ARCHITECTURAL PATTERN FOR PERSISTENT WEB APPLICATION DESIGN

• US 20100257230A1
• Filed: 04/03/2009
• Published: 10/07/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 04/03/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Google LLC (Alphabet Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Google Inc. (Alphabet Inc.)
• Inventors: Nicolaou, Alexander, KROEGER, ROBERT J., Kobyakov, Pavel V., Kennberg, Aleksandr V.
• Granted Patent: US 8,725,793 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 709/203
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/9574 of access to content, e.g. by caching
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/216 Handling conversation history, e.g. grouping of messages in sessions or threads
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/02 based on web technology, e.g. hypertext transfer protocol [HTTP]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/289 Intermediate processing functionally located close to the data consumer application, e.g. in same machine, in same home or in same sub-network
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/59 Providing operational support to end devices by off-loading in the network or by emulation, e.g. when they are unavailable

Abstract

A computer system operating a web application with offline capabilities, including a web browser, a local web application, a write queue maintained in the local memory and a persistent local database. When the web application needs to perform an operation on a data item, the web application issues a database request to determine if the data item is in the local database. If the data item is not in the local database, the web application issues the data request to the server system. If the data item is in the local database, the web application performs the operation on the data item stored in the database and writes the operation to the write queue along with the identifier of the data item. When a network connection exits between the client device and the server system, the web interface drains the write queue to the server system.

Claims

1. A computer system for operating a web application with offline capabilities, comprising:

a client device having a computer processor and a computer memory;

a web browser configured to execute on the client device;

a local web application that is configured to operate within the web browser;

a web interface configured to manage communications between the local web application and a server system associated with the web application;

a write queue maintained in the memory;

a persistent local database maintained in the memory containing a plurality of data items, each being associated with an identifier that enables each respective data item to be uniquely identified on the client device and on the server system;

wherein;

when the web application needs to perform an operation on a data item, the web application issues a database request to determine if the data item is in the local database;

if the data item is not in the local database, the web application issues the data request to the server system via the web interface;

if the data item is in the local database and the operation involves updating the data item, the web application performs the operation on the data item stored in the database and writes information characterizing the operation to the write queue along with the identifier of the data item;

when a network connection exits between the client device and the server system, the web interface drains the write queue to the server system.

2. The computer system of claim 1, wherein the local database is stored in non-volatile memory.

3. The computer system of claim 1, wherein the web application is a web-based email application with offline capabilities.

4. The computer system of claim 3, wherein the data items are thread lists or conversations in the email application.

5. The computer system of claim 1, wherein when the computer system detects that the cache is full, at least some of the data items in the cache are marked for deletion in accordance with a cache replacement policy.

6. The computer system of claim 1, wherein draining the write queue includes sending the operations in the write queue to the server system in the order in which they were stored in the write queue.

7. A computer-implemented method for operating a web application with offline capabilities at a client device having a computer processor and a computer memory, comprising:

executing a web browser on the client device;

executing a local web application that is configured to operate within the web browser,

managing communications between the local web application and a server system associated with the web application with a web interface;

maintaining a write queue in the memory;

maintaining a persistent local database in the memory containing a plurality of data items, each being associated with an identifier that enables each respective data item to be uniquely identified on the client device and on the server system;

wherein;

when the web application needs to perform an operation on a data item, the web application issues a database request to determine if the data item is in the local database;

if the data item is not in the local database, the web application issues the data request to the server system via the web interface;

if the data item is in the local database and the operation involves updating the data item, the web application performs the operation on the data item stored in the database and writes information characterizing the operation to the write queue along with the identifier of the data item;

when a network connection exits between the client device and the server system, the web interface drains the write queue to the server system.

8. The computer-implemented method of claim 7, wherein the local database is stored in non-volatile memory.

9. The computer-implemented method of claim 7, wherein the web application is a web-based email application with offline capabilities.

10. The computer-implemented method of claim 9, wherein the data items are thread lists or conversations in the email application.

11. The computer-implemented method of claim 7, wherein when the computer system detects that the cache is full, at least some of the data items in the cache are marked for deletion in accordance with a cache replacement policy.

12. The computer-implemented method of claim 7, wherein draining the write queue includes sending the operations in the write queue to the server system in the order in which they were stored in the write queue.

13. A computer readable storage medium storing one or more programs for execution by one or more processors of a client device, the one or more programs comprising instructions to:

execute a web browser on the client device;

execute a local web application within the web browser;

manage communications between the local web application and a server system associated with the web application using a web interface;

maintain a write queue in the memory;

maintain a persistent local database in the memory containing a plurality of data items, each being associated with an identifier that enables each respective data item to be uniquely identified on the client device and on the server system;

wherein;

when the web application needs to perform an operation on a data item, the web application issues a database request to determine if the data item is in the local database;

if the data item is not in the local database, the web application issues the data request to the server system via the web interface;

if the data item is in the local database and the operation involves updating the data item, the web application performs the operation on the data item stored in the database and writes information characterizing the operation to the write queue along with the identifier of the data item;

when a network connection exits between the client device and the server system, the web interface drains the write queue to the server system.

14. The computer readable storage medium of claim 13, wherein the local database is stored in non-volatile memory.

15. The computer readable storage medium of claim 13, wherein the web application is a web-based email application with offline capabilities.

16. The computer readable storage medium of claim 15, wherein the data items are thread lists or conversations in the email application.

17. The computer readable storage medium of claim 13, wherein when the computer system detects that the cache is full, at least some of the data items in the cache are marked for deletion in accordance with a cache replacement policy.

18. The computer readable storage medium of claim 13, wherein draining the write queue includes sending the operations in the write queue to the server system in the order in which they were stored in the write queue.