Methods for type-independent source code editing

• US 20050114771A1
• Filed: 02/24/2004
• Published: 05/26/2005
• Est. Priority Date: 02/26/2003
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Oracle International Corporation (Oracle Corporation)
• Original Assignee: BEA Systems Incorporated (Oracle Corporation)
• Inventors: Zatloukal, Kevin, Piehler, Britton Worth, Garber, David Glen
• Granted Patent: US 8,032,860 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 715/264
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 40/10 Text processing natural language analysis G06F40/20; semantic analysis G06F40/30; processing or translation of natural language G06F40/40

Abstract

An extensible, data-driven, language independent source code editor is presented, with an embedded, extensible multi-language compiler framework. Such an editor can be tightly integrated with a compiler framework that provides detailed information about the language currently being edited by the user. This information can be provided in a language-neutral way effectively decoupling the editor from the underlying set of languages being edited. In addition, a language-independent editor can expose a set of APIs that makes it easy to customize behavior for specific languages that have characteristics not shared by most languages. This set of APIs can also enable the development of customized views, such as for developing visual editors that represent and allow the user to manipulate aspects of the source code pictorially. This description is not intended to be a complete description of, or limit the scope of, the invention. Other features, aspects, and objects of the invention can be obtained from a review of the specification, the figures, and the claims.

Claims

1. A method for providing the ability to edit source code, comprising:

providing an extensible multi-language capable compiler framework; and

embedding the framework in a language-independent source code editor, such that the compiler framework can provide the editor with information about a language to be edited.