METHOD, FRAMEWORK, AND PROGRAM PRODUCT FOR FORMATTING AND SERVING WEB CONTENT

• US 20090044169A1
• Filed: 08/08/2007
• Published: 02/12/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 08/08/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Liu, Zhiqiang, McDonald, Brian J., Miller, Laurie, Ughetta, Karen A., Lai, Jennifer, Ravin, Yael
• Granted Patent: US 8,316,348 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 717/100
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 40/143 Markup, e.g. Standard Generalized Markup Language [SGML] or Document Type Definition [DTD]
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/451 Execution arrangements for user interfaces
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/45529 Embedded in an application, e.g. JavaScript in a Web browser
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/01 Protocols

Abstract

The present invention provides an approach and corresponding framework that separates data from its formatting/view by generating the dynamic JavaScript (data) as a set (e.g., at least one) of JavaScript (data) objects, without any HTML formatting. Then, a set of JavaScript functions can be created that takes the set of JavaScript objects as a parameter, and outputs all or a subset of this data object in a format determined by this JavaScript function. In general, these formatting functions can be static, rather than dynamic, JavaScript. This approach has the advantage of providing a much greater degree of formatting flexibility, without the need for each new format to establish a connection with the back-end system providing the data.

Claims

1. A method for formatting and serving web content, comprising:

providing a set of JavaScript objects that represents dynamic JavaScript data;

providing a set of JavaScript functions to format the set of JavaScript objects, the set of JavaScript objects being distinct from the set of JavaScript functions; and

formatting the set of JavaScript objects using the set of JavaScript functions.

2. The method of claim 1, the formatting comprising:

the set of JavaScript functions using the set of JavaScript objects as a parameter; and

the set of JavaScript functions outputting at least a subset of the set of JavaScript objects in a format determined by the set of JavaScript functions.

3. The method of claim 1, the set of JavaScript objects and the set of JavaScript functions being provided in a single Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) request.

4. The method of claim 1, the set of JavaScript objects and the set of JavaScript functions being contained in a common JavaScript library.

5. The method of claim 1, the common JavaScript library being accessible by a data conglomeration engine, the data conglomeration engine serving the set of JavaScript objects.

6. The method of claim 5, the common JavaScript library being for matched content streams and Hypertext Markup Language (HTML) skins.

7. The method of claim 1, the set of JavaScript objects being provided on a first server and the set of JavaScript functions being provided on a second server.

8. A framework for formatting and serving web content, comprising:

a data conglomeration engine for receiving and processing data conglomeration requests, and for serving requested data conglomeration services;

a services registration database for storing data conglomeration service metadata;

a data conglomeration services module for maintaining a set of data conglomeration services, the data conglomeration services module interfacing with the data conglomeration engine via a data conglomeration services interface;

a data conglomeration configuration repository for storing data conglomeration engine configurations and data conglomeration service configurations; and

a source manager for interfacing with static and dynamic data sources that are accessed in response to the data conglomeration requests.

9. The framework of claim 8, further comprising a JavaScript library that is accessed by the data conglomeration engine.

10. The framework of claim 9, the JavaScript library containing a set of JavaScript objects that represents JavaScript data, and a set of JavaScript functions that is used to format the set of JavaScript objects.

11. The framework of claim 8, the data conglomeration engine, the services registration database, the data conglomeration services module, the data conglomeration services interface, the data conglomeration configuration repository, and the source manager being maintained on a common application server.

12. The framework of claim 8, further comprising a configuration user interface for interfacing with the services registration database and the data conglomeration configuration repository.

13. The framework of claim 12, the configuration user interface being adapted to register new services, and to configure service parameters and lists of data elements.

14. The framework of claim 8, the data conglomeration engine being adapted to break down the data conglomeration requests, to translate requested method and parameters into a matching data conglomeration service call.

15. The framework of claim 14, if a caller providing a data conglomeration service call is a web page, a resulting data format is encoded as a JavaScript string, and sent back to a corresponding client.

16. The framework of claim 14, if a caller providing a data conglomeration service is an application, the data conglomeration engine can encode a resulting data format into Web Service Extensible Markup Language (XML).

17. The framework of claim 8, the static and dynamic data sources being selected from a group consisting of:

an online status data source, a pre-existing content data source, a real time data source, and a Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP) data source.

18. A program product stored on a computer readable medium for formatting and serving web content, the computer readable medium comprising program code for causing a computer system to:

receive and process a data conglomeration request into a data conglomeration service call;

obtain data in response to the data conglomeration service call;

utilize a set of JavaScript objects to represent the data as JavaScript data;

format the set of JavaScript objects using a set of JavaScript functions; and

serve formatted JavaScript objects as web content to a caller issuing the data conglomeration request.

19. The program product of claim 18, the computer readable medium further comprising program code for causing the computer system to:

interface with a set of data sources to obtain the data; and

perform at least one data conglomeration service based on the data conglomeration service call.

20. The program product of claim 18, the computer readable medium further comprising program code for causing the computer system to register a set of data conglomeration services.

21. The program product of claim 18, the computer readable medium further comprising program code for causing the computer system to maintain data conglomeration engine configurations and data conglomeration service configurations.

22. The program product of claim 18, the set of JavaScript objects and the set of JavaScript functions being maintained in a common JavaScript library.

23. A method for deploying a system for formatting and serving web content, comprising:

providing a computer infrastructure being operable to;

receive and process a data conglomeration request into a data conglomeration service call;

obtain data in response to the data conglomeration service call;

utilize a set of JavaScript objects to represent the data as JavaScript data;

format the set of JavaScript objects using a set of JavaScript functions; and

serve formatted JavaScript objects as web content to a caller issuing the data conglomeration request.

24. The method of claim 23, the computer infrastructure being further operable to:

interface with a set of data sources to obtain the data; and

perform at least one data conglomeration service based on the data conglomeration service call.

25. The method of claim 23, the computer infrastructure being further operable to register a set of data conglomeration services.

26. The method of claim 23, the computer infrastructure being further operable to maintain data conglomeration engine configurations and data conglomeration service configurations.

27. The method of claim 23, the set of JavaScript objects and the set of JavaScript functions being maintained in a common JavaScript library.

28. A method for formatting and serving web content, comprising:

receiving and processing a data conglomeration request into a data conglomeration service call;

obtaining data in response to the data conglomeration service call;

utilizing a set of JavaScript objects to represent the data as JavaScript data;

formatting the set of JavaScript objects using a set of JavaScript functions; and

serving formatted JavaScript objects as web content to a caller issuing the data conglomeration request.

29. The method of claim 28, further comprising:

interfacing with a set of data sources to obtain the data; and

performing at least one data conglomeration service based on the data conglomeration service call.

30. The method of claim 28, further comprising registering a set of data conglomeration services.

31. The method of claim 28, further comprising maintaining data conglomeration engine configurations and data conglomeration service configurations in a data conglomeration configuration repository.

32. The method of claim 28, the set of JavaScript objects and the set of JavaScript functions being maintained in a common JavaScript library.

33. An expert and knowledge tracking method, comprising:

determining an available an expert;

notifying a user of the availability of the expert;

providing the expert with periodical reports;

reviewing an exchange between the user and an expert; and

determining whether to publish the exchange.