Obtaining a graphical user interface to access a remote computing system

• US 7,703,024 B2
• Filed: 08/31/2004
• Issued: 04/20/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 08/31/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: SAP SE
• Original Assignee: SAP AG (SAP SE)
• Inventors: Roesing, Holger, Frey, Gregor K, Kautzleben, Reinhold
• Primary Examiner(s): Vu; Kieu
• Assistant Examiner(s): Pan; Yongjia
• Application Number:
  US10/931,438
• Publication Number:
  US 20060048165A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,058 Days
• Field of Search: 715/733, 715/744, 715/747, 715/748, 715/749, 715/750, 715/764, 715/765, 719/329, 719/328, 719/203
• US Class Current: 715/749
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/452 Remote windowing, e.g. X-Window System, desktop virtualisation protocols for virtual reality H04L67/131
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/02 Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising

Abstract

Embodiments of the invention are generally directed to a system and method for a remote Graphical User Interface (GUI). In an embodiment, a local computing system requests access to a remote computing system. In response, the remote computing system provides connection information to identify an appropriate GUI for accessing the remote computing system. The local computing system forwards the connection information to another local computing system to obtain the identified GUI. In one embodiment, the local computing system automatically downloads the GUI and accesses the remote computing system with the GUI.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method comprising:

requesting access to a remote computing system from a local computing system, the remote computing system having a message server to service messages formulated according to a messaging protocol, wherein requesting access includes querying the message server of the remote computing system to identify and obtain a Graphical User Interface (GUI) with which to access the remote computing system, the querying including sending a message to the message server of the remote computing system, the message including a location indicator to specify a location of another local computing system from which the local computer system can download the identified GUI using a fast connection;

receiving in the local computing system connection information from the message server of the remote computing system responsive to requesting access, the received connection information to identify and instruct how to obtain the GUI with which to access the remote computing system, the receiving including receiving a return of the message from the message server, the message server having overwritten a GUI version indicator into the message to specify a version of the identified GUI for accessing the remote computing system;

forwarding the received connection information from the local computing system to the other local computing system from which the identified GUI can be downloaded to the local computing system using the fast connection, based, at least in part, on the received connection information to identify and instruct how to obtain the GUI, the forwarding including sending to the other local computing system the returned message containing the GUI version indicator using the location indicator included in the message, the location indicator specifying the location of the other local computing system, the other local computing system having a code base for generating a file describing the identified GUI based, at least in part, on the returned message;

receiving from the other local computing system a Java Network Launching Protocol (JNLP) file describing the identified GUI corresponding to the GUI version indicator, wherein the code base for generating the file generates the JNLP file;

downloading the identified GUI to the local computing system from the other local computing system using the fast connection, the downloading based, at least in part, on the received connection information to identify and instruct how to obtain the identified GUI; and

accessing the remote computing system via the identified GUI.

2. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein requesting access to the remote computing system further comprises:

receiving input selecting a hyperlink displayed in a browser of the local computer system, the hyperlink representing the remote computing system.

3. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein downloading the identified GUI to the local computing system from the other local computing system comprises:

downloading the identified GUI to the local computing system from the other local computing system based, at least in part, on the JNLP file describing the identified GUI.

4. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein accessing the remote computing system via the identified GUI comprises:

starting the identified GUI; and

automatically connecting to the remote computing system responsive to starting the identified GUI.

15. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the message server is one of a HyperText Transfer Protocol (HTTP) server that services messages formulated according to an HTTP message protocol, a HyperText Transfer Protocol over Secure Socket Layer (HTTPS) server that services messages formulated according to an HTTPS message protocol, and a SOAP server that services messages formulated according to a SOAP protocol.

18. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the received connection information to identify and instruct how to obtain the GUI with which to access the remote computing system includes at least one of a URL specifying the location of the GUI, a version indicator to specify an appropriate version of the GUI, and a parameter used to call the GUI.

5. An apparatus comprising:

a local computing system;

a remote computing system having a message server to service messages formulated according to a messaging protocol;

a network interface to provide a connection with the remote computing system; and

a processor and logic executable thereon to

request access to the remote computing system from the local computing system;

query the message server of the remote computing system from the local computing system to identify and obtain a Graphical User interface (GUI) with which to access the remote computing system, wherein to query the message server is to send a message to the message server of the remote computing system, the message including a location indicator to specify a location of a client cache server with which the local computing system has a fast connection, and from which the local computer system can download the identified GUI using the fast connection;

receive connection information from the message server of the remote computing system, responsive to requesting access, the received connection information to identify and instruct how to obtain the GUI with which to access the remote computing system, wherein to receive connection information is to receive an automatically generated message from the remote computing system, the automatically generated message containing the message that was sent to the message server of the remote computing system, the automatically generated message being overwritten with the connection information, the connection information including a GUI version identifier to specify a version of the identified GUI;

forward the received connection information from the local computing system to a client cache server with which the local computing system has a fast connection, based, at least in part, on the received connection information to identify and instruct how to obtain the GUI, wherein to forward the received connection information is to send the automatically generated message containing the connection information including the GUI version indicator to the client cache server using the location indicator specifying the location of the client cache server, the client cache server having a code base for generating a file describing the identified GUI based, at least in part, on the automatically generated message;

receive a Java Network Launching Protocol (JNLP) file describing the identified GUI corresponding to the GUI version indicator from the client cache server, wherein the code base for generating the file generates the JNLP file;

download the GUI to the local computing system from the client cache server using the fast connection, the download based, at least in part, on the received connection information to identify and instruct how to obtain the GUI; and

access the remote computing system via the identified GUI.

6. The apparatus of claim 5, wherein the logic executable thereon further comprises logic to:

receive input selecting a hyperlink displayed in a browser of the local computer system, the hyperlink representing access to the remote computing system.

7. The apparatus of claim 5, wherein the logic executable thereon to download the identified GUI to the local computing system from the client cache server comprises logic to:

automatically download the identified GUI to the local computing system from the client cache server based, at least in part, on the JNLP file describing the identified GUI;

start the identified GUI; and

connect to the remote computing system, responsive to starting the identified GUI.

16. The apparatus of claim 5, wherein the message server is one of a HyperText Transfer Protocol (HTTP) server that services messages formulated according to an HTTP message protocol, a HyperText Transfer Protocol over Secure Socket Layer (HTTPS) server that services messages formulated according to an HTTPS message protocol, and a SOAP server that services messages formulated according to a SOAP protocol.

19. The apparatus of claim 5, wherein the received connection information to identify and instruct how to obtain the GUI with which to access the remote computing system includes at least one of a URL specifying the location of the GUI, a version indicator to specify an appropriate version of the GUI, and a parameter used to call the GUI.

8. A computer-implemented system comprising:

input means for requesting access to a remote computing system from a local computing system, the remote computing system having a message server means to services messages formulated according to a messaging protocol, wherein the input means for requesting access includes means for querying the message server of the remote computing system to identify and obtain a Graphical User Interface (GUI) means with which to access the remote computing system, wherein the means for querying the message server includes means for sending a message to the message server means of the remote computing system, the message including a location indicator to specify a location of the other local computing system having the fast connection to the local computing system;

communication means for receiving connection information from the message server means of the remote computing system, responsive to requesting access, the received connection information to identify and instruct how to obtain the GUI means with which to access the remote computing system, wherein the communication means for receiving connection information includes means for receiving an automatically generated message from the message server means of the remote computing system, the automatically generated message containing the message that was sent to the message server means, the automatically generated message being overwritten with connection information, the connection information including a GUI version indicator to specify a version of the identified GUI for accessing the remote computing system;

communication means for forwarding the received connection information from the local computing system to another local computing system having a fast connection means to the local computing system, based, at least in part, on the received connection information to identify and instruct how to obtain the GUI, wherein the communication means for forwarding includes means for sending the automatically generated message containing the connection information including the GUI version indicator to the other local computing system using the location indicator specifying the location of the other local computing system, the other local computing system having a code base means for generating a file describing the identified GUI based, at least in part, on the automatically generated message;

communication means for receiving a Java Network Launching Protocol (JNLP) file describing the identified GUI corresponding to the GUI version indicator from the other local computing system, wherein the code base means for generating the file generates the JNLP file;

communication means for downloading the identified GUI means to the local computing system from the other local computing system over the fast connection based, at least in part, on the received connection information to identify and instruct how to obtain the GUI; and

processor means for accessing the remote computing system via the identified GUI means.

9. The computer-implemented system of claim 8, wherein the input means for requesting access to the remote computing system from the local computing system comprises:

input means for receiving input selecting a hyperlink displayed in a browser of the local computer system, the hyperlink representing an application hosted on the remote computing system.

10. The computer-implemented system of claim 8, wherein the communication means for downloading the GUI to the local computing system from the other local computing system comprises:

processor means for automatically downloading the identified GUI to the local computing system from the other local computing system using the fast connection based, at least in part, on the JNLP file describing the identified GUI.

11. The computer-implemented system of claim 8, wherein the processor means for accessing the remote computing system with the identified GUI comprises:

means for starting the identified GUI; and

means for automatically connecting to the remote computing system, responsive to starting the identified GUI.

17. The system of claim 8, wherein the message server means is one of a HyperText Transfer Protocol (HTTP) server that services messages formulated according to an HTTP message protocol, a HyperText Transfer Protocol over Secure Socket Layer (HTTPS) server that services messages formulated according to an HTTPS message protocol, and a SOAP server that services messages formulated according to a SOAP protocol.

20. The system of claim 8, wherein the received connection information to identify and instruct how to obtain the GUI with which to access the remote computing system includes at least one of a URL specifying the location of the GUI, a version indicator to specify an appropriate version of the GUI, and a parameter used to call the GUI.

12. An article of manufacture comprising:

an electronically accessible storage medium providing instructions that, when executed by an apparatus, cause the apparatus to

request access to a remote computing system from a local computing system, the remote computing system having a message server to service messages formulated according to a messaging protocol, wherein requesting access includes querying the message server of the remote computing system to identify and obtain a Graphical User Interface (GUI) with which to access the remote computing system;

receive connection information from the message server of the remote computing system responsive to requesting access, the received connection information to identify and instruct how to obtain the GUI with which to access the remote computing system;

forward the received connection information from the local computing system to a code base server having a code base for generating a file describing the identified GUI, based, at least in part, on the received connection information to identify and instruct how to obtain the identified GUI;

receive input selecting a hyperlink displayed in a browser of the local computer system, the hyperlink representing an application on the remote computing system that is accessible via the identified GUI;

send a HyperText Transfer Protocol (HTTP) message to the message server of the remote computing system, the HTTP message including a Uniform Resource Indicator (URI) to specify a location of the code base server;

receive a return of the HTTP message, the message server having overwritten a GUI version indicator into the returned message to specify a version of the identified GUI for accessing the remote computing system;

send the returned HTTP message containing the GUI version indicator to the code base server using the URI in the HTTP message specifying the location of the code base server;

receive a Java Network Launching Protocol (JNLP) file describing the identified GUI corresponding to the GUI version indicator from the code base server, wherein the code base for generating the file generates the JNLP file;

download the identified GUI to the local computing system from the code base server based, at least in part, on the received connection information to identify and instruct how to obtain the identified GUI; and

access the remote computing system via the identified GUI.

13. The article of manufacture of claim 12, wherein the instructions that, when executed by the apparatus, cause the apparatus to download the identified GUI to the local computing system from the code base server further cause the apparatus to:

download the identified GUI to the local computing system from the code base server based, at least in part, on the generated JNLP file describing the identified GUI.

14. The article of manufacture of claim 12, wherein the instructions that, when executed by the apparatus, cause the apparatus to access the remote computing system with the identified GUI, further cause the apparatus to:

start the identified GUI; and

automatically connect to the remote computing system, responsive to starting the identified GUI.

21. The article of manufacture of claim 12, wherein the received connection information to identify and instruct how to obtain the GUI with which to access the remote computing system includes at least one of a URL specifying the location of the GUI, a version indicator to specify an appropriate version of the GUI, and a parameter used to call the GUI.