System and method for building a deployable component based application

• US 20060206890A1
• Filed: 03/10/2005
• Published: 09/14/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 03/10/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Malikie Innovations Limited (Key Patent Innovations Limited)
• Original Assignee: Blackberry Limited
• Inventors: Shenfield, Michael, Goring, Bryan R., Cacenco, Michael V.
• Granted Patent: US 7,895,566 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 717/174
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 8/20 Software design
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/72406 by software upgrading or downloading

Abstract

A system and method for assembling an application bundle representing an application including a first component having definitions expressed in a structured definition language and optionally a second component having a series of instructions, such that the application bundle is for provisioning on a device for assisting in message communication over a network between the device and a datasource. The system and method comprises a build service interface for receiving a series of elements of the application, the elements including mapping and interface information of the datasource and a description of the first component. The system and method also have a build engine coupled to the build service interface for assembling the received elements as the application bundle, wherein the application bundle is subsequently deployable to an application bundle storage.

Claims

1. A system for assembling an application bundle representing an application including a first component having definitions expressed in a structured definition language, the application bundle for provisioning on a device for assisting in message communication over a network between the device and a datasource, the system comprising:

a build service interface for receiving a series of elements of the application, the elements including mapping and interface information of the datasource and a description of the first component; and

a build engine coupled to the build service interface for assembling the received elements as the application bundle;

wherein the application bundle is subsequently deployable to an application bundle storage.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the mapping and interface information describes the communication of messages between the datasource and the application when provisioned on the device.

3. The system of claim 2, wherein the messaging and mapping information is used by an application gateway to coordinate the message communication between the device and the datasource.

4. The system of claim 2, wherein the mapping and inteface information is included in a datasource description in a Web Services Definition Language (WSDL) format.

5. The system of claim 2 further comprising the elements as files of the application bundle.

6. The system of claim 5, wherein the files are configured for assembling in a folder structure of the application bundle, the folder structure for providing a generic location of the elements in the application bundle.

7. The system of claim 6, wherein the application bundle uses a Java Archive format.

8. The system of claim 2, wherein the application bundle further includes elements selected from the group comprising:

a resource element for defining a static dependency of a runtime environment of the device;

a localization element for containing localization information of a language supported by the application;

a code element for containing instructional code segments of a second component of the application having a series of instructions that operate on the structured definition descriptors of the first component;

an IDE tag element for containing information about the developer of the application bundle and a utility employed by the developer in developing the mapping and interface information of the datasource and the description of the first component; and

a security element for signing the application bundle to inhibit unauthorized access to the application bundle contents.

9. The system of claim 6, wherein the build service interface and the build engine are included in a build service configured as a utility separate from a developer utility for developing the application elements.

10. The system of claim 6, wherein the build service interface and the build engine are included in a build service configured as part of a developer utility for developing the application elements.

11. The system of claim 2 further comprising a security service coupled to the build engine, the security service for providing a security element for including in the assembled application bundle, the security element for inhibiting unauthorized access to the application bundle contents.

12. The system of claim 11, wherein the security service includes further functionality selected from the group comprising:

generating IDE (integrated design environment) information for including in a manifest element;

generating a signature element for containing a digest of entries appearing in a manifest element of the application bundle;

generating a signature block element for containing a signature generated over the signature block element, the signature generated using a public key certificate also included in the signature block element;

generating modified manifest signing information such that of a manifest element of the application bundle is modified to include an element name, a digest name, and an element digest for each element included in the application bundle; and

initializing a security infrastructure of the system.

13. The system of claim 11, wherein the security service is responsible for initializing a security infrastructure of the security servi ce configured as a build utility separate from a developer utility for developing the application elements.

14. The system of claim 11, wherein the security service is responsible for initializing a security infrastructure of the security servi ce configured as part of a developer utility for developing the application elements.

15. The system of claim 13 further comprising the security service configured for communication with a keystore of the build utility having a public key certificate for verifying the signature of the security element.

16. The system of claim 15 further comprising the keystore configured for having a public/private key pair that is uniquely generated for the build utility.

17. The system of claim 15, wherein the security service has the ability to request, store and use the public/private key pair associated with the keystore.

18. The system of claim 17 further comprising the security service configured for interaction with a trust certification authority for setting up a configuration of the security service.

19. The system of claim 18, wherein the setup includes generation of a new public private key pair, generation of a public key certificate request, and installation of the signed public key certificate.

20. The system of claim 15, wherein the keystore is protected by a first password and the private key of the key pair is protected by a second password different from the first password, the passwords for inhibiting the keystore from being copied and reused on another build utility installation.

40. The method of claim 15 further comprising the step of protecting the keystore by a first password and protecting the private key of the key pair by a second password different from the first password, the passwords for inhibiting the keystore from being copied and reused on another build utility installation.

21. A method for assembling an application bundle representing an application including a first component having definitions expressed in a structured definition language, the application bundle for provisioning on a device for assisting in message communication over a network between the device and a datasource, the method comprising the steps of:

receiving a series of elements of the application, the elements including mapping and interface information of the datasource and a description of the first component; and

assembling the received elements as the application bundle;

wherein the application bundle is subsequently deployable to an application bundle storage.

22. The method of claim 21, wherein the mapping and interface information describes the communication of messages between the datasource and the application when provisioned on the device.

23. The method of claim 22, wherein the messaging and mapping information is used by an application gateway to coordinate the message communication between the device and the datasource.

24. The method of claim 22, wherein the mapping and inteface information is included in a datasource description in a Web Services Definition Language (WSDL) format.

25. The method of claim 22 further comprising the step of storing the elements as files of the application bundle.

26. The method of claim 25, wherein the files are configured for assembling in a folder structure of the application bundle, the folder structure for providing a generic location of the elements in the application bundle.

27. The method of claim 26, wherein the application bundle uses a Java Archive format.

28. The method of claim 22, wherein the application bundle further includes elements selected from the group comprising:

a resource element for defining a static dependency of a runtime environment of the device;

a localization element for containing localization information of a language supported by the application;

a code element for containing instructional code segments of a second component of the application having a series of instructions that operate on the structured definition descriptors of the first component;

an IDE tag element for containing information about the developer of the application bundle and a utility employed by the developer in developing the mapping and interface information of the datasource and the description of the first component; and

a security element for signing the application bundle to inhibit unauthorized access to the application bundle contents.

29. The method of claim 26, wherein the steps of receiving and assembling are implemented on a build utility separate from a developer utility for developing the application elements.

30. The method of claim 26, wherein the steps of receiving and assembling are implemented on a build service as part of a developer utility for developing the application elements.

31. The method of claim 22 further comprising the step of providing a security element for including in the assembled application bundle, the security element for inhibiting unauthorized access to the application bundle contents.

32. The method of claim 31 further comprising steps selected from the group comprising:

generating IDE (integrated design environment) information for including in a manifest element;

generating a signature element for containing a digest of entries appearing in a manifest element of the application bundle;

generating a signature block element for containing a signature generated over the signature block element, the signature generated using a public key certificate also included in the signature block element;

generating modified manifest signing information such that of a manifest element of the application bundle is modified to include an element name, a digest name, and an element digest for each element included in the application bundle; and

initializing a security infrastructure of a build utility for implementing the receiving and assembling steps.

33. The method of claim 31 further comprising the step of initializing a security infrastructure of a build utility separate from a developer utility for developing the application elements.

34. The method of claim 31 further comprising the step of initializing a security infrastructure of a security servi ce configured as part of a developer utility for developing the application elements.

35. The method of claim 33 further comprising the the step of communicating with a keystore having a public key certificate for verifying the signature of the security element.

36. The method of claim 35, wherein the keystore is configured for having a public/private key pair that is uniquely generated for the build utility.

37. The method of claim 35 further comprising the steps of requesting, storing and using the public/private key pair associated with the keystore.

38. The method of claim 37 further comprising the step of interacting with a trust certification authority for setting up a security configuration of the build utility.

39. The method of claim 38, wherein the setup includes generation of a new public private key pair, generation of a public key certificate request, and installation of the signed public key certificate.

41. A computer program product for assembling an application bundle representing an application including a first component having definitions expressed in a structured definition language, the application bundle for provisioning on a device for assisting in message communication over a network between the device and a datasource, computer program product comprising:

a computer readable medium;

a build service interface module stored on the computer readable medium for receiving a series of elements of the application, the elements including mapping and interface information of the datasource and a description of the first component; and

a build engine module coupled to the build service interface module for assembling the received elements as the application bundle;

wherein the application bundle is subsequently deployable to an application bundle storage.