Persistent representations for complex data structures as interpreted programs

• US 6,973,641 B1
• Filed: 06/04/1998
• Issued: 12/06/2005
• Est. Priority Date: 06/04/1998
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
• Inventors: Halstead, Mark A. B.
• Primary Examiner(s): An, Meng-Al T.
• Assistant Examiner(s): NGUYEN, VAN H
• Application Number:
  US09/090,119
• Time in Patent Office: 2,742 Days
• Field of Search: 345/522, 345/440, 709/231, 709/328, 719/322, 719/328, 717/107, 717/139, 715/500.1, 715/764
• US Class Current: 717/107
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/4484 Executing subprograms
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/4493 Object persistence

Abstract

The structure of a complex data object such as a multimedia presentation is stored in a persistent representation comprising a directly executable program. The instructions of the program are created by translating recorded method calls on a function library when the object is created. The structure of the object is recreated during playback by executing the program instructions in a stack-based virtual machine in a user'"'"'s computer. The persistent representation thus stores the structure as a series of operations for building the object, rather than as a static plan of the structure itself.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method for recreating a complex data object having a structure, the method comprising:

recording a sequence of calls from an authoring tool to a set of predefined functions used to create a complex data object;

translating the recorded sequence of calls into a sequence of directly executable instructions;

storing the sequence of directly executable instructions as a persistent representation of the structure of the complex data object;

obtaining the persistent representation of the structure of the complex data object and interpreting the directly executable instructions as calls to a set of predefined functions; and

calling a predefined function corresponding to each directly executable instruction in the sequence of directly executable instructions to construct the complex data object directly from the persistent representation.

2. A method according to claim 1, further comprising displaying the complex data object to a user.

3. A method according to claim 1, wherein the complex data object is a multimedia presentation.

4. A method according to claim 1, wherein at least some of the functions have arguments.

5. A method according to claim 4, wherein a call to one of the functions includes a call to another function as an argument of the first function.

6. A method according to claim 4, wherein a call to one of the functions includes obtaining a constant value as its argument.

7. A method according to claim 1, wherein at least some of the functions return an explicit result.

8. A method according to claim 1, wherein the set of predefined functions further comprises information about the readable name of each function, whether each function returns a result, whether each function has a side effect, and the number of arguments for each function.

9. A method according to claim 8, wherein recording the sequence of calls further comprises obtaining the readable name of each function, whether each function returns a result, whether each function has a side effect, and the number of arguments for each function from the set of predefined functions.

10. A method according to claim 9, wherein the sequence of calls are recorded as a sequence of code fragments representing each function called, the arguments to each function, and the order in which the authoring tool made the call.

11. A method according to claim 1, wherein the sequence of directly executable instructions are interpreted by a stack-based virtual machine.

12. A computer-readable medium having computer-executable instructions for performing the method recited in claim 1.

13. A computer system having a processor, a memory, and an operating environment, the computer system being operable for performing the method recited in claim 1.

14. A system for recreating a complex data object from a persistent representation of its structure, the system comprising:

an authoring tool for recording a sequence of calls to a predefined set of data types and methods for creating a complex data object;

a program generator for translating the recorded sequence of calls into a sequence of directly executable instructions and storing the sequence of directly executable instructions as a persistent representation of the structure of the complex data object;

a library having a predefined set of data types and methods for creating complex data objects; and

a program interpreter for interpreting the contents of the persistent representation as a sequence of directly executable instructions, and for executing those instructions as a sequence of calls on the library so as to construct the complex data object directly from the persistent representation.

15. A system according to claim 14, where the complex data object is a multimedia presentation.

16. A system according to claim 14, where the program interpreter is a virtual machine located in a computer in which the complex data object is presented to the user.

17. A system according to claim 16, wherein the program interpreter is a stack-based virtual machine.

18. A system according to claim 17, wherein the stack-based virtual machine further includes a temporary storage array.

19. A system according to claim 14, wherein the predefined set of data types and methods further comprises information about the readable name of each method, whether each method returns a result, whether each method has a side effect, and the number of arguments for each method.

20. A system according to claim 19, wherein recording the sequence of calls further comprises obtaining the readable name of each method, whether each method returns a result, whether each method has a side effect, and the number of arguments for each method from the predefined set of data types and methods.

21. A system according to claim 20, wherein the sequence of calls are recorded as a sequence of code fragments representing each method called, the arguments to each method, and the order in which the authoring tool made the call.