Methods and apparatus for efficiently transmitting interactive application data between a client and a server using markup language

• US 6,356,933 B2
• Filed: 09/07/1999
• Issued: 03/12/2002
• Est. Priority Date: 09/07/1999
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Citrix Systems, Inc. (Cloud Software Group), Xceledata Corporation
• Original Assignee: Citrix Systems, Inc. (Cloud Software Group)
• Inventors: Mitchell, David C., Walters, Ben, Mitchell, Dale
• Primary Examiner(s): Harrell, Robert B.
• Assistant Examiner(s): Vaughn, Jr., William C.
• Application Number:
  US09/391,068
• Publication Number:
  US 20010042094A1
• Time in Patent Office: 917 Days
• Field of Search: 709/203, 709/217, 709/219, 709/218, 709/316, 709/311, 709/318, 709/319, 709/328, 709/329, 709/313, 709/315, 345/333, 345/335, 345/336, 345/346, 345/762, 345/763, 345/760, 345/967, 345/804, 345/805, 707/513, 707/516
• US Class Current: 709/203
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/954 Navigation, e.g. using categorised browsing
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2209/545 Gui
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 8/38 for implementing user interfaces
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/452 Remote windowing, e.g. X-Window System, desktop virtualisation protocols for virtual reality H04L67/131
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/547 Remote procedure calls [RPC]; Web services

Abstract

A method for efficiently transferring data between a client and a server includes the steps of: providing an application program; providing an application-independent client process effecting a plurality of client states; providing an application-independent server process effecting a plurality of server states; transferring data from the server process to the client process in response to an application program; and updating at least one client state in response to the transferred data. A related apparatus is also disclosed.

Claims

1. A method for transferring data between a control object element of a user interface and an application component of an application program without direct communication between the user interface and the application program, the method comprising:

associating with the application program a description file that associates the control object that is displayed on the user interface with the application component;

providing an application-independent client process and an application-independent server process in communication with the application-independent client process;

accessing, by one of the application-independent processes from the description file one of (I) a layout description of the control object and (ii) a connection description between the control object and the corresponding application component;

transferring data between the application-independent client process and the application-independent server process, the transferred data representative of a change to one of the application component and the control object; and

updating by one of the application-independent processes one of, the control object and the application component, in response to the transferred data and the description file.

2. The method of claim 1 further comprising translating content of the description file, by the application-independent processes, to generate the control object and to associate changes represented by the transferred data with one of the control object and the application component.

3. The method of claim 1 further comprising establishing a communication channel between the application-independent client process and the application-independent server process.

4. The method of claim 3 wherein the communication channel is asynchronous.

5. The method of claim 1 wherein the description file is in XML format.

6. The method of claim 1 further comprising generating, by the application-independent client process, an instance of the control object.

7. The method of claim 1 wherein the application component comprises a member representative of an attribute of the application component alterable by a user or displayable to the user, further comprising generating, by the application-independent server process, an instance of management code, the management code instance mapping the correspondence between the control object and the application component member.

8. The method of claim 1 further comprising generating a container object for each application component and control object.

9. The method of claim 1 wherein the application component comprises a member representative of an attribute of the application component alterable by a user or displayable to the user, further comprising:

monitoring the application component member and the control object; and

transferring data in response to a change of state of one of the application component member and the control object.

10. The method of claim 1 wherein the application component comprises a member representative of an attribute of the application component alterable by a user or displayable to the user, further comprising:

generating a unique identifier for one of the application component member and the control object; and

referencing the unique identifier in a proxy layer.

11. A system for transferring data between a control object of a user interface and an application component of an application program without direct communication between the user interface and the application program, the system comprising:

a description file associating the control object that is displayed on user interface with the application component, the description file comprising one of (I) a layout description of the control object and (ii) a connection description between the control object and the corresponding application component;

an application-independent wrier process in communication with the application program, the application-independent server process detecting a change of state to the application component; and

an application-independent client process in communication with the application-independent server process, the application-independent client process generating the control object corresponding to the application component based on the description file, and updating the control object in response to receiving data from the application-independent server process, the data transferred in response to the detected change of state of the application component.

12. The system of claim 11 wherein the application-independent client process is further configured to detect a change of state to the control object and transfer data to the application-independent server process in response to the detected change;

and

wherein the application-independent server process is further configured to update the application component in response to the received transferred data.

13. The system of claim 11 further comprising a communication channel, wherein the application-independent client process and the application-independent server process communicate with each other via the communication channel.

14. The system of claim 13 wherein the communication channel is asynchronous.

15. The system of claim 11 wherein the description file is in XML format.

16. The system of claim 11 wherein the application-independent client process further comprises an instance of the control object.

17. The system of claim 12 wherein the application component comprises a member representing an attribute of the application component alterable by a user or displayable to the user;

and wherein the application-independent server process further comprises an instance of management code, the management code instance mapping the correspondence between the control object and the application component member.

18. The system of claim 12 further comprising a container object for the application component and the control object.

19. The system of claim 12 wherein the application component comprises a member representing an attribute of the application component alterable by a user or displayable to the user;

and wherein the system further comprises a container object monitoring one of the application component member and the control object, associated with that container object and initiating a data transfer in response to a change of state of the associated one of the application component member and the control object.

20. The system of claim 12 wherein the application component comprises a member representing an attribute of the application component alterable by a user or displayable to the user;

and wherein the system further comprises a proxy layer referencing a unique identifier for one of the control object and the application component member.