Self-contained applications that are applied to be received by and processed within a browser environment and that have a first package that includes a manifest file and an archive of files including a markup language file and second package

• US 7,478,142 B1
• Filed: 09/29/1998
• Issued: 01/13/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 09/29/1998
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Meta Platforms, Inc. (f/k/a Facebook, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Netscape Communications Corporation (Apollo Global Management, Inc.)
• Inventors: Veditz, Daniel P.
• Primary Examiner(s): Caldwell; Andrew
• Assistant Examiner(s): MACILWINEN, JOHN MOORE JAIN
• Application Number:
  US09/163,041
• Time in Patent Office: 3,759 Days
• Field of Search: 709/201, 709/202, 709/219, 709/249, 709/218, 717/121, 717/162, 717/172, 717/177
• US Class Current: 709/218
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/445 Program loading or initiating bootstrapping G06F9/4401; security arrangements for program loading or initiating G06F21/57

Abstract

An implementation of a self-contained application may be distributed and automatically executed within a network client environment, such as within a web browser environment. The implementation of the self-contained application includes a first package that includes a manifest and an archive of files. The archive of files includes a markup language file that is the initial file to be processed and that includes instructions for initiating execution of the application. In the implementation, the archive of files also includes other files needed to execute the application and a second package that may be of the same type as the first package. The manifest file includes an initial file identifier that instructs the application to process the markup language initial file before processing the other files.

Claims

1. A method for executing an application, the method comprising:

loading a first package within a browser on a local client computer, the first package including a first manifest and a first archive of files that includes instructions and content needed to execute an application, the first archive of files including;

an initial file that includes instructions for initiating execution of the application, the initial file being a markup language file,

other files needed to execute the application, and

a second package that includes a second manifest and a second archive of files, the second package being of the same type as the first package, and the second archive of files being of the same type of file structure as the first archive of files;

the first manifest including an initial file identifier that indicates that the initial file is to be processed before the other files in the first archive of files when the application is executed;

in response to loading the first package within the browser, automatically accessing the first manifest;

locating the initial file identifier in the first manifest;

based on the located initial file identifier, accessing the instructions for initiating the execution of the application from the initial file;

processing the accessed instructions from the initial file; and

automatically initiating execution of the application based on the processed instructions.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising receiving the first package at the local client computer.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein receiving the first package at the local client computer comprises loading the first package onto the local client computer from a local computer readable medium.

4. The method of claim 2, wherein receiving the first package at the local client computer comprises receiving an e-mail that includes the first package at the local client computer.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the instructions for initiating execution of the application from the initial file include instructions to process additional instructions from one or more of the other files in the first archive, the method further comprising:

accessing the additional instructions from the one or more other files; and

processing the additional instructions, the accessing and processing of the additional instructions being performed in response to processing the instructions for initiating execution of the application from the initial file.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein:

the initial file comprises a source file for a web page,

the instructions for initiating execution of the application from the initial file comprise instructions for rendering the web page, and

automatically initiating execution of the application comprises rendering the web page in accordance with the instructions for rendering the web page.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein the source file for the web page comprises an HTML document.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein:

the initial file comprises an executable file, and

the instructions for initiating execution of the application from the initial file comprise program execution instructions.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein:

the first manifest further comprises an archive type identifier that identifies an application type of the application, and

processing the accessed instructions comprises processing the accessed instructions in accordance with the application type of the application.

10. The method of claim 1, further comprising displaying an icon associated with the application, wherein loading the first package in the browser comprises automatically loading the first package in the browser in response to a user selecting the icon associated with the application.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein the initial file identifier indicates that the initial file is the first file to be processed in the first archive of files when the application is executed.

12. The method of claim 1, wherein automatically initiating execution of the application based on the processed instructions comprises automatically initiating execution of the application without maintaining a connection between the local client computer and a web server.

13. The method of claim 1, wherein the same type of file structure of the first archive of files and the second archive of files is a JAR type file structure.

14. A computer program product for executing an application, the computer program product being embodied in a tangible computer readable medium and including instructions that, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to:

load a first package within the computer program product, the first package including a first manifest and a first archive of files that include instructions and content needed to execute the application, the first archive of files including;

an initial file that includes instructions for initiating execution of the application, the initial file being a markup language file,

other files needed to execute the application, and

a second package that includes a second manifest and a second archive of files, the second package being of the same type as the first package, and the second archive of files being of the same type of file structure as the first archive of files;

the first manifest including an initial file identifier that indicates that the initial file is to be processed before the other files in the first archive of files when the application is executed;

automatically access the first manifest in response to loading the first package within the computer program product;

locate the initial file identifier in the first manifest;

access the instructions for initiating the execution of the application from the initial file based on the located initial file identifier;

process the accessed instructions from the initial file; and

automatically initiate execution of the application based on the processed instructions.

15. The computer program product of claim 14, further comprising instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to receive the first package at a local client computer.

16. The computer program product of claim 15, wherein the instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to receive the first package at the local client computer comprise instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to load the first package onto the local client computer from a local computer readable medium.

17. The computer program product of claim 14, wherein the instructions for initiating the execution of the application from the initial file include instructions to process additional instructions from one or more of the other files in the first archive, the computer program product further comprising instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to:

access and process the additional instructions from the one or more other files in response to processing the instructions for initiating execution of the application from the initial file.

18. The computer program product of claim 14, wherein:

the initial file comprises a source file for a web page,

the instructions for initiating execution of the application from the initial file comprise instructions for rendering the web page, and

the instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to automatically initiate execution of the application comprises instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to render the web page in accordance with the instructions for rendering the web page.

19. The computer program product of claim 18 wherein the source file for the web page comprises an HTML document.

20. The computer program product of claim 14, wherein:

the initial file comprises an executable file, and

the instructions for initiating execution of the application from the initial file comprise program execution instructions.

21. The computer program product of claim 20, wherein:

the first manifest further comprises an archive type identifier that identifies an application type of the application, and

the instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to process the accessed instructions comprise instructions that, when accessed by the processor, cause the processor to process the accessed instructions in accordance with the application type of the application.

22. The computer program product of claim 14 further comprising instructions that, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to display an icon associated with the application, wherein the instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to load the first package in the computer program product comprise instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to automatically load the first package in the computer program product in response to a user selecting the icon associated with the application.

23. The computer program product of claim 14, wherein the computer program product comprises a browser.

24. The computer program product of claim 14, wherein the initial file identifier indicates that the initial file is the first file to be processed in the first archive of files when the application is executed.

25. The computer program product of claim 14, wherein the instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to automatically initiate execution of the application based on the processed instructions comprise instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to automatically initiate execution of the application without maintaining a connection between a local client computer and a web server.

26. The computer program product of claim 14, wherein the same type of file structure of the first archive of files and the second archive of files is a JAR type file structure.

27. A method for generating a first package such that an application may be automatically executed by a browser on a client computer, the method comprising:

generating a first archive of files that include instructions and content needed to execute the application, the first archive including;

an initial file that includes instructions for initiating execution of the application, the initial file being a markup language file,

other files needed to execute the application, and

a second package that includes a second manifest and a second archive of files, the second package being of the same type as the first package, and the second archive of files being of the same type of file structure as the first archive of files;

generating a first manifest file that is associated with the first archive, the first manifest file including an initial file identifier that instructs the browser to process the initial file before processing other files in the first archive in order to initiate execution of the application; and

encapsulating the first archive of files and the first manifest file within the first package.

28. The method of claim 27, wherein the instructions for initiating execution of the application from the initial file include instructions to process additional instructions from one or more of the other files in the first archive.

29. The method of claim 27, wherein:

the initial file comprises a source file for a web page, and

the instructions for initiating execution of the application from the initial file comprise instructions for rendering the web page.

30. The method of claim 29, wherein the source file for the web page comprises an HTML document.

31. The method of claim 27, wherein:

the initial file comprises an executable file, and

the instructions for initiating execution of the application from the initial file comprise program execution instructions.

32. The method of claim 27, wherein:

the first manifest file further comprises an archive type identifier that instructs the browser to process the instructions for initiating execution of the application from the initial file in accordance with the application type of the application.

33. The method of claim 27 further comprising, establishing security credentials for the initial file, the other files needed to execute the application, and the second archive using a single signature for the first package.

34. The method of claim 27, wherein the same type of file structure of the first archive of files and the second archive of files is a JAR type file structure.

35. A self-contained package, the self-contained package being embodied in a tangible computer readable medium and configured to enable an application to be automatically executed within a browser environment, the self-contained package comprising:

a first archive including;

an initial content source having instructions for initiating execution of the application within the browser environment, the initial content source being a markup language file,

additional files that include instructions and content needed to execute the application within the browser environment, and

a second package that includes a second manifest and a second archive of files, the second package being of the same type as the first package, and the second archive of files being of the same type of file structure as the first archive of files; and

a first manifest associated with the first archive that includes an initial content identifier that indicates that the initial content source is to be processed before the additional files in the first archive when the application is executed.

36. The self-contained package according to claim 35, wherein said initial content source is an HTML file containing content layout instructions for rendering a document that displays content included in the first archive.

37. The self-contained package according to claim 35, wherein said initial content source is an executable file containing program execution instructions.

38. The self-contained package of claim 37, wherein the first manifest further comprises an archive type identifier that identifies an application type of the application.

39. The self-contained package of claim 35, wherein the additional files comprise one or more of a web page, a script, an image, a sound file, and a JAVA file.

40. The self-contained package according to claim 35, wherein the same type of file structure of the first archive of files and the second archive of files is a JAR type file structure.

41. A method for executing an application, the method comprising:

loading, within a processing environment on a local client computer, a first package that includes a first manifest and a first archive of files, wherein;

the first manifest includes a first initial file identifier that identifies a particular file from within the first archive of files as a first initial file that is to be processed before other files in the first archive of files when the application is executed, and

the first archive of files includes;

the first initial file, the first initial file including instructions for initiating execution of the application, the first initial file being a markup language file,

other files needed to execute the application, and

a second package, the second package including;

a second manifest that includes a second initial file identifier that identifies a particular file from within a second archive of files as a second initial file that is to be processed before other files in the second archive of files when the application is executed, and

the second archive of files that includes;

the second initial file, the second initial file including instructions for executing the application, the second initial file being a markup language file, and

additional files needed to execute the application;

in response to loading the first package within the processing environment, automatically access the first manifest;

locating the first initial file identifier in the first manifest;

based on the located first initial file identifier, accessing the instructions for initiating execution of the application from the first initial file;

processing the accessed instructions from the first initial file; and

automatically initiating execution of the application based on the processed instructions from the first initial file.

42. The method of claim 41 further comprising:

accessing the second manifest after locating the first initial file identifier in the first;

locating the second initial file identifier in the second manifest;

based on the located second initial file identifier, accessing the instructions for executing the application from the second initial file;

processing the accessed instructions from the second initial file; and

executing the application based on the processed instructions from the second initial file.