SYSTEM, APPARATUS, AND METHODS FOR SERVER AND COMPUTER INTERACTION VIA WEB COOKIES

• US 20140129712A1
• Filed: 11/08/2013
• Published: 05/08/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 11/08/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Trane International Inc. (Trane Technologies plc)
• Original Assignee: Ingersoll-Rand Company (Trane Technologies plc)
• Inventors: Sharp, Daniel R.
• Granted Patent: US 9,531,637 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 709/225
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/95 Retrieval from the web
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/31 User authentication
• CPC Class Codes: G07C 9/00571 operated by interacting with a central unit
• CPC Class Codes: G07C 9/00904 for hotels, motels, office buildings or the like
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 47/70 Admission control; Resource allocation

Abstract

A computer and a server may communicate via a web cookies such as local shared objects. The computer may detect the presence of one local shared object and generate a second local shared object based on the first local shared object. The computer may perform an action based on the second local shared object.

Claims

1. A method, comprising:

detecting, with a first application running on a computing device, a status web cookie on the computing device;

in response to detecting the status web cookie, generating a command web cookie with the web browser running on the computing device;

detecting, with a second application running on the computing device, the command web cookie on the computing device;

determining a command action to perform with the second application running on the computing device based on the command web cookie; and

performing, with the second application running on the computing device, the command action, wherein the command action includes at least one of receiving access control information from a web portal on a server and transmitting access control information to the web portal on the server.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the status web cookie and the command web cookie are local shared objects.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the first application includes a web browser and the second application includes a service application running as a background process.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the status web cookie and the command web cookie are stored in a first file system location.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

generating, with the second application running on the computing device, a second status web cookie, wherein the second status web cookie indicates whether the command action was performed successfully;

detecting, with the first application running on the computing device, the second status web cookie; and

in response to detecting the second status web cookie, displaying with the first application whether the command action was performed successfully.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the status web cookie indicates a connection status of a handheld device and the command action includes receiving access control information from the web portal on the server.

7. The method of claim 6, further comprising:

transmitting the access control information received from the web portal to the handheld device; and

transmitting at least a portion of the access control information from the handheld device to one or more access control devices,

wherein at least one of the access control devices includes an electronic lock.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the status web cookie indicates a presence of access control audit information on the computing device and the command action includes transmitting access control information from the computing device to the web portal on the server.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein the access control information includes at least one of access control audit information and access control facility migration information.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the computing device and the server communicate via the Internet.

11. An access control system, comprising:

a computer configured to detect a presence of a status web cookie with a first application, generate a command web cookie with the first application, detect the command web cookie with a second application, determine a command action to perform with the second application based on the command web cookie, and perform the command action with the second application; and

a server configured to host a web portal, transmit access control information to the computer, and receive access control information from the computer,

wherein the command action includes at least one of receiving access control information from the web portal on the server and transmitting access control information to the web portal on the server.

12. The access control system of claim 11, wherein the web portal includes a database configured to store the access control information, an access control configuration manager configured to communicate with the first application, and a lock configuration manager configured to communicate with the second application.

13. The access control system of claim 11, wherein the computer and the server are configured to communicate via the Internet.

14. The access control system of claim 11, wherein the status web cookie and the command web cookie are local shared objects.

15. The access control system of claim 11, wherein the first application includes a web browser and the second application includes a background service application.

16. The access control system of claim 11, wherein the status web cookie indicates a connection status of a handheld device and the command action includes a command to receive access control information from the web portal.

17. The access control system of claim 11, wherein the status web cookie indicates a presence of access control audit information on the computing device and the command action includes a command to transmit access control information from the computing device to the web portal.

18. An apparatus, comprising:

a server including a web portal and a database associated with the web portal, wherein the server is configured to store instructions to be processed by a computer, transmit the instructions to the computer when requested by the computer, transmit access control information stored in the database to the computer, and receive access control information from the computer and store the access control information in the database, wherein when the instructions are processed by the computer, the instructions are structured to cause the computer to detect status local shared objects and generate command local shared objects.

19. The apparatus of claim 18, wherein the server further includes an access control configuration manager configured to communicate with a first application on the computer, and a lock configuration manager configured to communicate with a second application on the computer.

20. The apparatus of claim 18, wherein the instructions are in JavaScript.