Data sharing between application environments

• US 6,785,891 B1
• Filed: 10/12/1999
• Issued: 08/31/2004
• Est. Priority Date: 10/12/1999
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Allen, Thomas Jay, Seyer, Christopher Mark
• Primary Examiner(s): BULLOCK JR, LEWIS ALEXANDER
• Application Number:
  US09/416,341
• Time in Patent Office: 1,785 Days
• Field of Search: 719/312, 719/313, 719/310, 719/317, 719/320, 709/201-203
• US Class Current: 719/313
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/958 Organisation or management of web site content, e.g. publishing, maintaining pages or automatic linking
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/544 Buffers; Shared memory; Pipes

Abstract

A method and program for dynamically sharing data between application environments such that the data persists beyond the termination of a data-providing application environment. In one embodiment of the invention, each of a plurality of HTML pages having respective applets are sequentially loaded within a visible frame store and retrieve data from an HTML page within a hidden frame. In this manner, the data produced by an applet persists beyond the termination of an HTML page providing the applet.

Claims

1. A method for sharing data between environments in a browser application, comprising:

linking, by cooperation of a first applet and a second applet, at least one data-representative object associated with a first page to a storage location associated with a second page, the storage location being modified in response to modifications made to the data-representative object, wherein the first applet is executing within the first page and the second applet is executing within the second page and wherein the first page is loaded into a visible frame of the browser application and wherein the second page is loaded into a hidden frame of the browser application;

navigating away from the first page to another page in the visible frame;

navigating back to the first page in the visible frame; and

passing, from the second applet to the first applet, data from the storage location corresponding to the modifications made to the data-representative object.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the second page comprises one of an HTML page, a DHTML page, an XML page and an HDML page.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of linking comprises the step of assigning a pointer to the data-representative object;

the pointer defining the storage location and a data type.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the first applet modifies the data-representative object in response to a user input.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein the first applet communicates the modifications made to the data-representative object via a first function call.

6. The method of claim 4, wherein the second applet modifies the storage location in response to the first function call, and for retrieves the contents of the storage location in response to a second function call.

7. A signal-bearing medium containing a program for storing data, wherein the program, when read and executed by a computer, comprises the steps of:

linking, by cooperation of a first applet and a second applet, at least one data-representative object associated with a first page to a storage location associated with a second page, the storage location being modified in response to modifications made to the data-representative object, wherein the first applet is executing within the first page and the second applet is executing within the second page and wherein the first page is loaded into a visible frame of the browser application and wherein the second page is loaded into a hidden frame of the browser application;

navigating away from the first page to another page in the visible frame;

navigating back to the first page in the visible frame; and

passing, from the second applet to the first applet, data from the storage location corresponding to the modifications made to the data-representative object.

8. The program of claim 7, wherein the second page comprises one of an HTML page, a DHTML page, an XML page and an HDML page.

9. The program of claim 7, wherein the step of linking comprises the step of assigning a pointer to the data-representative object, the pointer defining the storage location and a data type.

10. The program of claim 7, wherein the first page comprises an HTML page within a visible frame in a display window, and the second page comprises a hidden frame within the display window.

11. The advisor application of claim 7, wherein the first and second pages comprise at least one of an HTML page, a DHTML page, an XML page and an HDML page.

12. The program of claim 7, wherein the first applet modifies the data-representative object in response to a user input.

13. The program of claim 12, wherein the first applet communicates the modifications made to the data-representative object via a first function call.

14. The program of claim 12, wherein the second applet modifies the storage location in response to the first function call, and for retrieves the contents of the storage location in response to a second function call.

15. A browser application, comprising:

a visible frame, comprising a plurality of pages that are backwards and forwards navigable with respect to one another, wherein each of the plurality of pages has an applet for receiving data; and

a hidden frame, including a page having an applet and a memory space;

wherein the applets of the plurality of pages are adapted to provide received data to the applet of the page of the hidden frame, and wherein the applet of the page of the hidden frame is adapted to store the received data in the memory space and to pass data, previously received from a given applet of a given page, back to the given applet when a user navigates back to the given page.

16. The browser application of claim 15, wherein the pages of visible and hidden frames comprise at least one of an HTML page, a DHTML page, an XML page and an HDML page.

17. A method for sharing data between web pages displayed by a browser application, comprising the steps of:

generating a hidden frame of the browser application;

loading a web page into the hidden frame;

running a hidden applet within the web page;

generating a visible frame of the browser application;

successively loading web pages into the visible frame;

running a separate applet within each successively loaded web page, wherein each separate applet receives data from a user;

receiving user-input data for a given one of the separate applets associated with a given one of the successively loaded web pages;

passing the user-input data to the hidden applet;

navigating to a next successive web page of the successively loaded web pages;

navigating backwards to the give one of the successively loaded web pages; and

passing the user-input data from the hidden applet to the given one of the separate applets.

18. The method of claim 17, further comprising:

passing data between the hidden applet and the separate applets; and

storing, by the hidden applet, data received from the separate applets.