SYSTEM AND METHOD THAT PROVIDE A SELF-CONTAINED DEMONSTRATION

• US 20080138775A1
• Filed: 12/08/2006
• Published: 06/12/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 12/08/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: CA, Inc. (d/b/a CA Technologies) (Broadcom, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Computer Associates Think Inc. (Broadcom, Inc.)
• Inventors: Lee, Patrick R., Defrang, Bruce A., Kooy, Darrell J.
• Granted Patent: US 8,770,982 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 434/118
• CPC Class Codes: G09B 19/00 Teaching not covered by other main groups of this subclass teaching or practice apparatus for gun-aiming or gun-laying F41G3/26
• CPC Class Codes: G09B 5/02 with visual presentation of the material to be studied, e.g. using film strip

Abstract

A self-contained demonstration that demonstrates the functionality of an application module. More specifically, the functionality of the application module with respect to information within an external information source that is located remotely from the application module may be demonstrated. In some instances, the components of a system providing the self-contained demonstration may be installed and executed on a single device, while the external information source would be located remotely and externally from the single device. In order to demonstrate the functionality of the application module, the self-contained demonstration may enable the application module to interact with a local information source in substantially the same manner as the application module would interact with an external information source. The local information source may be installed locally on the single device, and may be a scaled-down version of an external information source.

Claims

1. A self-contained demonstration system, wherein the components of the self-contained demonstration system are installed and executed on a single device, the system comprising:

an application module configured to (i) receive requests input by a user to access and/or manipulate information within an external information source, (ii) generate requests for the external information source that request the external information source provide access to the information within the external information source and/or manipulate the information within the external information source in accordance with the requests input by the user, and (iii) convey, to the user, responses of the external information source to the requests generated by the application module,

wherein the external information source is located remotely from the single device;

an interface module configured to format the requests generated by the application module into a format that is understandable to the external information source, and to format the response of the external information source to the requests into a format that is understandable to the application module, thereby enabling interaction between the application module and the external information source; and

a local information source that is located locally on the single device, the local information source being a scaled down version of the external information source such that the organization and/or the type of information provided by the local information source is similar to the organization and/or the type of information provided by the external information source and the information provided by the local information source is limited relative to the information provided by the external information source,

wherein the interface module is further configured to format requests generated by the application module and responses of the local information source to the requests such that the application module and the local information source are enabled to interact in substantially the same manner as the application module would interact with the external information source, thereby providing the user with a self-contained demonstration of the operation of the application module.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the local information source comprises a spreadsheet that is a scaled down version of an external information source comprising a database.

3. The system of claim 1, wherein the information within the local information source is altered by the local information source as the local information source manipulates the information in accordance with the requests generated by the application module.

4. The system of claim of claim 1, wherein the interface module is further configured to interact with an external registry module associated with the external information source and located remotely from the single device, the external registry module storing one or more configuration settings of the external information source, and the interaction between the interface module and the external registry module comprising retrieving at least one of the one or more configuration settings of the external information source from the external registry module by the interface module.

5. The system of claim 4, further comprising a local registry module associated with the local information source and located locally on the single device, the local registry module storing one or more configuration settings of the local information source, and wherein the interface module is further configured to retrieve at least one of the one or more configuration settings of the local information source from the local registry module.

6. The system of claim 5, wherein the local registry module stores one or more extensible markup language files that contain at least one configuration setting of the local information source.

7. An electronically readable medium including machine readable code, wherein the machine readable code is designed to execute installation of a self-contained demonstration system on a single device, the electronically readable medium comprising:

application code that effects the installation of an application module on the single device, the application module being configured to (i) receive requests input by a user to access and/or manipulate information within an external information source, (ii) generate requests for the external information source that request the external information source provide access to the information within the external information source and/or manipulate the information within the external information source in accordance with the requests input by the user, and (iii) convey, to the user, responses of the external information source to the requests generated by the application module,

wherein the external information source is located remotely from the single device;

interface code that effects the installation of an interface module on the single device, the interface module being configured to format the requests generated by the application module into a format that is understandable to the external information source, and to format the responses of the external information source to the requests into a format that is understandable to the application module, thereby enabling interaction between the application module and the external information source; and

local information source code that effects the installation of a local information source code on the single device, the local information source being a scaled down version of the external information source such that the organization and/or the type of information provided by the local information source is similar to the organization and/or the type of information provided by the external information source and the information provided by the local information source is limited relative to the information provided by the external information source,

wherein, upon installation, the interface module is further configured to format requests generated by the application module and responses of the local information source to the requests such that the application module and the local information source are enabled to interact in substantially the same manner as the application module would interact with the external information source, thereby providing the user with a self-contained demonstration of the operation of the application module.

8. The electronically readable medium of claim 7, wherein the local information source comprises a spreadsheet that is a scaled down version of an external information source comprising a database.

9. The electronically readable medium of claim 7, wherein the information within the local information source is altered as the information within the local information source is manipulated in accordance with the requests generated by the application module.

10. The electronically readable medium of claim 9, further comprising information resetting code that effects a resetting of the information within the local information source subsequent to the alteration of the information within the local information source.

11. The electronically readable medium of claim 7, wherein the interface module is further configured to interact with an external registry module associated with the external information source and located remotely from the single device, the external registry module storing one or more configuration settings of the external information source, and the interaction between the interface module and the external registry module comprising retrieving at least one of the one or more configuration settings of the external information source from the external registry module by the interface module.

12. The electronically readable medium of claim 11, further comprising local registry code that effects the installation of a local registry module on the single device, the local registry module being associated with the local information source, the local registry module storing one or more configuration settings of the local information source, wherein the interface module is further configured to retrieve at least one of the one or more configuration settings of the local information source from the local registry module.

13. The electronically readable medium of claim 12, wherein the local registry module stores one or more extensible markup language files that contain at least one configuration setting of the local information source.

14. A method of providing a self-contained demonstration on a single device, the method comprising:

receiving a request from a user to access and/or manipulate information;

generating a request intended for an external information source to provide access to information within the external information source and/or manipulate information within the external information source in accordance with the request received from the user, wherein the external information source is located remotely from the single device;

formatting the request intended for the external information source into a format that is understandable by a local information source that is located locally on the single device, the local information source being a scaled down version of the external information source such that the organization and/or the type of the information provided by the local information source is structurally similar to the organization and/or the type of the information provided by the external information source and the information provided by the local information source is limited relative to the information provided by the external information source; and

executing the request intended for the external information source on the information within the local information source to generate a response to the request.

15. The method of claim 14, further comprising conveying the response to the user.

16. The method of claim 14, wherein the local information source comprises a spreadsheet that is a scaled down version of an external information source comprising a database.

17. The method of claim 14, wherein the information within the local information source is altered during the execution of the request intended for the external information.

18. The method of claim 17, further comprising resetting of the information within the local information source subsequent to the alteration of the information within the local information source.