Type descriptor language (TDLanguage) metamodel

• US 6,964,053 B2
• Filed: 12/04/2002
• Issued: 11/08/2005
• Est. Priority Date: 12/04/2002
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: PayPal, Inc. (PayPal Holdings, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Tsai, Tony Y., Ho, Shyh-Mei F.
• Primary Examiner(s): An, Meng-Al T.
• Assistant Examiner(s): Cao, Diem K.
• Application Number:
  US10/310,343
• Publication Number:
  US 20040111464A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,070 Days
• Field of Search: 719/310, 719313-318, 719319-320, 719328-329, 709203-205
• US Class Current: 719/319
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/565 Conversion or adaptation of application format or content adding application control or application functional data H04L67/561
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/06 Notations for structuring of protocol data, e.g. abstract syntax notation one [ASN.1]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/08 Protocols for interworking; Protocol conversion
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/328 in the presentation layer [OSI layer 6]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/329 in the application layer [OSI layer 7]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 9/40 Network security protocols

Abstract

A method of and a system for processing an enterprise application request on an end user application and an application server. This is accomplished by initiating the application request on the end user application in a first language (such as a markup language) with a first application program (such as a Web browser), and transmitting the application request to the server and converting the application from the first language of the first end user application to a language running on the application server, processing the application request on the application server, and transmitting the response from the application server back to the end user application, and converting the response from the language running on the application server to the language of the end user application. The end user application and the application server have at least one connector between them, and the steps of (i) converting the application request from the language of the end user application (as a source language) to the language running on the application server (as a target language), and (ii) converting the response to the application request from the language running on the application server (as a source language) to the language of the end user application (as a target language), each include the steps of invoking connector metamodels of the respective source and target languages, populating the connector metamodels with metamodel data of each of the respective source and target languages, and converting the source language to the target language.

Claims

1. A method of processing an application request on an end user application and an application server comprising:

a) initiating the application request on the end user application in a first language with a first application program;

b) transmitting the application request to the application server and converting the application request from the first language of the first end user application to a second language running on the application server;

c) processing said application request on the application server;

d) transmitting a response to the application request from the application server to the end user application, and converting the response to the application request from the second language running on the application server to the first language of the first end user application; and

e) wherein the end user application and the application server have at least one connector there between, and the steps of (i) converting the application request from the first language of the first end user application as a source language to the second language running on the application server as a target language, and (ii) converting the response to the application request from the second language running on the application server as the source language to the first language of the first end user application as the target language, each comprising the steps of;

1) invoking Type Descriptor class connector metamodels having metamodel metadata of respective source and target languages, said Type Descriptor class connector metamodels comprising an Instance Type Descriptor Base class, a Type Descriptor Language Element class, and a Language Element Model inheriting from the type Description Language Element class;

2) populating the Type Descriptor class connector metamodels with metamodel data Language Elements of each of the respective source and target languages; and

3) converting the source language to the target language.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein the end user application is a web browser.

3. The method of claim 1 wherein the metamodel met data further comprises invocation metamodel metadata, application domain interface metamodel metadata, and Type Descriptor metamodel metadata.

4. The method of claim 3 wherein the invocation metamodel metadata is chosen from the group consisting of message control information, security data, transactional semantics, trace and debug information, pre-condition and post-condition resources, and user data.

5. The method of claim 3 wherein the application domain interface metamodel metadata comprises input parameter signatures, output parameter signatures, and return types.

6. The method of claim 5 wherein the application domain interface metamodel metadata further includes language metamodel metadata.

7. The method of claim 6 wherein the source language is object oriented, and the language metamodel metadata maps encapsulated objects into code and data.

8. The method of claim 7 wherein the language metamodel metadata maps object inheritances into references and pointers.

9. The method of claim 3 wherein the Type Descriptor metamodel metadata associates physical realizations and storage mappings, to data types, data structures, and realization constraints.

10. A transaction processing system comprising a client, a server, and at least one connector there between,

a) the client, having an end user application, being configured and controlled to initiate an application request with the server in a first language with a first application program and to transmit the application request to the server;

b) the connector being configured and controlled to receive the application request from the client, convert the application request from the first language of the first end user application running on the client to a second language running on the server;

c) the server being configured and controlled to receive the converted application request from the connector and process the application request in the second language with a second application program residing on the server, and to thereafter transmit a response to the application request through the connector back to the first application program on the client;

d) the connector being configured and controlled to receive the response to the application request from the server, to convert the response to the application request from the second language running on the server to the first language of the first application program running on the client; and

e) wherein the connector between the client and the server is configured and controlled to (i) convert the application request from the first language of the client application on the client as a source language to the second language running on the server as a target language, and (ii) convert the response to the application request from the second language running on the server as the source language to the first language of the client application running on the client as the target language, each by a method comprising the steps of;

1) invoking Type Descriptor class connector metamodels having metamodel metadata of respective source and target languages, said Type Descriptor class connector metamodels comprising an Instance Type Descriptor Base class, a Type Descriptor Language Element class, and a Language Element Model inheriting from the Type Descriptor Language Element class

2) populating the Type Descriptor class connector metamodels with metamodel data Language Elements of each of the respective source and target languages; and

3) converting the source language to the target language.

11. The system of claim 10 wherein the metamodel metadata comprises invocation metamodel metadata, application domain interface metamodel metadata, and Type Descriptor metamodel metadata.

12. The system of claim 11 herein the invocation metamodel metadata is chosen from the group consisting of message control information, security data, transactional semantics, trace and debug information, pre-condition and post-condition resources, and user data.

13. The system of claim 11 wherein the application domain interface metamodel metadata comprises input parameter signatures output parameter signatures, and return types.

14. The system of claim 13 wherein the application domain interface metamodel metadata further includes language metamodel metadata.

15. The system of claim 14 wherein the source language is object oriented, and the language metamodel metadata maps encapsulated objects into code and data.

16. The system of claim 15 wherein the language metamodel metadata maps object inheritances into references and pointers.

17. The system of claim 11 wherein the Type Descriptor metamodel metadata defines physical realizations, storage mappings, data types, data structures, and realization constraints.

18. The system of claim 10 wherein said system has a plurality of application servers and is configured and controlled to process rich transactions.

19. A program product comprising a computer-readable storage medium having invocation metamodel metadata, application domain interface metamodel metadata, and language metamodel metadata;

and computer instructions for building a metamodel metadata repository of source and target language metamodel metadata, and computer instructions for;

1) invoking Type Descriptor class connector metamodels of respective source and target languages, said Type Descriptor class connector metamodels comprising an Instance Type Descriptor Base class, a Type Descriptor Language Element class, and a Language Element Model inheriting from the Type Description Language Element class;

2) populating the Type Descriptor class connector metamodels with metamodel data Language Elements of each of the respective source and target languages; and

3) converting the source language to the target language.

20. The program product of claim 19 further comprising computer instructions for building connector stubs from said metamodel metadata.

21. The program product of claim 19 further comprising computer instructions to build a connector for carrying out the steps of:

1) retrieving connector metamodel metadata of respective source and target languages from the metamodel met data repository;

     2) populating the connector metamodels with metamodel data of each of the respective source and target languages from the metamodel metadata repository and invoking the retrieved, populated connector metamodels; and

     3) converting the source language to the target language.

22. The program product of claim 21 wherein the metamodel metadata in the metamodel metadata repository comprises invocation metamodel metadata, application domain interface metamodel metadata, and Type Descriptor metamodel metadata.

23. The program product of claim 22 wherein the invocation metamodel metadata is chosen from the group consisting of message control information security data, transactional semantics, trace and debug information, pre-condition and post-condition resources, and user data.

24. The program product of claim 23 wherein the Type Descriptor metamodel metadata defines physical realizations, storage mappings, data types, data structures, and realization constraints.

25. The program product of claim 22 wherein the application domain interface metamodel metadata comprises input parameter signatures, output parameter signatures, and return types.

26. The program product of claim 25 wherein the application domain interface metamodel metadata further includes language metamodel metadata.

27. The program product of claim 26 wherein the language metamodel metadata includes mappings between the source and target languages.

28. The program product of claim 27 wherein the source is object oriented, and the language metamodel metadata maps encapsulated objects into code and data.

29. The program product of claim 28 wherein the language metamodel metadata maps object inheritances into references and pointers.