Generic Declaration of Bindings Between Events and Event Handlers Regardless of Runtime Structure

• US 20100332968A1
• Filed: 06/26/2009
• Published: 12/30/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 06/26/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Squillace, Michael A.
• Granted Patent: US 9,529,648 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 715/234
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/542 Event management; Broadcasting; Multicasting; Notifications

Abstract

Mechanisms for binding an event handler with an event in association with a component of a hierarchical structure are provided. The mechanisms receive a structure document specifying an event, an event handler, and a binding of the event handler with the event. The mechanisms further associate the event and event handler with one or more nodes of a hierarchical model of the hierarchical structure stored in a storage device of the data processing system. Moreover, the mechanisms bind the event handler with the event for the one or more nodes in accordance with the hierarchical model. In addition, the mechanisms generate one or more objects for implementing the hierarchical structure in a framework corresponding to the hierarchical model. The structure document specifies the event binding of the event handler with the event type in a declarative manner.

Claims

1. A method, in a data processing system, for binding an event handler with an event in association with a component of a hierarchical structure, comprising:

receiving, in a processor of the data processing system, a structure document specifying an event type, an event handler, and a binding of the event handler with the event type;

associating, by the processor, the event type and event handler with one or more nodes of a hierarchical model of the hierarchical structure stored in a storage device of the data processing system;

binding, by the processor, the event handler with the event type for the one or more nodes in accordance with the hierarchical model; and

generating, by the processor, one or more objects for implementing the hierarchical structure in a framework corresponding to the hierarchical model, wherein the structure document specifies the event binding of the event handler with the event type in a declarative manner.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the hierarchical structure is a graphical user interface.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the hierarchical model is one of a plurality of hierarchical models with which the structure document may be utilized to generate one or more options for implementing the hierarchical structure in a plurality of frameworks, and wherein each hierarchical model is associated with a different framework.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the event handler is defined using a first programming language and wherein the framework utilizes a second programming language different from the first programming language.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein associating the event type and event handler with one or more nodes of the hierarchical model comprises using a nodal naming mechanism that correlates node identifiers with implementations of corresponding event types, event handlers, and their bindings in a desired programming language for the framework.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein a directed acyclic graph (DAG) representation of the hierarchical structure identifies a nodal naming convention for a framework under which a model of the hierarchical structure was created.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the structure document is annotated with at least one of node name identifiers or node identifiers associated with an event type, and wherein associating the event type and event handler with one or more nodes of the hierarchical model comprises using the annotations to assign the event handler as the event handler for handling events of the event type for a particular node, having the corresponding node name or node identifier, in the hierarchical model.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein, to assign the event handler to a specific individual node of the hierarchical model, the structure document is annotated with both a node name identifier and a node identifier associated with the event type, and wherein if no node identifier is specified in the annotation, the event handler bound to the event type is registered as the event handler for all nodes in the hierarchical model having the corresponding node name identifier.

9. The method of claim 3, wherein generating one or more objects for implementing the hierarchical structure in a framework corresponding to the hierarchical model comprises:

providing definitions of event types and event handlers for the plurality of frameworks;

associating a definition of the event type and event handler with the one or more nodes of the hierarchical model based on the framework corresponding to the hierarchical model and the definitions of event types and event handlers for that framework; and

generating the one or more objects for implementing the hierarchical structure in the framework corresponding to the hierarchical model based on the association of the definition of the even type and event handler.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the structure document is created using one of a first markup language or a first object oriented programming language and wherein the framework corresponding to the hierarchical model utilizes a second markup language or second object oriented programming language different from the first markup language or first object oriented programming language.

11. A computer program product comprising a computer recordable medium having a computer readable program recorded thereon, wherein the computer readable program, when executed on a computing device, causes the computing device to:

receive a structure document specifying an event type, an event handler, and a binding of the event handler with the event type;

associate the event type and event handler with one or more nodes of a hierarchical model of a hierarchical structure;

bind the event handler with the event type for the one or more nodes in accordance with the hierarchical model; and

generate one or more objects for implementing the hierarchical structure in a framework corresponding to the hierarchical model, wherein the structure document specifies the event binding of the event handler with the event type in a declarative manner.

12. The computer program product of claim 11, wherein the hierarchical structure is a graphical user interface.

13. The computer program product of claim 11, wherein the hierarchical model is one of a plurality of hierarchical models with which the structure document may be utilized to generate one or more options for implementing the hierarchical structure in a plurality of frameworks, and wherein each hierarchical model is associated with a different framework.

14. The computer program product of claim 11, wherein the event handler is defined using a first programming language and wherein the framework utilizes a second programming language different from the first programming language.

15. The computer program product of claim 11, wherein the computer readable program causes the computing device to associate the event type and event handler with one or more nodes of the hierarchical model by using a nodal naming mechanism that correlates node identifiers with implementations of corresponding event types, event handlers, and their bindings in a desired programming language for the framework.

16. The computer program product of claim 15, wherein a directed acyclic graph (DAG) representation of the hierarchical structure identifies a nodal naming convention for a framework under which a model of the hierarchical structure was created.

17. The computer program product of claim 11, wherein the structure document is annotated with at least one of node name identifiers or node identifiers associated with an event type, and wherein associating the event type and event handler with one or more nodes of the hierarchical model comprises using the annotations to assign the event handler as the event handler for handling events of the event type for a particular node, having the corresponding node name or node identifier, in the hierarchical model.

18. The computer program product of claim 11, wherein, to assign the event handler to a specific individual node of the hierarchical model, the structure document is annotated with both a node name identifier and a node identifier associated with the event type, and wherein if no node identifier is specified in the annotation, the event handler bound to the event type is registered as the event handler for all nodes in the hierarchical model having the corresponding node name identifier.

19. The computer program product of claim 13, wherein the computer readable program causes the computing device to generate one or more objects for implementing the hierarchical structure in a framework corresponding to the hierarchical model by:

providing definitions of event types and event handlers for the plurality of frameworks;

associating a definition of the event type and event handler with the one or more nodes of the hierarchical model based on the framework corresponding to the hierarchical model and the definitions of event types and event handlers for that framework; and

generating the one or more objects for implementing the hierarchical structure in the framework corresponding to the hierarchical model based on the association of the definition of the even type and event handler.

20. An apparatus, comprising:

a processor; and

a memory coupled to the processor, wherein the memory comprises instructions which, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to;

receive a structure document specifying an event type, an event handler, and a binding of the event handler with the event type;

associate the event type and event handler with one or more nodes of a hierarchical model of a hierarchical structure;

bind the event handler with the event type for the one or more nodes in accordance with the hierarchical model; and

generate one or more objects for implementing the hierarchical structure in a framework corresponding to the hierarchical model, wherein the structure document specifies the event binding of the event handler with the event type in a declarative manner.