CONTINUATION BASED DECLARATIVE DEFINITION AND COMPOSITION

• US 20090222827A1
• Filed: 04/01/2008
• Published: 09/03/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 02/29/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
• Inventors: Box, Donald F., Kizer, Geoffrey M., Wolf, Kenneth David, Pinto, Edmund Samuel Victor
• Granted Patent: US 8,191,042 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 718/102
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/4488 Object-oriented

Abstract

Declarative definition and composition of activities of a continuation based runtime. When formulating such a declarative activity of a continuation-based runtime, the activity may be formulated in accordance with a declarative activity schema and include a properties portion that declaratively defines one or more interface parameters of the declarative activity, and a body portion that declaratively defines an execution behavior of the declarative activity. The declarative activities may be hierarchically structured such that a parent declarative activity may use one or more child activities to define its behavior, where one or more of the child activities may also be defined declaratively.

Claims

1. A method for forming of a declarative activity of a continuation-based runtime, the method comprising:

an act of formulating a declarative activity in accordance with a declarative activity schema, the declarative activity including;

a properties portion that declaratively defines one or more interface parameters of the declarative activity; and

a body portion the declaratively defines an execution behavior of the declarative activity.

2. The method in accordance with claim 1, the method further comprising:

an act of validating that the declarative activity is in conformance with the declarative activity schema.

3. The method in accordance with claim 1, wherein the execution behavior operates upon at least one of the one of more interface parameters of the declarative activity.

4. The method in accordance with claim 1, wherein the body portion includes a plurality of descendent activities, at least one of the descendent activities being also defined declaratively in accordance with the declarative activity schema.

5. The method in accordance with claim 1, wherein declarative activity is a first declarative activity, the properties portion is a first properties portion, the one or more interface parameters are first one or more interface parameters, the body portion is a first body portion, and the execution behavior is a first execution behavior, the method further comprising:

an act of formulating a second declarative activity in accordance with the declarative activity schema, the second declarative activity including;

a second properties portion that declaratively defines second one or more interface parameters of the second declarative activity; and

a second body portion the declaratively defines a second execution behavior of the second declarative activity.

6. A method in accordance with claim 5, wherein the second body portion includes a plurality of descendent activities, at least one of the descendent activities being the first declarative activity.

7. A method in accordance with claim 5, wherein the second body portion includes a plurality of descendent activities, at least some of which being instances of the first declarative activity.

8. A method in accordance with claim 1, further comprising:

an act of executing the declarative activity.

9. A method in accordance with claim 8, wherein the act of executing the m declarative activity further comprises:

an act of interpreting the declarative activity.

10. A method for forming of a declarative activity of a continuation-based runtime, the method comprising:

an act of formulating a first declarative activity in accordance with a declarative activity schema, the first declarative activity specifying a first execution behavior; and

an act of formulating a second declarative activity in accordance with the declarative activity schema, the second declarative activity specifying a second execution behavior, and including at least one instance of the first declarative activity.

11. A method in accordance with claim 10, further comprising:

an act of formulating a third declarative activity in accordance with the declarative activity schema, the third declarative activity specifying a third execution behavior, and including at least one instance of the second declarative activity.

12. A method in accordance with claim 11, further comprising:

an act of formulating a fourth declarative activity in accordance with the declaration activity schema, the third declarative activity including at least one instance of the fourth declarative activity.

13. A method in accordance with claim 10, further comprising:

an act of formulating a third declarative activity in accordance with the declarative activity schema, the second declarative activity including at least one instance of the third declarative activity.

14. A computer program product comprising one or more computer-readable media having thereon a declarative activity schema for use in formulating and interpreting conforming declarative activities of a continuation-based runtime, the declarative activity schema comprising the following:

a properties portion specifying a portion where input and output parameters may be declaratively specified for a conforming declarative activity that conforms with the declarative activity schema; and

a body portion specifying a portion at which an execution behavior may be specified for the conforming declarative activity.

15. A computer program product in accordance with claim 14, wherein the one or more computer-readable media are physical memory and/or storage media.

16. A computer program product in accordance with claim 15, wherein the properties portion of the declarative activities schema is flexible enough to be optional.

17. A computer program product in accordance with claim 15, wherein the properties portion of the declarative activities schema is flexible enough to include zero input and output parameters.

18. A computer program product in accordance with claim 15, wherein the body portion of the declarative activities schema is flexible enough to include a plurality of child activities.

19. A computer program product in accordance with claims 18, wherein the plurality of child activities may include at least one declarative activity that is also in conformance with the declarative activities schema.

20. A computer program product in accordance with claim 18, wherein the plurality of child activities may include at least one activity that is not in conformance with the declarative activities schema.