METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR BUILDING COMPOUND EXTENSIBLE AJAX APPLICATIONS

• US 20090013336A1
• Filed: 07/03/2007
• Published: 01/08/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 07/03/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: BACKHOUSE, RICHARD A., Higgins, William P.
• Granted Patent: US 8,037,484 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 719/328
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 8/38 for implementing user interfaces

Abstract

A method of building compound extensible Asynchronous JavaScript And eXtensible Markup Language (AJAX) applications. A server-side web component utility searches an extension registry for Jazz web User Interface (UI) components and generates cached strings of JavaScript code based on the Jazz web UI components. When a browser accesses a Jazz web UI home page, the web component utility uses script tags to download the cached strings of JavaScript code. The web component utility executes the cached strings of JavaScript code and registers multiple available Jazz web UI components with an AJAX package management system. The web component utility serializes a subset of the extension registry that includes multiple extension points declared within the available Jazz web UI components. The Jazz web browser-based functionality downloads the extension registry subset data, parses the data, and makes the data available through one or more JavaScript Application Programming Interfaces (APIs).

Claims

1. In a computer system, a method comprising:

searching an extension registry for a plurality of Jazz web User Interface (UI) components;

generating cached strings of JavaScript code based on said plurality of Jazz web UI components; and

in response to a browser accessing a Jazz web UI home page;

downloading said cached strings of JavaScript code with a plurality of script tags;

executing said cached strings of JavaScript code;

registering a plurality of available Jazz web components with an Asynchronous JavaScript And eXtensible Markup Language (AJAX) package management system wherein said plurality of Jazz web UI components comprises a plurality of Open Services Gateway initiative (OSGi) bundles that include JavaScript files, HyperText Markup Language (HTML) files, and Cascading Style Sheet (CSS) files, and wherein said AJAX package management system comprises an open source Dojo JavaScript Toolkit;

serializing a subset of said extension registry, wherein said subset includes a plurality of server side extension points declared within said plurality of available Jazz web UI components; and

parsing said subset to make said plurality of server side extension points available through one or more JavaScript Application Programming Interfaces (APIs), wherein said plurality of server side extension points are lazily loaded when a web perspective is entered for a first time.

2. A computer system comprising:

a processor unit;

a network interface coupled to said processor unit, wherein said network interface enables said computer system to communicate with a plurality of servers;

a system memory coupled to said processor unit;

an extension registry within said system memory; and

a web component utility within said system memory, wherein said web component utility provides the functions of;

searching said extension registry for a plurality of Jazz web User Interface (UI) components;

generating cached strings of JavaScript code based on said plurality of Jazz web UI components; and

in response to a browser accessing a Jazz web UI home page;

downloading said cached strings of JavaScript code with a plurality of script tags;

executing said cached strings of JavaScript code;

registering a plurality of available Jazz web UI components with an Asynchronous JavaScript And eXtensible Markup Language (AJAX) package management system wherein said plurality of Jazz web UI components comprises a plurality of Open Services Gateway initiative (OSGi) bundles that include JavaScript files, HyperText Markup Language (HTML) files, and Cascading Style Sheet (CSS) files, and wherein said AJAX package management system comprises an open source Dojo JavaScript Toolkit;

serializing a subset of said extension registry, wherein said subset includes a plurality of server side extension points declared within said plurality of available Jazz web UI components; and

parsing said subset to make said plurality of server side extension points available through one or more JavaScript Application Programming Interfaces (APIs), wherein said plurality of server side extension points are lazily loaded when a web perspective is entered for a first time.

3. A computer storage medium encoded with a computer program that, when executed, performs the steps of:

searching an extension registry for a plurality of Jazz web User Interface (UI) components;

generating cached strings of JavaScript code based on said plurality of Jazz web UI components; and

in response to a browser accessing a Jazz web UI home page;

downloading said cached strings of JavaScript code with a plurality of script tags;

executing said cached strings of JavaScript code;

registering a plurality of available Jazz web UI components with an Asynchronous JavaScript And eXtensible Markup Language (AJAX) package management system wherein said plurality of Jazz web UI components comprises a plurality of Open Services Gateway initiative (OSGi) bundles that include JavaScript files, HyperText Markup Language (HTML) files, and Cascading Style Sheet (CSS) files, and wherein said AJAX package management system comprises an open source Dojo JavaScript Toolkit;

serializing a subset of said extension registry, wherein said subset includes a plurality of server side extension points declared within said plurality of available Jazz web UI components; and

parsing said subset to make said plurality of server side extension points available through one or more JavaScript Application Programming Interfaces (APIs), wherein said plurality of server side extension points are lazily loaded when a web perspective is entered for a first time.