Interface sharing between objects

• US 5,689,664 A
• Filed: 04/14/1995
• Issued: 11/18/1997
• Est. Priority Date: 04/14/1995
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
• Inventors: Narayanan, Raman, Reina, Cory Alan
• Primary Examiner(s): Nguyen, Phu K.
• Assistant Examiner(s): Vo, Cliff N.
• Application Number:
  US08/423,643
• Time in Patent Office: 949 Days
• Field of Search: 395/155, 395/157, 395/161, 395/340, 395/326, 395/332, 395/342, 395/335
• US Class Current: 715/769
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/449 Object-oriented method invocation or resolution

Abstract

A system for sharing an interface between objects is described herein that saves significant mounts of system resources, such as memory, in an object oriented system. The interface shared by the system described herein is an interface containing methods that perform a drag and drop operation. In addition, since one instance of the interface is shared among multiple objects, the system centralizes the processing performed by the methods of the interface. This centralization includes centralizing storage and state information associated with the processing of the methods of the interface, thereby further reducing utilization of system resources. The centralized processing occurs in a system where operations are performed on objects in a distributed manner (i.e., on an object-by-object basis). In other words, in a system where operations are typically performed on an object-by-object basis, the system described herein saves system resources by providing a mechanism for centralizing the processing of operations that are to be performed on multiple objects.

Claims

1. In a computer system having a source screen object having data, a plurality of destination screen objects for receiving the data from the source screen object, and an interface with function members for transferring the data, a method for sharing an instance of the interface between the destination screen objects, comprising the steps of:

under the control of the computer system,

creating the instance of the interface;

for each of the destination screen objects,

registering the instance of the interface with the computer system;

receiving a request to transfer the data from the source screen object to a selected one of the destination screen objects in response to user input;

retrieving the instance of the interface registered for the selected destination screen object; and

transferring the data from the source screen object to the selected destination screen object utilizing the function members of the retrieved instance of the interface, wherein each of the function members determines which of the destination screen objects is the selected destination screen object.

2. In a computer system having a source object having data, a plurality of destination objects for receiving the data from the source object, and an interface with function members for transferring the data, a method for sharing an instance of the interface, comprising steps of:

under the control of the computer system,

creating the instance of the interface;

exposing the instance of the interface by each of the destination objects;

receiving a request by the computer system to transfer the data from the source object to an identified one of the destination objects;

accessing the instance of the interface by the computer system; and

invoking the function members of the instance of the interface by the computer system to transfer the data from the source object to the identified destination object.

3. The method of claim 2 wherein the step of receiving a request includes the step of receiving a request to perform a drag and drop operation and wherein the step of invoking the function members includes the step of performing the drag and drop operation.

4. The method of claim 2 wherein the source object and the destination objects are windows for displaying data.

5. In a computer system having a first window, a second window and an interface with function members for performing a drag and drop operation, a method comprising the computer-implemented steps of:

creating an instance of the interface to be used by the first window and the second window;

receiving a first request to perform a first drag and drop operation by the first window;

performing the first drag and drop operation on the first window utilizing the function members of the instance of the interface;

receiving a second request to perform a second drag and drop operation by the second window; and

performing the second drag and drop operation on the second window utilizing the function members of the instance of the interface.

6. The method of claim 5 wherein the computer system has windows other than the first window and the second window, wherein the step of performing the first drag and drop operation includes determining on which of the windows to perform the drag and drop operation and wherein the step of performing the second drag and drop operation includes determining on which of the windows to perform the drag and drop operation.

7. A data processing system comprising:

a registry having entries that store references to windows and references to instances of an interface, the interface having function members for transferring data;

an application program for displaying a plurality of windows and having a first component for creating an instance of the interface and a second component for creating an entry in the registry for each of the plurality of windows of the application program, each entry containing a reference to one of the plurality of windows and a reference to the instance of the interface; and

a receive component for receiving a request to transfer data from a source to an identified one of the plurality of windows of the application program, for accessing the registry to determine the instance of the interface and for transferring the data from the source to the identified window utilizing the function members of the instance of the interface.

8. The data processing system of claim 7 wherein the function members of the instance of the interface have a component for determining the identified window.

9. A data processing system comprising:

an instance of an interface having function members for performing an operation on an object;

application program having a plurality of objects, further comprising;

a first object of the plurality of objects that exposes the instance of the interface; and

a second object of the plurality of objects that exposes the instance of the interface; and

a consumer component for accessing the instance of the interface, for invoking the function members of the instance of the interface to perform the operation on the first object and for invoking the function members of the instance of the interface to perform the operation on the second object.

10. The data processing system of claim 9 wherein the objects are windows for displaying data.

11. The data processing system of claim 9 wherein the operation is the drag and drop operation.

12. The data processing system of claim 9 wherein the plurality of objects are organized into a plurality of classes and wherein the first object and the second object belong to one class of the plurality of classes.

13. The data processing system of claim 9 wherein the function members of the instance of the interface have a component for determining whether the operation is to be performed on the first object or the second object.

14. In a computer system having a source window with data, a plurality of destination windows for receiving the data from the source window, an interface with function members for transferring the data, and an operating system for managing the destination windows, a method for sharing an instance of the interface between the destination windows, comprising the steps of:

under the control of the computer system,

creating the instance of the interface;

for each of the destination windows,

registering the instance of the interface with the computer system;

receiving a request to transfer the data from the source window to a selected one of the destination windows in response to user input, the user input indicating a location of the selected destination window but not identifying the selected destination window;

retrieving the instance of the interface registered for the selected destination window; and

transferring the data from the source window to the selected destination window utilizing the function members of the retrieved instance of the interface, wherein each of the function members receives the location of the selected destination window and determines which of the destination windows is the selected destination window by querying the operating system with the location of the selected destination window.

15. A computer-readable medium containing instructions for controlling a computer system to perform a method, the computer system having a source object with data, a plurality of destination objects for receiving the data from the source object, and an interface with function members for transferring the data, the method for sharing an instance of the interface, comprising steps of:

under the control of the computer system,

creating the instance of the interface;

exposing the instance of the interface by each of the destination objects;

receiving a request by the computer system to transfer the data from the source object to an identified one of the destination objects;

accessing the instance of the interface by the computer system; and

invoking the function members of the instance of the interface by the computer system to transfer the data from the source object to the identified destination object.

16. The computer-readable medium of claim 15 wherein the step of receiving a request includes the step of receiving a request to perform a drag and drop operation and wherein the step of invoking the function members includes the step of performing the drag and drop operation.

17. The computer-readable medium of claim 15 wherein the source object and the destination objects are windows for displaying data.

18. A computer-readable medium containing instructions for controlling a computer system to perform a method, the computer system having a first window, a second window, and an interface with function members for performing a drag and drop operation, the method comprising the steps of:

creating an instance of the interface to be used by the first window and the second window;

receiving a first request to perform a first drag and drop operation by the first window;

performing the first drag and drop operation on the first window utilizing the function members of the instance of the interface;

receiving a second request to perform a second drag and drop operation by the second window; and

performing the second drag and drop operation on the second window utilizing the function members of the instance of the interface.

19. The computer-readable medium of claim 18 wherein the computer system has windows other than the first window and the second window, wherein the step of performing the first drag and drop operation includes determining on which of the windows to perform the drag and drop operation and wherein the step of performing the second drag and drop operation includes determining on which of the windows to perform the drag and drop operation.

20. A computer-readable medium containing instructions for controlling a computer system to perform a method for providing access to objects of a program, wherein the objects support an interface, the method performed by the program comprising the steps of:

creating an instance of the interface; and

exposing the instance of the interface by each of the objects, wherein the instance is utilized by a caller to access a selected one of the objects.

21. The computer-readable medium of claim 20 wherein the interface contains function members that perform functionality and that determine which among the objects is the selected object.

22. A computer-readable medium containing instructions for controlling a computer system to perform a method for accessing server objects by a client, each of the server objects supporting an interface, and each of the server objects sharing an instance of the interface, the method performed by the client comprising the steps of:

requesting access to the interface of a first of the server objects;

receiving a first reference to the shared instance;

requesting access to the interface of a second of the server objects;

receiving a second reference to the shared instance;

utilizing the first reference to the shared instance of the interface to access the first server object; and

utilizing the second reference to the shared instance of the interface to access the second server object.

23. A method in a computer system for providing access to objects of a program, wherein the objects support an interface, the method performed by the program comprising the steps of:

instantiating a plurality of the objects, each of the objects supporting the interface;

creating one instance of the interface; and

exposing the created instance of the interface by each of the objects, wherein the instance is utilized by a caller when accessing each of the instantiated objects.

24. The method of claim 23 wherein the interface contains function members that perform functionality and that determine which among the objects is the selected object.

25. A method in a computer system for accessing server objects by a client, each of the server objects supporting an interface, and each of the server objects sharing an instance of the interface, the method performed by the client comprising the steps of:

requesting access to the interface of a first of the server objects;

receiving a first reference to the shared instance of the interface;

requesting access to the interface of a second of the server objects;

receiving a second reference to the shared instance of the interface;

utilizing the first reference to the shared instance of the interface to access the first server object; and

utilizing the second reference to the shared instance of the interface to access the second server object.