running applications using a plurality of API-specific content viewers; and

communicating with the API-specific content viewers and the query model using a reusable, API-independent content viewer

5. The method of claim 4, wherein the API-independent content viewer further comprises a generalized set of classes.

6. The method of claim 4, wherein the content viewers further comprise a hierarchical set of classes, the API-independent classes comprising the top of the hierarchy and GUI-specific classes content viewers structures comprising the bottom of the hierarchy.

7. An article of manufacture comprising a computer program carrier readable by a computer and embodying one or more instructions executable by the computer for receiving queries from a user interface having a plurality of GUI API'"'"'s running applications, and for providing elements of the query to a query model, the computer program comprising:

program instructions for communicating with corresponding ones of the running applications using a plurality of API-specific content viewers; and

program instructions for communicating with the API-specific content viewers and the query model using a reusable, API-independent content viewer

8. The article of manufacture of claim 7, wherein the API-independent content viewer further comprises a generalized set of classes.

9. The article of manufacture of claim 7, wherein the content viewers further comprise a hierarchical set of classes, the API-independent classes comprising the top of the hierarchy and GUI-specific classes content viewers structures comprising the bottom of the hierarchy.