Component architecture in a computer system

• US 6,609,158 B1
• Filed: 10/26/1999
• Issued: 08/19/2003
• Est. Priority Date: 10/26/1999
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: RPX Corporation
• Original Assignee: Novell Incorporated (Open Text Corporation)
• Inventors: Andrew, Chris, Nevarez, Carlos A.
• Primary Examiner(s): Courtenay, III, St. John
• Assistant Examiner(s): HOANG, PHUONG N
• Application Number:
  US09/427,359
• Time in Patent Office: 1,393 Days
• Field of Search: 709/316, 717/136, 345/746
• US Class Current: 719/316
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 8/31 Programming languages or programming paradigms
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/449 Object-oriented method invocation or resolution

Abstract

Methods, configured media, and systems are provided for connecting disparate software components in a network or other computer system. A language adapter maps programming language constructs to a general object-oriented interface. An object model adapter maps the general object-oriented interface to specific object models such as the Java/RMI model or a CORBA model. The system dynamically wraps non-object components, such as scripts, in a object wrapper as needed to make them accessible through the language adapter and the object model adapter. In this manner, a language-vendor-independent bridge is provided between components written in different programming languages, and the components also gain access to objects written in object models favored by various vendors.

Claims

1. A distributed computing system component architecture for use on a computer network, the architecture comprising:

a language adapter containing at least one language template, each language template specifying at least one mapping between a programming language construct and at least one of an object and an object method;

an object model adapter containing at least one object management library, each object management library containing at least an object creation function, an object deletion function, and an object method invocation function; and

a core which registers language templates and object management libraries, automatically translates between programming language constructs and object management library function calls, and provides automatic bridging to at least one reusable component by dynamically wrapping the reusable component in an object if it is not already an object so as to package the formerly incompatible component as a reusable object universally available within the distributed computing system, whereby the architecture allows a user to access the reusable component by invoking one or more methods of the object.

2. The architecture of claim 1, wherein the object model adapter contains an object management library for managing COM/ActiveX objects on the computer network.

3. The architecture of claim 1, wherein the object model adapter contains an object management library for managing Java/RMI objects on the computer network.

4. The architecture of claim 1, wherein the object model adapter contains an object management library for managing CORBA objects on the computer network.

5. The architecture of claim 1, wherein the object model adapter contains an object management library for managing NetWare Loadable Module objects on the computer network.

6. The architecture of claim 1, wherein the object model adapter contains a remote object management library for managing remote objects on the computer network.

7. The architecture of claim 1, further comprising the computer network, which includes at least two computers connected by at least one communications link.

8. The architecture of claim 1, wherein the language adapter contains a Java language template specifying at least one mapping between a Java programming language construct and at least one of an object and an object method.

9. The architecture of claim 1, wherein the language adapter contains a Perl language template specifying at least one mapping between a Perl programming language construct and at least one of an object and an object method.

10. The architecture of claim 1, wherein the language adapter contains a Novell Script for Netware language template specifying at least one mapping between a Novell Script for Netware language construct and at least one of an object and an object method.

11. The architecture of claim 1, wherein the language adapter contains a C/C++ language template specifying at least one mapping between a C/C++ programming language construct and at least one of an object and an object method.

12. The architecture of claim 1, wherein the language adapter contains a Java Script language template specifying at least one mapping between a Java Script programming language construct and at least one of an object and an object method.

13. The architecture of claim 1, wherein the language adapter further comprises an extension which allows a pure scripting language to access the corresponding language template.

14. A method for connecting disparate components, the method comprising the steps of:

registering at least two object management libraries for at least two corresponding disparate object models;

for each object model, obtaining at least one model-specific reusable component which is specific to that object model; and

for each model-specific reusable component, dynamically wrapping the reusable component in an object if it is not already an object and then invoking one or more methods of the object through the corresponding object management library, thereby making the model-specific reusable component of each object model accessible to the model-specific reusable component of the other object model so as to package the formerly incompatible component as a reusable object universally available within a distributed computing system, such as to allow a user to access the reusable component by invoking one or more methods of the object.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein at least one code bridge exists between at least two of the object models, and wherein the method comprises invoking one or more methods of a dynamically wrapped object by specifying a code bridge to be used to make the dynamically wrapped object accessible outside its object model.

16. The method of claim 14, wherein the method further comprises the steps of:

registering at least one language template for at least one corresponding computer language;

obtaining at least one language-specific reusable component which is specific to the language template computer language; and

dynamically wrapping the language-specific reusable component in an object if it is not already an object and then invoking one or more methods of the object through the corresponding language template, thereby making the language-specific reusable component accessible to at least one other reusable component.

17. The method of claim 16, wherein at least two language templates are registered, at least one language-specific reusable component is obtained for each language template, and wherein the language-specific reusable component of each corresponding language template is accessible to the language-specific reusable component of the other language template.

18. A computer storage medium having a configuration that represents data and instructions for connecting disparate components in a NetWare computer network, comprising:

registering at least two component connection aids, each aid comprising at least one of an object management library for a corresponding object model and a language template for a corresponding computer language;

for each component connection aid, obtaining at least one aid-specific reusable component which is specific to that aid;

for each aid-specific reusable component, dynamically wrapping the reusable component as needed, thereby making the aid-specific reusable component of each component connection aid into an object which is accessible to the aid-specific reusable component of the other component connection aid so as to allow for the connection of disparate software components; and

then after the wrapping step

invoking one or more methods of at least one such object.

19. The configured storage medium of claim 18, wherein the registering step registers at least one object management library which provides an object deletion function for deleting objects.

20. The configured storage medium of claim 18, wherein the registering step registers at least one object management library which provides an object creation function for creating objects.

21. The configured storage medium of claim 18, wherein the registering step registers at least one object management library which provides an object invocation function for invoking a method of an object.

22. The configured storage medium of claim 18, wherein the registering step registers at least one object management library which provides network interface function for using an object remotely over a network connection.

23. The configured storage medium of claim 18, wherein the method further comprises the object invoking a NetWare service.

24. The configured storage medium of claim 18, wherein the method further comprises the object invoking an NDS service.