Method and apparatus for developing web services using standard logical interfaces to support multiple markup languages

• US 7,127,700 B2
• Filed: 09/19/2002
• Issued: 10/24/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 03/14/2002
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Unwired Planet LLC (JP Morgan Chase & Co)
• Original Assignee: Openwave Systems Incorporated (JP Morgan Chase & Co)
• Inventors: Large, Andrew R.
• Primary Examiner(s): Khatri, Anil
• Application Number:
  US10/251,515
• Publication Number:
  US 20030182624A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,496 Days
• Field of Search: 717100-114, 717120-123, 709/203
• US Class Current: 717/100
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/958 Organisation or management of web site content, e.g. publishing, maintaining pages or automatic linking

Abstract

The Web Services Development Kit (WSDK) comprises a set of build-time tools and run-time components designed to support the development of web services and the interface to those services. WSDK provides a framework for the development of web services that isolates developers from the implementation details of the markup and transport layers, by separating the logical aspects of the service development from the physical aspects. A “call” generated by a client contains a batch of operations to be executed in the context of a single request/reply message exchange. A markup library translates logical structure to a specific markup language. Additional markup languages are supported by adding additional modules to the markup library.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

receiving from a client a markup language independent request, the request specifying a logical structure representing a set of operations which a server is to be requested to perform on behalf of the client;

receiving from the client an indication of one of a plurality of selectable markup languages; and

generating a markup language encoding of the request in one of the selectable markup languages according to the indication, without using any explicitly declared binding of logical structure to markup language encoding.

2. A method as recited in claim 1, wherein said generating comprises:

using a library that comprises a plurality of markup language implementations, each corresponding to a different one of the plurality of selectable markup languages; and

using one of the markup language implementations corresponding to said one of the plurality of selectable markup languages, to generate the markup language encoding.

3. A method as recited in claim 2, wherein the library is not dependent upon any particular markup language encoding or upon any logical representation of any markup language encoding.

4. A method as recited in claim 2, wherein the library is configured to provide a binding between logical structure and markup language encoding for all possible operations in each of the plurality of selectable markup languages.

5. A method as recited in claim 1, further comprising providing the markup language encoding to the client as a markup language encoded request.

6. A method as recited in claim 1, further comprising:

receiving from the server a markup language document specifying the set of operations after the server has received the markup language encoded request;

generating, based on the markup language document, a logical structure representing the set of operations, wherein the logical structure is not specific to any markup language, without using any explicitly declared binding of logical structure to markup language encoding; and

providing the logical structure to the server, for use by the server to perform the set of operations.

7. A method comprising:

receiving a markup language document specifying a set of operations to be performed by a server for a client; and

generating, based on the markup language document, a logical structure representing the set of operations, wherein the logical structure is not specific to any markup language, without using any explicitly declared binding of logical structure to markup language encoding, the logical structure for use by the server to perform the set of operations.

8. A method as recited in claim 7, wherein said receiving comprises receiving the markup language document from the server after the server has received a request for said operations from the client, the method further comprising providing the logical structure to the server, for use by the server to execute the set of operations.

9. A method as recited in claim 8, wherein said generating comprises:

using a library that comprises a plurality of markup language implementations, each corresponding to a different one of a plurality of markup languages; and

using one of the markup language implementations corresponding to said markup language to generate the logical structure.

10. A method as recited in claim 8, wherein the library is not dependent upon any particular markup language encoding or upon any logical representation of any markup language encoding.

11. A method as recited in claim 8, wherein the library is configured to provide a binding between logical structure and markup language encoding for all possible operations in each of the plurality of selectable markup languages.

12. A method as recited in claim 11, further comprising automatically selecting one of the markup language implementations for use, based on the request.

13. A method comprising:

receiving at a server a markup language document originating from a client, the markup language document specifying a set of operations to be performed by the server for the client;

accessing a library that comprises a plurality of software modules, each corresponding to a different one of a plurality of markup languages;

automatically selecting one of the software modules based on the markup language document;

using the selected one of the software modules to generate a logical structure representing the set of operations based on the markup language document, wherein the logical structure is not specific to any markup language, without using any explicitly declared binding of logical structure to markup language encoding; and

providing the logical structure to the server, for use by an application on the server to execute the set of operations according to the logical structure, wherein the application is not specific to any markup language.

14. A method as recited in claim 13, wherein the library is for use by both the client and the server.

15. A method as recited in claim 14, wherein the library is not dependent upon any particular markup language encoding or upon any logical representation of any markup language encoding.

16. A method as recited in claim 14, wherein the library is configured to provide a binding between logical structure and markup language encoding for all possible operations in each of the plurality of selectable markup languages.

17. A method as recited in claim 16, further comprising automatically selecting one of the markup language implementations for use, based on the markup language document.

18. An apparatus comprising:

a plurality of software modules, each corresponding to a different one of a plurality of markup languages, each to convert between a generic data format and a markup language-specific data format;

means for using a selected one of the software modules to convert between a markup language encoding of a logical structure and a representation of the logic structure that is not specific to any markup language, without using any explicitly declared binding of logical structure to markup language encoding, the logical structure defining a set of operations for a web based application involving a client and a server;

means for receiving from a client an indication of one of the plurality of markup languages; and

means for generating a markup language encoding of a request in one of the plurality of markup languages according to the indication, without using any explicitly declared binding of logical structure to markup language encoding.

19. A processing system comprising:

a processor; and

a storage facility coupled to the processor, the storage facility storing a program accessible to a client and a server in a web based network environment, the program having the ability, when invoked by the client or the server, to convert between a logical structure that is not specific to any markup language and a markup language encoding of the logical structure, for any of a plurality of markup languages, without using any explicitly-declared binding of logical structure to markup language encoding, the logical structure defining a set of operations for a web based application involving the client and the server.

20. A method comprising:

receiving at a server a first markup language document from a client over a network, the first markup language document comprising a markup language encoding of a request for a set of operations to be performed at the server;

operating the server to parse the first markup language document into a logical structure specifying the set of operations, wherein the logical structure is not specific to any markup language, without using any explicitly declared binding of logical structure to markup language encoding;

executing the set of operations at the server by using the logical structure;

populating a second markup language document with a result of executing the set of operations; and

sending the second markup language document from the server to the client over the network as a response to the request.

21. A method as recited in claim 20, wherein said operating comprises using a library accessible to both the server and the client, wherein the library has the ability, when invoked by a processing system, to convert between a logical structure that is not specific to any markup language and a markup language representation of the logical structure, for any of a plurality of markup languages.

22. A method as recited in claim 21, wherein the library comprises a plurality of software modules, each corresponding to a different one of a plurality of markup languages, and wherein said operating the server to parse the first markup language document comprises using one of the software modules corresponding to said markup language.

23. A method as recited in claim 21, further comprising automatically identifying in which of a plurality of markup languages the first markup language document is encoded and selecting said one of the software modules accordingly.

24. A method as recited in claim 21, wherein the first markup language document further includes an indicator indicating the markup language, and wherein said operating the server to parse the first markup language document comprises selecting said one of the software modules for use, based on the indicator.

25. A method as recited in claim 21, wherein the library is not dependent upon any particular markup language encoding or upon any logical representation of any markup language encoding.

26. A method for a client to obtain a service from a remote server over a network, the method comprising:

operating the client to provide, to a library, a logical representation of a request for the service and an indication of one of a plurality of selectable markup languages, wherein the logical representation is not specific to any markup language;

receiving from the library a markup language encoding of the request in a markup language specified by said indication;

sending a request in the form of a first markup language document including the markup language encoding to the server over the network; and

receiving a second markup language document from the server over the network in response to the request, the second markup language document being a result of said service.

27. A method as recited in claim 26, further comprising operating the client to dynamically select said one of the plurality of selectable markup languages for encoding of the request.

28. A method as recited in claim 26, wherein the library is for use by both the client and the server.

29. A method as recited in claim 28, wherein the library is not dependent upon any particular markup language encoding or upon any logical representation of any markup language encoding.