Interactive server side components

• US 20090019111A1
• Filed: 07/15/2008
• Published: 01/15/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 11/25/1998
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Helmut Emmelmann
• Original Assignee: Helmut Emmelmann
• Inventors: Emmelmann, Helmut
• Granted Patent: US 8,112,502 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 709/203
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/972 Access to data in other repository systems, e.g. legacy data or dynamic Web page generation
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 40/186 Templates
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 8/315 Object-oriented languages
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/451 Execution arrangements for user interfaces
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/00 Network arrangements or protocols for supporting network services or applications user-to-user messaging H04L51/00; network arrangements, protocols or services for supporting real-time applications in data packet communications networks H04L65/00
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/01 Protocols
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/565 Conversion or adaptation of application format or content adding application control or application functional data H04L67/561

Abstract

Server side internet applications are created by placing interactive server side components (ISSC'"'"'s) on internet pages. ISSC'"'"'s encapsulate dynamic page functions including processing of user responses on the server and thus can be reused, which drastically reduces programming effort. The ISSC technique remembers information (in form of an ISSC object) about each ISSC during dynamic page generation on the server. Then, it generates HTML code in a way such that the ISSC event is sent to the server using a conventional HTTP GET or POST request. On the server, the event is then passed to the corresponding ISSC object. All components work without disturbing each other, even when nested or combined. A browser based editor can also be used to place ISSC'"'"'s on pages and to modify their properties. During dynamic page generation, scripts and handles are embedded into the page that permit editing of the page itself.

Claims

1. A method for implementing client/server applications, wherein requests are sent from a client computer to a server computer, comprising:

the server computer, in response to an initial request;

generating a document having output generated by a plurality of components,

storing component kinds for at least two of said components, and

sending the generated document to the client computer, and

the server computer, in response to a subsequent request from the client computer;

based on at least one stored component kind, selecting first instructions to process at least a part of the subsequent request.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

the client computer and the server computer communicating via the http protocol, and

displaying the generated documents using a web browser.

3. A computer readable medium encoded with computer-readable instructions to perform the method recited in claim 1.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

assigning unique identifiers to selected components, and

embedding at least two unique identifiers into the generated document.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

repeating the selecting step for additional component kinds.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of storing the component kind includes storing at least some data, and wherein at least part of said data is used by the first instructions.

7. A method for implementing client/server applications, wherein requests including data are sent from a client computer to a server computer, comprising:

in response to an initial request;

storing a plurality of objects on the server computer,

assigning a unique identifier to each stored object,

generating a document having a plurality of the unique identifiers embedded in the document, and

sending the generated document to the client computer, and

in response to a subsequent request;

analyzing a portion of the data contained in the subsequent request,

for at least one unique identifier found in the subsequent request, identifying the object associated with said unique identifier, said object having at least a first method, and

calling at least the first method of the object.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein the step of assigning a unique identifier provides identifiers that are unique within each session.

9. The method of claim 7, further comprising:

the client computer and the server computer communicating via the http protocol, and

wherein the step of generating a document further comprises embedding one or more unique identifiers inside tags contained in the generated document.

10. The method of claim 7, wherein at least one subsequent request contains a plurality of unique identifiers, and wherein the first method of at least two different objects associated with said plurality of unique identifiers is called.

11. The method of claim 7, wherein the step of generating a document embeds one or more unique identifiers inside name attributes of tags.

12. The method of claim 7, wherein the first method contains steps to process a portion of the data contained in the subsequent request.

13. The method of claim 7, wherein the first method contains steps to validate a portion of the data contained in the subsequent request.

14. A computer readable medium encoded with computer-readable instructions to perform the method recited in claim 7.

15. A system for displaying dynamically generated documents, wherein a first software program includes instructions for generating requests for generated documents, and for displaying the generated documents on a display device, comprising:

an object store,

a page generator program,

the page generator program having first instructions for, upon receiving an initial request from the first software program, storing a plurality of objects in the object store, assigning a unique identifier to each stored object, and generating a document having a plurality of the unique identifiers embedded in the document,

the page generator program having second instructions for, upon receiving a subsequent request from the first software program, identifying a first object using the unique identifier found in the subsequent request, and third instructions for calling a first method of the first object.

16. The system of claim 15, wherein the page generator comprises fourth instructions for repeating the second and third instructions for selected unique identifiers in the subsequent request.

17. The system of claim 15, wherein the first instructions embeds one or more unique identifiers inside name attributes of tags in the generated document.

18. The system of claim 15, wherein the first method contains instructions to process a portion of the data contained in the subsequent request.

19. The system of claim 15, wherein the first method contains instructions to validate a portion of the data contained in the subsequent request.

20. A method for generating a document, from a document template containing components running on a computer network that couples a client computer and a server computer, comprising:

identifying a component class for each component of a first set of components denoted on the document template, and

based on a request sent from the client computer to the server computer, using a plurality of components from the first set of components to generate a portion of the document, and for at least one of said plurality of components, storing a first object of the component class on the server.

21. The method of claim 20, further comprising calling a method of said component class to generate browser code.

22. The method of claim 20, whereby components are denoted on document templates using tag syntax and whereby a tag name is used to determine the component class.

23. The method of claim 20, further comprising, upon a subsequent request containing data, analyzing a portion of the data, identifying the first object, and calling a method of the first object to process at least a portion of the data.

24. The method of claim 20, further comprising:

generating a unique identifier;

assigning the unique identifier to the first object, and

embedding the unique identifier into the generated browser code.

25. A system for displaying generated documents, wherein a first software program includes instructions for generating a request for a generated document, and for displaying the generated document on a display device, comprising:

a document template,

an object store,

a plurality of component classes,

a page generator program having first instructions for identifying a component class for a component denoted on the document template, and second instructions for, upon receiving a document request from the first software program, storing an object of the component class in the object store and calling a method of the object generating browser code for the component.

26. The system of claim 25, further comprising third instructions for, upon a subsequent request containing data, analyzing a portion of the data, identifying the object, and calling a second method of the object to process at least a portion of the data.

27. The system of claim 25, further comprising fourth instructions for generating a unique identifier, fifth instructions for assigning the unique identifier to the object, and sixth instructions for embedding the unique identifier into the generated document.

28. The system of claim 25, further comprising an editor program operable within the first software program and having instructions for inserting, deleting, and modifying the components on the document templates.

29. The system of claim 28, wherein the appearance of the components is similar during editing and run-time, except for editing features.

30. A system for processing requests from a first software program having instructions for generating requests for at least one generated document and for displaying the generated documents on a display device comprising:

a plurality of components implemented using objects of a programming language with object oriented features, including at least one component having an object with a first method to process at least a portion of data contained in a request, and

a page generator program having;

first instructions for, upon receiving the request, selecting a component based on portions of the data, and calling the first method of the object of the selected component, and

second instructions for generating a generated document after executing the first instructions.

31. The system of claim 30, the page generator program further comprising:

instructions to repeat the first instructions for multiple portions of the data in the request, then executing the second instructions.

32. The system of claim 30, the page generator program further comprising:

third instructions to create objects for the components during a first request, and

fourth instructions to identify said objects on a subsequent request.

33. The system of claim 30, wherein the first object has a second method to generate browser code.

34. The system of claim 30, including at least one first component which includes instructions to generate browser code and has an object with the first method to process at least a portion of data contained in a request.

35. The system of claim 34, wherein multiple functional instances of the first component appear on the generated document.

36. The system of claim 34, the page generator program further comprising:

instructions for incorporating more than one instance of the first component into the generated document.

37. The system of claim 36, the page generator program further comprising;

instructions for including unique identifiers into names for multiple instances of the first component.

38. The system of claim 36, the page generator program further comprising:

instructions for storing a data object for each instance of the first component.

39. The system of claim 34, the page generator program further comprising:

program instructions for excluding the first component from the generated document.

40. The system of claim 39, the page generator program further comprising:

instructions for calling first methods of only those first components that were contained on a previously generated document.

41. The system of claim 34, further comprising:

instructions for, upon receiving a request, checking whether a component instance was contained on a previously generated document.

42. A method for processing requests, wherein a first software program includes instructions for generating a request for a generated document and for displaying the generated document on a display device, comprising the steps of:

receiving a request containing data from the first software program,

based on a portion of the data, selecting a component from a plurality of components, whereby each of the plurality of components has a first object having a first method for processing a portion of the data,

calling the first method of the first object of the selected component, and

generating a generated document after the calling step.

43. The method of claim 42, further comprising:

repeating the selecting and calling steps, then executing the generating step.

44. The method of claim 42, further comprising

creating objects for at least two components on a first request, and

identifying said objects on a subsequent request.

45. The method of claim 42, further comprising:

calling a second method of objects of the plurality of components denoted on document templates, wherein the second method generates browser code.

46. The method of claim 45, further comprising:

repeating the step of calling the second methods of components denoted inside a loop on a document template.

47. The method of claim 45, further comprising:

selectively calling the second methods of components denoted inside a conditional on a document template.

48. The method of claim 45, wherein a method of a second component includes steps to control how often to insert one of the plurality of components which is denoted inside the second component on the document template into the generated document.

49. The method of claim 45, wherein a method of a third component includes steps to control whether to insert one of the plurality of components which is denoted inside the third component on the document template into the generated document.

50. The method of claim 42, further comprising:

calling a third method of objects of a fourth component to generate browser code whereby the fourth component is one of the plurality of components.

51. The method of claim 50, further comprising:

dynamically deciding how many instances of the fourth component are generated into the generated document.

52. The method of claim 51, further comprising:

including unique identifiers into names of html elements.

53. The method of claim 51, further comprising:

storing data objects for each instance of the fourth component.

54. The method of claim 50 further comprising:

upon receiving a request and based on the data, checking whether an instance of one fifth component of the plurality of components was contained on a previously generated document, and if so, calling the first method of the fifth component.

55. A system for processing requests from a first software program having instructions for generating requests for at least one generated document and for displaying the generated document on a display device, comprising:

a plurality of components implemented using objects of a programming language with object oriented features, including at least a first component having a first object with a first method to process at least a portion of data contained in a request,

a plurality of document templates residing in a data store, at least one of the document templates having the first component denoted thereon, and

a page generator program comprising;

first instructions for, upon receiving a request, calling the first method of an object of a component, and

second instructions for generating a generated document after executing the first instructions.

56. The system of claim 55, wherein the first component has a second method to generate browser code.

57. The system of claim 56, further comprising:

third instructions for repeating the second method to include multiple instances of the first component into the generated document, then executing the second instructions.

58. The system of claim 57, further comprising:

fourth instructions for, upon receiving an initial request, creating a first object for each instance of the first component, and

fifth instructions for, upon receiving a subsequent request, calling the first method of the first object of the correct instance of the first component.

59. The system of claim 55, wherein the first component is denoted inside a loop on the document template.

60. The system of claim 55, wherein the first component is denoted inside a conditional portion of the document template.

61. The system of claim 55, the page generator program further comprising:

instructions to suppress calling of the first method for components not contained on a document generated on a previous request.

62. The system of claim 55, wherein a tag syntax is used to denote the first component, and whereby a tag name identifies a component class.

63. The system of claim 55, wherein the first component is denoted inside a second component on a document template

64. The system of claim 63, wherein an implementation scheme for the second components includes logic to decide how often to insert the first component into the generated document.

65. The system of claim 63, wherein an implementation scheme for the second components includes logic to decide whether to insert the first component into the generated document.

66. The system of claim 55, further comprising:

an editor program operable within the first software program and having instructions for inserting, deleting, and modifying the components including the first component on the document templates.

67. The system of claim 55, further comprising:

an editor program having instructions for inserting, deleting, and modifying the components including the first component on the document templates wherein the appearance of the components is similar during editing and run-time, except for editing features.

68. A system for processing requests from a first software program having instructions for generating a request for a generated document and for displaying the generated document on a display device, comprising:

a plurality of components implemented using objects of a programming language with object oriented features, including components having objects with a first method to check portions of data in a request, and

a page generator program comprising;

first instructions for, upon receiving the request, calling the first method of an object of a component selected using portions of data in the request, and

second instructions for, based on an output of the first method, deciding about further processing of data in the request, and

third instructions for generating the generated document after executing the first and second instructions.

69. A system for processing requests as in claim 68, further comprising:

instructions to perform the first instructions repeatedly for various portions of the data, then executing the third instructions.

70. A system for processing requests as in claim 69, further comprising:

instructions for suppressing further processing in case any of the first methods called delivers an error.