Method and Apparatus for a Browser with Offline Web-Application Architecture

• US 20080222628A1
• Filed: 03/05/2007
• Published: 09/11/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 03/05/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: AirBNB Incorporated
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Peterson, Robert Ross, Hernandez, Yasmary, Thompson, Lee Parnell, Marz, Nathan Shlomo, Batra, Nikhil Kumar
• Granted Patent: US 8,452,853 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 717/171
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 8/60 Software deployment
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/44526 Plug-ins; Add-ons
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/02 based on web technology, e.g. hypertext transfer protocol [HTTP]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/1095 Replication or mirroring of data, e.g. scheduling or transport for data synchronisation between network nodes

Abstract

A computer implemented method, apparatus, and computer program product for a computer implemented method, apparatus, and computer usable program code for providing an offline version of an online application. In one embodiment, the process initiates an online application on a connected client device using a specific operating environment associated with the online application. In response to detecting the online application going to an offline status, a determination is made as to whether a native application on the client device is present that is supportive of the online application. In response to a determination that the native application is present, the native application is executed using the specific operating environment associated with the online application. The specific operating environment associated with the online application on a server is transferred to an environment associated with the native application on the client.

Claims

1. A computer implemented method for providing an offline version of an online application, the computer implemented method comprising:

initiating an online application on a connected client device using a specific operating environment associated with the online application;

responsive to detecting the online application going to an offline status, determining whether a native application on the client device is present that is supportive of the online application; and

responsive to a determination that the native application is present, executing the native application using the specific operating environment associated with the online application, wherein the specific operating environment is transferred from the operating environment associated with the online application on a server to an environment associated with the native application on the client.

2. The computer implemented method of claim 1 further comprising:

responsive to restoring an online status, terminating the native application and transferring the specific operating environment associated with the native application to the specific environment associated with the online application.

3. The computer implemented method of claim 1 wherein the offline application is selected from a group consisting of a word processor application, a spreadsheet application, a drawing program, an editing program, a game, and a media player.

4. The computer implemented method of claim 1 wherein the specific operating environment includes user generated data associated with either the online or offline application.

5. The computer implemented method of claim 1 further comprising:

allocating a memory space on the client device to the online application, wherein the native application is stored in the memory space, and wherein the offline application is automatically updated in the allocated memory space without requiring prior approval from a user.

6. The computer implemented method of claim 1 wherein an offline status indicates a network failure, wherein the network failure is selected from a group consisting of a failure in a network connection, a server running the online application is unresponsive, and the online application terminated unexpectedly.

7. A computer implemented method for providing an offline version of a corresponding online application, the computer implemented method comprising:

initiating, by a client computing device, an online application to perform a task;

responsive to detecting the online application going to an offline status, identifying an offline application associated with the client computing device that is supportive of the online application; and

executing the offline application on the client computing device to perform at least a portion of the task.

8. The computer implemented method of claim 7 wherein the online application is executed in a runtime environment on a server.

9. The computer implemented method of claim 7 wherein the offline application is executed in a runtime environment associated with a web browser on the client computing device and wherein the offline application is a browser plug-in that executes in the absence of a network connection.

10. The computer implemented method of claim 7 wherein an offline status indicates a network failure, wherein the network failure is selected from a group consisting of a failure in a network connection, a server running the online application is unresponsive, and the online application crashed.

11. The computer implemented method of claim 7 further comprising:

responsive to restoring an online status, synchronizing the online application with data from the offline application; and

terminating the offline application.

12. The computer implemented method of claim 7 further comprising:

synchronizing data in the online application with data in the offline application.

13. The computer implemented method of claim 7 further comprising:

synchronizing data in the online application with data in the offline application.

14. The computer implemented method of claim 7 further comprising:

converting data in an offline application file format into an online application file format for synchronization of data in the online application with the offline application.

15. The computer implemented method of claim 7 further comprising:

converting data in an online application file format into an offline application file format for synchronization of data in the offline application with the online application.

16. The computer implemented method of claim 7 further comprising:

allocating a memory space on the client computing device to the online application, wherein the offline application is stored in the memory space, and wherein the online application automatically updates the offline application in the allocated memory space without requiring prior approval from a user.

17. A computer program product comprising:

a computer usable medium including computer usable program code for providing an offline version of an online application, said computer program product comprising;

computer usable program code for initiating, by a client computing device, an online application to perform a task;

computer usable program code for identifying an offline application associated with the client computing device that is supportive of the online application in response to detecting the online application going to an offline status; and

computer usable program code for executing the offline application on the client computing device to perform at least a portion of the task.

18. The computer program product of claim 17 wherein the online application is executed in a runtime environment on a server.

19. The computer program product of claim 17 wherein the offline application is executed in a runtime environment associated with a web browser on the client computing device, and wherein the offline application is a browser plug-in that executes in the absence of a network connection.

20. The computer program product of claim 17 wherein an offline status indicates a network failure, wherein the network failure is selected from a group consisting of a failure in a network connection, a server running the online application is unresponsive, and the online application crashed.

21. The computer program product of claim 17 wherein an offline status indicates a failure in a network connection.

22. The computer program product of claim 17 wherein an offline status indicates a server running the online application has become unresponsive.

23. The computer program product of claim 17 wherein an offline status indicates the online application has terminated unexpectedly.

24. The computer program product of claim 17 further comprising:

computer usable program code for synchronizing the online application with data from the offline application in response to restoring an online status; and

computer usable program code for terminating the offline application.

25. The computer program product of claim 17 further comprising:

computer usable program code for synchronizing data in the online application with data in the offline application.

26. The computer program product of claim 17 further comprising:

computer usable program code for synchronizing data in the online application with data in the offline application.

27. The computer program product of claim 17 further comprising:

computer usable program code for converting data in an offline application file format into an online application file format for synchronization of data in the online application with the offline application.

28. The computer program product of claim 17 further comprising:

computer usable program code for converting data in an online application file format into an offline application file format for synchronization of data in the offline application with the online application.

29. The computer program product of claim 17 further comprising:

computer usable program code for allocating a memory space on the client computing device to the online application, wherein the offline application is stored in the memory space, and wherein the online application automatically updates the offline application in the allocated memory space without requiring prior approval from a user.

30. An apparatus comprising:

a bus system;

a communications system connected to the bus system;

a memory connected to the bus system, wherein the memory includes computer usable program code; and

a processing unit connected to the bus system, wherein the processing unit executes the computer usable program code to initiate an online application on a connected client device using a specific operating environment associated with the online application;

determine whether a native application on the client device is present that is supportive of the online application in response to detecting the online application going to an offline status; and

execute the native application using the specific operating environment associated with the online application in response to a determination that the native application is present, wherein the specific operating environment is transferred from the operating environment associated with the online application on a server to an environment associated with the native application on the client.

31. The apparatus of claim 30 wherein the online application is executed in a runtime environment on a server.

32. The apparatus of claim 30 wherein the offline application is executed in a runtime environment associated with a web browser on the client computing device, and wherein the offline application is a browser plug-in that executes in the absence of a network connection.

33. The apparatus of claim 30 wherein an offline status indicates at least one of a failure in a network connection, a server running the online application has become unresponsive, and the online application has terminated unexpectedly.

34. A system for providing an offline version of an online application, the system comprising:

a web browser on a client, the web browser comprising;

a kernel; and

an enhancement controller for identifying an offline application associated with the client computing device that is supportive of an online application in response to detecting the online application going to an offline status; and

a memory on the client, wherein the offline application is executed in the memory.

35. The system of claim 34, wherein the system further comprises:

a converter for converting data in the online application into an offline file format for updating the offline application and converting data in the offline application into an online file format for updating the online application.