System and method for transferring computer-readable objects across a remote boundary

• US 20050172300A1
• Filed: 01/16/2004
• Published: 08/04/2005
• Est. Priority Date: 01/16/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
• Inventors: Chandrashekaran, Rajesh, Shastry, Shankara, Snover, Jeffrey P., Raigandhi, Hitesh
• Granted Patent: US 7,770,181 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 719/315
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/465 Distributed object oriented systems remote method invocation [RMI] G06F9/548
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/02 based on web technology, e.g. hypertext transfer protocol [HTTP]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/06 specially adapted for file transfer, e.g. file transfer protocol [FTP]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/34 involving the movement of software or configuration parameters network booting or remote initial program loading [RIPL] G06F9/4416

Abstract

A system and method for securely transferring computer-readable objects across a remote boundary is provided. The method decomposes any type of object into a hierarchy of sub-components based on a list of known object types. Each sub-component either corresponds to a known object type or an unknown object type. The unknown object types may be decomposed further into known object types at another level in the hierarchy. The known objects in the hierarchy are serialized into a package that is transmitted to a remote entity. The remote entity reconstructs the hierarchy. For any of the known object types, the remote entity instantiates an object of the known object type and populates the object with information transmitted in the package. The decomposition may be limited by specifying a level for the hierarchy, specifying a number that limits the known objects that are serialized, or specifying the properties within the object to serialize.

Claims

1. At least one computer-readable medium having computer executable instructions that provide a method for transferring computer-readable objects across a remote boundary, the method comprising:

decomposing an object of a first type into an hierarchy of at least one sub-component based on a list of known object types, each sub-component comprising a known object associated with one of the known object types;

serializing the known objects into a serialized package; and

transmitting the serialized package to a remote entity.

2. The computer-readable medium of claim 1, wherein the list identifies the first type as one of the known object types.

3. The computer-readable medium of claim 1, wherein at least one sub-component comprises an unknown object having a type unidentified within the list.

4. The computer-readable medium of claim 3, wherein decomposing an object further comprises decomposing the unknown object into another level of sub-components based on the list.

5. The computer-readable medium of claim 1, wherein a first process on a system transmits the serialized package and the remote entity comprises another process on the system.

6. The computer-readable medium of claim 1, wherein a first process on a system transmits the serialized package and the remote entity comprises another process on another system.

7. The computer-readable medium of claim 1, wherein a first application domain executing within a process transmits the serialized package and the remote entity comprises another application domain within the process.

8. The computer-readable medium of claim 1, wherein the hierarchy comprises a property bag.

9. The computer-readable medium of claim 8, wherein the property bag comprises a hash table.

10. The computer-readable medium of claim 9, wherein a key for each entry in the hash table comprises a name for the sub-component associated with the entry.

11. The computer-readable medium of claim 8, wherein the property bag comprises a plurality of entries, each entry being associated with one of the sub-components and having a first field for storing a name associated with the sub-component, a second field for storing a value associated with the sub-component, and a third field for storing a type associated with the sub-component.

12. The computer-readable medium of claim 1, further comprising negotiating the known object types identified within list by receiving a version number of a first list available to a first process, comparing the version number to another version number of a second list available to the remote entity, and determining the list based on the comparison.

13. The computer-readable medium of claim 1, further comprising negotiating the list by accepting a plurality of object types received from a first process, the accepted object types becoming known object types identified within the list.

14. The computer-readable medium of claim 1, further comprising negotiating the list by receiving an identifier for a file and having the list include object types identified within the file.

15. The computer-readable medium of claim 1, further comprising limiting the hierarchy of sub-components by specifying a pre-determined depth for the hierarchy, wherein decomposing the object comprises decomposing the object to the pre-determined depth.

16. The computer-readable medium of claim 1, further comprising limiting the hierarchy of sub-components by defining a property set that identifies individual properties of the object, wherein decomposing the object comprises decomposing the identified individual properties of the object.

17. The computer-readable medium of claim 1, further comprising limiting the hierarchy of sub-components by identifying a specified property within the object, wherein decomposing the object comprises decomposing the specified property.

18. The computer-readable medium of claim 1, further comprising limiting the hierarchy of sub-components by specifying a pre-determined number that limits the known objects that are serialized into the serialized package by the number.

19. At least one computer-readable medium having computer executable instructions that provide a method for receiving a package representing a computer-readable object transmitted across a remote boundary, the method comprising:

receiving a serialized package from a remote entity;

identifying a hierarchy of sub-components, the hierarchy representing an object of a first type;

for each sub-component;

identifying a type associated with the sub-component;

if the type is identified within a list of known object types, instantiating an object of the type and populating at least one property of the object with information obtained from within the serialized package.

20. The computer-readable medium of claim 19, wherein the list includes the first type as one of the known object types.

21. The computer-readable medium of claim 19, wherein the at least one sub-component comprises an unknown object having a type unidentified within the list.

22. The computer-readable medium of claim 19, wherein a first process on a system receives the serialized package and the remote entity comprises another process on the system.

23. The computer-readable medium of claim 19, wherein a first process on a system receives the serialized package and the remote entity comprises another process on another system.

24. The computer-readable medium of claim 19, wherein a first application domain executing within a process receives the serialized package and the remote entity comprises another application domain within the process.

25. The computer-readable medium of claim 19, wherein the serialized package comprises an XML document.

26. A system that communicates objects across a remote boundary, comprising:

a processor;

a memory, the memory being allocated for a plurality of computer-executable instructions which are loaded into the memory for execution by the processor, the computer-executable instructions providing a method for communicating objects across the remote boundary, the method comprising;

decomposing an object of a first type into an hierarchy of at least one sub-component based on a list of known object types, each sub-component comprising a known object associated with one of the known object types;

serializing the known objects into a serialized package; and

transmitting the serialized package to a remote entity.

27. The system of claim 26, wherein a first process on a system transmits the serialized package and the remote entity comprises another process on the system.

28. The system of claim 26, further comprising:

receiving the serialized package from the remote entity;

identifying the hierarchy of sub-components, the hierarchy representing the object of the first type; and

for each identified sub-component;

identifying a type associated with the sub-component; and

if the type is identified within the list of known object types, instantiating an object of the type and populating at least one property of the object with information obtained from within the serialized package.