System and method for making function calls over a distributed network

• US 6,052,710 A
• Filed: 06/28/1996
• Issued: 04/18/2000
• Est. Priority Date: 06/28/1996
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
• Inventors: Grate, Thomas A., Saliba, Bassam A.
• Primary Examiner(s): Meky, Moustafa M.
• Application Number:
  US08/670,882
• Time in Patent Office: 1,390 Days
• Field of Search: 380/23, 380/49, 395/600, 395/200.9, 395/614, 395/800, 395/200.01, 709/200, 709/201, 709/203, 709/217, 709/218, 709/219, 705/26, 705/27
• US Class Current: 709/203
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/547 Remote procedure calls [RPC]; Web services
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/029 Firewall traversal, e.g. tunnelling or, creating pinholes
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/02 based on web technology, e.g. hypertext transfer protocol [HTTP]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/329 in the application layer [OSI layer 7]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 9/40 Network security protocols

Abstract

An extensible, bi-directional function calling protocol tunnels function call requests and responses through the HTTP (HyperText Transport Protocol) message stream of a standard Web browser and a standard Web server. In a preferred embodiment, the protocol is used to exchange information between an electronic commerce client application ("commerce client") which runs on the computer of a World Wide Web user, and an electronic commerce server application ("commerce server") which runs on a Web site. The protocol specifies a format for embedding a generic client-to-server function call within HTML (HyperText Markup Language) content such that a user can initiate the function call while viewing an HTML document via the standard Web browser. Specialized functions such as "get price," "get inventory," and "calculate tax" can thereby be placed within standard Web documents, such as electronic catalog documents used by online merchants to sell products. Client-to-server function calls are passed as HTTP POST messages from the Web browser to the Web server; server-to-client function calls are passed as MIME messages returned to the Web browser. Because all information is passed using standard HTTP messages, end users can access the electronic commerce system from behind Internet firewalls that permit the passage of HTTP traffic.

Claims

1. A method of making a function call over a distributed network, comprising:

(a) sending a hypertext document from a Web server to a Web browser over the distributed network, the hypertext document including embedded function calling information that is linked to a user-selectable portion of the hypertext document, the Web browser running on a computer of a user;

(b) displaying the hypertext document to a user via the Web browser;

(c) in response to selection of the user-selectable portion, sending a request message from the Web browser to the Web server, the request message containing the embedded function calling information;

(d) passing the function calling information from the Web server to an application-specific server associated with the function calling information, wherein the application-specific server supports multiple objects that are individually callable using function calls;

(e) placing a function call with the application-specific server and the function calling information, the function call producing a response message; and

(f) sending the response message over the distributed network to the computer of the user.

2. A method according to claim 1, wherein step (c) comprises sending an HTTP POST message from the Web browser to the Web server.

3. A method according to claim 1, wherein the application-specific server provides consumer access to product information of at least one merchant, and wherein step (f) comprises sending product information over the distributed network to the user computer in response to the function call.

4. A method according to claim 3, wherein the hypertext document comprises a graphical image of a product available from a merchant.

5. A method according to claim 1, wherein step (a) comprises sending the hypertext document over the Internet.

6. A method according to claim 1, wherein step (f) comprises sending the response message from the Web server to the Web browser.

7. A method according to claim 6, further comprising passing at least a portion of the response message from the Web browser to an application-specific client running on the computer of the user.

8. A method according to claim 7, further comprising using the response message to place a function call on the computer of the user with the application-specific client.

9. A method according to claim 8, wherein the hypertext document, the function-call request message and the response message are passed over the distributed network using a standard hypertext transport protocol.

10. A method according to claim 9, wherein step (a) comprises passing the hypertext document through a network firewall which separates the Web Browser and the Web server, the network firewall configured to permit the passage of messages of the standard hypertext transport protocol.

11. A method according to claim 1, wherein the hypertext document is formed from coding of a standard hypertext markup language that does not support function calls.

12. A method according to claim 1, wherein step (f) comprises sending a MIME message from the Web site to the computer of the user.

13. A method according to claim 1, wherein the embedded function calling information specifies a function to be called and includes a variable-length set of arguments of the function, and wherein step (e) comprises passing the variable-length set of arguments to the function.

14. A method according to claim 13, wherein the function calling information comprises respective identifiers of at least an object and a method of the object.

15. A client-server type electronic commerce system, comprising:

a user computer and a Web site coupled via the Internet, the user computer running a Web browser which communicates with a Web server running on the Web site, the Web browser and Web server communicating by passing messages over the Internet according to a standard hypertext transport protocol; and

an electronic commerce application program comprising a client-side commerce program running the user computer and a commerce server running on or in association with the Web site, the commerce server supporting a plurality of objects that are individually callable using function calls, each function call specifying a function to be called and a set of arguments to be passed to the function; and

the client-side commerce program and the commerce server communicating via function calling protocol, the function calling protocol tunneling through the standard hypertext transport protocol by embedding the function calls in requests and responses within the standard hypertext transport protocol messages between the Web browser and the Web server.

16. An electronic commerce system according to claim 15, whereby the client-side commerce program and the commerce server can communicate through an Internet firewall which permits the passage of the standard hypertext transport protocol messages.

17. An electronic commerce system according to claim 15, wherein the function call requests are embedded within HTTP POST messages passed from the Web browser to the Web server, and wherein the function call responses are embedded within MIME messages passed from the Web server to the Web browser.

18. An electronic commerce system according to claim 15, wherein function calling protocol specifies a format for embedding function calling information within Web documents using a standard markup language which does not support function calls.

19. An electronic commerce system according to claim 15, wherein the Web browser is configured to use the client-side commerce program as a MIME handler.

20. An electronic commerce system according to claim 15, wherein the function calling protocol is a bi-directional function calling protocol which supports both (i) function calls from the user computer to the Web site, and (ii) function calls from the Web site to the user computer.

21. World Wide Web site, comprising:

a computer system coupled to the Internet, the computer system including a computer-readable storage medium which stores a plurality of Web documents;

a Web server running on the computer system, the Web server providing user access to the plurality of Web documents by transmitting the Web documents over the Internet to computers of users;

an application-specific server running on the computer system external to the Web server;

a plurality of objects on the computer system and dynamically callable via function calls passed in from the Web server to the application-specific server without the Web server being required to interpret the function calls, each function call specifying an object to be called, a method supported by the object, and a set of arguments to be passed to the method; and

wherein at least one Web document of the plurality includes a function call embedded therein with tags of a standard markup language which does not support function calls, the function call being linked to informational content of the Web document such that user selection of the informational content causes a function call request message to be transmitted over the Internet to the Web server, which then passes the function call to the application-specific server to dynamically call a corresponding object.

22. A World Wide Web site according to claim 21, wherein the standard markup language is HTML.

23. A World Wide Web site according to claim 21, wherein the function call request message is an HTTP POST message which contains at least a portion of the embedded function calling information.

24. A World Wide Web document stored on a computer readable medium, comprising:

user-viewable informational content;

a plurality of tags of a standard markup language which does not support function calls, the tags provided in association with the informational content, wherein the tags are interpreted by a Web server; and

function calling information linked to a user-selectable portion of the informational content with the tags of the standard markup language, the function calling information embedded within the document such that user selection of the user-selectable portion via a Web browser program running on a user computer causes a function call request message to be transmitted over a computer network from the user computer to the Web server, the function call request message specifying a function supported by an object running external to the Web server and a set of arguments to be passed from the Web server to the function, and wherein multiple functions are supported by multiple objects running external to the Web server.

25. A World Wide Web document according to claim 24, wherein the standard markup language is HTML.

26. A World Wide Web document according to claim 24, wherein the function calling information is embedded within the document such that user selection of the user-selectable portion causes an HTTP POST message to be transmitted over the Internet from the user computer, the HTTP POST message containing at least a portion of the function calling information.

27. A World Wide Web document according to claim 24, wherein the function calling information comprises at least (i) a target URL, (ii) a variable-length set of function-call arguments, and (iii) an identifier of a function to be called with the function-call arguments by an entity identified by the URL.

28. A World Wide Web document according to claim 24, wherein the function calling information is embedded within the document in a hidden form.

29. A World Wide Web document according to claim 24, wherein the function calling information is linked to a user-selectable button of the document, the user-selectable button identifying an operation to be performed.

30. A Web commerce server comprising:

a server application program that receives a request message from a Web browser across the Internet using a standard hypertext transport protocol, the request message containing embedded function calling information that is linked to a user-selectable portion of a hypertext document, wherein the embedded function calling information specifies a function to be called; and

an object library accessible to the server application program, wherein the object library contains a plurality of objects that are individually callable using function calls.

31. A Web commerce server as recited in claim 30, wherein the function call information is embedded within HTTP POST messages passed from the Web browser to the Web commerce server.

32. A Web commerce server as recited in claim 30, wherein the server application program receives a response from the function call.

33. A Web commerce server as recited in claim 32, wherein the response from the function call is communicated by the server application program to the Web browser across the Internet using a standard hypertext transport protocol.