Object specific language extension interface for a multi-level data structure

• US 20070118489A1
• Filed: 11/21/2005
• Published: 05/24/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 11/21/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Gleason, Philip, Smith, Maria, Hancock, Steven
• Granted Patent: US 7,464,065 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 706/6
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 40/289 Phrasal analysis, e.g. finite state techniques or chunking
• CPC Class Codes: G10L 13/04 Details of speech synthesis systems, e.g. synthesiser structure or memory management

Abstract

A computerized method (300) and software product (200) is provided for querying and modifying a Multi-Level Data Structure (106) stored in a Text-to-Speech (100) engine of a data processing system having a Central Processing Unit (202), a processing system memory (203), and an operating system (201), using an application program written in an interpretive programming language. The method includes the steps of initializing (302) by means of the CPU implementing a set of commands, a data processing environment for processing the application program, processing (306) the application program, where the processing includes identifying a marked command that encapsulates a DPMS program, and upon identifying a marked command, operating (318) on the MLDS using a DPMS interpreter for producing a result from the MLDS, the result available to the application program during execution of the application program.

Claims

1. A computer program product for use with a Multi-Level Data Structure (MLDS) having a computer usable medium containing computer readable program code embodied in said medium for causing a Delta Pattern Matching Syntax (DPMS) program to be executed for evaluating conditions in said MLDS, wherein the DPMS program is encapsulated within a marked command of said computer readable program code comprising;

a first module for causing the data processing system to

     1) initialize a data processing environment for processing said DPMS program by means of the CPU implementing a set of program language instructions, and

     2) process the marked command for mapping constructs of the DPMS program to DPMS constructs in said programming language for placement in an encoded structure; and

a second module for causing the data processing system to execute the DPMS constructs in the MLDS using a DPMS interpreter stored in the data processing system memory;

wherein the DPMS constructs represent a set of instructions specifying procedural rules of operation on the MLDS, wherein the DPMS interpreter can query and modify the MLDS using the DPMS constructs, wherein the DPMS interpreter communicates with the MLDS using a class methods of the MLDS objects, and wherein the evaluation of a DPMS statement tests for conditions in the MLDS, producing a result

2. The computer program product of claim 1, further comprising a third module for causing the data processing system to parse said constructs of the DPMS program, convert DPMS constructs into executable runtime instructions, and place the executable runtime instructions in an encoded data structure within said computer readable program code in a format recognizable by said programming language.

3. The computer program product of claim 1, wherein said first module for initializing the data processing environment further comprises:

a first computer readable program code for causing the data processing system to designate areas of the data processing system memory as shared memory for work area storage during the processing of the DPMS program; and

a second computer readable program code for causing the data processing system to designate data processing system variables for use during the processing of the DPMS program as shared variables;

wherein said first and second computer readable program code can communicate data with the MLDS through assignment and access of said shared memory and said shared variables.

4. The computer program product of claim 1, wherein said Delta Pattern Matching Syntax (DPMS) program is a single line command string written in the delta programming language, and wherein a plurality of marked commands is dispersed throughout said computer readable program code.

5. The computer program product of claim 1, wherein said computer readable program code embodied in said medium is a C++ source code program, and wherein said encoded data structure is a class object in the C++ programming language, wherein encoded data structure has its own syntax and set of methods and language extensions for manipulating DPMS constructs of said encoded data structure within a C++ data processing environment.

6. The computer program product of claim 1, wherein said second module for causing the data processing system to execute the DPMS constructs in the MLDS further comprises computer readable program code for causing the DPMS interpreter to control a scope of said DPMS query within the MLDS using a fence, wherein computer readable program code causes the DPMS interpreter to access said encoded data structure through use of said fence, wherein said fence is integrated within said application program to restrict pattern matching within the MLDS to limit said result.

7. The computer program product of claim 2, wherein the third module for causing the data processing system to parse said constructs of the DPMS program, convert DPMS constructs into executable runtime instructions, and place the executable runtime instructions in an encoded data structure occurs during a run-time execution of said program code within said operating system, wherein said run-time execution allows said DPMS interpreter to communicate with the MLDS to evaluate conditions in the MLDS during run-time processing of said program code, and to produce a result of that evaluation.

8. A computer program product for use with a Multi-Level Data Structure (MLDS) having a computer usable medium containing a computer readable program code embodied in said medium for interfacing between a data processing environment for executing a C++ program within a data processing environment for supporting a MLDS, said computer readable program code comprising:

a first module for causing a computer to designate areas of the data processing system memory for work area storage during the processing of the C++ program, and initializing data processing system variables used during the processing of the C++ program;

a second module for causing the computer to map constructs of a Delta Pattern Matching Syntax (DPMS) program encapsulated within a marked command to C++ constructs, by constructing a class object stored in the data processing system memory, and

a third module for causing the computer to execute the marked command within the C++ program using a DPMS interpreter, for processing the DPMS program, for querying a response from the MLDS using the class object, by passing DPMS constructs contained within the class object through the DPMS interpreter to the MLDS, for producing a result from the MLDS for placement in data processing system memory accessible to the C++ program.

9. The computer program product of claim 8, wherein said Delta Pattern Matching Syntax (DPMS) program is a single line command string written in the DPMS syntax, and wherein a plurality of marked commands is dispersed throughout said C++ program.

10. The computer program product of claim 8, wherein said second module for mapping said constructs of the DPMS program comprises a further computer readable program code for causing the data processing system to parse said constructs of the DPMS program, convert them into a data structure that represents the operations to be performed by a DPMS statement, and place that data structure within said class object stored within said data processing system memory.

11. The computer program product of claim 10, wherein said mapping occurs during a run-time execution of said program code within said operating system, wherein said run-time execution allows said DPMS interpreter to communicate with the MLDS to evaluate conditions in the MLDS and produce the results of that evaluation during run-time processing of said C++ program.

12. A computerized method for creating a marked command in a computer application program, the marked command for querying and modifying a Multi-Level Data Structure (MLDS) stored in a Text-to-Speech (TTS) comprising the steps of:

scanning said computer application program for DPMS program statements; and

encapsulating DPMS program under a descriptive header at a location of the DPMS program;

wherein the DPMS program includes DPMS constructs that represent a set of instructions specifying procedural rules of operation on the MLDS.

13. A computerized method for querying and modifying a Multi-Level Data Structure (MLDS) stored in a Text-to-Speech (TTS) engine of a data processing system having a Central Processing Unit (CPU), a processing system memory, and an operating system, using an application program written in a standard programming language containing statements that are not constructs in the standard programming language, said method comprising the steps of:

initializing by means of the CPU implementing a set of commands, a data processing environment for processing the application program;

processing the application program, wherein the processing includes identifying a marked command that encapsulates a DPMS program; and

upon identifying a marked command, operating on the MLDS using a DPMS interpreter for producing a result from the MLDS, the result available to the application program during execution of the application program.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein initializing the data processing environment further comprises designating areas of the data processing system memory as shared memory for work area storage during the processing of the application program;

and initializing data processing system variables for use during the processing of the application program as shared variables.

15. The method of claim 13, wherein the processing the application program further comprises the steps of:

parsing the DPMS statements in a program into DPMS constructs, converting said DPMS constructs into executable runtime instructions, and placing said executable runtime instructions in an encoded data structure; and

wherein the encoded data structure is embedded within said application program by storing said encoded data structure within data processing system memory, said encoded data structure in a format recognizable by said interpretive programming language.

16. The method of claim 13, wherein the operating on the MLDS using a DPMS interpreter further comprises executing a DPMS construct in the MLDS using the DPMS interpreter,

wherein the DPMS construct represents an instruction specifying procedural rules of operation on the MLDS, wherein the DPMS interpreter can query and modify the MLDS using the DPMS construct, wherein the DPMS interpreter communicates with the MLDS using a delta programming language.

17. The method of claim 16, wherein the executing a DPMS construct further comprises using a fence to control a scope for querying and modifying the MLDS, wherein the fence controls access of the DPMS interpreter to said encoded data structure, wherein said fence restricts pattern matching within the MLDS to limit said result.

18. The method of claim 13, wherein said DPMS program is a single line command string written in the delta programming language, and wherein a plurality of marked commands is dispersed throughout said application program.

19. The method of claim 15, wherein said embedding occurs during a run-time execution of said application program for the DPMS interpreter to communicate with the MLDS to receive said result during run-time processing of said application program.

20. The method of claim 13, wherein said result from MLDS can be a set of acoustic parameter values for use with a synthesizer to produce speech.