REMOTE COMMAND INTERPRETER

• US 20090326909A1
• Filed: 04/07/2009
• Published: 12/31/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 06/30/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Fluke Corporation (Fortive Corp.)
• Original Assignee: Fluke Corporation (Fortive Corp.)
• Inventors: Wang, Xingtao, Flack, Marcus Laronne
• Granted Patent: US 9,052,934 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 703/23
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/45508 Runtime interpretation or emulation, e g. emulator loops, bytecode interpretation
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/45512 Command shells

Abstract

A host instrument is disclosed that is capable of supporting non-native command sets. The host instrument uses interpretation rules to translate a non-native command into one or more actions. The host instrument also uses the interpretation rules to determine the appropriate responses to be transmitted, if any. The actions and responses of the host instrument emulate those of an alternate instrument that supports the command set.

Claims

1. A method of interpreting a non-native command on a host instrument, comprising:

receiving a non-native command, wherein the non-native command is part of a command set supported by an alternate instrument;

applying interpretation rules to the non-native command, wherein the interpretation rules are pre-defined scripts supported by the host instrument and downloaded to the host instrument without altering a firmware of the host instrument; and

emulating the alternate instrument'"'"'s one or more actions.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein a remote interface couples a computer to the host instrument, and the host instrument receives the non-native command from the computer through the remote interface.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising emulating the alternate instrument'"'"'s one or more responses.

4. The method of claim 3 wherein a remote interface couples a computer to the host instrument, and the host instrument responds to the non-native command from the computer through the remote interface.

5. The method of claim 1 wherein the interpretation rules comprise logical elements and standard functions.

6. The method of claim 1 wherein emulating the alternate instrument'"'"'s one or more actions includes operating upon a device or environment.

7. A host instrument for interpreting a non-native command, comprising:

means for receiving the non-native command, wherein the non-native command is part of a command set supported by an alternate instrument;

applying interpretation rules to the non-native command, wherein the interpretation rules are pre-defined and downloaded to the host instrument without altering a firmware of the host instrument; and

emulating the alternate instrument'"'"'s one or more actions.

8. The method of claim 7, further comprising emulating the alternate instrument'"'"'s one or more responses.

9. The method of claim 7 wherein the interpretation rules comprise logical elements and standard functions.

10. The method of claim 7 wherein emulating the alternate instrument'"'"'s one or more actions includes operating upon a device or environment.

11. A method of applying interpretation rules to a non-native command on a host instrument, comprising:

receiving the non-native command;

parsing the non-native command into a root command and a set of arguments;

applying the interpretation rules to the root command;

applying the interpretation rules to the set of arguments, if any arguments are present; and

acting upon a device or environment responsive to applying the interpretation rules to the root command and the set of arguments.

12. The method of claim 11 wherein the interpretation rules are applied to the set of arguments sequentially in the order listed in the non-native command.

13. The method of claim 11 wherein the host instrument is coupled to a computer through a remote interface, and further wherein the host instrument receives the non-native command through the remote interface.

14. The method of claim 11, further comprising:

applying the interpretation rules to determine one or more responses; and

transmitting the one or more responses responsive to applying the interpretation rules.

15. The method of claim 14 wherein the host instrument is coupled to a computer through a remote interface, and further wherein the host instrument transmits the one or more responses to the computer through the remote interface.

16. A host instrument capable of interpreting a non-native command, comprising:

a remote interface coupling the host instrument to a computer;

a database for storing interpretation rules for interpreting the non-native command, wherein the non-native command is part of a command set supported by an alternate instrument; and

a processor for applying the interpretation rules to emulate the alternate instrument'"'"'s one or more actions.

17. The host instrument of claim 16 wherein the processor further applies the interpretation rules to emulate the alternate instrument'"'"'s one or more responses.

18. The host instrument of claim 16, further comprising a user interface for allowing a user to directly control the host instrument.

19. A computer-readable medium carrying instructions for a method to permit a user to debug a set of interpretation rules for a host instrument, the method comprising:

providing one or more sets of interpretation rules to be selected by a user for downloading to a host instrument;

transmitting one or more non-native commands to the host instrument; and

providing access to the one or more sets of interpretation rules for editing by the user.

20. The computer-readable medium of claim 19 wherein the one or more non-native commands are part of an application program.

21. The computer-readable medium of claim 19 wherein the one or more non-native commands are individually entered by the user.

22. The computer-readable medium of claim 19 wherein providing one or more sets of interpretation rules to be selected by a user comprises providing a point-and-click user interface.

23. The computer-readable medium of claim 19 wherein each set of interpretation rules corresponds to a different command set, and further wherein each command set corresponds to one or more alternate instruments.

24. The computer-readable medium of claim 19 wherein the computer-readable medium is a memory of a computer system.