Component based design time architecture

• US 6,948,150 B1
• Filed: 02/20/2001
• Issued: 09/20/2005
• Est. Priority Date: 02/20/2001
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
• Inventors: Pepin, Brian K.
• Primary Examiner(s): Khatri, Anil
• Application Number:
  US09/788,863
• Time in Patent Office: 1,673 Days
• Field of Search: 717/101, 717104-109, 717/116, 717/120, 717/121, 717/123
• US Class Current: 717/107
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 8/36 Software reuse
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 8/41 Compilation

Abstract

The invention includes an architecture in which components associate their design time functionality independent of a design tool. The design time functionality includes code generators, compilers, parsers and editors. The architecture includes interfaces for components and designers to communicate. The architecture includes attributes in metadata that describe the functionality associated with the instance of a component.

Claims

1. An application development architecture, comprising:

a component based design tool that receives a request for at least one component and;

at least one designer associated with the at least one component, the component based design tool populates itself with the at least one designer associated with the at least one component upon receipt of the request for the at least one component.

2. The architecture of claim 1, wherein the designer provides design time functionality to its associated component.

3. The architecture of claim 2, wherein the design time functionality includes at least one of a code generator, a compiler, a parser and an editor.

4. The architecture of claim 1, wherein the component and the designer are associated via metadata.

5. The architecture of claim 1, wherein the component provides information to identify the component'"'"'s associated designer.

6. The architecture of claim 1, wherein the component dynamically alters an association of its associated designer.

7. The architecture of claim 1, wherein the component provides a plurality of associated designers.

8. The architecture of claim 7, wherein a developer selectively determines which of the plurality of associated designers to associate with an instance of the component.

9. The architecture of claim 1, wherein the component based design tool provides an interface to facilitate communication between the designer, the component and the component based design tool.

10. An application development architecture, comprising:

a component based design tool that populates itself with a designer associated with a component upon receipt of a request for such component; and

a designer host interface that creates an instance of the component and creates an instance of the designer associated with the component.

11. The architecture of claim 10, wherein the designer host interface destroys the instance of the component and destroys the instance of the designer associated with the component.

12. The architecture of claim 10, wherein the designer filters information before it is received by its associated component.

13. The architecture of claim 10, wherein the designer and the component are provided separately from each other.

14. The architecture of claim 10, wherein the designer host interface provides utility tasks to the designer and the component.

15. The architecture of claim 14, wherein the utility tasks include at least one of editing, parsing of source code of a text file, compiling, code generating, memory management and disk transfers.

16. The architecture of claim 10, further comprising a selection service to facilitate communication among a plurality of selected objects.

17. The architecture of claim 16, wherein the plurality of selected objects is at least one of the component, the designer and the designer host interface.

18. The architecture of claim 10, wherein the component associates with a plurality of associated designers.

19. The architecture of claim 18, wherein a developer selectively determines which of the plurality of associated designers to associate with an instance of the component.

20. The architecture of claim 10, wherein the component based design tool provides an interface to facilitate communication between the designer and the component based design tool.

21. An application development system, comprising;

a component based design tool that populates itself with a designer associated with a component upon receipt of a request for such component; and

an attribute associated with an instance of the component.

22. The system of claim 21, wherein the attribute is metadata.

23. The system of claim 21, wherein the attribute associates at least one of a designer, a code generator, an editor, a parser and a compiler with the instance of the component.

24. In a component based computer environment, a method for developing an application, comprising:

obtaining a request from a developer for a component;

loading the component;

identifying a designer associated with the component upon receipt of the request for the component;

loading the designer associated with the component;

initializing the designer; and

controlling information received by the component.

25. The method of claim 24 wherein the designer provides at least one of a parser, a compiler, a code generator and an editor.

26. In a component based computer environment, a method for developing an application, comprising:

loading a designer host interface;

obtaining a request from a developer for a component;

loading the component;

identifying a designer associated with the component upon receipt of the request for the component;

loading a designer associated with the component;

initializing the designer;

manipulating information received by the component; and

invoking the designer host interface to coordinate utility tasks requested by at least one of the component and the designer.

27. The method of claim 26 wherein the designer host interface provides at least one of a parser, a compiler, a code generator and an editor.

28. A software development system, comprising:

a component-based design tool that provides a designer host interface;

a software component that identifies a designer associated with the software component upon receipt of a request for the software component;

metadata that facilitates association of the software component and the designer, wherein the designer host interface facilitates communication between the component-based design tool, the software component and the designer.

29. A software development system, comprising:

means for facilitating communication between a component-based design tool, a software component and a designer associated with the software component;

means for identifying the designer upon receipt of a request for the software component; and

means for associating the designer with the software component.

30. A software component comprising:

means for associating a designer with the software component;

means for identifying the designer associated with the software component to a component-based design tool upon receipt of a request for the software component;

wherein when the component-based design tool loads the software component, the designer associated with the software component is loaded,

wherein the designer provides design time functionality for the software component.