RAPID APPLICATION DEVELOPMENT FOR DATABASE-AWARE APPLICATIONS

• US 20080270980A1
• Filed: 04/27/2007
• Published: 10/30/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 04/27/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Surange, Sonali, Brodsky, Stephen Andrew, Nin, Rebecca B., Ahadian, Azadeh
• Granted Patent: US 8,392,880 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 717/109
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 8/34 Graphical or visual programming

Abstract

Embodiments of the invention provide application development tools that allow developers to rapidly build database-aware applications and database unit tests. Embodiments of the invention support multiple scenarios for database-aware application development, including beginning from a database table and automatically creating application code to access the table, beginning from an existing database query, beginning from existing application code that accesses a database, and hybrids or variations of these approaches.

Claims

1. A method for generating source code for a database-aware software application, comprising:

receiving, from a user interacting with an integrated development environment (IDE) tool, a selection of a database element;

generating at least one database statements to access the database element;

encapsulating the at least one database statements within source code of a programming language in which the database-aware software application is being written;

storing the source code within a project file associated with the database-aware software application; and

displaying the source code in an editing pane of the IDE tool.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the at least one database statements are selected from statements to create, retrieve, update, and delete records from a database.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the database element is a database statement embedded as a text string within the source code of an application being developed using the IDE tool.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving a set of connection parameters used to create a connection with a database;

establishing a connection with the database, wherein the database contains the selected database element; and

storing the connection parameters as part of a development project associated with the database-aware software application being developed.

5. The method of claim 4, further comprising:

obtaining, over the established connection, a data model of the database; and

displaying the data model in a window of the IDE tool.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the data model is a relational schema.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising,

generating a unit-test application for the database aware application, wherein the unit test executes (i) a first test query to retrieve a set of records from the database, (ii) a second test query to retrieve a first record of the set of records, a (iii) a third test query to update the first record with sample test values, and (iv) a fourth test query to delete the first record, and (v) a fifth test query to insert the first record back into the database.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the IDE tool provides a programming environment used to develop a database-aware application, and wherein the IDE tool includes at least a graphical text editor and a compiler.

9. A computer program product comprising a computer useable storage medium having a computer readable program, wherein the computer readable program when executed on a computer causes the computer to perform an operation comprising:

receiving, from a user interacting with an integrated development environment (IDE) tool, a selection of a database element;

generating at least one database statements to access the database element;

encapsulating the at least one database statements within source code of a programming language, wherein the user is writing the database-aware software application in the programming language;

storing the source code within a project file associated with the database-aware software application; and

displaying the source code in an editing pane of the IDE tool.

10. The computer useable storage medium of claim 9, wherein the at least one database statements are selected from statements to create, retrieve, update, and delete records from a database.

11. The computer useable storage medium of claim 9, wherein the database element is a database statement embedded as a text string within the source code of an application being developed using the IDE tool.

12. The computer useable storage medium of claim 9, wherein the operation further comprises:

receiving a set of connection parameters used to create a connection with a database;

establishing a connection with the database, wherein the database contains the selected database element; and

storing the connection parameters as part of a development project associated with the database-aware software application being developed.

13. The computer useable storage medium of claim 12, wherein the operation further comprises:

obtaining, over the established connection, a data model of the database; and

displaying the data model in a window of the IDE tool.

14. The computer useable storage medium of claim 13, wherein the data model is a relational schema.

15. The computer useable storage medium of claim 9, wherein the operation further comprises:

generating a unit-test application for the database aware application, wherein the unit test executes (i) a first test query to retrieve a set of records from the database, (ii) a second test query to retrieve a first record of the set of records, a (iii) a third test query to update the first record with sample test values, and (iv) a fourth test query to delete the first record, and (v) a fifth test query to insert the first record back into the database.

16. The computer useable storage medium of claim 9, wherein the IDE tool provides a programming environment used to develop a database-aware application, and wherein the IDE tool includes at least a graphical text editor and a compiler.

17. A system, comprising:

a processor; and

a memory containing an integrated development environment (IDE) tool configured to generate source code for a database-aware software application by performing an operation, comprising;

receiving, from a user interacting with the tool, a selection of a database element;

generating at least one database statements to access the database element;

encapsulating the at least one database statements within source code of a programming language, wherein the user is writing the database-aware software application in the programming language;

storing the source code within a project file associated with the database-aware software application; and

displaying the source code in an editing pane of the IDE tool.

18. The system of claim 17, wherein the at least one database statements are selected from statements to create, retrieve, update, and delete records from a database that contains.

19. The system of claim 17, wherein the database element is a database statement embedded as a text string within the source code of an application being developed using the IDE tool.

20. The system of claim 17, wherein the operation further comprises:

receiving a set of connection parameters used to create a connection with a database;

establishing a connection with the database, wherein the database contains the selected database element; and

storing the connection parameters as part of a development project associated with the database-aware software application being developed.

21. The system of claim 20, wherein the operation further comprises:

obtaining, over the established connection, a data model of the database; and

displaying the data model in a window of the IDE tool.

22. The system of claim 21, wherein the data model is a relational schema.

23. The system of claim 17, wherein the operation further comprises:

generating a unit-test application for the database aware application, wherein the unit test executes (i) a first test query to retrieve a set of records from the database, (ii) a second test query to retrieve a first record of the set of records, a (iii) a third test query to update the first record with sample test values, and (iv) a fourth test query to delete the first record from the set of records, and (v) a fifth test query to insert the first record back into the database.

24. The system of claim 17, wherein the IDE tool provides a programming environment used to develop a database-aware application, and wherein the IDE tool includes at least a graphical text editor and a compiler.